Chapter 155 - 135: Promoted to Wanyi
Even without the Empress Dowager’s orders, the people who had been standing behind Gu Pin were already detained.
They had come from Weiyang Palace. Behind Gu Pin, besides Consort Zhang, there were only a group of palace maids, eunuchs, and Imperial Physicians. Although Consort Zhang was blinded by jealousy, she still remembered to be discreet with her wicked deeds. After Liang Yuyin’s round of questioning, no one said they had seen who pushed Gu Pin.
Consort Zhang, along with the two palace maids and one eunuch closest to Gu Pin, became the focus of Liang Yuyin’s interrogation.
Liang Yuyin was a veteran who had weathered countless storms in the harem. In the Imperial Palace, there was no such thing as black and white, much less an incorruptible judge. It was often a matter of identifying who had the strongest motive and the weakest backing, then interrogating that person to death—or at least until the Emperor was satisfied.
He watched with a cold detachment. ’It was most likely Consort Zhang’s doing!’
’She has the motive, and it fits her usual style.’
Chief Liang kept his own ledger. The deeds of everyone in the harem might not reach the Emperor’s ears, but they certainly passed through his. He wouldn’t dispense justice, but he had to know the score.
However, Consort Zhang was still a concubine. Even if she had just offended the Emperor, she was still a master. Liang Yuyin couldn’t torture her without authorization.
Of course, he had his own methods.
A terrified Consort Zhang was "invited" to an empty area of the palace grounds. Liang Yuyin had already ordered everything one could sit or lean on to be removed. He smiled at her and said, "My apologies, Miss Zhang. Without the Emperor’s command, you cannot leave for now. There is nothing we can do. It is an order from the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, so we must trouble you to wait here for a while."
Consort Zhang forced a smile. "Did the Emperor not say when I can return? Eunuch, I really didn’t push her..."
To think that in just a few days, she had gone from being a Consort to a mere Miss.
Consort Zhang felt a pang of bitterness, but worse was yet to come.
"Then all the more reason for Miss Zhang to stay," Liang Yuyin said, also smiling. But his smile carried a chill that seeped into one’s very bones. "This servant must conduct a thorough interrogation to see who will spill the truth. For a crime as great as harming a concubine and the Dragon Successor, a confession won’t bring leniency... Oh, Shankai has arrived."
"Chief Liang."
A slender eunuch of about thirty-five nodded at Liang Yuyin. His skin was rather pale, as if he lived perpetually in places untouched by the sun. The Palace Attendants, already white-faced with fear, began to tremble uncontrollably upon seeing him. It was no different from seeing the living Yama.
Seeing Peng Shanke, the muscles on Consort Zhang’s face couldn’t help but twitch.
"This servant greets Miss Zhang." He bowed to Consort Zhang.
The two were, in fact, not strangers.
Shortly after entering the palace, Consort Zhang found that life was not as pleasant as it had been at home. After all, she could beat or kill the servants in her family’s manor at will, but in the harem, she had to be more considerate with the palace maids and eunuchs. During a period of deep frustration from not being favored, Consort Zhang frequently fabricated reasons to send palace maids who displeased her to the Imperial Prison. Only by seeing the looks of sudden terror and despair on their young faces could she feel a sense of satisfaction, thinking her own life wasn’t so bad after all.
She and Peng Shanke of the Imperial Prison had become acquainted through these numerous encounters.
Consort Zhang remembered him looking at her with his hollow eyes and saying, "Your Highness, if a servant is unsatisfactory, you can simply send her back to the Imperial Household or to the Laundry Bureau for hard labor. Why go to such trouble and spend silver just to send them here?"
She hadn’t listened.
Later, when the Empress learned of the matter, she rescued the three innocent palace maids from the Imperial Prison and sent them back to the Imperial Household to be re-educated on the rules. A "returned" palace maid would certainly not be assigned to a good position, but at least she kept her life. Anyone who had been through the Imperial Prison learned to cherish their blessings.
The Empress summoned the then-Hui Pin and reprimanded her, but she remained somewhat defiant.
What truly made her restrain herself was when Noble Princess Consort Rong found out. She directly slapped Hui Pin’s dowry maid, who was also her Chief Palace Maid, twenty times until her face was swollen beyond recognition. "Hui Pin must be terrible at managing her servants, to have produced three in a row so wicked they had to be sent to the Imperial Prison." ’What kind of person dares to treat the Imperial Prison like her own backyard? That’s clearly my, Rong Xueshi’s, playground.’
"Chief Liang, who needs to be interrogated?"
"There, those few," Liang Yuyin said, his gaze sweeping over Consort Zhang. "But there’s no need to take them to the Imperial Prison. Let’s question them right here. It will also be a good opportunity to clear Consort Zhang’s name."
"Those few..."
Peng Shanke asked, "And Consort Zhang? Is she exempt?"
Consort Zhang could no longer smile. Liang Yuyin said, "Everything in its own time. Don’t be so anxious."
...
Inside the hall, the Empress Dowager had just called for a strict investigation when news arrived from outside that Consort Zhang had fainted.
Fortunately, the Imperial Physicians hadn’t gone far and quickly revived her. But the moment she woke, she grabbed the nearest person and yelled, "I didn’t push her! I swear! She fell forward on purpose to frame me! I didn’t even manage to push her... I want to see my aunt! Aunt, save me!"
Her words were relayed verbatim to the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress.
What more was there to understand?
The Empress was secretly dumbfounded.
’To think she still dares to bring up the Empress Dowager to beg for mercy. What kind of person is she?’ The Empress couldn’t help but feel relieved that she didn’t have a horde of relatives in the palace. Otherwise, if they came to her one by one to plead for favors, she’d be worked to death.
The Empress Dowager’s expression was the first to darken. "Ms. Zhang intended to harm the Dragon Successor. The evidence is irrefutable. The harem absolutely cannot tolerate such an act against the imperial bloodline. Ms. Zhang is jealous and malicious, devoid of womanly virtue, and unworthy of being a concubine. Take Ms. Zhang to the Imperial Prison for interrogation. All those connected to this matter are to be executed as well. As for Ms. Zhang herself..."
She looked at the Emperor. "How to deal with this person... I shall leave it to Your Majesty to decide!"
It had come to this; she could not plead for her.
Besides, she had no desire to.
On one hand was her own niece; on the other, her own grandson. The difference in intimacy was clear. And this was with Gu Pin’s child having been saved. If the baby had been lost, she wouldn’t even have waited for the Emperor’s decision; she would have personally gifted her niece a fine white silk sash and sent her on her way.
"Harming the Dragon Successor is a capital crime. In consideration of Gu Pin and her child being safe, We do not wish to take a life at this time and bring ill fortune upon Gu Pin. However, simply sending her to the Cold Palace... We feel that would be letting her off too easily,"
Xie Che said in a low voice:
"She repeatedly claimed to be more noble than Gu Pin. We will send her to Mount Yong to cut grass for fifteen years, and at the same time, pray for the well-being of Gu Pin and her child... What does Mother Empress think?"
The Empress Dowager nodded in silent agreement.
Being sent to Mount Yong to cut grass was equivalent to being sliced by a dull knife. It was a worse fate than a quick death from a white silk sash.
Xie Che continued:
"Ms. Zhang’s words that day truly chilled Our heart. Gu Pin rendered a great service by attending to the sick, and We intend to promote her to the rank of Wanyi."
This time, he didn’t ask for the Empress Dowager’s opinion.
He only recalled how Xian’er had sat by his sickbed, unmoved as he poured out his heart, only wanting a promotion. It was truly infuriating.
’Infuriating as it was, what could I do? It’s what she wanted.’
The Empress Dowager mused, "Why not wait until Gu Pin safely gives birth to the imperial son and then grant the promotion to add to the happy occasion?"
"The harem is not short on that small allowance. We can just promote her again then."
The Empress Dowager: ...
’Spendthrift son!’