Chapter 482: Dreamed Again
Consort Ru’s eyes flew open. "What!?"
’That Ye Chutang... she’d never been able to stand the sight of her, and now I’m supposed to ask her for a consultation? How absurd!’
Xiao Lansi could easily guess what she was thinking and patiently tried to persuade her. "Please listen to me, Mother Consort. For now, she’s the best choice."
"For one, her medical skills are excellent. She can even treat Father Emperor’s illness, which proves she’s far more capable than those stubborn old fools at the Imperial Hospital. If we invite her, she might actually be able to nurse you back to health."
"And for another, she has no powerful family backing her, so she won’t get entangled in all this. We should be able to trust her."
Hearing this, Consort Ru had to admit her daughter had a point.
Still, she couldn’t stomach the idea.
"I can see she’s more than she appears. Otherwise, how do you think Ye Heng and his entire family met such a miserable end?"
Consort Ru was not so naive as to believe all of this was a coincidence.
’In her eyes, that Ye Chutang... was someone to be wary of!’
Xiao Lansi glanced around before lowering her voice. "Mother Consort, I know you’re wary of her. But she’s currently responsible for treating Father Emperor, and his health is indeed improving. If we summon her now, for whatever reason, she can’t afford to let anything go wrong, can she?"
Consort Ru’s interest was piqued.
"You’re saying..."
"Your illness isn’t nearly as severe as Father Emperor’s. If she can cure him but not you, wouldn’t that prove she wasn’t doing her utmost? And if she does cure you, all the better for everyone. Right now, with so many eyes on her, she wouldn’t dare let anything go wrong."
Otherwise, wouldn’t she just be destroying her own reputation?
Consort Ru was finally convinced. But...
"Will she even come?"
Xiao Lansi gave a faint smile. "That’s not something to worry about. You are still the Noble Consort. How could she dare to defy you?"
’She’s just a low-born ant, after all.’
Seeing that Consort Ru was finally wavering, Xiao Lansi’s next words sealed her mother’s decision.
"Besides, this way, you’ll also have a chance to ask about Father Emperor’s condition. It’s two birds with one stone, so why not?"
’That’s right!’
Clarity instantly struck Consort Ru.
She had requested her own confinement, only to end up trapped in this tiny Yaohua Palace. She hadn’t been able to help at all when her father and Cheng Xuan got into trouble.
If she could use Ye Chutang to get back on His Majesty’s radar, and perhaps even probe his feelings, there might be a chance to turn things around.
’This was an opportunity!’
Consort Ru’s heart hardened. She looked at Xiao Lansi. "Fine! Send someone to find Ye Chutang immediately! Whatever it takes, make her agree to come!"
Xiao Lansi lowered her head in assent.
"Rest assured, Mother Consort. Xi’er will go at once."
With that, she rose to leave.
But she had barely taken a step when Consort Ru called out again, "Wait!"
Xiao Lansi turned back. "Do you have other orders, Mother Consort?"
Consort Ru narrowed her eyes and said through clenched teeth, "Besides that, I want you to investigate Shen Yanchuan for me!"
Xiao Lansi froze. "Shen... the Heir of Duke Dingbei?"
"That’s right!" Consort Ru’s voice dripped with hatred at the mention of Shen Yanchuan. "I suspect he’s secretly colluded with Prince Lie, which is why he keeps targeting us! Go and find out if there have been any illicit dealings between them!"
Xiao Lansi felt a pang of resistance. "But... how am I supposed to investigate that?"
Consort Ru’s fine brows knitted together. "And why not? You’ve been back in the capital for a while now. Your brother is in dire straits, and you’re not going to fight for him?"
Xiao Lansi pursed her lips.
Consort Ru stared at her, then suddenly sneered. "Or is it that you don’t want to save Cheng Xuan?"
"How could you say such a thing, Mother Consort?" Xiao Lansi hurriedly knelt. "My brother is in trouble! I’m fraught with anxiety!"
"In that case, you’ll find a way!"
Consort Ru looked at her, her gaze seemingly able to pierce through anything.
"Don’t think I don’t know what’s going through your mind. You’re so reluctant, trying every excuse to get out of this, only because... you have feelings for Shen Yanchuan! Don’t you!"
Xiao Lansi froze, her mouth opening to deny it.
But when she looked up and met Consort Ru’s eyes, the words died in her throat.
Consort Ru scoffed. "Did you really think you hid it so well?"
In that instant, Xiao Lansi felt as if she had been stripped bare, every one of her thoughts laid out in the open.
The undisguised contempt and mockery in Consort Ru’s eyes felt like a sharp blade plunging straight into her heart!
A lump formed in her throat, and she couldn’t get a single word out.
Consort Ru raised a hand and gently brushed it across her daughter’s face. Her fingertips were ice-cold.
"I’ve seen countless women in this harem. If I couldn’t even see through something like this, I wouldn’t have survived this long."
It was true.
Consort Ru had fought her way up through a sea of women; she was exceptionally sharp when it came to matters like these.
"I didn’t say anything before because I thought you knew better. I never expected... you’d still be harboring foolish fantasies that he could ever have feelings for you."
An unspeakable shame welled up inside her, and Xiao Lansi’s hands, hidden in her sleeves, slowly clenched into fists.
But Consort Ru paid it no mind.
’In her eyes, Xiao Lansi had always been reasonably obedient. But on this one matter, she was being utterly witless.’
"I had intended to summon you back to the capital and arrange a good marriage for you, one that would help your brother secure the throne. But you kept making excuses, and then disaster struck. We missed the perfect opportunity, and now it’s too late."
Seeing that Xiao Lansi was *still* fantasizing about Shen Yanchuan, Consort Ru’s anger flared.
"Cheng Xuan tried to win him over time and again, and he refused every single time. He’s clearly determined to oppose us! Do you have a brain in your head?!"
Xiao Lansi could no longer hold back. "I just..."
"Don’t tell me you can’t see it. The one he likes is that Ye Chutang from the Ye Family!"
The hand Xiao Lansi had clenched inside her sleeve dug painfully into her palm.
She lowered her head, hiding the look in her eyes.
After what felt like an eternity, she finally spoke in a low voice:
"You are right, Mother Consort."
Consort Ru closed her eyes, waving a hand in utter exhaustion.
"Enough. You may leave. See to the tasks I’ve given you as soon as possible. Use any means necessary!"
Xiao Lansi kowtowed before finally rising to leave.
As she walked out of the gates of Yaohua Palace, a waiting palace maid noticed her pale expression and asked with concern, "Princess, are you unwell?"
Xiao Lansi said nothing, merely glancing back.
’Everyone could order her around, as if she were born inferior.’
’She didn’t even have the right to decide whom to love or hate.’
The corner of Xiao Lansi’s mouth twitched. An icy, sinister glint flashed in her eyes, gone in an instant.
"It’s nothing."
She looked away, her expression back to normal.
"Prepare the carriage. I need to leave the palace."
...
The night was deep, and the north wind howled.
Sound asleep in the room, Xiao Wu seemed to be startled by the wind, uneasily burrowing their small head deeper into the blankets.
Suddenly, Ye Chutang’s eyes opened. Their depths seemed even quieter and more profound than the night itself.
She had been dreaming again.