The Beloved Imperial Consort

Chapter 105

Yuancheng Emperor looked at woman with exquisite makeup at his feet and smashed the pile of reports from integration to her face.

Trembling, consort De picked up the record that contained a handprint. After reading only two lines, she immediately lost all of her power and slumped on the ground. Supported with one hand at the side of her leg, the woman's gaze was empty. She did not weep nor refute those words.

She has already prepared for this, didn't she? At least the terror she was consumed by these days has finally come to an end. She no longer had to endure the torment of living in constant fea. She's spent thirty years in the deep quarters of the palace. What awaited her, in the end, was, merely, a white silk. She watched the gemstones inlaid flower ring on her hand. Her mind was hollow, like a dead water.

"Do you have anything to say?" Yuancheng Emperor took a nearby seat. As he watched the woman's decadent appearance, he sighed with sorrow. This woman has been with him since his prince's days. And now, she occupied one of four consorts' position. What was there for her to be discontented about to engage in such a lawless act?

Yuancheng Emperor's question made consort De slowly come back to herself. She raised her head to look at the man she has served for her whole life. Tears slowly slid down from the corners of her eyes.

"Your Majesty, chengqie has accompanied you for nearly thirty years. Chengqie has long lost the heart to strive for favor. During youth, chengqie was not favored by your Majesty, let alone now that chengqie's prime of youth is gone."

The woman sobbed softly, as if in trance,"Since a few years ago, your Majesty rarely visited chengqie's palace. Even if there were occasional moments, it was all once in several months. Does your Majesty know that kind of loneliness that would seep into one's bones in the evenings as one's guarding an empty palace quarters?"

Consort De's makeup smudged. She smiled bitterly with tears in her eyes, "How can your Majesty know? There are countless beauties in the palace. Each year, new members join the harem. Those who have to suffer from loneliness and solitude are seniors in the palace; especially those who have no children to rely on!"

Seeing her eyes redden and abruptly mention the word children, Yuancheng Emperor's hands clenched into a tight fist.

"Does your Majesty remember chengqie's Qing'er? The child who would pull at your hand and call you imperial father? The third prince whom you have praised for being bright and witty?" Consort De's voice became hoarse, her breathing also quickened.

"If it was not for consort Shu, that wench, calling for those two administrative assistants to treat that good-for-nothing, how would have chengqie's Qing'er missed his best time for treatment and failed to be saved?" The woman wailed out and sobbed, "Your Majesty, why do you favor her son and ignore chengqie's Qing'er?"

"You...you are twisting words and forcing logic!" Yuancheng Emperor's chest moved up and down. When he recalled the son who has died young, he was overcome with heartache and grief, "In Qing'er's case, his illness broke out suddenly. Who could have foreseen that it would come in such a violent way, that his treatment couldn't be delayed for even a moment? Moreover, at the time Yun'er suffered high fever and was in extreme danger, his life hung on a thread. Imperial physicians could not leave him by no means!"

Consort De turned deaf ear to his words. She continued to shout, "Your Majesty! Consort Shu, that wench, has not only killed Qing'er. While chengqie was grieving deeply for the lost and ill, she had slipped a drug in chengqie's medicine, making chengqie unable to conceive children!"

"It was imperial concubine Fu who committed the crime. You've seen the trial process yourself. How can you blame someone else?" Seeing her already crazed, not listening to what people said to her, he lifted his foot and intended to leave.