CHAPTER 665: CHAPTER 665: COME BACK

The Empress Dowager sneered coldly.

"It’s not a big deal, but... in broad daylight, Consort Xian Pin, you should still pay attention to your image!"

Xia Ruqing looked at her clothes and quickly lowered her head to admit her guilt.

"Thank you for the reminder, Empress Dowager!"

"This consort is guilty. I was only thinking that since I wouldn’t go out and no one would come in, I allowed myself a moment of indulgence!"

"This consort will not dare to do so again!"

As respectful and subservient as ever, there was not a single fault to pick.

The Empress and Consort Ning watched, their teeth itching with hatred.

This woman is truly too cunning to catch even the slightest mistake.

The Empress Dowager didn’t care about anything else.

She snorted coldly, flicked her sleeves, and left.

The Empress and Consort Ning hastened to follow, and one by one, they departed.

Qingya Residence returned to tranquility.

「Elsewhere.」

Having returned to Ningshou Palace, the Empress rushed forward to admit her guilt.

"Mother!"

The Empress Dowager slammed a teacup down.

"You still have the face to speak? What kind of things have you been doing as the Empress! You believe and dare to spread such slanderous rumors about Palace Consorts, tarnishing the Royal Family’s reputation?"

The reputation of the Royal Family is a major affair that cannot tolerate the slightest negligence.

Doesn’t the Empress understand this principle?

The Empress knelt on the ground, motionless.

"Mother, I was wrong in this matter, but... The rumors in the palace are widespread. I thought they certainly couldn’t be baseless, so..."

The Empress Dowager grew even angrier.

"So you came to tell me, to use me as your pawn?"

Her son was already somewhat critical of her. Now, having targeted his favorite concubine, his trust in her had diminished even further. Most importantly, how would this spread in the Harem? A mother-in-law, constantly trying to make trouble for her son’s young concubines? It’s truly undignified!

So, the more the Empress Dowager thought about it, the angrier she became.

Glaring at the Empress, she didn’t bother to tell her to rise and went straight into the inner room.

The Empress didn’t dare to rise either and just continued to kneel there.

The weather was not yet very cold, and the Ground Dragon heating was not on, but the floor was already quite cool.

Her knees went from icy cold to numb, her complexion from rosy to pale.

During the following two Shi Chen, the Empress tasted the long-forgotten bitterness of punishment by kneeling.

The last time she was punished by kneeling was when she was still at home. She had secretly used scissors to shred the clothes her mother had made for her second brother.

After her mother found out, she punished her by making her kneel in the snow for over a Shi Chen.

Her constitution had never been strong, and it was from that time that her chronic ailment began.

So many years had passed.

Her second brother was gone, her mother had grown old and was living with her father in the Capital City, their circumstances far from good. The one punishing her had changed from her mother to her mother-in-law. But she, the one being punished, was still the same.

The Empress couldn’t quite understand.

Why could she never escape this curse? At home, her family didn’t like her. In the palace, neither her husband nor her mother-in-law liked her. Could it really be that no one liked her at all?

The more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she became.

Not knowing how long she had knelt, Sister Qing finally came out and cautiously said,

"Empress, the Empress Dowager has retired to rest. You should go back now!"

Consort Ning, kneeling beside her, also persuaded,

"Empress, let’s go back!"

The Empress snapped back to reality and nodded blankly. Dragging her numb legs, she sat in the warm palanquin and returned to Jiaofang Hall.

「Over at Qingya Residence.」

Having seen off the Empress Dowager and the Empress, Xia Ruqing happily returned to her room. She hugged Little Bun and kissed him several times, only putting him down when he frowned repeatedly.

"My son, you truly are Mother’s little lucky star!"

The informal dress Xia Ruqing wore was actually something she had brought back from outside the palace. Indeed, she had just returned, having entered through the back courtyard.

Little Bun liked to go to the back courtyard to play with his cats and dogs.

Therefore, when Xia Ruqing entered from the back courtyard, the Palace Maids and eunuchs knew immediately.

Xiao Zhu Zi sent a message from the front.

"Mistress, the Empress Dowager is here. You must not go out right now; just stay in the back courtyard!"

Xia Ruqing nodded, which led to the earlier scene.

It appeared she really was a woman who had been confined for several days, dressed in casual home clothes, playing with her son in the backyard.

Her clothes were indeed casual, but she was, after all, under confinement.

Besides, this had nothing to do with her reputation, did it?

She hadn’t even left her residence, had she?

So, the Empress Dowager and her party had truly come up empty-handed and made themselves a laughingstock.

No wonder the Empress Dowager was angry.

Xia Ruqing changed into a fresh set of clothes and washed up before putting on her usual, truly casual palace attire.

Lying on the kang bed and taking a sip of tea to calm her nerves, she sighed in relief,

"Ah! Fortunately, I arrived just a bit earlier!"

Otherwise, if the Empress Dowager had caught her not being in the palace, she truly would have been unable to explain herself, no matter how many excuses she made.

Zi Yue was somewhat puzzled.

"Regarding Your Highness not being in the palace, His Majesty issued a gag order! Who would be so reckless as to reveal it?!"

Xia Ruqing smiled faintly.

"Word always gets out!"

"Besides..."

"They might not actually know; it’s more likely they were merely guided by someone to fan the flames!"

Zi Yue was even more confused.

Xia Ruqing then explained further.

"Let me put it this way: if they had solid information, they wouldn’t have come only now."

It had been three or four days since the Emperor had left the palace.

If they were going to come, they would have come much earlier, wouldn’t they? The person manipulating the rumors from behind the scenes was either the Empress or the Noble Consort. Only they have the foundation to accomplish such a thing.

Zi Yue instantly understood.

"Your Highness is wise!"

Xia Ruqing gave a faint smile and said no more.

「Jiaofang Hall」

Only after calming down did the Empress realize she might have been tricked.

Her gaze fixed sternly on the Managing Eunuch, she commanded bitterly,

"Find out exactly where these rumors originated. I want to know every detail!"

The Managing Eunuch hastily agreed and hurried off.

This eunuch did have some skill, for it only took him a day to find the results.

"’The source is too obscure, but it seems to involve the Noble Consort’s handiwork!’"

In other words, this was related to Noble Concubine Shih.

Upon hearing Noble Concubine Shih’s name, the Empress instantly sneered.

This woman is truly formidable! When favored, she monopolized the Emperor’s affection, and now that she has lost favor, she still acts haughtily and condescendingly! To think she’s still trying to harm me—what wishful thinking.

The Empress sneered.

"Go, instruct the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ’take good care’ of the Noble Consort’s food, clothing, and daily necessities starting this month!"

Sister Ji tried to intervene.

"Your Highness, that is the Noble Consort!"

She’s a genuine mistress of the Harem! Anyone’s stipend could be cut short, but not the Noble Consort’s!

The Empress was somewhat irrational.

"What genuine mistress! Three years ago, she might have been a genuine mistress, but what is she now!"

Seeing the Empress was set on this, Sister Ji no longer tried to persuade her and could only go to pass on the orders.

When the Ministry of Internal Affairs received the message, they were also stunned.

"Withhold the Noble Consort’s stipend? This..."

Such an act could end very badly; nobody wants a short life, do they? But what could they do? If the Empress commanded it, they had to obey.

For a time, the entire Ministry of Internal Affairs was in a state of panic.