Xiao Changning’s eyes flickered slightly. Suddenly, she wanted to test something. “Bixia has wronged Chen Zhaoyi. It was I who pushed her into the water. I will accept any punishment.”
“My beloved consort?” Murong Yao looked at her and chuckled softly. “It’s fine.”
Then he turned to the guards beside him. “Why are you still standing there? Did you not hear my words?”
He pointed at Chen Zhaoyi and then at the imperial lake. “Throw her in.”
Faced with death, Chen Zhaoyi was terrified. “No, please don’t, Bixia, don’t!”
“Bixia, spare my life!”
The guard stepped forward, grabbed Chen Zhaoyi, and with a “splash,” threw her into the lake.
Chen Zhaoyi sank with a series of “gulping” sounds. When she tried to swim toward the shore, she was blocked by the sword-bearing guards. Confronted with the gleaming blades, she dared not move, trembling as she remained submerged in the water.
He turned around. “And you two, kneel on the gravel path. You will not rise until she comes out!”
“Yes.”
Lou Meiren and Shen Chongyi, two unfortunate sisters, huddled together and shifted to the side. They glanced at Xiao Changning, wondering if she should be punished next.
Xiao Changning stared blankly at the gravel path before her. What was happening?
Wasn’t it said that Chen Zhaoyi was the most favored by the emperor?
Murong Yao walked up to Xiao Changning. “Changning? I’ll accompany you back to the palace.”
“Bixia?”
Murong Yao stopped her. “I know everything.”
His warm hands took hers, and they walked through the crowd, returning to Weiyang Palace.
A cold wind blew, and Chen Zhaoyi lost all sensation from the freezing water. The two kneeling women stared blankly at Xiao Changning’s retreating figure before exchanging a glance and obediently lowering their heads.
The charcoal fire in Weiyang Palace burned brightly. As soon as they entered, a wave of warmth enveloped them.
Xiao Changning, her nose red from the cold, allowed Murong Yao to lead her and feed her ginger soup.
Murong Yao fed her spoonful by spoonful, and Xiao Changning drank it sip by sip. After half a bowl, she turned her head away. “I don’t want any more.”
“The smell of ginger is unbearable. I don’t like it.”
Murong Yao looked at her slightly red nose and her plump little lips, his mood lifting considerably. “As you wish.”
He placed the bowl on the table and watched Xiao Changning, who seemed hesitant to speak. “Changning, speak your mind.”
Xiao Changning glanced at him sideways. “To tell the truth, Chen Zhaoyi jumped into the lake herself, but her crime doesn’t warrant death.”
“Why not let her come up? She is, after all, the daughter of a court official.”
“I said, she brought this upon herself.”
Xiao Changning opened her mouth but couldn’t utter a single word. Was this what he said?
It was clearly what she had said.
Murong Yao looked at her and leaned in mischievously. “Is Changning concerned about me?”
Xiao Changning was speechless and pushed him away. So narcissistic.
He lowered his head, leaned closer to Xiao Changning, and pulled her into his embrace. Xiao Changning quietly felt the strong rhythm of his heartbeat.
“Changning, aside from you, I care for no one else.”
A pair of rough hands gently stroked Xiao Changning’s back. “No matter what you do, I will always stand by you.”
Xiao Changning leaned against his shoulder, listening to his heartbeat, and felt an inexplicable sense of security.
“Why?”
Murong Yao looked puzzled. “Why ask why?”
“From the moment I first saw you, my heart flew away with you.”
He caressed Xiao Changning’s cheek with intoxicated tenderness, his eyes brimming with affection. Though his voice was soft, it carried an unquestionable authority: “You belong only to me!”
Xiao Changning gazed into his dark eyes, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips as she silently nodded.
With that, he rose to leave. “I still have memorials to review. You should rest first.”
News of Chen Zhaoyi’s death in the imperial lake spread quickly.
The other consorts in the palace soon understood Guifei’s standing in Bixia’s heart, each trembling with fear. Xiao Changning, the Guifei, became like a “plague,” avoided by all.
Meanwhile, Defei was burning incense in her sleeping palace. The delicate fragrance wafted upward before gradually dispersing.
Her left hand gently traced the collar of her garment, which bulged slightly as if something were sewn inside.
Her maid, Lü Zhu, hurried in, clutching her skirts in agitation.
“Your Highness, Chen Zhaoyi has died in the imperial lake, and the matter has caused quite a stir.”
Defei set down her teacup. “Let it stir. With Bixia here, what can anyone do?”
Lü Zhu nodded, venting her discontent. “Still, that Chen Zhaoyi had it coming. She used to flaunt Bixia’s favor, looking down even on you, Your Highness, strutting about arrogantly all day.”
Defei frowned. “I’ve always had my doubts, and now they grow stronger.”
“Among all in the harem, aside from the Empress, Bixia has never spent the night with any other consort. But ever since Xiao Guifei arrived, Bixia stays at Weiyang Palace every night.”
Her fair, delicate fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. “Could it be…”
A thought suddenly struck her. “Lü Zhu, bring me the portraits of all the consorts in the palace.”
“Yes.”
Lü Zhu scurried off and soon returned, spreading the portraits across the table.
Defei quickly rose and rushed over, comparing them one by one.
“Your Highness, what are you looking for?”
Defei remained silent, instead picking up a wolf-hair brush beside her and swiftly marking the portraits.
Chen Zhaoyi’s eyes, Shen Chongyi’s chin…
Gradually, as Defei examined these familiar features, the truth began to piece together.
“Hahaha…”
Defei clutched the portraits, laughing wildly, her crimson eyes gleaming with murderous intent.
Lü Zhu was terrified. This was the second time her mistress had shown such frenzied laughter—the first was when news of General Xie Zheng’s death arrived, and now this.
Trembling, she slowly backed away.
“Y-Your Highness, what’s wrong?”
Defei took a sharp breath. “So it’s all because of Xiao Guifei!”
“How dare they play tricks in front of the real one?”
“Huh?” Lü Zhu didn’t understand, but for her mistress’s sake, she mustered the courage to look at the portraits.
It was only upon looking that she was shocked.
“Your Highness, Xiao Guifei’s eyes resemble Chen Zhaoyi’s, and her eyebrows and chin look like Xu Liangdi’s…”
As she spoke, Lü Zhu realized something. “Could it be that all these beauties were brought into the harem because they resemble Xiao Guifei?”
Defei’s nostrils flared with rage, her teeth grinding in hatred. “Yes, it’s all because of her.”
“Because of her, that tyrant launched the attack on Nanxiao, and my Xie Zheng brother went to war for military merit.”
“Before Xie Zheng brother left, he asked me to wait for him. He said he would propose and marry me once he returned victorious.”
“But I waited and waited, only to receive news of his death!”
Her mind echoed with the memory of the two of them pledging their love for each other under the willow tree. “Hahaha… I thought it was fate playing tricks, but it turns out she was the one who killed Brother Xie Zheng.”
Defei’s eyes widened with fury. She then picked up a bowl of clear water and doused the incense burner in the hall. “No! I cannot die!”
“The one who deserves to die is someone else.”