bookpower Chapter 293
Chapter 293
noble consort ye knelt respectfully on the ground, kowtowing to jiang xinyue: "your highness noble consort, i was foolish before, constantly instigating concubine cheng and noble lady liu to oppose you. only after my recent troubles did i realize your compassionate nature. from now on, i will absolutely follow your lead and hope you can forgive my previous ignorance."
back when they were in chuxiu palace, she had sworn sisterhood with concubine cheng and noble lady liu. they had promised to share both fortune and hardship, but as soon as they left chuxiu palace, they turned on each other without mercy.
concubine cheng thought too highly of herself, believing she was superior and had earned the emperor's favor, so she looked down on both her and noble lady liu.
she would always look down her nose at others, despising how she and noble lady liu tried various ways to gain favor.
but she failed to realize that if it weren't for her father's military achievements, would the emperor have even given her a second glance?
noble lady liu had always been arrogant. her grandmother had been a calligraphy teacher who served the previous emperor, and after reaching a certain age, she left the palace to marry a local official. liu always brought this up, thinking she had a special connection to the emperor.
only she herself had nothing to her name.
when she was initially appointed as a palace lady, it was only because of the noble consort's suggestion, as the emperor hadn't even noticed her.
now that she had fallen into trouble, concubine cheng and noble lady liu, far from helping her based on their former friendship in chuxiu palace, couldn't wait to distance themselves from her.
she thought she was going to die, but noble consort saved her.
"please rise, noble consort ye. i don't deserve such thanks," jiang xinyue smiled gently. "though i have a reputation for jealousy, i can still distinguish right from wrong. if you did something wrong, i wouldn't spare you, but if you're innocent, i won't wrongly accuse you either. as long as you behave properly from now on, i naturally won't make things difficult for you."
if all those in power were like this, there wouldn't be so many wrongful convictions in the world.
for the first time, noble consort ye felt that if noble consort were to become empress and manage the imperial harem, it might actually be quite good.
as they spoke, a palace maid announced that noble lady jiang had arrived. noble consort ye didn't leave but instead sat on a small stool, watching enviously as noble lady jiang unhesitatingly went to hold and play with the sixth prince.
"did you write the letters to jiang chuan as i asked?"
in this palace, besides the noble consort, no one would dare handle this matter.
"i don't know why consort de wanted to dig a tunnel, and she hasn't told me her next move, but because of this tunnel, i got the idea to rescue xiao ronghua. she's the only survivor of the consort's torture victims. if noble consort wants to bring her down, xiao ronghua would be the best evidence."
jiang chuan remained silent, still harboring doubts, afraid of harming his mistress if he trusted too easily.
"consort de... she killed the previous empress's two princes, and when the sixth prince's wet nurse was burned to death by white phosphorus powder, it was consort de's father, the duke of cheng, who bribed lady zhu's maid to manipulate lady zhu into doing it."
which meant consort de wanted to kill the sixth prince!
aliali: 674876fac4f3f33ac4792c05
after revealing two such explosive secrets, jiang chuan finally believed her: "tell me, what do you want me to do?"
luyin looked up, hope rekindling in her eyes: "master jiang, you only need to hide xiao ronghua and keep her alive. when noble consort returns, xiao ronghua and i will expose consort de's true nature before the emperor. i... i ask for nothing else, i only beg that noble consort will show mercy and allow me to leave the palace early. i can't bear to stay in this palace for another moment."
it's too terrifying!
jiang chuan's eyes flickered: "if what you say is true, i will naturally inform my mistress, but if you dare deceive me, our mistress has plenty of ways to end your life."
"rest assured, master jiang. i came tonight having made up my mind - i absolutely won't deceive you."
she glanced at the dawning sky outside: "it's getting late, i should return, or consort de will grow suspicious."
watching luyin crawl back through the tunnel, jiang chuan remained puzzled: "why would consort de go to such lengths to dig a tunnel here? what is she planning?"
"master jiang, another bunch of grapes has ripened. would you like to pick them?"
several gardeners and fruit-tenders had arrived early in the morning, paying close attention to the purple jade grapes. this concerned their chances of advancement, so they couldn't be careless.
"pick them!" jiang chuan hurried over. "the mistress asked about them in her letter. she'll want to eat them when she returns."