Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 123

Chapter 123: “I’m sorry I Couldn’t Help Him Accumulate Blessings.”

Anyone in the palace might wish to harm her, anyone but Xi Xiurong.

It wasn’t only the entire hall that was puzzled; even Tan Yuanchu couldn’t help but lift his eyes to look at her.

Kneeling on the floor, Su Jieyu raised her tear-streaked face, staring fixedly at her, as if demanding an answer.

Bai Zhi couldn’t stop herself from wiping her tears again, yet no matter how she wiped, they wouldn’t dry.

Yun Si pressed her lips together lightly.

Faced with the confusion in everyone’s eyes, the Empress was seized by a fit of coughing. Her face was deathly pale, yet tinged with an unnatural flush. After a long pause, she rasped hoarsely,

“Because Xi Xiurong has long known that I have little time left to live.”

She stated the fact of her limited days as lightly as if speaking of the weather.

She had hidden it for a long time.

At first, it had been merely to keep Consort De from gaining the upper hand. But now, there was no need to conceal it any longer.

The Empress lifted her gaze to meet Su Jieyu’s face, which was full of disbelief.

“Even if Xi Xiurong wanted my position, she would have no need to take such risks.”

If she simply waited patiently for a while, with His Majesty’s favor, she could take over this position cleanly, why would she need to dirty her hands?

She had been teaching Yun Si the management of the inner court precisely so that, after Yun Si bore an imperial heir, she could assist in governing the Six Palaces.

Yun Si knew all of this.
She was no fool, and would never choose to harm her now.

The hall was in an uproar.

Tan Yuanchu’s brows furrowed, his expression changing, and he said sharply, “Where is the imperial physician?”

Imperial Physician Chang was already in the hall, but as he stepped forward, the Empress stopped him.

“Your Majesty, I know my own body. There’s no need for another examination.”

Tan Yuanchu’s face grew cold. “Don’t speak. Go back and rest.”

To Tan Yuanchu, the Empress had always been the Empress. He had never once considered shaking her position. Everyone coveted the central palace, but how many in that seat could be as free of selfishness as the Empress?

The Empress looked up at Tang Yuanchu, her eyes slightly unfocused.
After a long moment, she sighed inwardly.

She had thought that when he heard she didn’t have long to live, the Emperor would feel relieved.

He was, after all, paving the way for the imperial heir in Yun Si’s belly.

What could be a more legitimate claim to the position of crown prince than that of a legitimate son?

But he had not.

For all his possible private intentions, he had always respected her. She had never sought love from the beginning, and the Emperor had given her everything she had ever wanted.
In truth, she lacked nothing in this lifetime.

Most men in the world were fickle, quick to tire of the old and crave the new.

How many women, once married, could always retain their husband’s respect?

The Empress smiled bitterly to herself. If she had not placed her trust in the wrong person, with the Emperor’s regard, who in this palace could have shaken her position?

She never seemed to learn her lesson. Even now, when she received a measure of kindness, she always wished to return it in kind.

Suppressing the cough rising in her throat, the Empress said softly, “Your Majesty, this matter has nothing to do with Xi Xiurong. Please do not wrong her.”

Yun Si’s lashes trembled lightly, even at a time like this, the Empress was still speaking for her.

“I know,” Tan Yuanchu replied. “Xu Shunfu, escort the Empress back to rest.”

Xu Shunfu did not dare disobey, stepping forward quickly to help the Empress, speaking respectfully and quietly, “Your Highness, with the Emperor here, you need not trouble yourself.”

The Empress did not argue further. But as she turned, someone suddenly tugged at her hem.

She halted and looked down.

It was Su Jieyu, her face streaked with tears. She could not contain her sobbing voice as she asked out her question.

“I have always obeyed your every word, yet you have never trusted me!”

It might have looked like favoritism, but in truth, there had never been a shred of trust.

Yun Si had only held her rank for just over half a year, how much time could she have spent with the Empress?

Yet such an intimate secret, the Empress would tell Yun Si, while never once revealing even the slightest hint to her.

If she had known earlier that the Empress had little time left to live, how could she possibly have done something so self-destructive as today?!

Collapse was pressed deep into Su Jieyu’s eyes as she cried and asked, “What is so good about Yun Si?! Why are you all so partial to her?! This concubine refuses to accept it!”

She and Yun Si had no deep hatred, so why had she targeted Yun Si again and again?

The man she had once loved and the person she had once respected had both chosen Yun Si over her. How was she supposed to calmly accept such a fact?

The Empress tugged at her lips and calmly countered,

“Do you think you’ve lived up to this palace’s trust?”

To speak of trust was premature.

The reason she had laid all her cards on the table was simply because she wanted Yun Si to feel secure in cooperating with her, it was nothing more than a bargaining chip.

But Su Jieyu would never understand this. She would only think others were biased in their hearts.

The Empress slowly drew her hem free. Looking at the Su Jieyu who still had not shown the slightest sign of self-reflection, she suddenly said,

“Do you know that those servants in the Punishment Department have already confessed?”

Su Jieyu’s sobbing stopped abruptly.

The Punishment Department’s servants?

After her miscarriage, the maid Qiu Su, who had harmed her, had been sent to the Punishment Department, only to die suddenly in a short time. Everyone knew someone was silencing witnesses, but the servants imprisoned there and interrogated had never yielded results.

For the Empress to bring this matter up now could only mean it was connected to her miscarriage.

Had the Empress truly been investigating this all along?

Had she found the culprit?

Su Jieyu suddenly lifted her head. She crawled on her knees toward the Empress, but Xu Shunfu hurriedly ordered people to block her, not allowing her to approach. Su Jieyu still struggled constantly, reaching toward the Empress as she cried out,

“Who?”

“Who killed this concubine’s child?!”

Her fingers were only a hair’s breadth from touching the Empress’s hem, but no one dared let her take another step forward.

Su Jieyu had been waiting for this answer far too long. The child she had longed for had died, her health ruined beyond repair, leaving her unable to conceive again. She had gone mad searching for ways to become pregnant, even going so far as to drink human blood.

Everyone thought she was deranged, but who knew that when she drank that medicine, she had forced herself to endure the nausea?

Who would willingly drink human blood? She only wanted a child!

Su Jieyu wept until she could hardly breathe. Afraid the Empress would not tell her, she kowtowed to her again and again. The one who had never admitted fault and had even dared to question the Empress now suddenly acknowledged her wrongdoing,

“Your Highness, this concubine was wrong, it was all my fault. You promised me you would find out the culprit for me, please, tell me!”

The Empress looked at the disheveled Su Jieyu and suddenly felt she was truly rather pitiful.

Her whole life had been ruined in this palace, and even at the brink of death she was still serving as a pawn for the one who had killed her child.

The Empress was softhearted, but that did not mean she would repay evil with kindness.

Her voice was neither loud nor soft,

“Everyone has guessed who it was, everyone but you. When you and Qi Guipin plotted to harm this Palace, did she tell you nothing at all?”

Su Jieyu was suddenly stunned.

But the Empress no longer looked at her and turned to go back into the inner hall.

Between her and Su Jieyu, the moment Su Jieyu had planned to harm her, all debts had already been settled.

Su Jieyu, weeping, reached out to pull her back, but could only watch helplessly as she walked farther and farther away. A stabbing pain suddenly welled up in her heart, she knew that from this day forward, the Empress would never concern herself with her again.

When the Empress’s figure disappeared into the inner hall, Su Jieyu seemed to wake abruptly. She turned and lunged toward Qi Guipin.

“What did Her Highness mean by that? You know who harmed me?!”

Qi Guipin’s arm ached from Su Jieyu’s yanking. She instinctively shoved her away, and Tong Yun stepped forward to shield her mistress. For a moment, the scene in the hall was complete chaos.

Yun Si had not expected that one sentence from the Empress could create a rift between the two of them. She stared, dumbfounded, and couldn’t help but step back two paces behind Tan Yuanchu, shielding her belly for fear of being caught up in it.

The surrounding consorts also quickly retreated.

Tan Yuanchu’s face had turned completely dark.

“Separate them!”

Palace servants immediately surged forward, struggling to pull the two apart. In the process, both Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin had their hairpins yanked out. Qi Guipin had never been in such a humiliating state, her black hair hung in messy disarray over her shoulders, and she hated Su Jieyu to the bone.

In the exchange between Su Jieyu and the Empress, Su Jieyu had, without realizing it, admitted that the two of them had colluded to harm the Empress.

Yet Su Jieyu didn’t seem to realize it at all.

No, perhaps Su Jieyu did realize it, but she knew she could not escape and so decided to drag Qi Guipin down with her.

Qi Guipin’s hatred burned to the very tips of her heart. Seeing Su Jieyu still shouting, she suddenly curled her lips in a cold, mocking smile.

“The Punishment Department never extracted a confession early, nor did they do it late, why choose this exact moment? Don’t you have even the slightest suspicion?”

“Who harmed your child? Of course it was Consort De, the one you clung to yourself!”

Qi Guipin laughed in derision. “You’ve lived more than half your life only to learn there are people who rush to be used by their enemies, what a joke you’ve made of yourself!”

Su Jieyu stood frozen on the spot.

All the details suddenly strung together in her mind, why had the Empress told her to wait? Because at that time, the Empress had no way to deal with Consort De and feared she might act rashly, so she hadn’t revealed the truth.

Why had the Empress said, after Consort De’s death, that the culprit could soon be found? Because with Consort De dead, the people in the Punishment Department had lost their backing and would naturally confess honestly.

Why had Qi Guipin looked so strange upon hearing she had worked with Consort De, blurting out that she was insane?

So… so…

So they had all known the truth, everyone except her!

She had been used by Consort De before her death and had even smugly believed she had gained a great advantage!

Su Jieyu suddenly clutched her head, breaking down into loud, hysterical sobs. Her crying filled the entire hall as she shook her head desperately in denial.

“Impossible! Impossible! Impossible…”

Why did it have to be Consort De!

What on earth had she done?!

Seeing her like this, Qi Guipin curled her lips in mocking disdain, what good end could come to someone who conspired with Consort De?

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the lotus hairpin on the floor, broken cleanly in two. She froze for a moment, then curled her lips in self-mockery, closing her eyes as two clear tears slid down. What right did she have to mock Su Jieyu?

She was far from the only one who had been repeatedly schemed against by Consort De.

Bai Zhi, who this time had not followed Her Highness inside, looked coldly at Su Jieyu’s regretful, broken appearance, her eyes full of hatred. Knowing Su Jieyu had harmed her mistress, she wished she could skin her alive.

Bai Zhi knelt toward the Emperor.

“Su Jieyu and Qi plotted to harm Her Highness, their crimes are heinous. I beg Your Majesty to punish them without mercy!”

She did not yet know that Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin had already been demoted to commoners.

Yun Si stood a little farther away. She was not surprised at Su Jieyu’s fate, but as for Qi Guipin, she truly didn’t know how the Emperor would deal with her.

She glanced at Tan Yuanchu, only for him, unexpectedly, to look back at her.

Yun Si was startled, then saw him withdraw his gaze and say, “Commoners Su and Qi conspired to harm the Empress and frame a consort, their crimes are unforgivable. Take them away and grant them white silk.”

Before Su Jieyu and Qi Guipin could react, Tang Yuanchu suddenly pointed at Su Jieyu. “Lu Yuan.”

Lu Yuan swallowed hard and stepped forward with the palace servants to drag Su Jieyu out.

The crowd had not yet processed this when Su Jieyu finally realized she truly was going to die. Terror flooded her eyes, and she struggled desperately. “Your Majesty!”

Her gaze darted to those around her, hoping someone would plead for her. But at the very end, she suddenly realized she had driven away the only person who might have done so.

As Su Jieyu was dragged out, the people in the hall could still hear her struggling cries.

Suddenly, a shrill scream tore through the palace.

Outside, there was no longer a woman’s sobbing pleas for mercy, only the muffled, hoarse sounds of someone crying, as if suppressing unbearable pain.

Everyone suddenly thought of something and looked up in horror toward Xi Xiurong.

Yun Si was momentarily stunned by their stares, then quickly understood. Her expression shifted, and she bit her lip unconsciously.

That remark she had made before, about asking the Emperor to have Su Jieyu’s tongue cut out, had been nothing more than an angry outburst.
Surely the Emperor hadn’t taken it seriously?

As it turned out, she was not wrong.

When Lu Yuan reentered respectfully, Yun Si caught sight of a faint red stain on his sleeve and lowered her gaze, her lashes trembling almost imperceptibly.

Qi Guipin’s face also turned deathly pale. As she was led away by the palace servants, she did not dare utter even a single plea for mercy.

When the farce was over, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Tan Yuanchu lowered his gaze to Yun Si. Under her watchful eyes, he reached out and lightly touched her high, rounded belly, his voice low and husky,

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help him accumulate blessings.”