The Princess Wei Yang Chapter 96 Part2
Chapter 96: No Different From Treason
Consort and concubine are not equal. Consort is for a higher ranking position, usually denoted by “fei” whereas concubine is lower-ranking and denoted by “pin”. Collectively speaking, they are all concubines.
The Empress’s heart ached. Back when her
beauty was at its peak, she still fell short of De Fei, much less now, having
become a wilted flower b.u.t.terflies no longer visited.
If she died, Xian Fei did not have a
son, but De Fei gave birth to the favored Qi Huangzi, so she could become
Empress, and someone else will become Taizi. Both mother and son clearly wanted
her to return to the heavens sooner than later!
The thought greatly upset her, making
her furious. As if immediately recovering her strength, she stopped breathing
heavily and straightened up. She coldly demanded: “Tell me then, who gave you
the courage to wear a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin!”
De Fei lived in the palace for many
years and was familiar with the Empress’s temper. She kowtowed and pleaded:
“How could chen qie dare to wear a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin? This is a gift
chen qie received from Bixia this morning, obviously only eight tails…”
Xian Fei remained in a low bow, afraid
to speak up. She was not apathetic and haughty anymore. De Fei dared to wear
the nine-tailed phoenix hairpin reserved for the Empress, which was forbidden.
If the Empress was open-minded, she
would laugh and dismiss it, but now the Empress was gravely ill and despised
those who dreamt of her position, now… It seems Xian Fei herself had also been
involved with unimaginable consequences!
The Empress heard De Fei’s explanation
and felt even angrier. She sneered, her lips curling back as if cracking a
smile. Not waiting for De Fei to finish, she cut in: “By saying this, the one
to blame is the Emperor? Bixia wanted you to become Empress?!”
De Fei wanted to kill someone. She was
certain Li Wei Yang had done something to it. The hairpin was made of high
quality, soft gold. Li Wei Yang must have split one of the tails of the hairpin
into two when no one was paying attention!
She hesitated, aware that she had no
evidence. If she told the Empress, not only would the Empress not believe her
but would also punish her for making a false accusation. Li Wei Yang did not
have a reason to tamper with the hairpin. She was not a concubine, so why would
she harm De Fei?! Even if she begrudged De Fei for accusing her of theft, how
could she retaliate immediately! Not even De Fei would believe this absurdity!
Not to mention, this managed to strike a very sore spot for the Empress—
Before De Fei could answer, a nu guan by
her side Xin er quickly responded: “Empress niang niang, Nubi’s niang niang’s
hairpin has been lost before. Someone must have tampered with it! Empress niang
niang, please don’t misunderstand niang niang!”
De Fei’s heart sank. d.a.m.n that naive
Yatou!
Sure enough, the Empress scoffed:
“Someone tampered with it? There are dozens of palace maids present, but among
them, who could force De Fei to wear the hairpin! This is a sign of disrespect
from her. You are a Yatou by De Fei’s side and hope to help Zhuzi push the
blame onto someone else. Unforgivable!”
Her eyebrows rose as she ordered: “Drag
this impudent servant out and beat her to death! Better than to keep troubling
others!”
Xin er could not believe her ears and looked to De Fei
in panic. De Fei only gave her a disapproving stare, which made her heart sank.
How could that be? De Fei had always been favored, and the Empress also
respected De Fei on some level, why was she so furious now… Xin er could not
believe it.
Li Wei Yang smiled wryly. What the Empress hated the
most was someone dreaming of her position. De Fei had Qi Huangzi, so all that's
left was for the fuse to be lit. She gave the Empress a good reason and knew
how the Empress would deal with De Fei!
Heeding the Empress’s order, the eunuchs stepped
forward and a while later, Xin er had been beaten countless times. Jiu Gongzhu
wanted to speak up but did not dare. The Empress looked like she wanted to kill
someone, so she tried to advise her: “Muhou…”
“Silence!” She barely said anything when the Empress
cut her off like a clap of thunder. Terrified, Jiu Gongzhu fell silent. While
she hesitated, Xin er had been beaten to death, heavily bleeding. Xin er was a
palace maid from De Fei’s dowry and accompanied her for many years. To say
there were no emotional ties would be a lie. Xin er and Lan er were De Fei’s
most capable aids and both were suddenly lost in one day.
De Fei was terrified, feeling as if she had been
plunged into cold water and nauseous at the same time. She did not dare to look
at Xin er’s bleeding corpse and raw flesh.
Jiu Gongzhu only stared at the Empress in disbelief.
The Empress who was always gentle, calm, generous, and kind-hearted was also
just as cruel and heartless.
Tuoba Zhen coldly looked on with no intention to step
in and help. He knew very well that when one’s position was threatened, anyone
would become cruel and ruthless. What De Fei did unearthed the resentment
buried deep in the Empress’s heart! Whether De Fei was framed or not, no one
would care. The Empress only cared about the result of this action and wanted
everyone to know who stood above all among the six palaces!
He did not feel this was related to Li Wei Yang. He
knew De Fei had harmed her earlier, but he still could not believe that Li Wei
Yang, a xiao Yatou, could understand the Empress’s hidden sentiments and cause
her anger to boil over.
No, he refused to believe it! Last time, Li Wei Yang
could scheme against him because he was careless, how could she understand the
affairs in the palace as if they were in the palm of her hand… Impossible!
The Empress’s expressions steeled, lips curling up.
Her eyes widened, taken over by fury and the hatred that slowly spread all over
her body, gradually swallowing every last bit of reason. A dreadful color
darkened her face as she felt this was an unforgivable offense!
Xin er rolled to the ground, dead. The four eunuchs
stopped, Xin er’s blood visible on their clothes as they solemnly stood and
waited for the Empress’s order. Everyone knew it would be De Fei’s turn!
Jiu Gongzhu felt a sense of fear she never had before,
frightened to see the ruthlessness and madness on Muhou’s once gentle face. She
did not dare to speak up for De Fei and could only hope Qi ge is on his way
over.
The tension in the atmosphere made it that if a silver
needle fell, everyone would hear it. Suddenly, the silence was broken by
approaching footsteps. Li Wei Yang glanced up and saw Qi Huangzi and the
Emperor arriving, or rather, Tuoba Yu had invited the Emperor here! Oh, the
irony. Li Wei Yang met the Emperor twice in one day, once when facing his
verdict, but this time, it was to sit back and watch two tigresses fight.
The ground was covered with porcelain shards. Tuoba
Yu’s face did not change as he promptly knelt down. The Empress’s face turned
purple, shaking out of fury. No palace maids were supporting her. Her hand
trembled as she pointed at Tuoba Yu and admonished: “You want to plead for your
Mufei too?”
Even the Emperor was stunned by her aggressiveness. He
had never seen her make such a face and indignantly looked at the two consorts
kneeling on the ground. Concubines will be concubines and could not compare to
the Empress. The
Empress stayed by his side during his darkest days and played an important role
in his ascension to the throne, so the Empress was not only his official wife
but also an ally and friend! Seeing the Empress so furious, he already decided
that De Fei and Xian Fei were at fault!
Tuoba Yu calmly knelt near the Empress and said:
“Muhou, Mufei’s mistake has angered you. In any case, arguing will be
counterproductive and is also harmful for your health. Please sit down, drink a
cup of tea, and ease your mind. You must not exhaust yourself.”
The Empress scoffed and turned her face away.
The Emperor glanced at De Fei and frowned: “What
happened? What did you do to anger the Empress?”
A palace maid brought over the hairpin. The Emperor
glanced at it and still did not understand. Then he realized that although the
rules in the palace were strict, if one did not pay special attention, they
would not notice something like this.
The Empress covered her face and wept pitifully:
“Bixia, if you want to depose me, you should have said so. Why continue to look
for physicians and medicine for chen qie? Let chen qie soon return to the
Heavens, then you can make someone else Empress!”
Shocked, the Emperor quickly helped her up: “Why are
you saying this, Empress, when did I ever intend to depose you?! This is the
hairpin I gave De Fei, is there something wrong with it?” He turned back in
surprise and understood, immediately saying: “This hairpin was stolen by a
palace maid earlier, perhaps it was tampered with then…”
His suspicions went to Li Wei Yang, but that was
impossible. How could a fourteen year old child have the mind and courage to do
that! Unless someone intervened in between and borrowed someone’s dagger to
kill? He thought so, and his eyes landed on Wu Xian Fei: “Xian Fei, why did you
turn a blind eye to De Fei’s wrongdoing?”
Wu Xian Fei panicked, cold sweat running down as she
bowed: “Bixia, please calm down. It was not that chen qie ignored this but that
chen qie did not notice.”
The Emperor frowned. The rules in the palace were as
follows: the Empress’s garments consisted of a Wei set, Ju clothes, and Dian
Chai Li set. The Wei set was jewelry in shape of twelve flowers drooping down
on both sides of her head and a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin, but De Fei and
Xian Fei could only wear phoenix hairpins with eight tails.
That phoenix hairpin somehow grew another tail, and De
Fei even wore it, was this to test his relationship with the Empress? The
Empress’s health was not good. De Fei and Xian Fei took turns managing palace
affairs. Perhaps the two had an ulterior motive and used the phoenix hairpin to
see his reaction. If he wanted to depose her, he would only laugh and let this
pa.s.s - The Emperor was overly suspicious, so these speculations quickly
surfaced…
De Fei saw Tuoba Yu kneeling and anxiously said:
“Empress niang niang, chen qie will take responsibility for this. Please do not
be too angry and involve Qi Huangzi!”
She did not say anything wrong, but her words sounded
unpleasant to the Empress. Her face darkened. Disregarding etiquette, she
shouted: “You dare say “involve”? Am I that wicked in your eyes?” She angrily
pointed at Zhang De Fei as if she wanted to devour her alive.
Others saw this and rushed to persuade the Empress
otherwise, sending the entire Imperial Garden up in an uproar.
The Emperor looked at the Empress and knew it was not
good. The Empress’s usually pale face grew unnaturally pale. He knew that
normally his wife was calm and reserved but had a lot on her mind. Seeing De
Fei and Qi Huangzi, her heart ached and must have led her to overthink. He
loudly said: “Quickly help the Empress sit down and rest!”
Tuoba Zhen had a blank stare, suppressing the relish
and cruelty in his eyes. Watching a good show and seeing the results he hoped
for was very satisfying. The Empress, De Fei, Tuoba Yu, and even Wu Xian Fei
who continued to kneel in silence, they all stirred his hatred and resentment.
Although Wu Xian Fei was his Muqin in name, but she was domineering and used
him for her own ends. Now, he felt content to see their horrified faces.
Li Wei Yang stood from afar and saw the relish in
Tuoba Zhen’s eyes and sneered. The power struggle had soon twisted his mind,
and he probably resented not being able to kill them all! Except this situation
was not as good as he thought!
Zhang De Fei soon had sweat falling like rain, her
back damp with sweat. Tuoba Yu kept his head bowed, so it was hard to tell what
he was thinking. He did not speak up for De Fei, but his protectiveness was
evident. Li Wei Yang sighed, she did not think about him, but De Fei had stoked
the fire, causing the fire to burn her, so who was there to blame?!
Li Wei Yang’s gaze finally fell on Tuoba Yu who was
kneeling, back straight. She wanted to know what he was thinking right now.
At that moment, an eunuch suddenly knelt down:
“Responding to Bixia, Empress niang niang, Nucai is responsible for managing
internal affairs. Nucai admits to the crime!”
Li Wei Yang thoughtfully looked to the eunuch.
The Emperor frowned: “Admit to the crime?”
The eunuch Jiang bowed low: “Nucai is in charge of
those who gave the phoenix hairpin to De Fei niang niang, but the eunuch was
new to the palace, so the phoenix hairpin for Empress niang niang was
mistakenly given to De Fei niang niang. The phoenix hairpins are almost
identical, except one is nine-tailed and the other eight-tailed. Nucai just
learned of this mistake and came to accept punishment from Bixia and the niang
niangs!” He kowtowed, and his head loudly hit the ground.
Tuoba Zhen sneered, so Tuoba Yu had such quick hands!
Li Wei Yang shook her head. She tampered with the
hairpin, but this Jiang gonggong said it was mistakenly sent out. How could
gifts from the Emperor be so easily been mistaken? This was to deliver a
scapegoat and see if the Emperor and Empress will accept it!
The Emperor coldly told Jiang gonggong: “Go down and
accept a hundred strokes.”
This was to take his life, but Jiang gonggong only
bowed: “Obeying decree.”
Li Wei Yang saw the turn-of-events and had to applaud
Tuoba Yu for having picked a suitable candidate so quickly and push the blame
to the internal palace affairs. The head of internal affairs was an ally of
Taizi, and Taizi being the Empress’s son, gave this act another meaning in the
Emperor’s eyes. Taizi could have set Zhang De Fei up by having the wrong
hairpin sent to her, so the Empress could use this excuse to punish De Fei…
Li Wei Yang sighed. Unfortunately, only a little rain
followed the clap of thunder.
The Empress’s face changed and turned hostile, but she
quickly realized she could not be angry anymore or the Emperor would
misunderstand - she gritted her teeth and reluctantly suppressed her resentment
and put on a calm front. She personally went to help Zhang De Fei up to her
feet: “I was overthinking today and misunderstood meimei.”
Although she said this, the look in her eyes was full
of contempt. Zhang De Fei could only pretend not to see it, slightly lowering
herself, bowed and in a respectful, emotional voice, said: “Chen qie was wrong
for not inspecting the hairpin at first. Hope niang niang will forgive this.”
The Empress smiled and said: “Alright, alright, it is
just a misunderstanding. Quickly stand up.” She ordered someone to help Xian
Fei up. The Empress held both of their hands, guilt appeared on her face: “My
health has not been very good, the same goes for my temper. I hope you two
meimei will generously forgive me.”
The two consorts apologized at once. The Emperor
looked back and forth between the three of them and told Tuoba Yu: “Come, stand
up now.”
When Tuoba Yu stood up, his knees had gone stiff. He found
that Li Wei Yang was standing not far away from him. Their eyes met. Her eyes
were dark as the water in a well, pitch black, with a subtle but frightening
hostility. Tuoba Yu lowered his head, not wanting to see her cold and apathetic
expressions.
He suddenly understood everything.
The Emperor personally walked the Empress back to her
palace. Zhang De Fei and Xian Fei suffered from quite the shock and were helped
by palace maids. When De Fei walked past Li Wei Yang, De Fei gave her a
complicated look. It could be said that it was hatred and a pinch of horror,
and fear with a hint of resentment. Li Wei Yang bowed, “Seeing niang niang
off.” Her smile was lively but far from kind. De Fei’s entire body went limp,
barely able to stand as she leaned against the palace maid. She said nothing
and quickly left.
After this incident, the traumatized De Fei would fall
severely ill and be bedridden for three months. Of course, this would come at a
later time.
Tuoba Zhen smiled coldly and left with Wu Xian Fei
without looking back at Li Wei Yang. Tuoba Yu paused and told Jiu Gongzhu:
“Jiumei, you should go on ahead. I will lead Xianzhu out of the palace.”
His voice was strangely calm as if he did not know
anything at all, but Jiu Gongzhu was picked up on it. She stared wide-eyed at
Li Wei Yang and only saw a cold smile appear on Li Wei Yang’s lips as her eyes
remained cold and detached. She did not dare to point it out and only lowered
her head and left, but she still occasionally turned and looked back.
Tuoba Yu’s expressions were quite normal, but his
words came like a bolt of lightning: “Was this your doing?”
Li Wei Yang looked at a peony under the sun and
indifferently smiled: “Indeed.”
Tuoba Yu’s expressions froze, his lips twitched as if
he wanted to say something, but no words came out. Her small smile was like a
bright, crescent moon. Even though she was smiling, it was a detached smile
without any remorse.
His proud heart began to stir in agony for whatever
reason.
“I’m sorry.” He earnestly said, “I know. Mufei must
have done something to you for you to retaliate.”
Li Wei Yang smiled: “Thank you, Qi Dianxia, for
thinking of me.”
Noticing how distant she was with him, Tuoba Yu felt
numb. He said that he would not let De Fei harm Li Wei Yang, and Mufei had
agreed, only to turn around and do as she pleased. Tuoba Yu knew the more he
liked Li Wei Yang, the more Mufei will see them as an eyesore. Like she once
said, to be a ruler, one must be heartless. Mufei targeted Li Wei Yang, fearing
she will become a threat to him, but she did not know how much he valued Li Wei
Yang. He closed his eyes and murmured: “Wei Yang.”
Li Wei Yang paused, her gaze drifting over to Tuoba
Yu. A faint gold tinge from the sun shone against his handsome face. Tuoba Yu
only called her name and did not say anything else until she reached the
carriage.
He even lifted the curtain of the carriage up for her:
“I said that in the future, I would not make you worry. I thought I could
easily keep this promise, but now, it seems I was overconfident. However, I
a.s.sure you, this will be the last time.”
Li Wei Yang sighed: “One thing leads to another.
Things will still be good the next time we meet. If I truly wanted De Fei niang
niang’s life, that would mean disregarding our friendship and a friend like Dianxia,
so I understand the extent of the situation. I hope De Fei niang niang
understands as well. I can only forgive her twice but definitely not a third!
By that time, do not blame me!”
Li Wei Yang climbed onto the carriage, which traveled
down the long road. She lifted the side curtain to look outside. The wide road
was especially clean with not even a leaf in sight. There were eunuchs
carefully sweeping up in the distance. Combined with the sound of horse hooves
and sweeping of brooms, the ground seemed to rumble below them.
Li Wei Yang frowned as she saw a tall silhouette
galloping towards them from afar. At the last moment, that person pulled the
reins and stopped directly in front of Li Wei Yang’s carriage, making the horse
neigh loudly. It was unclear if this was an accident or intentional. Hostility
appeared on that person’s young, handsome face under the sunlight.
“Who are you, why are you stopping Xianzhu’s
carriage?!” The carriage driver raised his voice. The road was wide enough for
four carriages to pa.s.s through at once. What motive did this person have?
The whip in the young man’s hands reared back twice as
a cruel smile flashed across his face. The carriage driver saw the horse whip
being raised and struck his face with a “pa.” He cried out and fell from the
carriage to the ground.
Terrified, Bai Zhi leapt out of the carriage. Li Wei
Yang shook her head and lifted the curtain. The carriage driver was still
howling in pain, his hands covering the red marks on both sides of his face.
Bai Zhi trembled, either out of anger or cowering from
fear. Her lips trembled with every word she managed to say: “Impudence! Daring
to be disrespectful to Xianzhu!”
The man scoffed. Li Wei Yang looked over in his
direction. The sun that touched the horizon at the end of road reflected on her
youthful face, making her eyes shine brighter than jade and more like stars
that had fallen into the mortal world.
The man did not turn to look and acknowledge Li Wei
Yang. With a provocative smile on his face, he asked: “Xianzhu? What’s that?”
-------------------------------------------------
Translator: Chau
Editor: Pending
-------------------------------------------------