Chapter 36: Eating Melon Time

There was a major problem with palace affairs.

This was practically like stepping through a minefield set by the Empress Dowager. Moreover, she still remembered the promise she made to the Empress. Early that morning, when Consort Tong led the other consorts to pay respects at the Palace of Longevity and Peace (Ningshou Palace), the Empress Dowager unleashed a fierce scolding.

Consorts Hui, Yi, Xi, and Xuan were not involved in managing the palace affairs.

They were roughly onlookers, heads lowered, modestly holding their tea cups, obediently playing the part of wallflowers in the Ningshou Palace — that is, if you didn’t notice their faces lighting up with the expression of people watching juicy gossip.

The first to be reprimanded was Consort Tong.

Consort Tong dropped to her knees, tears streaming like pearls: “Empress Dowager, your humble servant harbors no desire for power. From that day on, I handed over all palace affairs to Consorts An, Jing, Duan, and Rong.”

After she finished speaking, she coughed repeatedly.

Seeing Consort Tong’s haggard and weak appearance, Kangxi felt a pang in his heart. He quickly helped explain: “Empress Dowager, Consort Tong was not involved in this matter, so how could it be her fault? If I were to say, the problem must lie with—”

“She wasn’t involved at all, and that is the biggest fault,” the Empress Dowager interrupted sharply, her face darkening as she scolded sternly, “I entrusted you with the management of palace affairs, yet you did not take it to heart nor fulfill your duty. Instead, you pushed everything onto others, Lady Tongjia! Are you dissatisfied with my decree?”

The Empress Dowager’s voice was thunderous and deafening.

Kangxi shuddered, and at the same time, Consort Tong’s heart panicked.

Her face went pale ashen, cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

Suddenly, Consort Tong realized she had overlooked one thing—if the Empress were to die, indeed she could use that opportunity to appear detached and aloof, thus winning the Empress Dowager’s favor.

But the problem was—the Empress was still alive…

Her poor handling only highlighted her irresponsibility and lax supervision, a stark contrast to the Empress, who was meticulous, competent, and thorough in all matters.

Consort Tong’s vision blurred, and upon realizing the gravity of the situation, she nearly collapsed.

In panic, she instinctively looked to Kangxi. Tears rolled down her cheeks like pearls, her crying beautiful but full of sorrow: “Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Your humble servant truly had no such intention.”

Despite the gracefulness of her tears, Kangxi’s mind involuntarily flashed to the foolish face Wan Anran made while crying yesterday. He was briefly lost in thought, but when he came to, his gaze toward Consort Tong grew colder.

Kangxi was not foolish.

If he were, he would not have been chosen by the Empress Dowager to inherit the great throne, nor would he have gained absolute power at such a young age.

Removing the rose-colored filter, Kangxi instantly understood Consort Tong’s motives. While Lady Wan was earnestly praying to Buddha and gods for the Empress to awaken and recover, what was Consort Tong doing? Probably praying as well, but for the Empress’s early death, hoping to ascend to the throne herself!

A surge of anger ignited from the depths of his heart.

Though the Empress was not as gentle and filial as he desired, she was fair, just, benevolent, and magnanimous — handling matters with care and skill.

How could she compare to Consort Tong, who only knew how to hold others back? Kangxi’s sharp gaze swept over Consort Tong; the unusual emotion in his eyes unnerved her. She felt as if she had lost something precious.

Panic and fear flickered in Consort Tong’s eyes. She instinctively reached out to grasp Kangxi’s robe: “Your Majesty… cousin! Cousin, your humble servant truly did not mean to handle things this way. I have been ill all these years, always unwell…”

Kangxi took a deep breath.

Before him was his own… cousin! His hands dropped from gripping into fists and relaxed. Kangxi helped Consort Tong up: “Consort Tong, I know your character well. Since that is so, you shall no longer manage any affairs. Simply rest peacefully in Chengqian Palace.”

Consort Tong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Gentle warmth filled her expression as she looked at the Emperor’s firm profile, quietly contemplating how to win over his heart in the future.

Consort Tong sat down in deep thought, unaware of the mocking gleam flashing in the eyes of others. Consorts Hui, Yi, Xi, and Xuan, sitting upright, could barely hide their glee.

After the Empress’s serious illness, control of palace affairs would surely not be as tight as before. The originally first-ranked consort lacked the qualifications to hold power, so naturally, it would benefit those below.

If the Emperor harshly scolded Consort Tong, the others might feel bitter, but now, him telling Consort Tong to stay away from palace affairs? Ha! That only shows the Emperor’s distrust of Consort Tong. Probably only Consort Tong herself is proud and secretly glad the Emperor did not explode in anger.

How utterly foolish.

The four women lifted their tea cups and sipped; their eyes simultaneously flicked toward the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager laughed bitterly.

She had seen foolish people before but never as foolish as Consort Tong, who ironically had a rather clever face — truly a waste!

Kangxi temporarily pushed Consort Tong out of his mind.

His sharp gaze turned to the remaining four women, the anger he held barely restrained, on the verge of eruption.

Consort An cried out in grievance, saying these matters were the responsibility of Consort Jing; Consort Jing refused to take the blame, saying it was Consort Duan’s doing.

Consort Duan was even more aggrieved, tears streaming.

She claimed she had never seen the accounts from the start, so how could she have known about the arrangements? Kangxi’s forehead twitched violently as his stern gaze landed on the unlucky Consort Rong.

Consort Rong sneered.

She showed no guilt at all, immediately dropping to her knees and loudly said, “Reporting to Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager, I have been busy organizing all affairs for Your Majesty’s birthday celebration these days and have not taken over any other matters. I hope Your Majesty will see clearly!”

With one crisp sentence, she deftly distanced herself from any responsibility.

The affairs of the birthday celebration were complicated and chaotic — doing them well was expected, but if anything went wrong and damaged the Emperor’s face, the person in charge would suffer greatly.

From the beginning, these tedious tasks were disliked by three of them.

When Consort Rong expressed a desire to manage the matter, Consorts An, Jing, and Duan secretly mocked her ignorance.

Now look at that…

Kangxi nodded with a gentle expression. He had already ordered an investigation long ago, and among the four, only Consort Rong was serious and responsible. Preparations for the birthday celebration were steadily underway. When uncertain, help was sought from the stewardesses of the Palace of Earthly Tranquility (Kunning Palace), and no mishandling had occurred.

As for the other three… heh heh.

Just thinking about it made the veins on Kangxi’s forehead throb.

Consort An had bribed people to sabotage Consort Jing.

Consort Jing bribed people to sabotage Consort Duan.

Consort Duan bribed people to sabotage Consort An.

So basically, they were playing some twisted “nesting doll” game!

Consort Xuan narrated the tangled relationships with such enthusiasm that Wan Anran and Noble Lady Nara’s mouths nearly formed perfect “O” shapes.

“The entanglements among them can’t be explained all at once, but the gist is—these three have been scheming all along!” Consort Xuan sipped her tea, unable to hide the glee on her face. “This time, they’ve truly angered the Empress Dowager badly!”

Isn’t that so?

Thinking of her own boastful remarks before the Empress and then looking at the farce before them, where four out of five chosen people made mistakes — the Empress Dowager’s face must hurt terribly!

Following that feeling came anger.

The Empress Dowager suppressed her desire to punish the four, turning her suspicious gaze toward Consorts Hui, Yi, Xi, and Xuan.

Except for Consort Xuan, the other three held their breath, concentrating.

They knew… this might be their final test before ascending to consort rank.

As for Consort Xuan, she calmly lifted her tea cup and sipped.

As long as the Emperor is here, as Meng Fei, she wouldn’t even be allowed to touch a single finger to palace affairs. So why bother pretending otherwise? Anyway, if she wanted to become a consort, there wouldn’t be a shortage of her own opportunities.

The Empress Dowager glanced at Noble Lady Xuan.

Enough, enough! This one is even less ambitious than the Empress Dowager herself. The Empress Dowager was too lazy to bother with Noble Lady Xuan and instead fixed her sharp gaze on Consorts Hui, Yi, and Xi, as if she intended to dissect them thoroughly.

Consorts Hui, Yi, and Xi felt uneasy.

Unfortunately, even after they rose to take their leave, the Empress Dowager said nothing more. Once outside the Palace of Eternal Longevity, the three felt a bit disappointed—but of course, they still held a tiny bit of hope. They all silently pondered that, during this period, they must manage the palace staff well and behave properly in front of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

At the same time as they made up their minds, they couldn’t hide their schadenfreude.

Not to mention that Consort Tong lost her qualification to manage palace affairs by the Emperor’s single word, and Consorts An, Jing, and Duan were scolded harshly and immediately stripped of their palace authority, fined for three years’ salary, and ordered back to their palaces for reflection and to copy palace regulations as punishment.

The first part was bearable, but the latter was truly humiliating.

Just thinking about their expressions made Noble Lady Xuan feel that today’s lunch deserved three extra big bowls. Wan Anran was momentarily distracted, then frowned, asking, “Does this have nothing to do with my… promotion?”

“How could it have nothing to do with it?”

Noble Lady Xuan praised Wan Anran gently, “It was because you reported this matter to the Emperor. Moreover, every palace consort who copied Buddhist scriptures for Her Majesty the Empress received rewards, so don’t worry.”

That was indeed true.

Yesterday, Kangxi had an idea and ordered all palace consorts to hand in their copies of Buddhist sutras written for the Empress for inspection. Today, Wan Anran was the only one promoted to Noble Lady, but many others also received rewards or were promoted to Changzai.

It was noticeable, but not entirely obvious.

Only then did Wan Anran realize that where there were rewards, there were also punishments. Orange White recounted vividly, “Consorts who didn’t copy Buddhist scriptures were severely reprimanded; mild cases had their salaries docked, severe cases were demoted!”

Then Orange White chuckled.

Lowering her voice, she said, “Mistress, for example, the Wuyah Noble Lady in the Palace of Eternal Harmony was demoted to Changzai!”

Wan Anran’s almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise: “What!?”

She remembered that in the book, after the Empress passed away, Wuyah Noble Lady’s cries were sorrowful, she fainted frequently, and was later found to be pregnant. After the Longevity Festival, she was promoted to Consort.

But now she had become a Changzai?

Seeing Wan Anran’s shock, Orange White excitedly added, “Mistress, what I said is true. I heard Wuyah Noble Lady didn’t copy a single word of the sutras and even tried to pass off old copies, but was caught red-handed by palace staff during the inspection.”

The Noble Consort Niulu was kind and just.

Since entering the palace and managing palace affairs, everything had been orderly. The lower-ranked consorts never noticed much before, but after the Empress fell ill, seven or eight out of ten quietly copied several volumes of Buddhist sutras for her, more or less.

As for Wuyah Noble Lady… no!

Now the demoted Wuyah Changzai was sitting on the ground, her eyes full of panic and fear.

The Empress was going to die; who would pretend to copy sutras for her? Wuyah Changzai’s mind was blank, and she was dazed and confused: “Impossible, impossible, impossible…”

The official messenger glanced disdainfully at Wuyah Changzai.

He waved his hand and left without even looking at the purse a palace maid handed him—he thought it was dirty!

Bad luck!

The palace maid turned pale, and the low chuckles around made her shiver. She hurried back inside and helped Wuyah Changzai stand up: “Mistress… Young Mistress, are you… alright?”

Wuyah Changzai felt as if her heart had dropped into an ice cellar.

She trembled, her brows full of intense terror and panic.

The Empress awakened? And she had become a Changzai?

What… what… what was going on? Her gaze fixed tightly on her belly: “Now… only you remain. Mother only has you left!!!”

She was already pregnant.

Once this was revealed during the Longevity Festival, she would surely… surely be able to return to Noble Lady status… no, become Consort.

Wuyah Changzai regained her composure.

She ordered the palace maid to leave the room and, holding her belly, stared ahead blankly.

At this point, the only way was to hand over the child she would bear to Consort Tong to raise, then use Consort Tong’s control over palace affairs to slip back in whenever the Emperor was not paying attention…

Wuyah Changzai took a deep breath and clenched her fist tightly.

Just then, someone pushed open the door.

Wuyah Changzai was startled and frowned angrily: “How rude! Don’t you have any manners? How dare you enter without notice?”

The leading palace maid kowtowed respectfully.

She looked very proper but didn’t answer Wuyah Changzai’s question. Instead, she smiled and said, “Young Mistress Wuyah, the noble lady has ordered you to pack your things and move to the annex.”

Wuyah Changzai was slightly stunned.

Then, from behind the palace maid, Miaochangzai—no! Consort Miao—appeared, smiling proudly as she scanned the room. She adjusted her hair, raised her voice slightly, and said, “This room is really nice. Miss Zhihe, please tell the noble lady that I will soon go pay respects and offer thanks.”

Wuyah Changzai’s face flushed bright red.

She looked at the scene in disbelief, fully understanding Consort Miao’s implied meaning.

Consort Tong had actually given her room to Consort Miao.

Wuyah Changzai clenched her fists tightly at her side, a blaze of anger growing in her chest. If she mentioned her pregnancy, this room would surely still be hers… but another thought slowly surfaced deep in her heart.

She raised her chin and swept her gaze over everyone present.

“After the Longevity Festival, you will regret this. I will make you kneel at my feet and beg for mercy!”