Pampered Consort's Acting Awards - Chapter 32

We think you resemble an evil spirit!

Yesterday, the rights in the harem changed hands. Consort Xue won the power of the Six Palace, and Shuyi Xu won the custody of the eldest prince. Today was the day to watch a good show, therefore, even before it was time to pay their respects, the imperial concubines were already rushing to Cining Palace.

Except for Shuyi Xu, who hadn’t arrived yet.

The empress dowager covered her lips by drinking tea, then she stroked the edge of the cup and tilted her head to discuss the repairs of the harem with Consort Xue. As soon as the conversation started, the eunuch from outside shouted: “The emperor has arrived!”

“Shuyi Xu has arrived!”

These announcements shouted in a row changed the looks of the tender and charming flowers inside Cining Palace. One after another, they stood and saluted towards where the sound of footsteps came from.

Everyone was bewildered. How did His Majesty come together with Shuyi Xu?

As the footsteps approached, the emperor’s gold thread and silver patterned robe slowly passed under everyone’s astonished eyes, followed by a delicate figure in cyan.

As both of them greeted her in turn, Empress Dowager Chu put down the teacup in her hand, sized up Shuyi Xu, and asked with a hint of accusation: “Aijia has not seen Yun’er for a long time, why didn’t he come over with you?”

This question was quite meaningful.

Although Empress Dowager Chu could not intervene with the matters in Shou’an Palace, the news that Xiao Yun did not like Shuyi Xu had already reached Cining Palace.

Shuyi Xu clenched her fists and did not know how to answer. Xiao Yu promptly opened his mouth to relieve her: “Imperial Mother may not know this, Yun’er caught the cold two days ago. Last night his body was hot, so he tossed around all night and only fell asleep this morning.”

Although the man’s voice was deep, the protection within his answer was clear, like the sweet aftertaste when drinking tea. How could an old fox like Empress Dowager Chu not know it?

In the past, he also protected Su shi like this.

“So it is like this,” Empress Dowager Chu looked at the emperor with some concern: “Is Yun’er better now? What did the physician say?”

Xiao Yu: “We’ve troubled Mother by worrying about him, there is nothing serious anymore.”

Empress Dowager Chu sighed and turned to Shuyi Xu: “Yun’er that child, he was born sick from his mother’s womb, and his body has been weak since he was young. You have to pay more attention to it.” When mentioning sickness from the mother’s womb, Xiao Yu’s gaze calmly passed by Qin Ling who was not far away.

But Qin Ling just sat quietly without lifting her head.

He pressed down the thumb ring on his hand and turned his gaze back.

Shuyi Xu thanked the empress dowager: “This concubine will remember Your Highness’ words in my heart.”

Empress Dowager Chu nodded, then turned her head and instructed Gonggong Zhang to go to the storeroom to get some good red ginseng and bird’s nest and send it to Zhongcui Palace. Shuyi Xu quickly thanked her.

After asking about each other’s well being, Empress Dowager Chu then spoke about the repairs in the palace.

The empress dowager spoke highly of Consort Xue. She raised her head and directed her gaze at a certain place.

Consort Xue quickly took a step forward and said softly: “This concubine heard from the eunuch appointed by His Majesty himself that this year’s winter is colder than usual, however, some residences in the palace, such as Jingyang Palace where Jieyu Qin lives and Zhongcui Palace, where Shuyi Xu lives, have not been renovated for a long time. This concubine thinks that it is better to take advantage of the time before the first snow falls to repair the outer wall and exchange the old window paper and partition. What do Your Majesty and empress dowager think about this?”

“Consort Xue, you rarely talk so carefully like this,” Empress Dowager Chu stroked the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand and continued: “What does Your Majesty think?”

Although there was a gap between the emperor and the empress dowager, the two of them have always done the play of filial piety between mother and child.

Xiao Yu turned his head, and there was a faint smile at the corner of his mouth: “Then just do what Consort Xue said. Tomorrow We will allocate the funds for the renovation.”

After a heavy rain, the weather seemed to become gloomier and colder. Gonggong Sheng was just about to add some charcoal into Yangxin Hall when a figure appeared silently behind him.

“Gonggong.”

The speaker was a young eunuch in gray clothes.

The young eunuch was called He Wu. He had studied martial arts before entering the palace. He was considered the most skilled eunuch in the palace, and one of the most trusted people under Gonggong Sheng.

Gonggong Sheng turned around and waved to him, motioning him to come over.

He Wu walked over and took out the everyday life record of Jingyang Palace from his sleeve, then presented it to Gonggong Sheng with both hands.

Gonggong Sheng flipped over the pages and said in a low voice: “You’ve been watching for so many days, what have you found?”

He Wu shook his head: “Jieyu Qin has not bribed anyone to spy about His Majesty’s whereabouts nor has she tried to find news about the matter in Shou’an Palace. The only outsiders she came into contact with are the artisans who repaired the walls.” 

Gonggong Sheng weighed the record in his hand and said: “Continue to watch.” Even at this time, Gonggong Sheng still could not understand why the emperor paid so much attention to Jieyu Qin even though there was nothing questionable about her.

“This servant understands.”

Gonggong Sheng let out a long sigh before entering the hall. He presented the record to the emperor, then walked around behind the emperor, leaned down, and whispered the things He Wu had said before.

There was a blank look on Xiao Yu’s face and he didn’t say anything. He simply turned the pages of the record by flipping the edge of the papers and read through Jieyu Qin’s activities from the time she got up in the morning to the amount of her meals.

Just when Gonggong Sheng was about to retreat quietly, he happened to see the emperor open another record. Although the color was already a little yellow, Gonggong Sheng recognized it almost immediately.

It was the everyday life record of Kunning Palace, the late empress’ record.

The emperor… was actually comparing it with Jieyu Qin’s daily habits?

In an instant, Gonggong Sheng felt as if a basin of cold water was poured down his head, and it drenched him thoroughly to the soles of his feet.

So, the emperor sent someone to watch the daughter of Qin family, not because he suspected she harbor malicious intentions, nor did he hand over the eldest prince to Shuyi Xu because Jieyu Qin’s identity was not prominent and was not suited to become the eldest prince’s foster mother, but rather…

Thinking up here, Xiao Yu suddenly raised his head and spoke: “Call Marquis of Chun over. We’d like to see him.”

When Lu Ze rushed to Yangxin hall, the sky was already dark. He knew that the reason Gonggong Sheng called for him urgently must be because there was something major. He did not expect that as soon as he sat down, Xiao Yu said to him: “We’d like to meet Daoist Lingyun.”

Daoist Lingyun. That is Zhuang Sheng’s master.

Zhuang Sheng’s master had a lot of interests. He mastered geography and comprehended the eight diagrams. Even that sentence on the plaque of Qingfeng Pavilion was personally engraved by him.

Know your past life’s truth, understand your current life’s pain, unravel your next life’s mysteries.

Lu Ze was startled when he heard the words and frowned: “Your Majesty, did that happen again…”

Xiao Yu interrupted him directly, “No.”

Lu Ze left the palace and went straight to Qingfeng Pavilion to bring Zhuang Sheng’s master over as Xiao Yu ordered.

Zhuang Sheng had traveled to all corners of the world and had long been lawless and cared not for etiquette and rules. The moment he saw Lu Ze coming in, he immediately spoke what was in his mind, “Could it be that His Majesty saw the late empress again?”

Lu Ze hesitantly shook his head: “It doesn’t seem like that.”

Zhuang Sheng said again: “Then why is His Majesty in such a hurry to see the old man?”

“Your Majesty didn’t say the reason,” Lu Ze said in a low voice: “But there’s an 80% chance…” It’s related to the late empress again.

Zhuang Sheng naturally understood the unfinished sentence and patted him on the shoulder: “Marquis doesn’t need to worry. I will write a letter to my master immediately to let him enter the palace as soon as possible.”

Lu Ze responded with a “mm” and immediately noticed the eye-catching marks on his neck. He said with a frown: “Zhuang Ziyu, did you take in a concubine?”

Zhuang Sheng raised his hand and touched his neck. With his lips bent, he spewed a single word: “No.”

[T/N: If you see any character calling another character name differently, it must be their courtesy name. Zhuang is his surname, Sheng is his name, and Ziyu should be his courtesy name]

Lu Zi looked at him in silence and felt suffocated, as if he could imagine the beautiful romantic scenery.

When the palace was undergoing renovation, it suddenly rained, which persisted until the next morning. The dark clouds engulfed the muffled thunder, and every once in a while, there was a deafening roar in the sky, making the birds on the tree branches fly in shock.

Qin Ling was sitting in the hall to make tea. Steam escaped through the lid, making a faint sound. However, the moment the tea was boiling, there was a heart-piercing scream outside.

“Ah—!”

Qin Ling hurriedly stood up and pushed the door out, only to see a group of people surrounding the gate to Yushu courtyard.

Chang Ge ran over to hold an umbrella for Qin Ling.

Qin Ling walked over with a frown, “What’s going on?”

“This servant… This servant has seen Jieyu,” The eunuch turned around, looking a little panicked: “T-The renovation for the wall started yesterday, so the workers started digging the soil. Who would’ve imagined that it would rain last night and just now they unexpectedly… found…”

Speaking up here, the young eunuch looked back rigidly, “They found a corpse again.”

Qin Ling followed his gaze and saw a bone in the mud.

This place was the palace wall of Shuyu Courtyard, where she lived when she entered the palace.

Qin Ling suppressed the disgust in her heart and spoke, “What do you mean again? You mean there was another one before this?”

Chang Ge explained to Qin Ling in a low voice: “Jieyu, don’t worry. They are all the corpses of the previous dynasty. They have also been found in other palaces in recent years. Speaking of, this is the third one.”

Another eunuch replied: “There were some palace maids who said that this place is eerie and that some ghosts could be seen before, but this servant didn’t believe it back then. It seems to be true.”

Qin Ling’s expression turned extremely bad as she recalled the shadow she had seen two days ago. For a while, she didn’t even know whether this place was really haunted or if someone pretended to be a ghost.

All matters in the palace must be submitted to Xianfu Palace to be reviewed by Consort Xue.

When Consort Xue heard the matter, she couldn’t help frowning.

She proposed repairing the palace in order to gain some favorable impression in front of the emperor. It was such a good thing, but if she hit her own feet with a rock, it would become a bad thing.

“How is Jieyu Qin?”

The young eunuch bowed and answered: “The people in Jingyang Palace said that Jieyu Qin was so scared that her face was pale.”

Consort Xue rubbed her eyebrows and slowly replied: “She was born in a small family, it is normal to be scared upon encountering such a big matter when she is still young.”

The young eunuch: “But, Your Highness, now everyone in the palace said that Jingyang Palace is haunted…”

Hearing that, Consort Xue took a deep breath and tapped the jade carving in her hand anxiously: “Qing Yue, when this happened before, how did the empress dowager handle it?”

Qing Yue answered after thinking for a while: “The first two times it happened, the people in the palace became very anxious, the palace maids were terrified, and there were cries everywhere at night. It was scarier than encountering the ghost itself. Without any other option, the empress dowager asked some people to do rituals to drive away ghosts to calm people’s minds.”

“Bengong has just taken over the Six Palaces. What should be done needs to be done,” Consort Xue said in a low voice: “Send someone to the Xue residence and ask my big brother to find some ghost exorcists for me. Just say that the palace is going to  exorcist ghosts to comfort Jieyu Qin.”

The young eunuch complimented: “Your Highness truly has the heart of Bodhisattva, the paragon of the Six Palace.”

Consort Xue smiled and threw a golden leaf to the young eunuch.

The young eunuch immediately smiled: “Don’t worry, Your Highness, this servant knows what should be said.”

***

The next day, avoiding everyone’s eyes, Lu Ze led Daoist Lingyun to the west side of the palace and arrived at the second floor of Fanhua Hall. Fanhua Hall is one of the historical sites in the Great Zhou Dynasty, which was built more than a hundred years ago. It has always been dedicated as a place where the emperor offered sacrifices to the gods or ancestors.

Gonggong Sheng announced in a low voice, “Your Majesty, Master Lingyun has arrived.”

Xiao Yu: “Quickly invite him in.”

The door opened with a creak…

Showing an old man in a cyan burlap. His gait was graceful, and the white beard on his chin made him look even more like an immortal.

The author has something to say:

Consort Xue: I feel wronged today.

Xiao Yu: You’re not wronged.

Translator’s note:

I’ve read this novel to the end once around half a year ago, and I believe the author has changed it quite a bit from the first version. If you’ve MTL-read this from aggregator sites, I suggest you to re-read it directly from jjwxc.net or read my translation because aggregator site will not update the updated version, and the author is still making small or big changes here and there even though the story has already ended last year.