259 Untitled (1/2)
In this month, Consort Hua had not just once snatched the Emperor's favor from her.
Her face flushed pink, and her breathing was uneven. She dug her nails deeply into her palms, and she trembled with so much anger that the beads of her hair accessories collided into each other, making clear and sharp noises.
Pretending not to see, Meng Fuyao ordered for Consort Shu's corpse to be taken away. She instructed her attendants to deliver the news of the death and to prepare for the funeral. Then, she said, ”Everyone is dismissed.”
Afterward, she turned and slowly stepped out of the door as her attendants followed, and she looked up at the sky. The snowflakes had finally spiraled down.
How many corpses would this round of snow cover?
Three days later, another strange incident in the palace astonished the whole of Xuanyuan.
Apparently, Noble Concubine Yao and Consort Hua had an argument during their encounter. Both shoved each other and Noble Concubine Yao pushed Consort Hua into the pond. However, the chilliness of the pond in winter was too much for a weak palace woman to handle. When Consort Hua was finally brought onto the shore, she was found to be dead.
While Xuanyuan Min howled beside the corpse, ”Empress Yuwen” did nothing but send Consort Hua's family into the palace. Consort Hua's father, the Minister of Revenue, Hong Xi, had only one daughter out of his many sons. If Meng Fuyao had not appeased his wife, his wife would have cried until she fainted. His wife knelt and begged the Empress to seek justice for her daughter.
However, Meng Fuyao opened her palms and said, ”It was cold, and no one else was on the street, and only a few attendants pointed to Noble Concubine Yao as the murderer. However, there is no concrete evidence, and Noble Concubine Yao will not admit it. Furthermore…” she leaned forward and whispered by Mrs. Hua's ear, ”Noble Concubine Yao's father, Grand Scholar Yao Ling, entered the palace a few times and swore that no such thing happened. Mrs. Hua, you must know that Grand Scholar Yao is a favored official in the Regent King's camp. Well, I'm in a very difficult position…”
Mrs. Hua raged. ”Yao Ling, how dare you abuse your power to harm the lives of others!”
She crawled to her knees, and without even thanking the Empress, she rushed back home to find her younger brother, Li Yuan. He was the Commander of Capital Defence and had true authority over the military power in Kunjing. Though he was a subordinate of the Regent King, similar to Yao Ling, both of them were foes.
When Li Yuan heard that his niece was harmed, but her family could not seek justice, he was extremely furious. Immediately, he mobilized 3,000 soldiers from the Capital Defence and charged towards Yao Ling's residence. Before Yao Ling could reason out the situation, Li Yuan had already dashed into his residence with a swarm of armed soldiers and grabbed him by the collar. ”You old dog, you won't be able to make up for your misdeed even after 100 deaths!” And he slashed down with his silvery sword, and out came the bloody weapon.
Then, this aggressive general killed everyone in the residence, wiped the blood off his soles and strode away, as though nothing had happened.
The bloody incident sent shockwaves throughout the court. Yao Ling was part of Situ Mo's camp, and within the camp, marriages across families were common. Yao Ling's wife and daughter-in-law were all esteemed ladies of officials under Situ Mo's circle of influence. Since Li Yuan opened a can of worms, these officials were prepared not to let this matter slip. Some Commanders, who were also in control of the capital defense forces, gave the Li clan and Hua clan a taste of their own medicine, and the Li camp retaliated. As such, Kunjing ended up in chaos as the two camps fought endlessly with each other.
The chaos between the two camps with deep grievances completely erupted because of the death of a concubine and the act of a person who intentionally sowed discord. It affected the entire Xuanyuan court at an uncontrollable speed, and almost 80% of the officials were involved in this scandal. In the end, there were even cases of assassins being hired to kill others or rows of corpses being laid out on the streets. Everyone's safety was at risk, and many took sick leave from the court. Additionally, as senior officials under Prince Wen Yi's camp stirred trouble and aggravated the situation, the Xuanyuan court ended up in a dysfunctional state. When the chaos ended, there were more than 100 casualties amongst the officials and Kunjing, and it included both minor and highly-ranked officials.
In the 12th year of the Zhaoning era, amongst the bloodshed in Kunjing, the citizens were restless. Through the continuous and bloody conflict of the two major camps, they seemed to witness the end of the reign of the Regent King, who used to have ultimate power.
This seemingly strange but planned chaos was later labeled as ”Bloodshed of Kunjing” in history.
At that moment, Xuanyuan Cheng had a taste of the consequences of balancing the powers between the two major camps. He cultivated each camp to the point that they could no longer incorporate with one another, and any spark would cause a conflict between the two. He also equally distributed military power amongst the two camps, and though on the surface he said that it was to equally govern the city, it was meant for the two camps to spy on each other. Now that the camps were in a messy fight, their military subordinates had also become restless, even though he ordered them not to be involved in the fight.
The core members of the two camps who were the steadiest and could control the situation were despatched to a far land, and he could only manage it himself. Not only did he have to control the mess amongst the officials in the capital, but he also had to face calls from Prince Wen Yi's camp to re-investigate the case, and still constantly monitor the next move of King of Han. Though he knew that something was wrong in the harem, he was too busy to take care of that.
And the woman who stood on the pinnacle position of the harem, smiled as she watched on the well-choreographed incident. Finally, it had come to the final stages of the plan.
The final plan targeted the Regent King's last and most loyal official, the father of Consort Xian, the Gao clan.
However, before that, she had to first make Consort Xian, ”kill” the Empress!
It was December 27, after the snow ended.
Meng Fuyao smiled as she and her attendants stepped into the palace that Consort Xian was grounded in. Consort Xian walked up to her unsettlingly, and she asked, ”Your Highness, are you here to release me?”
As Meng Fuyao continued to beam at her, she became so uncomfortable that she knelt obediently. Then, Meng Fuyao nodded as a cue for her decree to be read. Ever since the chaos, the attendants within the palace were swiftly changed out by Xuanyuan Min, and the ones under them right now were trustworthy people.
While Consort Xian listened to the decree, her expression changed.
It stated that from the time she entered the palace, she was easily jealous and not virtuous, killed people like scything grass, was unrespectful to the Empress, bullied the other concubines…
”No! I did not!” Halfway through the reading, Consort Xian barked. She crawled over to rip the decree. ”You're maligning me!”
”You did not disrespect me?” Meng Fuyao smiled. ”On the day that I entered the palace, why did you not come to pay your respects?”
”I sent my attendant to request for absence!”
”Oh?” Meng Fuyao took her time to tidy her clothes. ”Then, do you remember what I said at that time?”