Chapter 413 - Consort Zhao Fought For The Favor In Front Of Emperor Zongwen (1/2)
“Who? Who jumped into the water?”
“I don’t know. It seems that the young lady does take things too hard.”
“Go down and save her. Quickly.”
“Why did she choose to do that in the imperial garden? Isn’t she afraid of affecting her own family?”
…
Many young ladies on the bank chattered about the accident with various opinions. The guards dragged the unconscious He Yuxiu ash.o.r.e. Her clothes were soaked, and it was in Spring, so her good figure was exposed in sight completely. And her disheveled hair with some strands on the forehead made her more like a mad woman rather than a normal one.
Her palace dress had been snagged somewhere and was torn considerably, making her private area inside expose slightly and glutting the guards’ eyes.
Fortunately, it was in the palace. No one dared to act unruly, and all the guards retreated.
“This woman is crazy!”
“She must be crazy, otherwise she would not come to the Imperial Garden to jump into the lake.”
“Do you know her?”
“I don’t know!” “Nor do I!”
All the people shook their heads. Since He family had already fallen, they could not enter the circle of the wealthy. Besides, He Yuxiu was not a local citizen, so no one knew her there.
“Get out of here! Get out of here! Her Highness is coming!” Someone shouted in the distance, and all the people retreated voluntarily.
Surrounded by palace servants, Empress came first, followed by Imperial n.o.ble Consort Su and Consort Zhao.
“What’s the matter?” Empress stopped and asked at the sight of the soaked He Yuxiu thrown randomly on the ground. Several eunuchs pushed He Yuxiu’s disheveled hair to reveal her face.
Someone came over and whispered some words to Empress. Then, Empress’ expression became weird, and she turned to look at Consort Zhao behind and said with a faint smile, “Consort Zhao, come to see whether she is your paternal family member.”
Consort Zhao, a little bit slower than Empress, changed her countenance at the sight of He Yuxiu. The palace dress was quite familiar, so Consort Zhao recognized He Yuxiu at the first sight. She wondered why her so-called niece from the paternal family behaved so disappointingly just after they had met just now. Looking at He Yuxiu’s embarra.s.sing appearance, Consort Zhao felt her stomach ached with anger. But asked by Empress on the scene, Consort Zhao could not turn a blind eye to He Yuxiu, as she had advised Empress to allow He Yuxiu to be a second consort of the King Xuan’s Manor.
At the moment, Consort Zhao came up, gave a graceful salute, and smile softly. “She is my niece from my paternal family. It is the first time that she has been in the palace, so she knows nothing about the imperial rules. I’m afraid that she b.u.mped into someone. I don’t know whom she b.u.mped into, and the person threw the girl into the lake. Come here, help Miss He to get changed.”
What Consort Zhao meant was that someone deliberately threw He Yuxiu into the river. Compared to He Yuxiu’s current situation, it was the best explanation. To s.h.i.+ft the responsibility to others and create a good reputation for herself was Consort Zhao’s wishful thinking.
A eunuch and a palace maidservant beside Consort Zhao held He Yuxiu to leave the scene.
The Empress’ face remained weird, and she curved her lips slightly and said, “My sister, you’re so generous. Shall I help you to inquire who b.u.mped Miss He into the river? Miss He came to the palace for the first time and just claimed kin with you. But the accident happened. Just now, she was reduced by the guards, and her reputation was stained. What should she do now? Besides, King Xuan…”
Consort Zhao’s face stiffened instantly, and a gleam of coldness flashed under her eyes. She had been restrained in the deep palace for a decade. Seemingly, it was said to protect her, but in fact, she was imprisoned there without any freedom. This time, she could manage to come out of the palace by the name of attending the Spring Wind Feast, so in any case, she was unwilling to return to the old days when she had to live in the palace alone for her whole life.
Others did not know, but Consort Zhao knew clearly that every time Emperor came to her palace, he just talked about her elder sister. Being the only young sister of Consort Xian in the palace and having a similar look with her, Consort Zhao knew Emperor used her to cherish the memory with her sister, which was all her role in the palace. Emperor said to restrain her in the deep palace just for fear that she might be framed by Empress. But the restriction lasted over a decade. Perhaps, the Emperor’s tenderness and expectation had deteriorated already.
Now she just wanted to appear in front of everyone as a favored consort, enjoying the superiority above others. She wanted to get greater rights. Whether with the original motivation or in the current purpose, she felt that she was the right person to enjoy the glory and wealth.
With ten years pa.s.sing, perhaps Consort Zhao had gradually entered Emperor Zongwen’s heart, and she thought she was able to replace Consort Xian. With her face and gentleness similar to Consort Xian, Consort Zhao did not believe that Emperor Zongwen remained indifferent to her. In the past, he always ignored her requests, but now, he allowed her to appear in front of people.
She believed that as the Emperor’s mind changed, she could get more!
Of course, she also needed someone’s support. At this time, the He family that emerged became her best tool, as she could bond herself to Feng Yuran by using He family and show great kindness to him. Consort Xian had pa.s.sed away for years, and Consort Zhao thought, as Feng Yuran’s aunt, she was his closest person in the palace, and she could even put in a good word for him in front of Emperor at an appropriate time.
If Feng Yuran could succeed to the throne, she, as his aunt, could ascend to the position of Empress Dowager. It was all Consort Zhao’s plan. Of course, she had totally forgotten Consort Xian’s death, and believed that woman was too stupid and died indirectly in her hands, leaving her husband and son to her. What a stupid person Consort Xian was!
He Yuxiu was Consort Zhao’s niece whom she planned to marry to Feng Yuran. That was, He Yuxiu was a necessary means for Consort Zhao to a.s.sociate with Feng Yuran, so Consort Zhao was so kind to He Yuxiu. But out of Consort Zhao’s expectation, He Yuxiu, such a foolish woman, had such an accident when she had just left Consort Zhao for a while. How could Consort Zhao not get angry?
What kind of person secretly set to destroy her plan? Consort Zhao thought that she would not let the person go if she found out who the person was.