Chapter 335

“Your Majesty, this subject, Tong Xiuyuan, entered the palace in the sixth year of Xuanwu, conceived the following year, but miscarried at three months. At that time, it was discovered that a palace maid had accidentally pushed this subject, and this subject suspects she was bribed by Consort De. Please, Your Majesty, grant this subject justice.”

“This subject, Shi Xiuyi, entered the palace in the fourth year of Xuanwu, conceived in the eighth year, and gave birth to a son who passed away just two days later. The deceased prince cannot be recorded in the clan, and this subject’s child has no resting place even in death. This subject also suspects Consort De. Please, Your Majesty, grant this subject justice.”

“This subject, Consort Zhuang, was injured by a miscarriage six years ago and can no longer serve Your Majesty. This subject has been residing in Plum Garden. The imperial physician said that excessive safflower caused this subject to hemorrhage, and this subject has been bleeding continuously ever since. This subject’s days are numbered and only wishes to seek justice for herself and her child!”

“Please, Your Majesty, order the execution of Consort De!”

Each accusation was built with the flesh and blood of the Xuanwu Emperor’s children.

The Emperor grabbed Consort De by the neck and dragged her to the doorway, pointing at the group of consorts kneeling outside. “Look at them! Look at all the sins you’ve committed!”

Consort De’s eyes swept across the faces of the consorts. She had thought that by stepping on these women and rising to her high position, she had long forgotten these powerless failures.

But the moment they appeared, it was as if she was pulled back to the time shortly after she had entered the palace.

Her family had not only sent her to the palace to seek imperial favor but also another cousin.

That cousin was exceptionally beautiful, comparable to Concubine Li at the time. After being selected to enter the palace, she was isolated by all the other selected maidens, as no one wanted to stand beside her and be overshadowed.

Consort De knew that with her own looks, it would be nearly impossible to gain the Emperor’s favor.

So, she played the role of a timid quail every day, obediently following her cousin. Her cousin, relying on her beauty, treated her like a servant, but she not only did not resist but actively helped her with many tasks. Even the other candidates for the selection of consorts scolded her for being foolish, calling her a pushover who was happy to be bullied.

Her image of kindness, weakness, and harmlessness became deeply ingrained.

As the only legitimate daughter of the Duke of Cheng, her cousin might have been beautiful, but in the palace, rank was determined not by looks but by the power behind the person.

Consort De had been granted the rank of Consort even before receiving imperial favor, while her cousin was only a lowly Concubine.

The day before the Emperor was to summon her, her cousin suddenly fell ill, foaming at the mouth and bleeding from the seven orifices before dying.

The next day, the Imperial Household Department came to Chuxiu Palace and announced that the Emperor had chosen Consort De, but she claimed that her cousin had just passed away and that she needed to go to Sheng'an Temple to pray for her cousin’s well-being in her next life.

It was from that incident that the Emperor began to take notice of her.

She rose steadily, becoming Consort De in six years and raising the Third Prince. Her ambitions grew ever larger.

Whenever a consort conceived or, by chance, gave birth to a child, she would do everything in her power to eliminate them.

From a young age, her father had told her that as long as she eliminated anything harmful to her, she would remain undefeated.

The Duke of Cheng had only one legitimate daughter, not because he had no concubines, but because any child they bore either died in the womb or died along with the mother.

In short, her father could have only one daughter.

In the palace, there could be only one prince, the Third Prince, who would eventually inherit the throne without obstruction.

The Former Crown Prince…

Hah!

That fool. She had only coaxed him a couple of times, saying that her jade pendant, a gift from the Emperor, had fallen into the pond, and losing it would be a grave offense.

Consort De, after receiving imperial favor, had aligned herself with the Empress and behaved kindly and gently in every way. The Former Crown Prince and the Second Prince both liked and trusted her.

At the time, the Former Crown Prince’s personal eunuch had gone to the Eastern Palace to fetch his cloak, and his attendants had been distracted by various sudden incidents. Trusting Consort De, the Former Crown Prince leaned over the pond’s edge to retrieve the pendant, only to be pushed into the water by Consort De’s men.

As he struggled, his wide, disbelieving eyes were etched into her memory.

As for the Second Prince, it was even simpler.

When a smallpox outbreak occurred both inside and outside the palace, with nearly a hundred children in the capital dying from it, Consort De, having already had smallpox as a child, was not afraid of infection.

She had the Duke of Cheng bring in a handkerchief contaminated with smallpox, then made an undershirt for the Second Prince. While changing his clothes, she used the handkerchief to wipe his eyes and mouth.

When the Second Prince contracted smallpox, the Empress did not fail to suspect the clothes and had the imperial physician inspect them, but the results showed no issues.

She had no idea that the clothes were merely a distraction, steering the Empress in the wrong direction.

The bottle by the pond was meant to make everyone think the Former Crown Prince had been poisoned and collapsed while admiring the fish. Consort De was the first to discover him and attempt to save him, and that day, all the attendants serving the Former Crown Prince were executed.

The undershirt was known to the Empress and was deliberately thrown out to make her suspect, while the handkerchief contaminated with smallpox had long been burned by Consort De.

She had so many handkerchiefs that looked identical; how could the Empress distinguish which one it was?

It was all Jiang Xinyue’s fault… If not for her, the Emperor would not have investigated her. If not for trying to frame her for poisoning the Third Prince, she would not have exposed her ability to use poison.

Even if the Emperor had found the bottle from the pond back then, he would never have suspected her.

It could only be said that in her efforts to deal with Jiang Xinyue, she had exposed too many secrets.

Now, those exposed secrets had become the final straw that would crush her.

The consorts’ hateful gazes made her shudder, and she retreated a step: “Fei Xiu died in the Empress’s palace. Who knows if this blood oath isn’t a fake concocted by the Empress to bring down this subject? Or perhaps, it’s Imperial Noble Consort Jiang’s scheme to ensure the Sixth Prince inherits the throne, forcing Fei Xiu to write it. After all, you and the Empress are of one mind, otherwise, she wouldn’t have entrusted the Fifth Prince to you, would she?”

Her mind wasn’t entirely muddled; she still knew how to twist the relationship between Jiang Xinyue and the Former Empress using the Fifth Prince.

“You’re relying on the fact that there’s no evidence, aren’t you?”

Jiang Xinyue sneered: “Then how do you explain killing Luyin and framing it on the mute servant?”

As soon as Jiang Xinyue finished speaking, the Emperor gestured toward the door: “Bring her in.”

The Investigative Bureau led in a haggard woman in coarse gray cloth. Her eyes darted around, and upon seeing Consort De, she rushed forward excitedly: “Your Grace, Your Grace, I’ve finally found you. My husband has come to the capital to look for you. You promised to return our daughter to us, didn’t you? Where are they?”

They…

Were already in the Western Paradise.