Free Web NovelChapter 318: Chapter 319: Feigned Affection
After settling her son, Consort Liu wiped away her tears.
She walked out of the bedroom and saw Wu Wang waiting outside the door.
Wu Wang cupped his hands in a salute. "This servant greets you, Noble Consort."
Consort Liu’s eyes were still red, but she put on the airs of an Imperial Concubine and asked arrogantly.
"What are you doing here?"
Wu Wang answered truthfully, "The Saint heard that the Fifth Prince was ill and was very worried. He specially sent this servant to see if there is anything I can do to help."
Consort Liu knew she should thank the Emperor for his concern, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking a question.
"Why didn’t the Saint come himself?"
Her tone was laced with resentment.
Wu Wang said, "Please forgive him, Noble Consort. There were a great many matters at court today. The Saint cannot get away for the moment."
Consort Liu’s lips twitched into a sneer.
’My own son is on the verge of starving to death, yet he still has the mind to deal with political affairs.’
’What can I say? He truly is the ruler of a nation.’
Consort Liu said indifferently, "Trouble yourself to pass on a message for me. Just say that the Fifth Prince is much better and the Saint needn’t worry so much."
Wu Wang said, "The Fifth Prince is virtuous and thus blessed by heaven; he will surely be fine. I hope you will not worry, Noble Consort."
Hearing this, Consort Liu finally couldn’t hold back a cold, mocking sneer.
"My son is in this state, and you tell me not to worry?"
Wu Wang lowered his head. "This servant has misspoken. This servant deserves death."
Consort Liu couldn’t be bothered to argue with a eunuch like him. She snorted and walked away without looking back.
Wu Wang raised his head, just in time to meet the eyes of the palace maid following behind Consort Liu.
Unnoticed by others, the two exchanged a look.
Back in Lingxue Hall, Consort Liu removed her luxurious robes. She leaned back on a soft couch, her brow furrowed, revealing deep exhaustion.
A palace maid placed a cup of Calming Tea beside Consort Liu.
"Your Highness, just now, on his way to the Imperial Hospital to get medicine, Quan Fu happened to see Prince Zhao entering the palace."
"Quan Fu also made some inquiries and heard that the Saint had some task to assign to Prince Zhao. He had someone summon Prince Zhao to the palace early this morning."
Consort Liu sneered. "The Saint has time to see Prince Zhao, but no time to see my Yan’er. Is it that Yan’er is not as important as Prince Zhao? Or is it that I am not as important as that woman in the Duke Zhen Country Mansion?"
The palace maid quickly advised, "You mustn’t say such things!"
Consort Liu pressed her red lips together. She ultimately suppressed the fire in her heart, closed her eyes, and said no more.
The palace maid hesitated. "Actually... actually, this servant has recently heard some rumors..."
Consort Liu lifted her eyelids to glance at her. Seeing her hesitant expression, she couldn’t help but frown.
"If you have something to say, say it. There are no outsiders here."
The palace maid said, "Recently, I’ve heard many people in the palace whispering that the Fifth Prince’s injury is very likely related to Prince Zhao."
Consort Liu sat up straight. "What do you mean by that?"
The palace maid guided her persuasively, "Think about it, Your Highness. Prince Zhao is in charge of rebuilding the Imperial Ancestral Temple. If he had been just a little more attentive, the Fifth Prince would not have been injured."
"Besides, the Fifth Prince himself said that someone pushed him from behind, which is why his foot was crushed by a stone."
"That person might have been sent by Prince Zhao."
"With Prince Zhao’s status and position, it would be all too easy to plant someone among those laborers."
Consort Liu frowned in thought. "It’s not that I haven’t considered what you’ve said, but if it’s really as you say, wouldn’t Prince Zhao be too foolish?"
’To harm someone right under his own nose? Isn’t that just blatantly casting more suspicion on himself?’
Even though Consort Liu disliked Prince Zhao, she didn’t think he was capable of doing something so stupid.
The palace maid said, "Perhaps Prince Zhao anticipated we would think this way, which is why he dared to act against the Fifth Prince during the construction of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. This is probably what people often call ’doing the opposite of what is expected’."
Consort Liu was lost in thought.
’Setting aside everything else, this method of doing the unexpected truly fits Prince Zhao’s style.’
The palace maid lowered her head and raised a hand to wipe away a tear.
"This servant is just guessing wildly. Although Prince Zhao is a difficult person, he has no reason to harm the Fifth Prince."
"Our poor Fifth Prince... for such a tragic thing to happen at such a young age. Who knows what his future holds?"
Consort Liu’s red lips tightened, and her beautiful eyes clouded over.
’Others may not know, but she knew very well that Prince Zhao was also the Emperor’s son. As long as the Emperor was willing to acknowledge him, he too could join the struggle for the throne.’
’It was highly likely that Prince Zhao would secretly plot against the Fifth Prince to compete for the throne.’
’By getting rid of the Fifth Prince, he would have one less rival.’
’What’s more, he already had a bad relationship with the Fifth Prince. Seeing the Fifth Prince sent to be punished under his supervision, how could he not think of a way to get revenge?’
Consort Liu’s fingers slowly curled into a tight fist.
’If Yan’er was truly harmed by Prince Zhao, I will make Prince Zhao taste a fate worse than death!’
After a long silence, she finally spoke.
"Help me change. I’m going to see Lady Liang."
"Yes."
From the day she entered the palace until now, Lady Liang had never once been called to the Emperor’s bed.
It was as if the Emperor had forgotten such a person existed in the palace; he had never once turned over her name-tablet. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Even when she took the initiative to request an audience, the Emperor would always find an excuse to refuse her.
At first, Lady Liang harbored a sliver of hope, thinking the Emperor might show her some favor for the sake of relations between their two nations.
However, as time went on, the hope in her heart gradually died out.
In the end, all that remained was a despair like a pool of stagnant water.
’Once, in her eyes, the Imperial Palace was magnificent and grand, a symbol of supreme power and status.’
’But now, the Imperial Palace in her eyes had become a giant cage,’ ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
’and she was the pitiful little bird trapped inside.’
The people in the palace had always fawned on the powerful and trampled on the weak. Seeing that she was out of favor, the other Concubines were unwilling to associate with her, and the palace maids and eunuchs couldn’t be bothered with her. On a normal day, there was not even a single person willing to speak a word to her.
Despair, resentment, anger, indignation, helplessness, loneliness—all these emotions piled up in her heart, crazily eating away at her sanity.
She began to hate.
She hated her uncle for sending her here for a political marriage. She hated the Emperor of Great Zhou for accepting her into the palace. She hated Prince Zhao for refusing to marry her.
But most of all, she hated the one who had disfigured her—Princess Consort Zhao.
’If she were given the chance, she would make sure Princess Consort Zhao died without a burial place!’
Just then, Consort Liu appeared before her.
Consort Liu reached out, lifted Lady Liang’s chin, and forced her to reveal the scar on her forehead.
"Tsk, tsk. The once-famous Desert Pearl, now reduced to this state. How pitiful."
Lady Liang slapped her hand away and said hatefully, "Are you also here to laugh at me?"
Consort Liu smiled. "No. I am here to help you."
Lady Liang watched her warily.
"I don’t need your false kindness."
Consort Liu moved closer to her, her vermilion lips parting slightly. The words she spoke were like the whisper of a demon.
"Don’t you want revenge?"
