Chapter 254: Fall From Grace (1/2)

Qi Yun didn't stay for long. He hesitated when he was about to return to the palace. He'd heard rumors about Nan Xun and Jun Huang, and the two of them did stay together almost all the time. Hearing the conversation between the emperor and Prince Duan made him wonder if the rumors had been true all along.

He didn't voice his thoughts. Their relations.h.i.+p was none of his business. He was in no place to judge them.

He waved a hand dismissively when Jun Huang turned to him in question and hurried away. Jun Huang turned to Nan Xun, who put away his thoughtful look and led Jun Huang to the dining hall.

Every time a man in power fell from his grace, there would always be serious repercussions. Qi Chen had escaped, but his mother ended up suffering in his stead.

She knew things wouldn't end well for her as soon as she heard about Qi Chen's failure. As she expected, once Qi Chen got broken out of prison, the emperor banished her to the Cold Palace.

The honored consort was no empress despite her past glory. The worst the servants and maids had done to the banished empress was to ignore her. With the honored consort, though, there hostility translated into abuse.

Her life as the honored consort was polar opposite to her life in the Cold Palace. In the morning, when she called for a maid to help her change, the maid responded with nasty insults.

The consort sat on the bed silently. Only when the maid mentioned Qi Chen did she lunge at the maid. She grabbed the maid's hair and yanked like a mad woman. The maid called out for help. The other maids rushed in to stop the consort.

“Do you still think you are the honored consort? Ha, stop dreaming! In this place, even we are superior to you in status. Don't think about leaving. After what your son did, it's impossible for you to rise again.”

A woman with a mean-looking face pushed the honored consort hard. The consort stumbled and fell to the floor, her forehead knocking into the table and swelling. No one cared enough to even check on her.

The consort went blue in the face and gritted her teeth. “You d.a.m.n animals have gotten bold. Do you really think you're now in power? Once I get out of this place, I'll make you pay tenfold.”

“Funny for the consort to say that. If you do get released one day, we'll be sure to bow down to you in apology.”

The group of maids broke into laughter as they walked away.

The honored consort sat on the floor and watched them go with unfocused eyes. She felt cold when she came to her senses. She realized that she was still dressed in only a thin robe, which wasn't enough to keep her warm.

She took a deep breath and put on something warmer. Then she sat down before a bronze mirror to clean herself up. It took a moment for her to remember that the emperor would never come see her again. She sighed and put away her hairpin, staring quietly at her own reflection.

She only walked out of her room when she couldn't stand her hunger. A servant brought a small barrel into the palace.

The women of Cold Palace rushed to the servant like animals. The honored consort followed after them. She suppressed her anger when a few other women knocked into her. When she saw the food in the barrel and smelled the slight acidic smell in the air, she pushed past the women around her and threw up.

The maid glanced at her coldly and snarked, “The consort is still the delicate flower that can't survive outside a greenhouse. Where do you think you are? This is the Cold Palace, not your once residence. This is all the food you get.”

The honored consort looked up at her, opening her mouth to say something, but she threw up again when she saw the other women tucking into the food like pigs.

In the end, she didn't eat anything. The servant took the barrel away.

After a while, another aggressive looking servant came. She looked at the vomit on the ground, then at the consort. She huffed and threw a towel at her. “Wipe it clean,” she ordered. “If you don't, you won't be allowed to sleep.”

“Who do you think you are?” the consort retorted in rage. “Even though I've been banished to this place, a lowly girl like you are in no place to order me around.”

The servant slapped the consort and pulled at her hair. “Who do you think you are? We may call you the consort, but you better face the fact that you aren't one anymore. Otherwise, why would you be here? You better behave, or we'll make your life difficult.”

The consort was stunned. She met the servant's taunting gaze. In the end, she took a deep breath and started cleaning her mess with gritted teeth.

She was the one who had vomited, but it didn't make cleaning any less disgusting. She wiped the floor with her eyes half-lidded.