Pampered Consort's Acting Awards - Chapter 33

I have been waiting for you for too long.

The smell of incense flowed all over the place, the sound dripping of water from the water clock echoed.

The silver-white cold light was spilled on the blue brick floor through the window.

Xiao Yu was sitting opposite of Daoist Lingyun, telling him about the recent strange happenings. Including those incredible dreams.

Daoist Lingyun thought for a while and slowly said: “It is true in this world there is saying that the dying and young children can see the spirits of the dead, but one cannot conclude that the late empress is borrowing a corpse on just one sentence, a trace of residual poison, and a few nightmares.”

The moment the voice fell, Xiao Yu raised his head and looked at Daoist Lingyun, “If it’s just a nightmare, why would I invite Master into the palace in such a hurry?”

Daoist Lingyun met the emperor’s gaze and suddenly thought of the autumn of the 2nd year of Yanxi era.

At that time, the emperor also had such an expression.

— ”We really saw the empress in Kunning Palace.”

— “She spoke to Us.”

Since ancient times, a heart that is corrupted is the hardest to cure. Daoist Lingyun thought of those nonsense, and sighed.

“What does Your Majesty want this poor Daoist to do?”

Xiao Yu spoke directly: “Can Master perform the art of beckoning once?”

The art of becking, refers to the art of soul testing.

With an old possession of the deceased as a guide, holding a white banner while chanting incantations to test the soul. If the banner moves, it means the soul is still in this world, if the banner does not move, then the soul is already reincarnated.

“This poor Daoist understands.”’

At sunset, the twilight caused the earth and the sky to be painted in yellow, making all living things caught in the vague scene. Daoist Lingyun stood, closed his eyes, and began to recite the mantra.

Just as Daoist Lingyun thought that today he could untie the knot in the Son of Heaven’s heart, the spirit banner swung slowly in the airtight and windless inner hall, like a clear wave on the surface of a lake.

How come?!

Daoist Lingyun opened his eyes at once.

But after that, the banner stopped moving.

Daoist Lingyun recited the mantra once again, but the spirit banner did not move again.

Daoist Lingyun put his hands together and said in a low voice: “Your Majesty, an opportunity has its own heaven, this poor Daoist’s cultivation is not enough. I’m afraid this opportunity cannot be renewed for you.”

After Daoist Lingyun left, Xiao Yu looked at the two volumes of everyday life records at hand, then lowered his head and smirked.

Since he was a child, he never believed in fate and ghosts and gods, but now he had become so absurd.

Xiao Yu was about to return to Yangxin Hall when he saw Gonggong Sheng rushing over in a panic. He said while gasping: “Your Majesty, Her Highness Consort Xue is doing something in Jingyang Palace right now.”

Xiao Yu frowned: “What is it?”

“After the heavy rain yesterday, the workers found the corpse of a woman…” Gonggong Sheng continued with sweat streaming down his face, “Consort Xue specifically called in two priests to exorcise….”

Before he finished speaking, Xiao Yu’s face was completely darkened.

He gritted his teeth and said: “Follow Us to Jingyang Palace.”

When the emperor arrived at Jingyang Palace, the whole Jingyang Palace was already covered with red paper and the eaves were entangled with red ropes.

A row of Daoist priests were beating drums and chanting mantras on both sides of him.

He was doing the art of beckoning in Fanhua Hall, and Xue Lanyi was exorcizing ghosts in Jingyang Palace.

How great.

At this moment, Xiao Yu even suspected that the Xue family had sent Xue Lanyi into the palace after bribing the Venerable and Heaven Supervisor to change her eight characters that were totally against him.

[T/N: No English words can translate Venerable and Heaven Supervisor accurately, let us just make do with this. It is an official position in charge of observing astronomy, calculating good days in calendars, etc. Everyone who is about to be married has to get their eight characters checked to see if they are suitable. The eight characters themselves include the year, month, day, and hour of their birth. The Venerable and Heaven Supervisor is in charge of checking the emperor and concubine candidates’ eight characters]

Consort Xue turned around to see the emperor approaching. She smiled and said, “This concubine greets Your Majesty.”

Then she took the initiative to explain: “There was a heavy rain yesterday which eroded the ground, and a female corpse was found. This concubine was worried that the resentment was too strong and this event had also scared Jieyu Qin, so I sought for the most powerful Daoist priests in the capital to lock in the evil spirits before driving them away.”

Xiao Yu’s blue veins throbbed violently and he sternly said: “We think you resemble an evil spirit!”

Consort Xue’s pupil shook in surprise. She immediately bowed and said: “This concubine is guilty.”

“Yes, you are guilty!” Xiao Yu reprimanded in a deep voice: “What kind of place do you think the palace is? As one of the four consorts, who gave you the courage to do this kind of absurd thing in the palace?”

[T/N: In my goldfish memory, there are only three imperial concubines with the title “consort”, but the author wrote four here…]

Consort Xue paled.

She almost forgot. The current emperor was born as a military commander. He had killed people on the battlefield, how could he believe that there are ghosts in the world? If there are ghosts in the world, how many vengeful spirits are there in the battlefield on the border?

“This concubine is wrong!” Consort Xue immediately knelt on the ground and winked at the people around her: “Quickly tell them to stop!”

By now, Qin Ling’s lips have long lost their color, and her fingertips were full of cold sweat. Her vision gradually blurred, and only some faint silhouette of black dragon-patterned robe could be seen in front of her.

As soon as the chanting stopped, Qin Ling could no longer hold on. Her body trembled, and the whole person fell straight down.

Xiao Yu’s quick eyes and hands quickly supported her waist, turned around, and said: “Quickly summon the imperial physicians.”

Jingyang Palace turned into a mess in an instant.

After inviting Consort Xue out, Gonggong Sheng brought in Zhu Xin to the inner hall.

Zhu Xin knelt on the ground and respectfully said: “This servant has seen Your Majesty.”

Xiao Yu sat beside the unconscious Qin Ling and said calmly: “What happened just now? Speak in detail.”

“Yes,” Zhu Xin said carefully, “Consort Xue came and said that the female corpse yesterday must have held a lot of grudge, so she was worried that Master won’t be able to eat and sleep well because of this, so today she invited two Daoist priests to exorcise evil spirits.”

“The two Daoist masters were dressed in hemp robes with bells around their waist and held a stick and a drum in their hands. They first ordered the servants to spread red paper in Jingyang Palace, then hung the red ropes at the eaves. They said red ropes are a medium to lock the spirits,” The soul-locking formation, as the name implies, is a method to lock the soul using a formation.

Xiao Yu: “What time was it when this happened?”

“This…” Zhu Xin paused and thought for a long time before saying: “This servant only remembers that… around the time the sun goes down and the sky is hazy. It should be… the period of xu.”

[Period of xu: 7 – 9 p.m]

The period of xu.

Xiao Yu’s pupils shook.

He finally understood why the spirit banner that was clearly moving, stopped again soon after.

Since ancient times, whether it is to beckon a soul or to drive out evil spirits, it has to be done at dusk, within the boundary of alternating yin and yang.

If his thoughts were right, then Daoist Lingyun’s beckoning of soul must have succeeded, the same goes for this so-called soul-locking formation.

Xiao Yu: “Don’t mention what you said today to anyone.”

“This servant understands.”

***

Consort Xue walked out of Jingyang Palace and said in anger: “Qing Yue, what did I do wrong today? Did I not call the Daoist priests for the good of the harem? Did I not do it for Jieyu Qin’s well being?”

Qing Yue pulled Consort Xue’s sleeve and said, “Your Highness, keep your voice a bit lower.”

Consort Xue’s chest undulated with anger, and her eyes reddened: “During these three years, he spoke the most to me only today…”

“How ridiculous.”

Qing Yue whispered: “Your Highness, His Majesty led the troops to fight, and the swords on the battlefield have no eyes. The most taboo things… The Xue family is also a family with a lot of military merits, your esteemed self should also know about this.”

“In the past, when the empress dowager sought out people to do it, it was an act of deep benevolence and kindness, worthy of praise. However, when I’m the one who does it, it becomes an unforgivable sin,” Consort Xue said quietly: “He’s not blaming me, he simply hates me.”

“Where did these muddled words come from, Your Highness! Think about it, my lady, if it wasn’t for Jieyu Qin who happens to faint when His Majesty was around, how could he become so angry?”

Upon hearing this, Consort Xue recalled how the emperor held Jieyu Qin in his arms.

What ‘daughter of the Qin family who strictly abides by her duty’? In order to strive for favor, she even dared to do it right under her eyelids. She, Xue Lanyi, was not in the emperor’s heart, but it was not that Jieyu Qin’s turn to spill the beans.

“Bengong remembers that Jieyu Qin also has an older brother.”

“Yes,” Qing Yue nodded.

“Send a message to my eldest brother. Tell him to investigate the eldest son of the Qin family carefully.”

When Consort Xue returned to Xianfu Palace, her eyes were still red.

She barely calmed down after drinking two cups of tea.

At this time, a young eunuch entered with a grin, “Your Highness, this servant has finished the task.”

Consort Xue frowned and replied: “What task?”

The young eunuch said vividly: “This servant has finished informing the inner court that Your Highness is helping Jieyu Qin driving away vengeful souls and getting rid of evil spirits. It won’t be long before Your Highness’ virtue…”

Before the young eunuch finished, Consort Xue threw the cup in her hand to the ground, and it broke apart with a bang.

“Get out!”

Jingyang Palace.

Imperial Physician Ning carefully diagnosed the pulse for Qin Ling. He straightened up and muttered: “Pale complexion, weak breathing, very high temperature, this…”

Xiao Yu: “What should be done?”

“Answering Your Majesty. The lady’s illness is indeed a bit strange. The body is obviously hot, but there is no sign of wind chill or heat wave. In this humble one’s opinion, it is because of fright which caused qi deficiency.”

Xiao Yu didn’t ask much, except: “Then when will she wake up?”

“As long as the fever can be relieved, she will wake up soon,” Ning Chengfou breathed a sigh of relief and said: “This official will prescribe two antipyretic prescriptions for her lady.”

Xiao Yu nodded slightly.

Ning Chengfou: “This official withdraws.”

After a long while, Chang Ge opened the door, and Ling Que walked slowly with the decoction. They were surprised to find that Jieyu Qin’s hand was actually held by His Majesty.

“This servant is here to help Jieyu drink the medicine.”

Xiao Yu raised his eyes slightly and said in a low voice: “Give me the medicine.”

Chang Ge quickly passed the medicine over, looked at Gonggong Sheng’s expression, and withdrew.

The door closed with a creak.

Only the two of them were left in the hall.

Xiao Yu took the towel on the round stool and wiped the sweat on her forehead.

Even if Ning Chengfou did not say it, her ‘illness’ was not caused by wind chill.

He should not… should not have used this way to test her…

With flushed eyes, Xiao Yu leaned down and cautiously kissed the center of her forehead.

Ah Ling, I have been waiting for too long.

Such a long time, I almost think I’ve gone mad.

That night when Qin Ling was unconscious, there was another rain outside, without lightning flashes or thunder, just the sound of trickling water and the patter of white lines falling on the blue stone floor tiles.

Xiao Yu tried to feed a spoonful of medicine to Qin Ling’s mouth, but for some reason, she only bit her lip and refused to drink, then frowned and turned around.

Showing her back, expressing she was totally not happy to do so.

Xiao Yu couldn’t do anything about it. It’s not like he could force open her mouth and pour it directly, so he just held her neck with one hand to lift the person up.

But since when an emperor could serve other people? Half of the medicine in the bowl was fed, while the other half was spilled. In the midst of it, Gonggong Sheng entered once but did not dare to look up. He just called in Zhu Lan and Zhu Xin to serve.

Qin Ling slept in dizziness for a few shichen until the fever disappeared. Xiao Yu has been by her side all the time, and as Physician Ning said, as soon as the fever subsided, there were signs of awakening.

Her consciousness gradually returned, and her eyelashes trembled. But before she opened her eyes, she keenly noticed that something was not right.

The surroundings were silent, so the breathing sound was very clear.

There seemed to be someone beside her.

As soon as she opened her eyes, her hand was held.

Perhaps she was really frightened in the past two days. The moment she was touched, Qin Ling shrank back subconsciously.

“Don’t be afraid, it’s me,” The man’s breath was long and continuous, and his tone was as soft as someone holding a feather and slowly sweeping it across the ears.

The author has something to say:

00: Damn ghost.

Ps: There is a reason the male protagonist is like this, and it has something to do with the foreshadowing in the previous chapters, but I will talk about it later, so for now don’t think about it.