Concubine Xue looked extremely proud but still pretended to be embarrassed. "Your Highness the Seventh Princess, you flatter me!"
Murong Yunxi nodded. "Then what are we waiting for? Concubine Xue, hurry up and change your clothes. Go to the imperial garden to accompany His Majesty!"
Concubine Xue was both surprised and overjoyed. She quickly took off a gold bracelet from her wrist and stuffed it into Murong Yunxi's hand as a token of gratitude. Then she grabbed Consort Lin's hand and rushed back to change her clothes.
Murong Yunxi played with the shiny gold bracelet in her hand and smiled faintly. Just as her elder sister had said: a top - level hunter often appears in the form of prey.
The more she thought about it, the more interesting she found her elder sister.
Concubine Xue had been favored by the emperor for many years and was used to throwing her weight around in the harem. After being demoted, she was inevitably laughed at behind her back. What was even more suffocating for her was that the emperor, who had once doted on her so much, now treated her so coldly. This made her unable to sleep at night, and she became visibly haggard.
She yearned day and night, wishing that if she could regain the emperor's favor for just one day, it would soothe her heart and make her feel a little better. However, her daily expectations eventually ended in disappointment. The emperor never chose her name on the jade tablet again.
Now that Murong Yunxi had given her such an opportunity, she didn't hesitate for a moment and couldn't wait to go back and dress up.
Sure enough, lust had clouded her judgment. Concubine Xue, an outstanding player in the harem power struggles, still lost in the face of illusory love.
Concubine Xue couldn't wait to put on the peony - embroidered dress that the emperor had once praised as the most beautiful on her when she was conferred the title of noble consort. She then ordered her maids to do her hair and makeup exactly as it was back then. After looking at herself in the bronze mirror several times, she finally left the room satisfied.
This outfit should be enough to make the emperor remember her and recall the good old days when they first met, right?
Concubine Xue was extremely nervous as she rushed towards the imperial garden.
She walked around most of the garden but didn't see the emperor at all. Concubine Xue was a bit confused. Although the Seventh Princess had a bad temper, she never lied.
As she was looking around, she saw Wei Dongling leaning against the stone railing in the distance. Wei Dongling waved at her and shouted, "Good day, Concubine Xue! What are you looking for?"
Concubine Xue was naturally unhappy to see Wei Dongling. This girl had stabbed her early yesterday morning, and now she was out in the imperial garden enjoying the breeze?
Concubine Xue's face darkened as she asked in a deep voice, "Has Your Highness the Fifth Princess seen His Majesty come to the imperial garden?" The imperial garden seemed very strange to her today. Not only didn't she see the emperor, but there were also very few guards on duty. Where had they all gone?
Wei Dongling nodded. "I just saw Father and Uncle Rui playing chess. Why are you asking about Father, Concubine Xue?"
Concubine Xue was anxious. "Where are they playing chess?" Seeing Wei Dongling frowning and not answering, Concubine Xue put on a gentle expression and explained, "I have something urgent to discuss with His Majesty. Please forgive my rudeness, Your Highness the Fifth Princess."
She originally wanted to be polite so that the Fifth Princess would answer her question quickly and then she could leave. But Wei Dongling nodded slowly and replied, "Well! Concubine Xue is an elder. Of course, I won't blame you for your rudeness."
Concubine Xue was so angry that her face turned black. She had to bite the bullet and ask again, "So can Your Highness the Fifth Princess tell me where His Majesty is?"
Seeing Concubine Xue looking at her expectantly, Wei Dongling subconsciously nodded. "Sure!"
Seeing that Wei Dongling only answered after being prompted and didn't get to the point for a long time, Concubine Xue gritted her teeth with a dark face. "Where is His Majesty?"
Wei Dongling tilted her head and looked at her, frowning. "Father is not far away. If Concubine Xue answers me a question, I'll tell you the truth."
Concubine Xue was almost furious. She felt that Wei Dongling was just playing with her. No wonder her son had once said that this woman was insidious and cunning. At first, she didn't think so, but later she found that the Fifth Princess had escaped the dead - end situations she had set up again and again. It seemed that she had underestimated her before!
Concubine Xue bit the bullet and said, "Your Highness the Fifth Princess, just ask whatever you want."
Wei Dongling nodded. "Then come with me, Concubine Xue. The others, please don't follow. I have something to talk to Concubine Xue heart - to - heart."
Concubine Xue's personal maids hesitated. Concubine Xue shouted angrily, "Can't you just say it here? I can dismiss the maids."
Wei Dongling lowered her eyes. "This is a public place. I don't want to talk here. Does Concubine Xue think that I, a wounded person, will do something to you?"
Concubine Xue knew it was a provocation, but she had no other choice. She waved her hand at the two maids beside her and got up to follow Wei Dongling.
Wei Dongling walked in front, and Concubine Xue followed five steps behind. The fallen leaves on the ground that hadn't been swept up yet crackled under their feet.
Concubine Xue followed Wei Dongling for a while and gradually lost her patience. Just as she was about to ask, she saw Wei Dongling stop under a big banyan tree. Concubine Xue asked unhappily, "What do you want to talk to me about, Your Highness the Fifth Princess?"
Wei Dongling looked at the yellow leaves on the tree, then looked back at Concubine Xue. Her eyes were full of righteousness as she asked, "Concubine Xue, if you have something to do, just come at me! Don't you feel guilty about killing the maid Qiaoyue?"
Concubine Xue was shocked to hear Wei Dongling's straightforward words. She looked around nervously. Even though there was no one around, she still shouted angrily, "What are you talking nonsense about, Your Highness the Fifth Princess? What does Qiaoyue's death have to do with me?"
Wei Dongling sneered. "That imperial bodyguard, Li Wenbin, isn't he the cousin of your younger sister's husband? He had an improper relationship with Qiaoyue and secretly hooked up with her! You took advantage of Qiaoyue's obedience to him and ordered him to drug her with a mind - numbing potion. Then you made her put highly poisonous arsenic in the steamed perch that Father bestowed on me! Qiaoyue was so stupid that she actually believed your words and did such a stupid thing. She died in such a muddle - headed way! Concubine Xue! In your eyes, is the life of a maid not a life? Do you know that Qiaoyue's parents were both dead? She died in the palace like this, and there will be no one to worship her during the Tomb - Sweeping Festival every year!"
Wei Dongling's words were so intense that Concubine Xue was shocked. She angrily defended herself, "What you said has nothing to do with me. How can you say that I was the one who instructed it?"
Wei Dongling scoffed. "Qiaoyue refused to confess her lover and that she was instructed by you until her death. She only said that it was the doing of the Seventh Princess, Murong Yunxi. But no one knows that Murong Yunxi has taken a huge blame for you, Concubine Xue!"
Concubine Xue was furious. "Don't talk nonsense! Do you believe that I'll ask your father to punish you?"
Wei Dongling shouted even louder, "Go ahead! Let's see if Father will find out the truth!"
Concubine Xue's face darkened. She didn't want to entangle with Wei Dongling anymore. She snorted coldly, "Shameless girl, making up stories out of thin air here!" With that, she turned around and left with a flick of her sleeve.