The Double-Chapter 628 - 186 - Lies_2

Time flees like a dream, and beauty fades as flowers do, all alike in their transience.

Emperor Hongxiao was in Cining Palace, accompanying the Empress Dowager in reciting scriptures.

As the Empress Dowager recited scriptures, Emperor Hongxiao simply sat to one side, flipping through the scripture book. Compared to the Empress Dowager’s piety, Emperor Hongxiao seemed to be much less sincere. But the Empress Dowager, eyes closed and absorbed in her recitation, did not see this. She was so focused, as if nothing in the world was more important than the scripture before her. And so the days went by, one after another, year after year, almost as if since the moment Emperor Hongxiao took the throne, this had been her way. freeweɓnovel.cøm

She did not intervene in the affairs of state, nor did she dominate the palace like Empress Dowager Liu, almost causing people to forget there was such an Empress Dowager. It was said that when she was young, she was the same—gentle and virtuous, never engaging in jealousy or conflicts in the harem. Instead, she raised a child not her own and watched him ascend the throne. Without the Empress Dowager, the young Emperor Hongxiao might have been devoured to nothing by the ambitious Empress Dowager Liu and her son.

But to say that Emperor Hongxiao and the Empress Dowager shared a close bond would also not be quite right; it was nothing more than a façade of peace.

After accompanying the Empress Dowager in chanting scriptures for a while, Emperor Hongxiao left Cining Palace. He didn’t return to the Imperial Study Room. He had looked over documents all night and attended the early court session, sleeping for less than a few shichen in total. He needed to return to his sleeping chambers to rest. As he reached the entrance of his sleeping quarters, Eunuch Su approached him and said, "Your Majesty, Consort Li has arrived."

Consort Li emerged from behind the door. Among the many beauties of the palace, she was the most unhurried. Even as the spring brought a fresh influx of beauties into the palace—young, vibrant, bud-like beauties that made the entire royal palace especially beautiful—the former beauties felt threatened and dressed up even more extravagantly. But for Consort Li, it seemed there was never any distinction. She never felt endangered, nor did she fear the emperor falling for another beauty. She just went about her affairs gently and softly, just as she was then, standing at the doorway, smiling at Emperor Hongxiao and saying, "Your Majesty, I made some snacks using the new acacia honey from this year. Would you care to try some?"

No one could refuse such gentle insistence, and Emperor Hongxiao chuckled, "Sure."

His usually tight expression softened at that moment.

Consort Li smiled and helped Emperor Hongxiao to a table where exquisite snacks and hot tea were laid out. Her fingertips seemed to retain the sweet scent of honey. She was different from the other beauties. When other beauties offered pastries, claiming to have made them themselves, their hands were clean and tidy, and their rouge vivid and intact, casting doubt on whether they had merely stood aside, directing the servants. But Consort Li’s pastries were truly made by her hands. It was said that others couldn’t replicate the flavor she achieved.

She was a thoughtful person.

Emperor Hongxiao smiled as he picked up a pastry and put it into his mouth, and Consort Li timely offered a cup of hot tea. After he finished eating and took a sip of tea, he sighed, "You always have such thoughtfulness."

"Your Majesty is busy with state affairs; this is all I can do," Consort Li replied with a smile.

Emperor Hongxiao also smiled, "Speaking of which, yesterday my mother mentioned that among the beauties newly entered into the palace this year, there is your cousin. Why did you not tell me, so that I could take special care of her?"

Consort Li’s smile stiffened. Though the emperor still wore a smile upon his face, her heart was filled with extreme unease.

She had no children, and the Ji family members used to constantly pray to the gods and worship the Buddha, making her take all kinds of strange medicines in the hope that she would conceive a child and secure her position in the harem. But as time passed with no news from her stomach, the Ji family members gradually lost hope and turned their attention elsewhere.

The Ji family never stopped planning to send another beauty to the palace to capture the emperor’s affection. Consort Li knew what they meant, they wanted her to take care of the beauty, to help that young woman win the emperor’s favor. To shield her from dangers, to plot and scheme, and in the end, to become a discarded piece, squeezed dry of the last drop of blood, to be sacrificed for the Ji family.

Why should she? Consort Li absolutely refused. She had not easily attained her current position only to hand everything over to someone else. Especially when the other party had not done anything, relying solely on being young and beautiful to effortlessly possess everything—how unfair would that be?

So Consort Li did nothing. She pretended not to know about the cousin the Ji family had sent into the palace, and even refused to meet with the Ji family members. Her anger towards the Ji family members grew, gradually turning into hatred. So much so that after Jiang Youyao’s incident, Consort Li didn’t even want to ask; she was unwilling to run errands for the Ji family members anymore. Of course, she was also well aware that, with the nature of the Ji family members, they wouldn’t seek revenge for Jiang Youyao or anything of the sort.

Consort Li’s mind whirled with thoughts, but on her face, she showed a mournful smile, lowered her head, and suddenly knelt down, saying, "Your concubine knows her sins."

Her brows were tender, her voice heart-wrenching and pitiable, eliciting sympathy from anyone who saw her. Emperor Hongxiao was slightly taken aback, took her hand, and seated her beside him, saying with a smile, "You’re afraid that I’ll favor someone else and feel jealous, aren’t you."

"There can be many beauties by Your Majesty’s side, and your concubine is just an insignificant one. When Your Majesty favors another beauty, your concubine cannot do anything. The only thing your concubine can hope for is to retain Your Majesty’s favor for a longer time. Your concubine knows this is presumptuous, please punish me, Your Majesty."

Her words were sorrowful and pitiful, all because of love that she would be so. How could any man remain indifferent in the face of such a lovely woman expressing her heartfelt affection?

"I will not abandon you," Emperor Hongxiao laughed, "as long as you don’t betray me, I will never forsake you."

Consort Li’s heart skipped a beat, she vaguely sensed a deeper meaning in Emperor Hongxiao’s words. But the man beside her held her so warmly, and his tone was so doting, that her suspicions gradually evaporated.

No, Emperor Hongxiao wouldn’t know, she had been very discreet, no one would know.

At the same time, there was a cold laugh in her heart. She didn’t covet the emperor’s affection; after all, without children, the emperor’s affection was only temporary. One day, she would surely be replaced by younger and lovelier beauties, becoming one of those past-their-prime women in the harem, those withered flowers, a fresh clump of dazzling mud in the springtime.

She was determined to make it to the end, at all costs, not hesitating to sacrifice anyone.

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Consort Li’s eyes.