"A fine queen indeed! Now that she sees this consort under the emperor's house arrest, she comes here just to show off her power!"
"She's nothing but an impostor slut. How dare she act all high - and - mighty in front of this consort!"
"Lady, you mustn't mention this..." Yin Qiao quickly advised upon hearing this.
Back then, before the emperor ascended the throne, he had strictly forbidden anyone to talk about this matter. If someone heard it, she might get another month of house arrest.
"This consort is not afraid at all. If the queen has the nerve to pull off such a scheme of switching the dragon for a phoenix, is she afraid of this consort exposing it?"
The noble consort sneered. Her fair and slender hand tightened, crumpling the letter beyond recognition. Finally, she threw it out.
"Since the letter can't be sent out, shall we wait for a month and let the Inner Palace Affairs Office send it to Guanghan Palace?" the noble consort asked angrily, turning her head.
"Lady, don't worry. Our people have already entered Guanghan Palace. She will keep a close eye on Concubine Yan."
Only then did the noble consort calm down a bit. She couldn't believe she had suffered such a great loss at the hands of that slut Yan Qingshu!
---
In Qianyuan Hall.
After the court session, Di Yunjian returned to the imperial study. As usual, Li Dahai served him a cup of pre - rain Longjing tea.
"Have the things been sent to Guanghan Palace?" Di Yunjian asked after taking a sip of tea.
"Your Majesty, this servant sent Xiaoshunzi to deliver them. Xiaoshunzi said that Concubine Yan drank up the whole bowl of tonic before he came back," Li Dahai replied with a smile while tidying up the memorials from the ministers.
Di Yunjian slightly curled his lips and said, "She is quite obedient."
Li Dahai added, "Your Majesty, just as you expected, there is indeed a secret channel in Fengzao Palace that can send letters outside the palace."
"Today, the noble consort tried to send a letter again, but was stopped."
Di Yunjian frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Stopped? I deliberately loosened the guards. Why can't the letter be sent out?"
He deliberately loosened the guards in order to find out which part of the palace this secret channel of the noble consort passed through, and then deal with it properly.
"It was... the queen, Your Majesty. The queen said that since the noble consort had committed such a mistake, she should calm down and copy the Precepts for Women to atone for her sins. So she added more guards."
"Now Fengzao Palace is tightly blocked like an iron barrel..."
Li Dahai hesitated to report.
The queen had been dissatisfied with the noble consort's behavior for a long time. Now that the noble consort was under house arrest, she also added more guards in accordance with the emperor's order, claiming it was for the noble consort's own good. Her reason was justifiable, and there was nothing wrong to be found.
Di Yunjian sneered. His tone was cold and indifferent. "She sure knows how to follow my lead. She uses my name to show off her power to the noble consort."
"Forget it. Since the letter can't be sent out from Fengzao Palace for the time being, keep the news of the noble consort's house arrest a secret. Spread the news outside the palace that Yan Qingshu is in great favor with the emperor. The Marquis of Zhenyuan is eager to have a child. He will surely not let Yan Qingshu forget her mission because of the favor."
As he finished speaking, the begonia petals by the window in the hall were blown off. A gust of wind blew, and a man in black suddenly appeared in the hall.
He was Di Yunjian's secret guard.
"Greetings to Your Majesty," the man knelt down and saluted.
"Get up. Have you found out anything?"
The secret guard stood up. His voice was deep. "This subordinate went to the Marquis of Zhenyuan's mansion as Your Majesty ordered. It's exactly as Your Majesty said. The concubine of the Marquis of Zhenyuan and a boy are living in the most remote and shabby courtyard of the mansion."
"They don't look like the concubine and child of a marquis's mansion at all. They could be mistaken for famine refugees."
"And that boy is indeed different from others. His reactions and movements are very slow."
"The servants of the Marquis of Zhenyuan's mansion can bully them at will. They only send some food every day, and most of the food is spoiled."
Di Yunjian frowned handsomely. He couldn't help but imagine what kind of life Yan Qingshu had lived before entering the palace.
"Your Majesty, this Marquis of Zhenyuan is really..." Li Dahai also felt disgusted.
Although a concubine was not as noble as the main wife, Concubine Yan's mother was forcefully taken back to the mansion by the Marquis of Zhenyuan when she lost her memory. Losing one's memory was already pitiful enough, and now she was used as a tool by the Marquis of Zhenyuan to threaten Yan Qingshu.
It was really pitiful.
Li Dahai shook his head regretfully.
Di Yunjian's face darkened completely. As an emperor, he was suspicious. He had doubted Yan Qingshu's words, so he sent someone to investigate. He didn't expect her experience to be exactly the same as his own in his childhood.
If someone had given him a glimmer of hope back then when he was a child, it would have been great.
Di Yunjian waved the secret guard away.
"Li Dahai, if you were in a swamp and were in despair, but saw a glimmer of hope, what would you do?"
"If this servant were in that situation, this servant would try his best to seize that glimmer of hope," Li Dahai replied.
"What if you couldn't tell whether this glimmer of hope was good or bad?" Di Yunjian asked again.
"Then this servant would still seize it. Anyone who can pull this servant out of the swamp is a good person. As long as this servant can climb out of the swamp, whether it's good or bad doesn't seem that important," Li Dahai said.
Di Yunjian got the answer he wanted. He stood up with a faint smile and sat down behind the desk to review the memorials.
"Then do you think Yan Qingshu will seize this glimmer of hope that I represent?" Di Yunjian's gaze fell in the direction of Guanghan Palace.
Li Dahai was surprised. For a moment, he couldn't figure out what the emperor was up to.
Was he going to use Yan Qingshu's identity as a concubine - born daughter of the Marquis of Zhenyuan's mansion to bring down the mansion? Or was he simply pitying Concubine Yan and thus bothering to investigate the situation of her mother and younger brother?
After much thought, Li Dahai still thought the first possibility was more likely.
"This servant thinks that Concubine Yan is intelligent. She will surely understand Your Majesty," Li Dahai thought for a while and gave a compromising answer.
Di Yunjian just smiled and didn't say anything more.
"Your Majesty, does this servant need to send some things to the Marquis of Zhenyuan's mansion?" Li Dahai hesitated but still asked.
"No need," Di Yunjian said.
"After the news of Yan Qingshu's favor spreads, the Marquis of Zhenyuan's mansion will treat them well. After all, in their eyes, since Yan Qingshu has shared the emperor's bed, she has a chance to conceive an imperial heir."
Hearing this, Li Dahai finally understood the emperor's intention.
Once the news of Concubine Yan's favor spreads, according to the way the Marquis of Zhenyuan's mansion does things, they will surely threaten Yan Qingshu with her mother and younger brother. Then the emperor can step in and use the relationship between Yan Qingshu and the Marquis of Zhenyuan to find out the mansion's weaknesses and thus bring it down.
Di Yunjian continued to review the memorials.
The image of Yan Qingshu's tear - streaked face appeared in his mind, and his heart softened uncontrollably.
She was really pitiful. In this deep palace, her only elder sister threatened her with the lives of their relatives, and her so - called father only regarded her as a tool.
She entered the palace just to conceive his child.
Thinking about it carefully, she had always been making wedding clothes for others.
It was reasonable to think that she would be willing to help bring down the Marquis of Zhenyuan's mansion through her, as she had suffered so much from it.
This helpless dodder flower, he would protect her more.