Chapter 143.1 – Pregnant
“If someone wants to court death, then no one can stop them.”
Imperial Noble Consort Yu gently stroked her cardamom nails. She abruptly raised her head to look at Consort Yan, who was sitting quietly across from her, but with a charming face. A mocking smile appeared on her delicate face.
The harem was not a place where secrets could be kept. No matter how secretive something was other people would still be able to find out about it. Moreover, the matter with the laowangye blew up so much yesterday. No matter how the emperor tried to cover it up, the imperial concubines were still able to use mysterious means to find out what was said.
Therefore, the news that the laowangye reprimanded Consort Yan was also spread out. No matter how much the emperor investigated, he still could not find out who spread the news.
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The fact that Emperor Chong Ming did not like Fu wangfu was an unspoken secret in the harem and even in the imperial court. But everyone also knew that no matter how much Emperor Chong Ming hated Fu wangfu there was nothing he could do about it. Sometimes, even Emperor Chong Ming had to abide by the laowangye’s words, let alone a mere concubine of the imperial harem.
Consort Yan’s expression was somewhat unsightly.
The reason that she could stand out amongst so many beauties in the harem was all due to the state preceptor. With her level of skills, if it weren’t for Wei Shun Qing, she would have long been swallowed up by this vicious and greedy harem. There wouldn’t even be dregs of her left.
She had also heard about what happened last night. When the emperor did not come to her palace after the banquet, she had sent a eunuch out to check on the situation. Coincidentally, he saw the scene of the laowangye reprimanding Emperor Chong Ming, and even she was also implicated. When the eunuch returned, he reported everything back to her word for word.
Consort Yan knew about the laowangye from the state preceptor, but she never took it to heart, because the lethality of the laowangye has dropped by ninety percent after he fell ill, and he rarely entered the palace after his illness, so she has never had the chance to see him.
“Jiejie is correct. Some people really should grow a brain. They shouldn’t think that they are some big shot just because the emperor is favoring them. How can a mere consort be in charge of the harem?”
[*T/N: 姐姐 jie jie – older sister. The concubines of the harem are technically considered a family since they’re all the emperor’s women. They can refer to each other as ‘older sister’ or ‘younger sister’ to establish close relations or to put on a show for others. Since these terms denote seniority, some concubines who have been in the harem longer may call a newer concubine ‘younger sister’ to remind her of her place.]
Mei-zhaoyi* never liked Consort Yan’s arrogant posturing. Now that Consort Yan has courted disaster with the laowangye, it was the best time to hit her while she was down. Seeing the ugly expression on Consort Yan’s face, Mei-zhaoyi felt exceptionally invigorated. This woman dared to steal her position. This was retribution!
[*T/N: 昭仪 zhaoyi – I’m not sure which exact model of the imperial harem the author is going by, since the ranking system changes depending on the dynasty. Zhaoyi is either a level below an imperial concubine, or it falls within the imperial concubine category, which is just a level lower than that of a consort. The title zhaoyi translates to ‘Lady of Bright Deportment.’
Also a reminder, Mei-zhaoyi is a remarkable beauty in the harem, and was once able to easily calm the emperor from his hissy fit. She thinks that Consort Yan stole away her opportunity for a promotion.]
The empress did not stop them. Consort Yan really did need a verbal beating. After the emperor started favoring her, she kept gaining power and authority. Very few of the concubines in the harem could seize any information that could be used against Consort Yan. Now was indeed a good opportunity to put her in her place.
Moreover, she knew that Consort Yan did not respect her as the empress.
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Ever since Consort Yan was conferred a title by the emperor, this was the first time that she came to Fengming Palace to greet her. Usually, she would find some excuse to not come greet the empress, and later the emperor even permitted her to stop greeting the empress by saying that her health wasn’t great.
The concubines covertly ridiculed Consort Yan from beginning to end. However, amongst the six palaces*, only Imperial Noble Consort Yu said a sarcastic sentence at the beginning. The rest did not say a single word.
[*T/N: I believe the ‘six palaces’ refers to the highest ranked women in the imperial harem, so the empress and the consorts.]
Consort Shi had no backing, so she was afraid of causing trouble for her son, therefore she has always been a dutiful consort, and almost no one could find fault with her. As for Consort Yun, her son ran to support Consort Shi’s son. She despised her son’s lack of ambition and very rarely participated in any harem battles.
As for Consort Lan, her position was more susceptible. Her only son was not interested in the throne, so she never participated in the battle among the concubines. Everyone knew that she was not a threat, so they did not pay much mind to her.
Up until she finally left Fengming Palace, Consort Yan’s expression was darker than a thundercloud.
Translations by Vanilla Muse. Read on vmnovels [dot] com
After the laowangye reprimanded him, the emperor went back to his place that night and smashed a lot of precious things to vent his anger. Word has it that he was still angry during imperial court in the morning.
Consort Yan received Wei Shun Qing’s advice, and right now she did not dare to go to Emperor Chong Ming to complain about her grievances. She could only swallow the grievances in her stomach. This was the first time after becoming the master of Zhaozi Palace that she has been so humiliated but she could not fight back.
