Who Would Understand, Her Ladyship Wrote A Hundred Palace Regulations - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Pity Her

Helian Qi had just returned from the hunt, body damp with sweat, wishing only to bathe and change clothes.
Where would he find the leisure to critique paintings?

He cast an impatient glance at Ning Ziyin, and instantly froze.

The butterfly hairpin in Ning Ziyin’s hair was Ning Wanyin’s cherished possession. She wore it every day, praising that set of jewelry, his gift to her, countless times.

At once his mood soured. Ning Wanyin had claimed to like it dearly, yet turned around and gave it away to someone else.
Was that what she called “liking”?

Who, upon receiving something from the Emperor, would not treasure it? How could she so carelessly bestow it on others?

Helian Qi’s eyes turned toward Ning Wanyin, displeasure flickering in his gaze. When he had entered together with Consort Zhuang, he hadn’t paid her close attention…

Only now did he notice how unusually plain she was dressed today.

Compared with how she usually appeared before him, she looked like a different person.

Even in her simplicity she was, of course, beautiful, but what caught the eye were her slightly reddened rims, clearly the traces of recent tears. Meeting her mother again and crying from joy would have been natural, but his instincts told him that today’s happenings were not merely joyful reunion.

“Show a painting?” Consort Zhuang’s sharp gaze cut toward Ning Ziyin.
Keenly sensitive to rivals, she understood at once. “And what are you, to expect His Majesty to critique your work? Are you even worthy?”

Then she turned on Ning Wanyin with mocking derision. “How generous of you, pushing your younger sister in front of His Majesty. What now, do even blood sisters have to compete for favor?”

At this, Ning Ziyin flushed crimson, shamed and angry. Though that was her intent, having it spoken aloud was unbearably awkward.

“Why does Your Ladyship Consort Zhuang say such words? My cousin is still an unmarried maiden. You must not ruin her reputation.” Ning Wanyin tried to cover up, her weak voice laced with just a hint of guilty unease.

For once able to out-argue Ning Wanyin, Consort Zhuang pressed the attack relentlessly. “You dare say that wasn’t your intent? Look at you, dressed so drably today, serving as her foil. What a good elder sister you are, aren’t you afraid that if she wins favor, she’ll trample you underfoot?”

“I would never forget Elder Sister’s kindness. I’ll surely help her,” Ning Ziyin hastened to explain, terrified the Emperor would think her ungrateful.

Consort Zhuang laughed triumphantly. “Slipped up, didn’t you? So you came here for His Majesty after all. An unmarried girl, trying to seduce your sister’s man, have you no shame? And the Ning family is supposed to be a noble clan. Is this your idea of propriety and honor?”

Ning Ziyin was struck speechless, her face flushed with humiliation and fury.

Ning Wanyin struggled to keep from laughing aloud.

After all, which woman in the palace was simple? It was only that the opponents Consort Zhuang had faced before had all been too formidable.

But switch to an easier one, and didn’t she win the quarrel handily?

“Consort Zhuang, you may withdraw first.” Helian Qi, when in poor spirits, appeared all the calmer.

“Your Majesty… this concubine wishes to attend you at your bath…” Consort Zhuang tugged at his sleeve, coaxing coquettishly.

Helian Qi’s voice betrayed not the slightest joy or anger. “I have the interest to appreciate some paintings. You would not understand them anyway. Go and rest.”

Consort Zhuang choked back words, glared furiously at Ning Wanyin, and said, “This concubine takes her leave.”

She stalked out in a huff, muttering under her breath, “Shameless, offering up her cousin to vie for favor…”

Ning Ziyin, seeing the Emperor dismiss Consort Zhuang, thought he was protecting her. Blushing with maidenly shyness, she said:

“Your Majesty, your humble servant and Elder Sister have each painted a picture of summer lotuses. Please grant them your appraisal.”

The maidservants brought forward two scrolls.

With a single glance, Helian Qi recognized Ning Wanyin’s work, chaotic, disorderly, and ugly.

Compared with it, the other painting, though ordinary, looked much better by contrast.

But the Emperor felt no appreciation for the other work, only bitter disappointment toward Ning Wanyin.

Because this was what he had taught her.

No matter who compared paintings with Ning Wanyin, once the Emperor stood in the position of her teacher, there could only be two categories: the work of his own student, and that of an outsider.

And what did an outsider’s fine painting matter to him?

At once a thread of irritation stirred in his chest. He knew Ning Wanyin painted poorly, yet someone had still contrived this comparison, was this not using his treasured student as a stepping stone?

Clearly, Ning Wanyin had been forced into it.

Ridiculous.

His concubine, how could she be bullied by others?

“Get out!” Helian Qi snapped impatiently at Ning Ziyin.

Her face went deathly pale, and she fell trembling to her knees. “Your Majesty, I do not know how I have offended you…”

“Your painting is ugly. Out!” Helian Qi thundered, his expression dark and terrifying.

Ning Ziyin’s legs collapsed beneath her. Never before had she seen the Emperor’s wrath, she was stunned senseless, her mind a blank, unable to respond at all.

Wang Degui hurried forward with several eunuchs, dragging Ning Ziyin out at once. She could not be left there, an eyesore.

Ning Wanyin bent her knees and knelt to plead guilty. “Your Majesty, please quell your anger, it was my arrangements that were improper…”

“You wish for We to take your cousin into the palace? Is My favor not enough for you?” Helian Qi asked impatiently.

Ning Wanyin bit her lip, eyes brimming with tears, and remained silent.

Lian Rui stole a glance at her mistress, then, with the practiced understanding of many years, dropped to her knees and cried out, “Your Majesty, please see clearly, my Mistress was forced! The Old Madam came straight in to scold her harshly, demanding that she obey Cen Jieyu’s words… My Mistress refused, so they pushed this cousin into her hands, forcing her to offer her to you…”

Lian Rui voiced the grievance, while Ning Wanyin kept her gaze lowered, tears trembling on her lashes, fragile and pitiful.

The irritation in Helian Qi’s eyes eased. The Ning family still thought to ally with the Cen clan, laughable.

But before him was this little woman…

She followed the Emperor’s will in all things, how could he allow her to suffer such indignity?

“Rise.” Helian Qi extended his hand to Ning Wanyin.

She shrank back timidly, not daring to take it, whispering, “This concubine is incompetent…”

“You are not incompetent, but as a daughter of the Ning clan, you are bound hand and foot. If that old woman were to utter even one word outside, saying that after you gained favor you no longer respected your grandmother, tomorrow a flood of slander about unfilial conduct would be poured over you.” Helian Qi looked at her, a flicker of pity rising in his heart.

Helian Qi was not a man of tender mercy.

As Emperor, cold-blooded and unfeeling, he had little sympathy to spare.

But only those who shared the same burdens could strike a chord.

He too had been shackled by the word filial piety, bound hand and foot. With the eyes of the entire court upon him, if he were thought an unfilial wretch, the throne would never have been his.

It was this shared plight that made him pity her all the more.

Ning Wanyin lifted her gaze to him, and the tears she had held back spilled down at his words. “Your Majesty, this concubine does not wish to send my cousin into the palace. This concubine does not like her…”

Helian Qi drew her to her feet, his tone uncommonly gentle: “I will not let her enter the palace. Nor will I allow you to be wronged.”

“Your Majesty treats me so well…” Ning Wanyin wept as she buried herself into his chest, arms clinging tightly around his waist.

Helian Qi stroked her hair lightly to soothe her. He had done so little, yet this girl was so easily content.

Before him, Ning Wanyin was always well-behaved and sensible. For her to show such genuine emotion was rare, and it made him feel that their bond was closer than ever before.

Holding Ning Wanyin, Helian Qi led her to the bath.

Lian Rui and Wang Degui discreetly withdrew.

Only then did Lian Rui realize: had Miss not insisted on the painting, Ning Ziyin’s scheme to step on her to compete for favor would never have been exposed so openly.

And how else could it have been made so clear that Ning Ziyin was loathsome, the grandmother cruel, and Miss so unjustly wronged?

Miss truly was brilliant.