The Cry of the Phoenix Which Reached the Ninth Heaven-Volume 1 Chapter 59-60
Chapter 59: Releasing Rumors
“That’s called saffron. If you eat it, you won’t be able to have children anymore! Even if you’re already pregnant, it would cause a miscarriage. Niang niang, that’s not something you can mess with for fun. No matter what you can’t eat it, got it!?” Ting Yue’s expression was very exaggerated and she purposefully emphasized the word ‘saffron.’
“Then why would Second Older Sister keep that thing? I’ll go tell Second Older Sister about this!” Yao Mowan looked as if she had come to a sudden realization.
“Niang niang, don’t go. If Imperial Noble Consort found out that you’ve looked in the hidden drawer beneath her bed, she definitely wouldn’t let you off! You must not talk about this, not to anyone!” Ting Yue repeated exhorted.
“Fine, I got it! Ting Yue, let’s go to the pavilion and see if that bad woman is still there. If she still is, let’s help Second Older Sister push her into the water again. In any case, his Majesty wouldn’t scold Wan er for it!” Yao Mowan blinked her eyes charmingly as she started lightly jogging towards the pavilion.
“Niang niang, don’t run so fast, take care not to fall!” Ting Yue hastily followed after her.
Huai Caier, who was listening from a hidden part of the willow forest, creased her brows as her eyes turned cold.
“Niang niang, if what that imbecile said earlier was true… This servant doesn’t understand. Why would Yao Suluan prepare saffron? Right now she’s the only one in the palace who’s pregnant?” Zi Shuang thought about all the possibilities but couldn’t think of one that made sense.
“Could it be… Zi Shuang, say, do you think she would take the saffron herself, then frame ben gong with it?” An unreadable light flickered in Huan Caier’s eyes as she looked towards Zi Shuang worriedly.
“A tiger, though cruel, will not devour its cubs. Moreover, His Majesty currently has no children. If she gave birth to a son, she would be able to easily obtain the position of Empress. Why would she abandon her bright prospects just to make things difficult for niang niang? This doesn’t make sense?” Zi Shuang didn’t think that the idea was likely.
“That’s true. Perhaps she already had the saffron prepared for a long time. From the looks of it, she was definitely involved in the past incidents of miscarriage among the consorts.” Huan Ciaer gave a light sigh and was just about to leave when she saw a palace maid from Pure Flowers Palace rush across the bridge with Imperial Physician Zheng.
“Isn’t that maid from Pure Flowers Palace? It couldn’t be that something has really happened to Yao Suluan?” Zi Shuang looked in Imperial Physician Zheng’s direction with shock and a feeling of unease abruptly arose in her heart. Before Zi Shuang’s voice even faded, a group of imperial soldiers started running this way from Pure Flowers Palace.
“Yao Suluan truly is vicious! Zi Shuang, hurry up and hide, then think of a way to get out of the palace and let Father know what Yao Mowan said earlier. Hurry!” Huan Caier had already realized how pressing the situation was so she quickly gave Zi Shuang some stern and precise instructions. Zi Shuang didn’t dare to be slow and immediately hid inside the bushes to the side.
In the next instant, those imperial soldiers had already surrounded Huan Caier.
“His Majesty has given a decree asking Consort Chen to take a trip to Pure Flowers Palace!”
Zi Shuang was alarmed to see that her master had fallen into a dire situation and immediately headed towards the palace doors without pausing to think. Yao Mowan slowly walked out of the shadows of the willow forest and stared in the direction Zi Shuang had gone in with her midnight dark eyes as a trace of a smile appeared on her lips.
“Niang niang, Imperial Noble Consort will probably be out of luck this time!” remarked Ting Yue delightedly.
“Yao Suluan wouldn’t be the only one out of luck. Have you sent someone to notify Father yet?”
“Don’t worry, niang niang, Liu Xing has already arranged for someone to report this to Master.”
“En, let’s go. Come with ben gong to see the show!” Yao Mowan’s expression returned to its usual cold indifference. The depths of her eyes were filled hidden coldness.
Inside Pure Flowers Palace, Yao Suluan was covering her abdomen with both hands and sobbing heartbreakingly. The brocade quilt and satin mattress were dyed with dark red blood in a sight that was shocking to see. This was the tragic scene Huan Caier saw when she was escorted in.
“Consort Chen! My niang niang has always exercised forbearance towards you, yet unexpectedly you turned out to be this heartless and caused my master to lose her unborn child! Your Majesty, this servant begs you to get justice for Imperial Noble Consort ah! Niang niang had just suffered the pain of losing her mother, and now she has lost the dragon seed… how will niang niang be able to bear it!?” Cai Ying’s face was streaming with tears as she threw herself down in front of Ye Hongyi and kowtowed as if her life depended on it.
“Consort Chen, how do you plan to explain this?” Ye Hongyi’s expression was stern and his gaze was cold as ice.
“Imperial Noble Consort’s miscarriage has nothing to do with this consort so this consort has no need to explain.” Unconcealable disgust and contempt was apparent in her clear voice. Zi Shuang had put it well, a tiger, though vicious, still wouldn’t eat its child. It was unexpected that Yao Suluan was actually this heartless, she really couldn’t even compare to an animal.
“You still refuse to admit even with this undeniable evidence?” Ye Hongyi’s eyes were like that of roaming wild wolves, filled with chilling cold light.
“Wonder where is the evidence Your Majesty mentioned?” Huan Caier couldn’t really say that she loved or hated Ye Hongyi. She only entered the palace for the sake of strengthening the position the Huan family held in the Imperial Court. Her life was determined to be such; she neither enjoyed nor disliked it.
However, Ye Hongyi’s sudden change of attitude towards her surprised her quite a little. Yesterday night this man was still being extremely gentle towards her on her bed, yet now he had become so distant.
“Imperial Physician Zheng discovered traces of saffron in the ginseng soup you brought over earlier. Do you still dare to say that this matter is unrelated to you?” Ye Hongyi took Yao Suluan into his arms as he fiercely questioned Huan Caier.
“Isn’t it a little too far-fetched to conclude that this consort plotted to kill the dragon fetus within Imperial Noble Consort’s stomach just based on this one fact? Who dares to guarantee that it wasn’t Imperial Noble Consort that added in the saffron herself in order to use it to frame this consort?” Huan Caier believed what Yao Mowan said, which was why she was waiting. Once Father entered the palace, she would naturally make Yao Suluan suffer the consequences. This was practically a god-send opportunity to turn the tables on Yao Suluan. However, she had to admit that this was thanks to Yao Suluan’s imbecile sister.
“Consort Chen, you’re making venomous slander! Ben gong only wished for the Inner Palace to be peaceful and filled with happiness, and hence had always endured everything and backed down in our conflicts. Unexpectedly, you were actually this vicious and repaid me by harming my imperial son! Now you’re not only refusing to admit your wrong, you’re even trying to invert root and branch and frame ben gong!? Your Majesty, you must help this consort get justice; you must get revenge for our son!” Yao Suluan hadn’t expected for Huan Caier to be so unperturbed. She became a little worried since she couldn’t afford to have any problems occur in this plan.
“Consort Chen, before this matter is fully investigated, zhen can only ask you to endure a bit of grievance for now. Someone come, take Consort Chen to the Cold Palace!” Ye Hongyi’s goal was very simple. Once he threw Huan Caier into the Cold Palace, Huan Heng would definitely take the initiative to hand over his military power in order to save his daughter.
“Your Majesty! This consort has been wrongly accused! This consort…” Huan Caier knew that if she left Pure Flowers Palace right now, she would forever lose the chance to clear some things up. Just as she was about to bring up Yao Mowan, a shocked voice appeared in the room.
“Second Older Sister? Second Older Sister, what happened to you? Why is there so much blood?” Yao Mowan’s sudden appearance bought Huan Caier some time. Everyone’s eyes immediately focused on Yao Mowan, especially Ye Hongyi’s.
“Wan er, why are you here?” When Ye Hongyi saw Yao Mowan’s pale little face, he felt unbearable heartache. He immediately released Yao Suluan and walked up to pull Yao Mowan into his arms.
“Wan er heard that something has happened to Second Older Sister and so came here to see. Your Majesty, what happened to Second Older Sister?” Yao Mowan looked towards Ye Hongyi with tears whirling in her eyes. Her long eyelashes were moistened with dew-like drops of sparkling tears that, in the next instant, slid off and fell to the ground. They splashed like countless pieces of broken glass on Ye Hongyi’s heart.
“Wan er… Second Older Sister’s child is gone… It was Consort Chen! She was jealous of the fact that Second Older Sister was pregnant and was angry with you for pushing her into the water… so she poisoned and killed Second Older Sister’s child!” Yao Suluan had to force down her anger when she saw that Ye Hongyi had forgotten about the main business at hand and rushed to Yao Mowan’s side. Then she shouted with sorrow and rage as she pointed at Huan Caier, her hand trembling.
She felt that though Yao Mowan was dumb beyond salvation, it wasn’t completely without any good points. At the very least, Yao Suluan felt, this fool’s heart still contained her, this Second Older Sister.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
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Chapter 60: A Good Show Was About to Start
“Blood… there’s so much blood… Wuuwuu… scary… Your Majesty! Wan er’s scared of blood…” Yao Mowan completely treated Yao Suluan’s words as fart as she hugged Ye Hongyi and proceeded to cry like a fountain.
“Wan er, don’t be scared! What are you guys still standing around for!? Hurry up and deal with these bloodstains!” When Ye Hongyi saw that the little beauty in his arms was trembling like a leaf in the wind, his eyes immediately turned cold and he angrily berated the servants.
On the couch, Yao Suluan’s beautiful eyes were presently bloodshot and her lips were completely colorless. Her slender fingers that had been gripping the quilt abruptly closed tightly as resentment filled her eyes. It was true that this was a plot, but she still had lost her child. She currently felt as if needles were stabbing her abdomen and her body was currently in a very weak state. In comparison to Yao Mowan, didn’t she need to be taken care of more!?
At the side, Huan Caier closed her mouth again, silently remarking that Yao Mowan had come just in time. It was a good thing she hadn’t brought Yao Mowan up yet. His Majesty doted on this fool this much, so if she had dragged Yao Mowan into this, the situation probably would have gotten even worse. Luckily the evidence was undeniable, so once Father arrived, she would be able make Yao Suluan experience regret like she never had before.
Yao Mowan only stopped crying once the palace maids had switched out all of the bloody bedding. She jogged to the couch.
“Second Older Sister, you must be in a lot of pain?” Yao Mowan’s tearstained face inspired pity in everyone that saw, but in Yao Suluan’s eyes, it was simply disgusting.
“What do you think!?” Yao Suluan snapped back, resentment arising involuntarily.
“It definitely hurts a lot.” Yao Mowan lifted her hand to stroke Yao Suluan’s abdomen as the light in her eyes dimmed for a brief moment. In the Cold Palace, when she was hugging Zhong er, she had felt a lot of pain. It was as if countless icicles were falling from the sky and landing on her body, each one bringing unbearable pain.
“Get your hand off!” Yao Suluan flung away Yao Mowan’s hand with disgust. Just as she was about to push this eye-sore of an imbecile away, she sensed Ye Hongyi’s cold glare and hastily suppressed her urge.
“Second Older Sister…” Yao Mowan looked towards Yao Suluan innocently but was, in the next second, pulled back into Ye Hongyi’s arms.
“Your Majesty, you must bring this consort’s dead child justice ah!” Yao Suluan wiped at her tears mournfully as she prompted in reminder.
“Someone, come, take Consort Chen to the Cold Palace!” Ye Hongyi immediately returned to his senses after Yao Suluan gave him this reminder and spoke again coldly. Just as Huan Caier was about to open her mouth to argue, An Bingshan jogged in from outside.
“Your Majesty, General Huan asks to meet.” Upon hearing this, Huan Caier’s tensed up heart finally relaxed. Yao Suluan, who was on the couch, subconsciously looked towards Ye Hongyi as a trace of puzzlement flashed through her eyes. This incident had only occured a short while ago, how did the news already spread outside?
“Allow him in.” There was no way Ye Hongyi wasn’t astonished, but Huan Heng was outside the palace and he currently did not have any good reason to send him away. A short while later, a middle-aged man who looked about fifty, wearing martial attire walked calmly into Pure Flowers Palace.
“This humble subject Huan Heng, kowtows in greeting to Your Majesty, to Imperial Noble Consort, Consort Yao, and Consort Chen!” His voice was powerful and resonated with strength. One could tell from the sound of it that this person had very high martial arts skills and profound inner strength.
“You may rise. My dear official Huan, you’ve come just in time. This matter is truly causing zhen a headache!” Auspicious dates couldn’t compare to accidental timing. Huan Heng actually had such good timing as to manage to run into this event. However, currently he couldn’t reveal his cards.
Auspicious dates couldn’t compare to accidental timing is saying that trying to plan something out perfectly something doesn’t work out as perfectly as letting things develop naturally.
“Wonder what matter it is that is causing Your Majesty such distress?” Huan Heng has always had a strong mentality. Although he knew the ins and outs of the incident, he chose to wait silently and have Ye Hongyi speak first. Right as Ye Hongyi was about to speak, An Bingshan appeared again.
“Your Majesty, Prime Minster daren is outside, asking for an audience.” As An Bingshan glanced at the people inside this room, a trace of dark light flashed through his eyes. It seemed like there would be a show today.
“Allow him in.” Ye Hongyi lifted his hand to send a signal. After a moment, Yao Zhenting walked in from outside the palace.
“This humble subject kowtows in greeting to Your Majesty, Imperial Noble Consort, Consort Yao, Consort Chen…” Yao Zhenting forcefully endured all the questions he had and respectfully saluted the people in the room. All that he heard was Imperial Noble Consort wasn’t feeling well and sent for him. However, from the looks of this current situation, the matter wasn’t that simple.
“Your Majesty, even the Son of Heaven must suffer the same punishments as the common people if he commits a crime. Even though Consort Chen is the pearl in General Huan’s hand, Your Majesty’s beloved consort, she has after all killed the dragon seed within Suluan’s belly. If Your Majesty doesn’t punish her appropriately, how is Suluan supposed to endure this loss!?” Yao Suluan broke the strange atmosphere within the palace as she started sobbing sorrowfully again.
“General Huan, you have heard as well. Consort Chen, due to envy, actually added saffron to Imperial Noble Consort’s soup and caused Imperial Noble Consort to have a miscarriage. This incident is related to the imperial descendents of great Chu. Even if zhen wishes to forgive Consort Chen, zhen cannot ignore the laws.” Ye Hongyi eloquently made his words of blame sound righteous and dignified as he looked towards Huan Heng with a conflicted expression.
At the side, Yao Zhenting was stunned to hear this. His unreadable eyes subconsciously turned towards Yao Suluan before landing on Yao Mowan who was in Ye Hongyi’s arms. An indescribable emotion appeared in his eyes.
Yao Mowan knew that her wonderful Father was currently assessing the positions his daughters held in His Majesty’s heart in order to decide on who to curry favor with in the future.
“Your Majesty is very correct. If Consort Chen has committed a crime, she naturally should face punishment. This humble subject would not ask for Your Majesty to be partial. However, this humble subject begs Your Majesty to investigate this matter thoroughly in order to avoid the case of Consort Chen being wrongly accused,” said Huan Heng with a solemn expression as he cupped his fist.
“Zhen has already investigated this matter thoroughly. The imperial physician has indeed found saffron in the ginseng soup Consort Chen brought for Imperial Noble Consort. The bowl is still on the table even now. Consort Chen has no way of refuting this,” said Ye Hongyi sternly.
“Even so, there’s still no way to prove that Consort Chen was the one who added saffron. Perhaps someone has already done something to this ginseng soup before it even got to Consort Chen’s hands, or perhaps a problem had occurred with this soup only after Consort Chen left Pure Flowers Palace,” analyzed Huan Heng calmly. Every single one of his words were to the point.
“Even if someone had done something to this ginseng soup before it reached Consort Chen’s hands, it came from Consort Chen’s kitchen so Consort Chen is undeniably responsible!” refuted Yao Suluan as she wiped at her tears.
“Thus there is only one possibility left, which is that someone deliberately framed Consort Chen to get rid of a threat! Your Majesty should heavily punish this person, in order to prevent this person’s dirty air from sullying the sacred Imperial Palace.” Huan Heng spoke with a serious tone as he looked towards Yao Suluan with an austere gaze. In just a few sentences, he managed to point the spearhead towards Yao Suluan.
Yao Mowan took all of this in from within Ye Hongyi’s embrace. At this moment, if Yao Zhenting stepped out to say a few sentences for Yao Suluan, the unfavorable situation would definitely shift. However, Yao Zhenting continued watching silently, showing no intention to stick up for his daughter. Yao Mowan had already predicted this outcome. Even if his own flesh and blood was fighting for her life in the desert wind, he could put his own safety first with such cold indifference.
“General Huan, everything must be based on proof. Despite the conclusive evidence, you actually dared to try and accuse ben gong with such absurd reasoning in order to help exonerate Consort Chen? You’ve truly disappointed His Majesty and ben gong!” Yao Suluan endured the stabbing pain from her abdomen as she reproved him angrily. She glanced towards the side at her father who was simply watching silently, then at His Majesty who was hugging Yao Mowan, and was suddenly struck with the feeling that she was a lone soldier fighting a battle completely alone. However, the arrow has already been shot so she had no choice but to push forward.
“This humble subject is only judging the matter as it stands. Your Majesty, this subject feels that this matter isn’t as simple as it seems on the surface. There is definitely a hidden scheme!” Huan Heng cupped his hands as he raised his voice deliberately.
“Oh? What is the hidden scheme that General Huan is suggesting?” Huan Heng’s calmness was within Ye Hongyi’s predictions, but he hadn’t expected the situation to fall out of his control so fast. On the other hand, a trace of respect flashed through Yao Mowan’s eyes. As expected of the bellwether of the generals, he had been able to lead Ye Hongyi into his trap with just a few simple sentences.
“This humble subject will be so bold as to ask Your Majesty to allow this subject to search Imperial Noble Consort’s palace! If Imperial Noble Consort had added saffron to her own food to frame Consort Chen, the item definitely wouldn’t have been dealt with this soon after the incident!” Huan Heng declare loudly. As he spoke, he glanced at his daughter with eyes that were filled with tender affection.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
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