Imperial Concubine Li was feeling a bit forgetful. How did she end up in the imperial tent? How did the little figure end up in the Emperor’s hands? At present, it was all over, but she had just promised Feng Fen Dai that she would work with her. What was this considered now? Most importantly, her matter had been exposed, so what would happen with her son? Would he also be implicated?
Imperial Concubine Li dropped to the ground in fear and stared straight at the Emperor. Pleading, she said: “Your Majesty, this concubine was muddled for a moment. I really was muddled! Your Majesty, you must forgive this concubine. You must forgive this concubine!”
“We won’t forgive shit!” The Emperor suddenly picked up a teacup from the table and threw it at Imperial Concubine Li’s head! This caused a bloody hole to open up on Imperial Concubine Li’s head. The blood covered her face, and she yelped in pain. “We hate you the most for your witchcraft and for disobeying Us. Such a vile woman, how could We forgive you?”
Seeing that the Emperor was about to explode, the second prince, Xuan Tian Ling, quickly consoled him: “Father Emperor, please calm down for now. Aside from the matter of witchcraft, son still must ask Imperial Concubine Li about Fei Yu’s matter. I will ask to see what she knows.”
Once these words came out, Imperial Concubine Li suddenly shouted: “That’s not it! I didn’t want to harm Fei Yu. I did not harm that child! Your Majesty, this concubine also watched Fei Yu grow up and also loves him to bits. How could I go and harm him?”
“Imperial Concubine means that the matter in the forest is unrelated to you?” These words were asked by Feng Yu Heng. She was very clear that the little white tiger had been taken by someone under Imperial Concubine Li’s command. She just wanted to see what exactly Imperial Concubine Li would say.
With her saying this, Imperial Concubine Li quickly said: “There is a relation! I admit that it is related to me, but I just wanted to get that little white tiger out and wanted… wanted to scare Imperial Daughter Ji An. Your Majesty! This concubine really did not think that the tiger would hurt someone. If I knew that it would hurt someone, this concubine definitely would not dare touch it!”
The Emperor became even angrier this time. Not to mention cursing Feng Yu Heng, but Imperial Concubine Li had also harmed Xuan Fei Yu. That was the Emperor’s most beloved grandson! He glared at Imperial Concubine Li angrily, and his heart was tangled over what to do. Should she be killed? Internally, his heart favored the idea of having her killed. This sort of person being kept around would cause a mess, but Imperial Concubine Li had given birth to the sixth prince, and the Old Sixth happened to be quite a likable child. To kill Imperial Concubine Li just like this, perhaps that would create some sort of knot in his heart.
The Emperor was tangled over this; however, the second prince asked Imperial Concubine Li: “What were you stealing Imperial Daughter Ji An’s little white tiger for? Did that little white tiger provoke you or did the imperial daughter provoke you?”
At this time, Imperial Concubine Li did not have any ideas. Or it could be said that over the many years, she never had many ideas. She was not someone that had a naturally bad disposition, but she was just too gullible and was easily led by the nose. To speak of frightening Feng Yu Heng and causing her vexation, these were not things that she had come up with on her own. Instead, these were things that were mentioned during some gatherings of the imperial concubines that could not see the Emperor. Each of them was viler than the previous, and they were all exceedingly jealous. Although Imperial Concubine Li was not sociable and very rarely participated in these gatherings, she could hear a bit about these things. Slowly, she began to develop a hatred for the ninth prince, who was to become the crown prince. She developed even more hatred for Feng Yu Heng, who was supporting him from the back and was adding fuel to the fire. All of this was became she had also given birth to a prince. She had also had enough of that lifestyle in the inner palace. She could only hope that there would come a day when she could change her fate and change the 20 years of suffering.
Faced with the second prince’s question, Imperial Concubine Li told the truth. She spoke of the bitterness that she had suffered for over 20 years, and she spoke about the unreconciled feelings over the past two years stemming from the battle for the throne. Word by word, although she was speaking about herself, her hatred was also directed at the Emperor.
The Emperor became dazed from listening; however, this only lasted for an instant, as he very quickly recovered. To him, he had too many women, and he had let down too many. Aside from the ones that had princes, there were quite a few that he could no longer remember. But he did not feel that this could be considered as owing them anything. This was the path that women entering the palace would be taking. Even without Imperial Concubine Yun, there would have been someone else. Over the years, new ones would be brought in, and old ones would be swapped out. There would also be some that got eliminated. Ever since they began thinking of entering the palace, their families had already described their paths clearly. Upon entering the palace, it will be like being thrown into the ocean. If you can swim, just keep swimming, but if you can’t, all that remains is to sink.
Imperial Concubine Li had admitted to stealing the little white tiger, but why had the little white tiger bitten Xuan Fei Yu. The second prince was still pondering this. It was Feng Yu Heng that provided him with an answer: “My little white tiger is very in tune with human feelings. Imperial Concubine Li had arranged for an imperial guard to carry it out, and it definitely was not happy. That imperial guard struggled with it and was even bitten by the little white tiger. At the same time, it also sniffed the fragrance that came from the imperial guard’s body. No matter how in tune it is with human feelings, it is still a beast and cannot think like a human. That’s why when it was thrown into the forest, and Fei Yu suddenly appeared with that same smell from the imperial guard, the little white tiger subconsciously thought that Fei Yu was the person that had stolen it away. Only then did it go to bite him.”
What she had said was measured and reasonable. A piece of imperial guard armor had been found in the little white tiger’s mouth, and that fragrance had appeared on Xuan Fei Yu’s body. It did not seem like Imperial Concubine Li was lying. All of this showed that Feng Yu Heng’s conjecture was correct.
Imperial Concubine Li did not say anything else and just continued to quietly sob. It looked like she was blaming herself quite a bit. Feng Yu Heng thought for a bit then asked: “Imperial Concubine said that everything was done to me, but why did Palace Princess Wu Yang’s imperial carriage need to be ruined? What sort of enmity did she have with Imperial Concubine?”
Imperial Concubine Li was startled, “Tian Ge’s imperial carriage? What do you mean?”
The Emperor also looked at Feng Yu Heng, “You’re saying that Tian Ge’s imperial carriage flipping was intentionally caused by someone?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “The place where the wheel was connected to the axel had been cut by someone. It was not an accident.”
The Emperor immediately glared at Imperial Concubine Li; however, Imperial Concubine Li repeatedly shook her head. While shaking her head, she said: “No, that matter with the imperial carriage is unrelated to me. Your Majesty, everything that this concubine has done, this concubine has admitted to, but there’s no reason for this concubine to ruin Tian Ge’s imperial carriage! She’s a girl, and she’s Feng’er’s younger sister. How could I… this concubine want to ruin her imperial carriage?!”
The Emperor did not believe her, “You’re just quibbling!”
Imperial Concubine Li smiled bitterly, “Quibbling? Either way, this concubine will be dying. What’s the difference between one more charge or one less charge? If it really was done by this concubine, this concubine would definitely admit it, but if this concubine admitted it, the real culprit will never be found!”
The Emperor had a sunken expression and did not say anything; however, Feng Yu Heng suddenly said: “Imperial Concubine Li really is someone that gets to the main points. A-Heng admires that.”
“Hm?” Everyone voiced their confusion, and even the Emperor cast a puzzled gaze toward Feng Yu Heng.
Feng Yu Heng just faintly smiled and spoke up: “Even when faced with a matter concerning life and death, imperial concubine is still able to think of searching for the true culprit. To not allow Palace Princess Wu Yang to suffer any more hardships, is this not worthy of admiration?” After saying this, she looked toward the second prince and continued: “Second prince, Fei Yu’s matter is not entirely imperial concubine’s fault. If there is any blame, it should be blamed on that little thing being raised by A-Heng.”
“A-Heng, your meaning is…”
“Father Emperor.” Feng Yu Heng did not reply to the second prince’s question. Instead, she asked the Emperor: “Father Emperor, how do you plan on handling Imperial Concubine Li?”
The Emperor snorted coldly and took a glance at Imperial Concubine Li. It was as though he was looking at a stranger. After a long time, he coldly spat out: “Killed.”
Imperial Concubine Li collapsed on the ground and did not say another word.
The Emperor had given the execution order, and Zhang Yuan was about to call for the process to begin; however, Feng Yu Heng stopped him in a timely matter: “Wait a moment.” She then kneeled at Imperial Concubine Li’s side and said to the Emperor: “Father Emperor, A-Heng will beg forgiveness for Imperial Concubine Li.”
Nobody was able to understand what she was wanting to do, including Imperial Concubine Li and the Emperor. He did not say anything. He just looked at Feng Yu Heng and waited for her to continue, and Feng Yu Heng immediately said: “In the end, Imperial Concubine Li did not really want to hurt anyone. Stealing A-Heng’s little white tiger was just a warning, and this was not much of a problem. Fei Yu’s matter was also found to be an accident. I hope that second brother will be able to calm down a bit. As for the matter with the witchcraft, A-Heng is a doctor. I can only believe in treating illnesses and don’t believe in something like witchcraft.”
“It’s just that?” The Emperor asked Feng Yu Heng, “If it’s just that, We still must have her killed.”
“That’s not all.” Feng Yu Heng said: “A-Heng was thinking that Imperial Concubine Li is still His Highness the sixth prince’s birth mother. Father Emperor might not do it for Imperial Concubine Li, but please think about His Highness the sixth prince. In any case… leave him his mother.”
Her words were not too clear. Over the years of strife, princes were lost, and even more imperial concubine mothers of princes were lost. But those princes were most deserving of their punishment, but the sixth prince was innocent. In the end, Imperial Concubine Li was just an ignorant imperial concubine. Of course, Feng Yu Heng had her personal reasons that she did not speak of.
“Forget it.” After a long time, the Emperor said in a tired voice: “Imperial Concubine Li will be demoted to noble lady and will be moved to Jing Si Palace’s side hall. You will not be permitted to take half a step out of Jing Si Palace.” After saying this, the Emperor stood up and entered the inner tent without coming back out.
Imperial Concubine Li remained on the ground and had not yet recovered; however, she heard the second prince say: “Noble Lady Li, get up. You managed to escape with your life today, and you must thank Imperial Daughter Ji An for that. If it was not for Imperial Daughter Ji An begging for forgiveness on your behalf, this prince definitely would not have wanted this outcome.” After saying this, he gestured to his subordinates, and people immediately went forward to carry Imperial Concubine Li and her servant back to their own tent.
Imperial Concubine Li, who had been demoted to noble lady, still could not understand why Feng Yu Heng had spared her life even after they returned to her tent. To just be demoted to noble lady, this was too light of a punishment for what she had done.
The servant dove to her feet and bitterly advised: “Imperial concubine, just give it up. Let’s not oppose Imperial Daughter. If you really want to find a pillar of support for His Highness the sixth prince, His Highness the ninth prince is most reliable!” The servant spoke one word at a time, but Noble Lady Li did not react. She neither nodded nor shook her head. She just sat there in a foolish daze, not saying a single word.
Back inside the imperial tent, the Emperor was asking Feng Yu Heng: “She used witchcraft to try and harm you. Why did you protect her?”
Feng Yu Heng smiled, “Father Emperor, the one being protected was not Imperial Concubine Li. It was His Highness the sixth prince and Da Shun’s stable heart.”