Chapter 163: Frightened, this is a corpse (1/2)

Chapter 163: Frightened, this is a corpse

A single line from Long Feiye sent Duanmu Yao off in a huff and completely ruined the happy and harmonious family feast. Amidst the silence, Emperor Tianhui smote the table and rose to his feet in anger, further shocking everyone. Even the empress dowager and empress suddenly sucked in their breath.

“Duke of Qin, come with Zhen!” Emperor Tianhui’s face was completely black, his tone frigid. Long Feiye remained expressionless as ever as he elegantly rose to his feet and followed Emperor Tianhui out. It was only when both figures disappeared that commotion broke out amongst those seated, along with lots of commentary.

Long Feiye had used the excuse of insufficient free time to reject Duanmu Yao. Although this wasn’t completely related to Han Yunxi, his answer to her ‘having news’ was enough to make her the topic of discussion. Undoubtedly, the Duke of Qin’s refusal was great news for Han Yunxi. If Duanmu Yao couldn’t enter the Duke of Qin’s estate, then Han Yunxi could hold onto her throne as Qin Wangfei.

“Hehe, Han Yunxi sure is lucky. The Duke of Qin was still young when the empress dowager arranged their wedding. If the idea came now, he’d probably refuse her as well.”

“That’s hard to say. Didn’t you hear the Duke of Qin’s words just then? It’s obvious that he’s favored her before. I heard that Han Yunxi lives right in his Hibiscus Courtyard!”

“That doesn’t mean anything. I can’t believe this woman caught the Duke of Qin’s eye. Doesn’t she just know some poison skills?”

“There’s more than that. You didn’t hear about the Plum Blossom Meet? Even Princess Rongle had to acknowledge her inferiority. As I see it, this consort’s not that simple!”

… …

Although there were differing opinions, rumors that the Duke of Qin doted on Han Yunxi began spreading from this family feast. Han Yunxi took the chance to quietly slip out amidst the gossip and found a court lady to help her clean up the stains on her clothes.

She hadn’t gone for long before the empress dowager asked, “Where’s Qin Wangfei?”

“To reply esteemed empress dowager, esteemed wangfei went to take care of the stains on her clothing. Xu mama accompanied her,” a court lady reported.

A complicated look flitted past the empress dowager’s eyes, but she didn’t say anything. Of course she heard about what happened at the Plum Blossom Meet. Han Yunxi was a girl that she simultaneously loved and hated. Knowing Grand Concubine Yi’s personality, she’d undoubtedly cause difficulties for the girl once Duanmu Yao married into the Duke of Qin’s estate. She was planning to draw Han Yunxi to her side then. But who knew that this would happen instead? The Duke of Qin made Duanmu Yao unsightly in front of all these people. What would they do if news of it spread to Western Zhou’s imperial palace?

The empress dowager knitted her brows, her heart laden with cares. The empress paused for a bit before urging her under her breath, “Muhou, I think there’s still hope.”

“How do you say?” the empress dowager replied, not seeing any prospects at all.

“Muhou, when the emperor forever tried to push a marriage before, didn’t the Duke of Qin refuse multiple times? Finally, he used an imperial edict to force the Duke of Qin and Grand Concubine Yi to submit,” the empress said softly.

At this, the empress dowager’s eyebrows relaxed. She would’ve forgotten about the matter if the empress hadn’t brought it up. But on second thought, she felt that its use was inappropriate. Unhappily she said, “Empress, how could you mention Han Yunxi and Princess Rongle in the same breath? We don’t even know whether Grand Concubine Yi can even coax her back, it’s better for us to go have a look.”

Han Yunxi had no sense of integrity nor decorum when she kicked her own sedan chair and delivered herself through the Duke of Qin’s gates. Princess Rongle was the dignified princess of an entire nation and had made many concessions to gain the Duke of Qin’s favor. How could they force him to marry her? Wouldn’t that turn Western Zhou’s imperial house into a laughingstock?

The empress rose to accompany her. “Muhou, Princess Rongle is the Duke of Qin’s junior sister. Although they can’t be considered childhood sweethearts, they’ve known each other since they were young. As chenqie sees it, as long as the Duke of Qin nods his head, Princess Rongle will forgive everything that happened here today. Later, chenqie will exhort everyone else not to breathe of word of tonight’s events!”

The empress dowager nodded, and the two went towards the east.

—

At the same time, Han Yunxi was taking care of her clothing in the palace’s western wing. The better lighting of the room revealed that the soup had stained a large section of her clothing that was impossible to clean off. Thankfully, everyone had spare sets of clothing prepared for the banquet.

“Xu mama, help me bring over some new clothes.”

“This old servant will bring them here immediately, may esteemed wangfei wait in the meantime.”

“There’s no rush. I’m tired, so I plan to rest for awhile.”

When Xu mama closed the door and left, Han Yunxi lay down lazily on the long bench. She wasn’t tired, but she wanted to use an excuse to stay here. It wouldn’t be very interesting to go back. Chances were that both Long Feiye and Grand Concubine Yi would find themselves hard-pressed to leave after all that had happened. After she changed her clothes, she would go home. None of this had anything to do with her, anyways. Thinking back, Long Feiye had only spoken two lines tonight, but it’d caused a great uproar. She wasn’t sure how Emperor Tianhui was going to manage him, but Long Feiye must have some self-assurance to do things this way.

Han Yunxi didn’t even realize that her lips were curving up in thought, or that her mood was excellent. She was secretly rejoicing when she suddenly heard crashing sounds from next door, as if someone had knocked over quite a few things.

What happened?

Han Yunxi rose and listened closely, but heard nothing else.

Strange!

She didn’t think twice before getting up and going over to see what was the matter. Unexpectedly, she saw a giant rack filled with decorations had been knocked over in the room when she pushed open the door. Various famous, rare, and precious ornaments were smashed on the floor, while Princess Changping lay in their midst with her back facing the air. It wasn’t clear where she’d been injured, but there was blood flowing everywhere.