novelEven More People behind the Courtyard Wall
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Before Honored Consort Ya left the palace, the Emperor had already warned her to detain and gag Honored Consort Xia without saying anything the moment she saw her in the Lord Guardian's Manor. Then, she would have to find the poison and accuse Ao Chenyi and Honored Consort Xia of rendezvousing. Her work would over once she accused them of secretly poisoning the Emperor as well.
The rest wasn't hers to worry about; all she had to do was hold on until the Emperor's decree came. By then, those in the palace would have discovered that the Emperor was poisoned and Ao Chenyi would be finished in that confrontation. As for Honored Consort Xia, well... The Empress would deal with a palace consort who had committed a crime.
Every layer of trap had been set. The entire scheme was quite an ingenious one. Knowing that the Emperor was beginning to attack Ao Chenyi, she was more than happy to lend him a hand. After all, it was obvious from the current situation that her son was the most likely candidate to be the next Emperor after Ao Chenyi.
She was one of the Emperor's most trusted consorts. Even without him saying anything, she could sense that the Emperor wasn't in a good situation lately.
Lately, all sorts of things had been happening to her son. The series of incidents even implicated Grand Tutor Ya's Manor in it. She was reprimanded and neglected for it as well. Now that the Emperor had a task for her, she would complete it to the best of her ability for both her and her son's sake.
Therefore, she had come with great confidence.
Yet, why were things spiraling out of her control? Why was Ning Xueyan around when Honored Consort Xia and Ao Chenyi were rendezvousing? Why did the poison turn out to be ordinary face powder? And why did those private letters turn out to be Honored Consort Xia's love poems?
It was dishonorable for a palace consort to write love poems to a prince, but why did this consort have to be the prince's original fiancee? What a great scandal it was for a monarch to steal his minister's wife and for a man to steal his younger brother's wife! With such a serious matter in mind, who cared how unreasonable it was for Honored Consort Xia to write love poems to Prince Yi? Those two were an official pair to begin with!
Considering that she could still stand and talk when the situation had deteriorated to this point, Honored Consort Ya thought that she was cultured enough.
"The Emperor is poisoned. His Majesty asks that Honored Consorts Ya and Xia to return to the palace." The eunuch saw that Honored Consort Xia was on the ground with her mouth gagged, looking like she had taken a huge emotional hit. Prince Yi was sitting inside the pavilion while Honored Consort Ya was standing before everyone and taking charge of the situation. Sure enough, the Emperor's expectations had come true.
But why was everyone looking at him that way after hearing the imperial decree? He couldn't understand why.
Shouldn't Honored Consort Ya answer him and take Honored Consort Xia back to the palace? Shouldn't Prince Yi come along and visit the Emperor as well, taking the whole fiasco to the palace? Why was Honored Consort Ya giving him such a complicated look? Even though the eunuch was clever, he couldn't figure out the current situation. He gave Honored Consort Ya a look, hinting for her to explain.
Unfortunately, she didn't seem to get his hint and continue to remain quiet.
He looked at the rest and saw how calm they were. The Emperor was poisoned! It was a huge deal, so why didn't these people look surprised at all?
"Honored Consort Ya, hurry up and accept the decree!" the eunuch said in his high-pitched, sharp voice.
Ning Xueyan had been watching the change in the situation inside the pavilion in a carefree manner. Suddenly, she shot a look at a maid who had quietly approached Honored Consort Ya. The maid was Xinmei decked out in the maid uniform of the Lord Guardian's Manor. She was the one who had led the old ministers to this place. Of course, the other maid had shown her the way in advance.
Everyone's attention was on the eunuch, so nobody noticed the change in Ning Xueyan's eyes.
After receiving Ning Xueyan's look, Xinmei flicked the pebble in her hand toward the overhanging part of the handkerchief inside Honored Consort Xia's mouth. The handkerchief loosened right away. Sensing the shift, Honored Consort Xia immediately spat the handkerchief out.
It went without saying that she had heard Honored Consort Ya's accusations. Under such accusations, she and the entire Hua family would be struck with the great disaster of extermination. By comparison, her rendezvous with Ao Chenyi was a much more insignificant crime, especially when she was his original fiancee in the first place.
She thought that she would surely die this time, but little did she know, the situation was being reversed. The powder that Honored Consort Ya was so sure to be poison had turned out to be ordinary face powder. The letters that she smuggled out of the imperial study had become her own love poems. She was lying weakly on the ground when Honored Consort Ya picked up and read those letters, so she got a clear look as well.
She didn't want to die. How could she die when she hadn't had a good life yet? An intense desire for survival prompted her to try her best to spit out the handkerchief in her mouth and explain for herself. No matter who was trying to kill her, she must let everyone know that she was Hua Yueying, her meeting Prince Yi was excusable, and she didn't poison the Emperor.
Sure enough, she was able to spit the handkerchief out this time. She didn't even bother to stand up when she began to yell, "I didn't poison the Emperor! I'm Hua Yueying! I came to see Prince Yi because I felt sorry for him! It has been so many years... I'm supposed to be the real Princess Yi!"
Hua Yueying laid prostrate on the ground and cried bitterly as she spoke, losing her voice somewhere down the line. Still, she made her thoughts clear. Everyone's expressions changed.
Even though everyone was suspecting it, nobody had truly voiced it out loud. Things were different now. Honored Consort Xia had made it clear that she was Hua Yueying, Prince Yi's former fiancee. Her entering the palace and becoming Honored Consort Xia needed no explanation. It went without saying that the Emperor had acted improperly this time.
Of course, it was also obvious to everyone that this situation was the Emperor's attempt to frame Prince Yi. That was why he used Hua Yueying to set up this trap. The poisoning was a lie. With so many people around the Emperor, how could he be so easily poisoned?
The eunuch issuing the decree was one of the Emperor's trusted aides. He didn't know what had happened, so he thought Honored Consort Xia's words wouldn't lead to public suspicion. Thus, he angrily rebuked her, "Nonsense! You're Honored Consort Xia! How could you be Hua Yueying?" He was about to order his two junior eunuchs to gag Honored Consort Xia once more.
"Hua Yueying? What a coincidence. My former fiancee, Chief Hua's second daughter, was named Hua Yueying, wasn't she?" Ao Chenyi said lazily. He stood up, displaying his black robe with blood-red red spider lily embroidery in all of its glory. His ice-cold gaze made everyone fearful of meeting his eyes.
The eunuch had the feeling that something was wrong when he saw Ao Chenyi coming over. He immediately turned around, his body trembling, and explained, "Your Highness, Honored Consort Xia has gone insane. She's saying nonsense."
"I'll enter the palace with Honored Consort Xia today and ask His Majesty about what happened back then. As for the poisoning, well, it seems that a proper investigation is needed." A cold look appeared on Ao Chenyi's handsome face. His words made everyone shudder, and they felt as if a chill was running down their spine.
It seemed that there would soon be a catastrophe in the palace!
"Your Highness, since it isn't poison, then the matter has nothing to do with you. It's better for me to take Honored Consort Xia back to the palace instead." Honored Consort Ya had no choice but to step forward at this time. Things had gotten this bad now. The situation didn't go as the Emperor had planned, and all she could do was minimize the damage. Fortunately, most of the people here were women and the news hadn't reached the court yet. She must return to the palace immediately and consult the Emperor, but there was still time to think about how to minimize the impact of this scandal.
"Wasn't it you who said this has to do with His Highness, Honored Consort Ya? His Highness was forced to bear the crime of conspiring to murder the Emperor. Barely any time has passed, and you're now saying His Highness is innocent? Whether he's innocent or not, we should discuss that in the palace. It's not something you can decide, after all."
Ning Xueyan took two steps forward and stood beside Ao Chenyi, looking like she was in complete support of him. Her glistening eyes swept back and forth as an idea came to her. She looked at the stiff-faced Honored Consort Ya and spoke to her with a gentle smile, every word showing her determination not to give in.
She found this to be ridiculous. She had long guessed that Honored Consort Xia was being manipulated but she didn't expect it to be the Emperor. The Emperor had really gone all out in setting out this trap. He must have truly consumed poison to play along in this show because not all imperial physicians were loyal to him.
"I'll be joining His Highness to stand witness for him, " Ning Xueyan said. She sounded soft and meek but her words were firm. She looked like she would support her husband no matter what he would do. She was standing beside Ao Chenyi, bravely and openly taking his side.
The eunuch was beginning to realize that something was off. He said, stammering, "But... But you're Princess Yi. How can you stand witness for him?"
"What about us... We can stand witness, can we not?" Out came a voice from the courtyard. Everyone turned around and immediately saw five to six furious-looking old ministers emerging from a nearby courtyard. They looked pale with anger. They had been eavesdropping from behind the courtyard wall and were only showing up after hearing the entire orchestrated show.
Most of them had joined the late Emperor in building his dynasty and were loyal to him. The fact that they could be ministers meant that they were no ordinary people. Having heard the whole thing, they fully understood that the Emperor had stolen his younger brother's wife and now was trying to frame him. They had received the late Emperor's orders to guard Prince Yi, so how could they allow this farce to continue?
When they heard the eunuch say that Princess Yi, as Prince Yi's family member, couldn't stand witness for him, they couldn't hold back their anger anymore and came out. They requested to enter the palace and stand witness for Prince Yi. Not only did they want to be his witnesses, but they also wanted to demand justice for him. The late Emperor had decreed that Prince Yi was to be appointed as Crown Prince. How could he be bullied this badly? They, as veteran ministers, had let the late Emperor down. They would be too ashamed to meet him in the underworld.
Seeing even more people coming out of the courtyard, and powerful and influential old ministers at that, Honored Consort Ya felt true despair.
The married women under the leadership of the Madam Dowager of the Lord Guardian's Manor recognized some of the old ministers to be their husband. They went up to their respective husbands and greeted them. As matters stood, the Madam Dowager's banquet couldn't go on any longer. The large group of people left the Lord Guardian's Manor in their carriages and horses and headed for the palace.
This was a rude shock to the other guests who were still in the dark. So many old ministers and high-status madams had left. Some even saw a crying Honored Consort Xia being pushed around when she left. Honored Consort Ya's face was said to be even more ghastly than the weeping Honored Consort Xia. She had left with her face almost entirely stiff. Prince and Princess Yi too...
No matter how one looked at it, it was obvious that something big had happened. The guests began to ask around in secret. To their amazement, they learned that the Emperor's mysterious beloved consort, Honored Consort Xia, was Prince Yi's former fiancee, Second Young Lady Hua. Before this, no one knew that Second Young Lady Hua had become Honored Consort Xia. Now that Prince Yi knew about this, he would surely cause a ruckus.
Such an incident was, of course, an explosive piece of news. With the powerful Madam Dowager of the Lord Guardian's Manor and older madams gone, the news began to spread like wildfire. Before Ao Chenyi and the others even arrived at the palace, the news had spread out of the Lord Guardian's Manor, with all sorts of versions reaching every corner of the capital at an alarming rate...
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