Palace Fighting: Naive Concubines' Ascent to Power-Chapter 620 All Beasts Have Spirits

The ferocious beasts and birds of prey kept inside numbered only a few, not even a tenth of what there were during the late Emperor’s time, most of them had died of old age.

The living ferocious beasts and birds of prey were also very old, and for many years no new beasts had been added to the garden. Those bred within were the tamer species, His Majesty felt it was a waste of silver and even considered disbanding the place.

It was unexpected that Consort De would dare to choose such a place, even he was scared when he came to deliver the decree.

Ming Jing walked over, just in time to hear this remark, and said helplessly, "My lady..."

"They are all beasts here, they won’t be able to spread the word," said Consort De, turning her head and seeing Xiao Xizi, she smiled, "I nearly forgot about you. You won’t tell anyone, will you?"

Without waiting for an answer, she added, "Regardless, let it be told," shrugging her shoulders, as if she didn’t care if the word got out.

Xiao Xizi: "..."

Ming Jing walked up to her, eyes full of helplessness, and respectfully reported: "My lady, everything has been packed up, it’s time to go back."

Consort De let out a long sigh.

Seeing this, Xiao Xizi offered words of comfort, "Consort, please don’t worry, His Majesty knows you were wronged, and now the entire harem is aware that someone framed you..."

Consort De waved her hand indifferently, cutting him off, and striding forward with her long legs towards the gate of the Imperial Animal Garden.

After walking a few steps, she couldn’t help but sigh with discontent, "Ah, it seems I must go back to being the Emperor’s lackey again. These creatures all have spirits, and it’s a pity to let this place fall into neglect. I rather like it here. I wonder if the harem were well managed, whether the Emperor would let me stay?"

As she spoke, she stopped and looked towards Xiao Xizi.

Xiao Xizi followed with his head down, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He had heard in private that Consort De was straightforward and bold in her speech, renowned in a way that didn’t compare to seeing her in person. He hadn’t expected that she would dare to speak ill of His Majesty, calling herself His Majesty’s lackey—what kind of remark was that for the leader of the four consorts?

Being able to manage the harem was a great honor, something all the consorts longed for. Unexpectedly, Consort De saw it as a burdensome task, which was truly unusual.

Silently listening until she stopped, Xiao Xizi was taken aback and raised his head only to realize the question was directed at him.

He jerked alertly and quickly pleaded, "Consort, there has been trouble here in the past. Even if a tiger loses its teeth, it’s still a tiger. For your safety, please reconsider..."

Consort De’s expression turned cold, and she huffed, "It was a manmade disaster, what does blaming the animals achieve. Before you came, did His Majesty say anything?"

Xiao Xizi smiled awkwardly, "Yes, His Majesty mentioned that no one in the palace is managing things properly, and it’s a mess. He asked you to return as soon as possible."

No wonder His Majesty specifically instructed him to say this. He thought it was somewhat superfluous. He hadn’t expected His Majesty to be so insightful—Consort De really didn’t want to return...

"Well, having enjoyed these days of peace was already unexpected. Let’s go," she said.

After leaving those words, Consort De did not linger any longer and strode toward the palace gate.

One should never take the Emperor’s words at face value. The deeper meaning behind his words was that the palace had been cleaned up, and she should hurry back to take control of the situation.

It seemed that during the days of her "confinement," all the nails in the palace had been pulled out. If she wasn’t mistaken, the managers who favored the Noble Consort had also surfaced, making it the right time to return and set things straight.

She was inwardly impressed; the Emperor was indeed cunning and had gone to great lengths for his sister. If the victim hadn’t been his sister, she dared to say that even if she had been overwhelmed by the trivial matters of palace affairs for a year and a half, he wouldn’t have lent her a hand, nor spared her from reproach for her incompetence. She was thankful for that much.

The path had been paved for her; all she had to do was return and reap the rewards.

After walking a distance, she felt a presence and looked back, only to see the big cat standing there, quietly watching her.

Consort De smiled broadly and with a simple wave of her hand, the large cat stilled for a moment before slowly sauntering back into the depths of the Imperial Animal Garden.

Xiao Xizi, following her gaze, suddenly swallowed hard, only relaxing after the big cat had left.

Just at that moment, a fierce bird of prey shrieked from the skies, startling him so much he nearly collapsed weak-legged to the ground.

Consort De’s eyes moved upward as she laughed heartily.

She lifted her right arm, and the grey hawk swooped down, landing on it; having flown with haste, its body wobbled, feathers on its chest contracting and expanding rapidly with its breath.

This was an old and frail grey hawk, feared for potentially harming people and thus kept confined—indeed, it was the very one that had once violently damaged a consort of the late Emperor’s face.

Before Consort De visited the Imperial Animal Garden, this aged eagle had been caged for a very long time, from its prime through to its decrepitude, and its last flight had been that frenzied incident caused by the drugged meat it had ingested.

Due to that incident of causing harm, even though the hawk was now old and weak and no longer capable of hurting anyone, it remained confined until Consort De arrived and allowed it some freedom to roam.

It recognized Consort De.

Consort De gently stroked its head to comfort it, "I’ll come to see you again when I can, if there’s a chance..."

She thought of Lian Hua and knew her sister favored majestic things; she just didn’t know whether Lian Hua would like a grey hawk or not.

Considering her sister was pregnant and Nanny Qi, along with the Emperor, was extremely anxious, safeguarding her closely enough to scarcely allow her to step outside, she thought it over and then let it go.

After all, it was a bird of prey, and her sister was fragile and delicate, unlike herself; she might be frightened by it too, so Consort De thought no more of it.

What Consort Xu De did not know was that when Lian Hua had been encouraged by Nanny Qi to keep birds recently, her first thought had been to raise an eagle. However, because of an incident at the Imperial Animal Garden years before, raising such birds was not permitted in the palace, and Nanny Qi, alarmed, had dismissed the idea.

If she knew that Consort De was detained in this "Land of the Immortals," she would surely have been green with envy.

In the distance, an elderly eunuch came running breathlessly and called out from afar, "Consort De, Your Highness... I’ve delayed Your Highness; this servant will take it back now."

When he reached her, the old eunuch hurried to apologize.

This eunuch had been a long-serving manager at the Imperial Animal Garden, where fierce birds and beasts found peace around him, and he shared an affection for them. Others, seeing no future in the Imperial Animal Garden, sought to leverage their connections to leave, but this eunuch stayed steadfast as a mountain, for a decade unchanging.

"It’s no trouble," said Consort De, caressing the grey hawk’s feathers. "Go ahead, I will surely come to visit when I have the time."

The old eunuch patted the worn leather arm guard strapped to his arm and gave a sharp whistle.

The grey hawk glanced at Consort De and, stirring its aging wings, immediately flew back and perched atop the eunuch’s arm guard.

The eunuch bowed and took his leave, escorting the grey hawk back to the Eagle Garden.

Even at a distance, the sound of him soothing the grey hawk could be heard: "Eagle Brother, the Consort has matters to attend to; let’s not disturb her, let’s go back..."

Xiao Xizi let out a huge sigh of relief, his legs turning to jelly. Eagles were still eagles; even in old age, that sharp gaze was not something one could easily meet.

He was in sheer admiration of Consort De; not only was she unafraid of fierce animals, but she also seemed to share a good relationship with them. At the moment the grey hawk had descended, he had thought it would attack the Consort and had almost screamed out loud.

He would dare not take on responsibilities involving the Imperial Animal Garden in the future.

Consort De stood watching as the man and the eagle disappeared from sight, flicked her sleeves, and strode away, stepping back into the bustling world.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel