Pampered Consort's Acting Awards - Chapter 40 Part 1

It was getting late. Qin Ling sat before the trousseau to remove her pearl hairpin in front of the mirror and her clothes before entering the cleaning room.

There was mist over the water. The fair and clean jade-like body gradually sank into the water, the long wet hair was all stuck to the bosom, the beautiful shoulders slightly revealed, and the owner’s eyes were downcast.

Thinking about it carefully, what Li Yuan said today could be nothing more than intentional wooing, but she felt it wasn’t that simple for some reason.

But she couldn’t tell what was wrong with it.

As she pondered, Zhu Xin knocked on the cleaning room door and said anxiously, “Master, His Majesty has come!”

Hearing this, Qin Ling’s beautiful eyes widened in surprise. She had already claimed to be sick. Why would he come here?

Only the emperor’s visit could not be repelled in the harem.

Qin Ling quickly rose, put on her clothes, and hurried back to the inner room.

***

Xiao Yu was sitting on the rosewood inlaid enamel arhat bed and waiting for her. He thought it would take a while, but before long, he saw the very person he’d been waiting for walk in.

Qin Ling said, “This concubine greets Your Majesty.”

He turned around, following the voice, and frowned upon seeing her still dripping hair.

“Come here and sit.”

Qin Ling approached and sat beside him, and Xiao Yu shook her hair and asked, “Why didn’t you dry it?”

Qin Ling replied softly, “This concubine…was impatient.”

Xiao Yu observed her, sighed, and said, “Come here then. I will wipe it for you.”

Qin Ling naturally refused, but Xiao Yu turned her unwilling body and wiped the gathered hair slowly.

With her back facing the emperor, the distance between the two became closer, and the heat of the man’s breath gently swept over her neck.

Xiao Yu touched the soft hair before him, recalling their time in the mansion when he was still hiding his fang.

At that time, he had also brushed her hair like this, and she had always complained that he was too strong…

Xiao Yu suddenly hugged her from behind.

Qin Ling was about to turn around but heard him say, “Don’t move. Let me hold you for a while.” 

His voice was so muffled that it made him sound very lonely.

“I couldn’t accompany you these days because it’s been busy at the court,” he rubbed her hair and said, “Why did I hear that you were sick again?”

Qin Ling turned and replied, “The imperial physician checked the pulse and said that this concubine’s body is a little weak and needs to be refitted.”

Xiao Yu was very clear about what the empress dowager was planning. He lightly oh-ed, and asked, “Which imperial physician was it?”

Qin Ling said, “It was Imperial physician Wei.”

Xiao Yu called Eunuch Sheng in and said quietly, “Go summon Wei Yilian from the imperial hospital.”

***

Wei Liang was about to fall asleep, but when he heard the emperor summon, he couldn’t help but tremble. Still trembling, he quickly came to Jingren Palace, bowed, and saluted. “This official greets Your Majesty.”

Xiao Yu asked with a medical record in his hand, “Is this record and prescriptions yours?”

“Yes…they’re mine.” When he said this, Wei Yiliang felt like someone had stabbed him with a knife.

“Wei Yiliang, let me ask you something. Since this medical record was done by you personally, will you be responsible for any mistake?”

physician Wei said, trembling and sweating profusely, “Your Majesty, please quell your anger. Th-this official…this official was also ordered…”

“The Wei family has been a medical family for generations, and its skills are passed down from generation to generation. We didn’t know that your, Wei Yiliang’s, art of healing has stooped so low that you were willing to follow someone’s order.” Xiao Yu raised his voice, “Come, tell Us. Whose order was it!?”

Wei Yiliang quickly kowtowed, his voice barely coming out, “It was this official’s mistake. Everything was this official’s mistake.” How could he dare say it was the empress dowager’s order? His Wei family would’ve been finished had he said that. “This official drank on duty then, so he made an error with the report because of his muddled mind. I beg Your Majesty to show mercy.”

There was the emperor in front and the dowager behind. Qin Ling understood that this Imperial Physician Wei was a mere pion dragged between the two sides, so after some internal struggle, she eventually reached out and grabbed the emperor’s sleeve.

Although Xiao Yu didn’t look at her, his gaze grew a bit sharper.

“Drinking on duty is a violation of the law in the palace. This crime is unforgivable, but considering the loyalty of your Wei family, We will punish you appropriately.” He paused before continuing, “It was announced on the bulletin board yesterday that a plague has begun following the earthquake in Weinan. There’s a shortage of medical officers at the moment. Leave for Weinan immediately. As long as the disease hasn’t gone away, you don’t have to return to see Us.”

Wei Yiliang touched the ground with his forehead. “This official accepts the order and thanks Your Majesty for your kindness.”

After Wei Yiliang left, Xiao Yu turned to the side and coughed twice. Qin Ling hurriedly poured him a cup of tea.

Xiao Yu took the cup, sipped it, and recognized the sliced Goryeo ginseng in it. He frowned and asked, “Has Imperial Concubine Li been here today?”

Slightly taken aback, Qin ling replied calmly, “Yes. Her Ladyship came today and gave me four boxes of Goryeo ginseng.”

Xiao Yu nodded, put the teacup on the table, and said nothing else.

After a while, the lamps were turned off.

Silence was all around, and the two were lying on the same couch. Frankly speaking, Qin Ling hadn’t expected today’s ruckus.

He was obviously protecting her, so she couldn’t pretend to be stupid.

Qin Ling turned over, leaned closer, and said, “This concubine understands that Your Majesty is protecting her today.”

Even lying on his back. Xiao Yu was taller than her. His eyes glanced down at her.

“This concubine’s following words can be considered ignorant, but she still has to say it,” Qin Ling spoke slowly, “Your Majesty has to deal with a lot every day with many thorns on your side; it must be exhausting. This concubine only hopes that Your Majesty will care for his body. Don’t…have a rift with the empress dowager because of me.” These words must’ve sounded sincere and caring; Qin Ling was very satisfied with herself.

The man’s stern eyebrows relaxed slightly.

He knew that she had forgotten everything, so she was not the same as before except for this face, but he felt the familiarity again at this moment.

“I see.” The man’s smiling voice was clearer in the darkness. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Go to sleep.”

After an unknown amount of time, the two’s shoulders relaxed, and they went to sleep together—

***

The 38th year of the Yongchang era. It was a cold spring season.

Emperor Jiaxuan’s health gradually worsened, and the imperial hospital was helpless. Under the Holy One’s anger, all infamous Taoist priests in the capital abandoned their temples and moved into the palace.

And sure enough, after taking the elixir for a few days, the dragon’s body gradually improved.

The sudden joy made the emperor, who had been lingering on the sick bed, want to have fun. Emperor Jiaxuan personally ordered this year’s circle hunting to be held in Mount Li.

The Capital Procuratorate.

Sitting opposite Xiao Yu, Lu Ze frowned and sighed. “Mount Li is full of ravines and rocks. The terrain is complex, and there are many wild animals deep within. Why did His Majesty choose to hunt in Mount Li?”

Circle hunting. As the name implied, it was the process of driving wild animals to one place to surround them before hunting them down. This not only preserved the wilderness but also ensured the safety of the officials and women.

But Emperor Jiaxuan didn’t like circle hunting; he preferred wild hunting. Riding a horse while holding a bow and the excitement brought by dangers. Mount Li was the best place for this.

Xiao Yu said, “It’s all Concubine Jing’s idea. In a conversation with His Majesty when they were painting together, for some reason, she said she had seen Mount Li’s landscape and that the Garden Bei there was beautiful and different from the garden she saw daily. So His Majesty became interested.”

Garden Bei of Mount Li was indeed beautiful, but within a radius of 5 kilometers was anything but peaceful…

Lu Ze asked, “The empress didn’t stop it?”

“She couldn’t,” Xiao Yu said in a low voice, “His Majesty lost his temper because of this and didn’t go to Kunning Palace on the 15th yesterday out of anger.”

Lu Ze said, “Now that Prince Cheng and Prince Yan are fighting like this, this hunting in Mount Li couldn’t have been Concubine Jing’s idea. Whose person is she?”

Speaking of Prince Cheng and Prince Yan, one had to talk about half a year ago—

Half a year ago, after the eldest grandson of the emperor was born in Prince Cheng’s mansion, the Mu family gave the imperial court a copper mine. Fearing that His Majesty’s pleased heart would urge him to establish a crown prince, Prince Yan handed over some accounts books to prove Prince Cheng’s embezzlement of grain four years ago.

It did not matter whether it was a big or small matter; public opinion poured in.

The emperor was lazy in governing, so the cabinet behind Prince Yan gradually developed its power. They could even reject an imperial decree as long as it was justified. Now that they had impeached many of Prince Cheng’s cronies, the imperial decree to establish the crown prince had also not been issued.

Of course, Emperor Jiaxuan himself wasn’t too eager to establish an heir.

Emperor Jiaxuan reigned for 38 years. He was obsessed with beauty, fatuous, and incompetent. In the first half of his life, he played checks and balances in the harem, and in the second half, he became more muddled, even using this trick in the court.

With the rise of influential families, the Xue family and the Chu family did not listen to him, so he promoted the He family and the Mu family. He’d even promoted a eunuch if an official disagreed.

So in the battle of seats, when he noticed one son had obvious ambitions, he would dote on the other. The current situation where the three sons compete for favor was what he wanted to see the most.

Once the rights were split, they would compete with each other. He cared not what the country would be like in a hundred years, nor did he care that the foundation of the country would be destroyed after political conflicts.

He didn’t even care the land the people cultivated had become lesser and lesser; he just wanted them to pay more taxes.

After all, even if the people did not live well, it did not hinder the rich clothes and fine food in the palace.

But what could be done?

One cannot speak against the one in that seat, even if one has something to say. This still applies even today.

Yang Di said, “This time, when we go to Mount Li, Your Highness should keep a low profile and avoid the limelight.”

Xiao Yu turned his jade thumb ring and replied with a smile, “Everyone will be prepared. I won’t be able to avoid it.”