The Beauties of the Cold Palace A Subtle and Alluring Woman

Chapter 29

"Does the young master really think that the master's scheme to send you to the palace was merely to use you?"

I gave him a look that said, "Isn't that right?"

"The master sent the young master to the palace so that the young master could take revenge himself."

"Revenge?!" I finally snapped out of my daze. "Revenge what?" I asked him.

He continued, “Master originally forbade me to speak, but this old servant simply couldn’t bear to see the young master so despondent. Doesn’t the young master suspect that his mother’s death was mysterious and suspicious? Although the young master was young at the time, he should have had some memories of it.”

I stared at him blankly. Mother?! Xie Weiying's mother. How could I possibly remember her? The young Xie Weiying had died long ago, when I possessed her body.

"Master couldn't bear to send the young master to the palace," he sighed. "At first, Master wanted to send the second young lady to the palace, but considering that the second young lady was completely devoted to that Su Xunnan, and had even lost her virginity, and that the second young lady was the son of the first wife, he naturally wouldn't harm her mother. There's an old story behind this. Back then, Master fell in love with Consort Ranran and vowed to love only her for life, and to never take a concubine for her sake. However, after the young master was born, the first wife conspired with Master's sister, Consort Xie, to assassinate Consort Ranran. Although Master knew the truth back then, the Xie family's economic support depended entirely on the first wife's family, and Consort Xie was also favored and enjoying immense power. Master could only pretend to know nothing and hid for more than ten years, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge. Master always neglected the young master, actually just to protect him from harm. But unexpectedly, the young master was still almost killed. After that, Master had the idea of letting the young master grow up and take revenge himself. In fact, the real purpose of sending the young master to the palace was not to help Consort Xie ascend to the position of Empress, but to replace her and ascend to the position of Empress."

I was stunned. Me? Reaching the empress's seat! This sounds like I'm climbing a mirage—

Wait a minute, I voiced my doubts: "Consort De is—well, Father's sister, why would she help the First Madam kill my mother?" Forgive my detached attitude; after all, I'm not Xie Weiying, and I have no particular feelings for that mother I've never met. So, the patriarch sent me to the palace to avenge his beloved woman. I was wondering why Consort De would poison me; it turns out she was afraid I was sent by the patriarch for revenge! I thought it was the Emperor's doing—

"Well, young master doesn't need to know this." He seemed unwilling to discuss the topic. "Now that young master knows the truth, please be sure to vie for favor and replace Consort De. As long as Consort De falls, then the First Madam will be no threat. Master has already arranged everything."

I sneered. He could have moved to the position of Consort De a long time ago, but he made me replace her. He's probably more afraid of not having a powerful backer in the palace. That's why he's been hiding for so many years, knowing that Consort De killed the woman he loved, yet he still endured it. It's because he can't maintain the balance of power among the four great families in the court without relying on Consort De's influence in the harem.

Ultimately, what men value most is power.

"I understand, you may leave."

"It all depends on the young master." He gave me a deep look.

Since I reside in this body, I also have the right to do what she should do for her.

Consort De? Hmph, I sneered.

Volume 2, Chapter 51: The Turmoil

"How could this be? How could this be? That woman isn't dead! How could anyone possibly remove 'Soul Severance'?!" Consort De glared at the man angrily and shouted, "Didn't you say she was doomed if she was afflicted by 'Soul Severance'?!"

The man looked slightly puzzled and said, "I'm wondering too."

"Could it be that the Emperor already knew, and thus conspired with that little wretch to test us?"

Thinking of his unassuming master, the man's face turned cold and he trembled slightly: "That's impossible. If the Emperor knew, he would have killed you and me long ago. How come there's still no movement?"

Consort De frowned and murmured, "I don't understand either. The Emperor has always been ruthless; it's impossible that he would let you and me go after knowing this. Hmph," Consort De snorted, "Everyone thinks that Emperor Jin Yuan, who is being manipulated and held hostage by our four families, is a weak and incompetent emperor, but they don't know that he has already secretly arranged everything. If it weren't for that accident, how would you and I know his true colors? Even now, those ignorant people are still thinking about how to usurp the throne and change the dynasty."

"Your Majesty, I have failed you. Your Majesty trusted me so much, but—"

Consort De turned her head and said, "You regret it?"

The man gazed lovingly at the woman he deeply loved, saying, "I will never regret it."

The woman gazed at him deeply for a long time. Under his gaze, her face flushed slightly, and she said shyly, "Regret? Don't even think about it."

I got up very early today, the only time I've gone out in a whole month, to see my aunt. It's been so long since I've greeted her. Along the way, the palace maids and eunuchs were all whispering amongst themselves, each with a mysterious expression, as if something had happened. I chuckled softly. The news had spread so quickly, it had reached the palace so fast. I didn't expect Xiao Qi's abilities to improve day by day.

The story is about to get even more exciting. I guarantee it.

It took a long time to finally reach Pingyi Palace. The things I heard along the way were truly astonishing. It's unbelievable that the most evil thing is the human heart, and the most unsettling thing is also the human heart. Just by hinting at something, those people slowly became guilty and began to reveal their true colors.

Upon entering my aunt's Pingyi Palace, a casual glance immediately caught my eye of a book she had placed on a wooden table—a rather peculiar comic book: "The Affairs of Women in the Imperial Harem."

My aunt was still in the inner room and told me to wait there. I went over and casually picked up a comic book to read. To be honest, Xiao Qi had already given me the sample book, but I hadn't even looked at it yet. Right now, it was in Xiao Quanzi's hands, and then it would be passed on to the old man. I think he would be happy to share my life in the palace, and perhaps even enjoy it.

The cover is well done. I silently praised Xiaoqi in my heart.

"Master, the Empress is here," Xiao Quanzi reminded him in his ear.

I put down my book, intending to look over with a big smile, but seeing the figure appear with my aunt made my smile a little awkward. Nevertheless, I bowed and said, "Aunt."

My aunt glanced at me coldly. "You've come," she said, her expression grim, as if she hadn't expected me to come back. I smiled.

The man respectfully greeted, "This servant pays respects to Your Highness, Consort Jieyu."

I nodded slightly. "Mm."

Consort De remained expressionless and pale, not even glancing at the man, and said indifferently, "Step down."

"Yes. This servant takes his leave."

Looking at his cold expression, I smiled slightly. It seemed Gao Lu hadn't told me everything yet, and was hiding something. But I would let him know when to speak.

After thinking it over, I went up to her with a smile and warmly took her hand, saying, "Auntie, I haven't been able to greet you properly these past few days. Please forgive me."

She forced a smile and patted my arm. I knew she must be very disappointed. But—

“By the way,” I said with genuine gratitude, “the other day, thanks to Aunt and the Emperor for preparing the good medicine for Wei Ying, Wei Ying recovered quickly.” Ignoring her unnatural expression, I took out the hairpin that the First Madam had given me when I left home and said to her, “Aunt, this is a small token of Wei Ying’s gratitude. Please accept it.”

When she saw the hairpin, her hand visibly trembled, and then she stood up nervously, knocking the hairpin I was handing her away. It was left to her by my mother, Xie Weiying, so naturally it couldn't be broken. I caught it quickly.

Her face was pale, and she seemed somewhat hysterical. I looked at her innocently and with concern, as if I didn't notice anything, and asked, "Auntie, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" As I spoke, I reached out to touch her forehead.

She stiffly slapped my outstretched hand away. Seeing my confusion, she said awkwardly, her face pale, "Ying'er, Auntie is a little tired. You can leave now."

With a worried look on my face, I tried to act like a good girl and said, "Yes, Wei Ying will take her leave now. Aunt, please take good care of yourself."

Consort De, your story is yet to come. I believe you will be very happy to see the plot developments. I hope to receive your gratitude then, or perhaps you will have an even more interesting expression. I am very much looking forward to it.

"Smack—What is this!" Consort Wang angrily slammed the book on the ground, her blue robes swaying. What kind of monstrosity was this? How dare he depict royal affairs as a joke! He had no regard for the dignity of the royal family! What a damned arrogance! What Consort Wang found even more unacceptable was that those scenes had clearly happened around her. She herself had climbed to her current position by stepping over the corpses of others. She knew how difficult it had been to get to where she was today. Yet, he had laid out all those methods, all those things that the harem had always kept secret, on the table, making them a laughingstock for the world! And the Consort Liu in that comic book was clearly a reflection of herself, even her appearance was extremely similar to hers.

That arrogant man in blue robes swayed in the breeze!

To dare publish such a daring and reckless banned book, making a joke of the royal family.

"The Affairs of Women in the Imperial Harem." It's truly a realistic portrayal!

"Bitao, let's go!"

"Master! Master!"

From afar, Sima Rui heard a commotion and smiled knowingly.

"Your Majesty—" Consort Wang took the lead and rushed into the Imperial Study.

Sima Rui smiled as he looked at his beauties and said gently, "What is it, my beloved concubine?"

“Your Majesty—” Consort Wang pouted her red lips coquettishly, “Look—” Consort Wang handed over a currently bestselling comic book in her hand. If it weren’t for the special introduction to this in the book, they would never have known that there was such a thing as comics in this world.

"This is quite interesting, my beloved concubine. What's wrong?" Sima Rui glanced indifferently at the culprit; in fact, he already had a copy in his study. This little book was truly powerful, not only causing a stir in the court demanding a ban on its publication, but also throwing the entire harem into chaos.

Interesting. I wonder what will happen next. For some reason, Sima Rui is actually looking forward to it.

"But, Your Majesty—" The Imperial Concubine wanted to say something more, but Huan Shuangshuang, who was always adept at reading people, noticed the mockery in the Emperor's eyes. He didn't care at all about the war between women in the book, and even seemed to be watching with amusement. Seeing how calm he was, did the Emperor really know about the affairs between the women in the harem all along? The thought that her own cleverness might have been exposed to this most powerful man in the world made Huan Shuangshuang shiver.

He calmly stepped forward, gently took Consort Wang's hand, and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor is dealing with state affairs and has his own judgment on this matter. Why don't we step back for now?"

Wang Dieyi also sensed something was wrong and said softly, "Auntie, let's go."

Sima Rui looked at Huan Shuangshuang and thought to himself, "This woman isn't as brainless as she seems. Anyway, it's fine; I really don't want to deal with this group of women anymore."

Then, following her words casually, he said, "My dear consort, have you forgotten that the Imperial Study is a place for discussing matters, and women from the inner palace are not allowed to enter, so as to prevent women from interfering in politics?"

Consort Wang was startled and hurriedly knelt down: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I know I was wrong." The other concubines also knelt down in fear; even a fool could hear the threat in the Emperor's tone.

Sima Rui remained calm and gentle as always. He rose and personally helped Consort Wang to her feet, saying tenderly, "My beloved consort, how could I bear to blame you? And all of you, please rise. This is a one-time exception. Do you understand?"

Consort Wang, her face flushed with shyness, rose with Sima Rui's help and said sweetly, "Your Majesty, I thank you. I take my leave."

The women, captivated by the emperor's warm, gentle smile, as comforting as the winter sun, failed to see the disdain and mockery hidden beneath his purple eyes. Perhaps it was time to reorganize this harem.

Volume 2, Chapter 52: Poisoned by Gu

"Gao Lu, you've been with me for a long time, haven't you?" As I said this, I suddenly remembered how gangsters in Hong Kong gangster movies would start their interrogations of their betraying brothers.

Gao Lu, unable to fathom my true purpose in summoning him, hesitated before replying, "Yes, young master."

I glanced at Qingci and Xiaoquanzi, and said in a deep voice, "You two can go now." I turned my head and said with a wicked smile, "I have something to say to Steward Gao. Right, Steward Gao?"

"Hmm..." Gao Lu's expression was somewhat confused.

I picked up the teapot, brewed two cups of hot tea, and handed him one: "This is osmanthus green tea that I just made, have a taste." I took a sip myself first.

Seeing that I had drunk, he hesitated before taking a sip himself. In this world, the more shrewd and calculating a person is, the more suspicious they become; the more cunning and treacherous they are, the harder it is for them to trust others. Such suspicion nearly destroyed Cao Cao's great cause. However, this time, his suspicion was justified, but that didn't mean he could escape unscathed.

“Steward Gao, I remember you said that my mother was murdered by my aunt and the First Madam.”

Gao Lu was surprised; hadn't this been said before? Despite his surprise, he still respectfully replied, "Yes, Young Master."

"But I still don't understand. My aunt and father were siblings, so why would she help an outsider kill the person her own brother loved? I've thought about it over and over and I still can't figure it out. It doesn't make sense, does it? What do you think?"

"This servant does not know either."

"Really?" I didn't argue with him, but just took another sip of green tea. It was fragrant and delicious, a good tea.

"By the way, I visited my aunt a few days ago and met a man." Seeing his pale face, I ignored it and continued, "I think Steward Gao must know that man."

Beads of cold sweat broke out on Gao Lu's forehead, and he said in a trembling voice, "This servant does not know what the young master is talking about."

I slammed the porcelain cup I was holding onto the table with a loud crash, my gaze turning icy as I coldly said, "Chief Steward Gao, I might normally beat around the bush with you, but I'm not in the mood for that today. I'll only ask you one question: will you speak about Consort Xie or not?!"

Gao Lu stubbornly replied, "This servant does not know."

I sneered repeatedly, then suddenly said something unrelated: "Manager Gao, do you know what you just drank?"

Gao Lu trembled, but still knelt on the ground and insisted, "Young Master, this servant truly does not know."

"Don't know?" I took a small drum from my pocket. If he had been lucky enough to see "The Eagle Shooting Heroes," he would know what it was. I tapped it lightly without thinking.

Gao Lu clutched his stomach and cried out in pain.

I looked at him; his face was contorted in pain, beads of sweat dripping down his cheeks. I gave a cruel smile and suddenly slammed my fist down hard.

"Ah—" he screamed, rolling on the ground. Seeing my devilish smile, he struggled to ask, "What is this?"

I laughed, a laugh that was alluring and captivating. Seeing his confusion, I slapped him again. Amid his painful groans, I kindly explained, "In ancient Miao territory, there was a secret art called Gu." His face paled further at this. I maliciously continued, "Out of curiosity, I did some research. Just a few days ago, one of my worms matured and I wanted to find a host. So, I decided to test it on Steward Gao today." His face went from white to green, then to deathly pale. I joked, "Have you ever heard of that insect, Steward Gao? It's tiny, almost invisible to the naked eye, and it loves to burrow into people's hearts to play. It also loves music; whenever it hears a drumbeat, it jumps around excitedly. I wonder if one day it might jump into your brain and then, little by little," I poked his head, demonstrating, "eat away at your brain matter bit by bit, then grow rapidly, and after being in that small, enclosed space for a while, it struggles to crawl out from your temple. That's when it multiplies. Then it finds another host. But this is still in my experiments; I don't know if it'll be that mischievous." His face froze completely. His pupils dilated, presumably from terror.

“Chief Steward Gao, do you know what it feels like to be worse than dead?” I glanced at him and said admiringly, “You’re very clever. So after drinking the tea, you used your internal energy to expel the poison you imagined. But you’re too clever for your own good. When dealing with clever people, I always make them regret their arrogance. Do you know? Gu and poison are different. The more you use your internal energy, the faster the worms will invade your heart and reach your interior. Even your heart.”

"Are you curious about the result?" I asked with wide eyes, like a curious child. "Why don't we take a look together and see what it looks like when it develops? Let's look forward to it together."

Gao Lu was so shocked that he forgot to break out in a cold sweat. He stood there stunned for a long time before regaining his senses. He struggled to get up and knelt down, saying, "Young Master, please have mercy. This old servant really can't take this torture. I'm not fit to be the one to conduct the experiment for you."

I patted him a few more times, keeping the rhythm I remembered, and said coldly, "I only want to hear the truth. And you only have this one chance to choose; otherwise, I'll make sure you don't even have the right to choose whether you want to die." I looked like I meant what I said.

He was in so much pain that he didn't even have the strength to speak, only letting out screams of agony. I finally understood what a truly horrific scene was.

As Xiao Quanzi waited outside, he heard the distorted screams coming from inside. Goosebumps rose and fell on his skin, and he felt a chill run down his spine as if he were in an extremely cold place.

Even now, he understood that his master wasn't incapable of fighting back, unaware of his own persecution, or ignorant of the poison in the container; he wasn't cowardly or incompetent, but simply unwilling, reluctant, or even too lazy to do so. Little Quanzi was utterly terrified, never imagining that offending his master would lead to such a terrible consequence.

Chen Anyuan remained calm. After experiencing so much deception, seeing her on the verge of death, Chen Ningyuan seemed to have undergone a complete transformation overnight. He only knew that what his master was doing was absolutely right, and for some reason, he trusted him unconditionally.