Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved
Chapter 414: Expelling the Trick Class from the Palace

Chapter 414: Chapter 414: Expelling the Trick Class from the Palace

Consort Qi thought she had discovered a secret about Consort Jing, which could earn her great merit with Jun Yuyan, and that, eventually, Jun Yuyan would personally bring her precious grandchildren to the palace to keep her company.

Who would have known? Jun Yuyan outright refused, and wasn’t even willing to listen to her talk about Consort Jing.

Furious, Consort Qi spent another sleepless night, her complexion worse the next day.

Fortunately, Consort Jing, preoccupied with her own concerns, stopped organizing audiences for the performances and avoided seeing people, which naturally meant no one noticed her poor complexion.

But Consort Qi felt a stifling anger in her chest, extremely uncomfortable.

She felt her life was truly bitter. Once exceedingly favored, she had thought the Emperor truly loved only her, but it turned out to be all an illusion in the end.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t heartbroken, that she had no lingering attachments, but for the Emperor to use her as a target for Consort Jing’s sake, pitting her against the Empress and the other concubines, and even using her own son, the Eldest Prince, as a target, her love had completely turned to hate, and she had given up entirely.

Now, she wanted to mend her relationship with her son, but he only had eyes for his wife and was completely indifferent to her attempts to make amends.

She believed that Murong Jiu was the stone blocking her path with Jun Yuyan; it must be Murong Jiu who didn’t want the grandchildren to see her, leading to Jun Yuyan’s refusal.

Other daughters-in-law did everything they could to please their mother-in-law, but Murong Jiu was always cold to her, hardly ever giving her a smile.

"Hua Ping, I want to watch a performance!"

Consort Qi stood up, slamming the table and instructed Hua Ping to make arrangements immediately.

She wanted to see what the troupe leader was all about! Did Consort Jing and that person have any unsavory connections?

Hua Ping quickly complied, thinking to herself that the Prince had guessed right, Her Majesty indeed wanted to invite the troupe.

The Prince had said, if Her Majesty wished to watch a performance, let her watch, as everyone in the palace knew Consort Qi loved the opera, no one would suspect anything.

As Hua Ping made the arrangements, the palace of Consort Qi was filled with opera singing all afternoon.

The concubines living nearby also gathered to join in the excitement, but most were worried that getting too close to Consort Qi would displease Consort Jing, so, despite the loud singing, they only dared to listen from a distance.

For three consecutive days, the opera troupe performed in the palace of Consort Qi.

Consort Jing, not far away, listened every day, her complexion growing worse by the day.

Su Jin thought Consort Jing was upset by Consort Qi, but then reconsidered, realizing Consort Qi hadn’t actually done anything.

"Your Majesty, would you like me to call the Imperial Physician to see you?"

Consort Jing thought for a moment, then nodded her head.

As soon as the Imperial Physician left, the Emperor arrived.

"Consort Jing, I heard you called for the Imperial Physician again, are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

"Your servant doesn’t know what’s wrong, but my heart is palpitating, and the Imperial Physician couldn’t determine the cause either."

The Emperor’s expression darkened slightly, "I will have Murong Jiu come to the palace to see you."

"There’s no need, Your Majesty, perhaps resting quietly for a while will help, it was the same when I felt unwell before."

Su Jin timely said, "It’s just Consort Qi’s constant opera that is too noisy, and Her Majesty hasn’t been able to sleep well these days."

Hearing this, the Emperor immediately ordered someone to put a stop to the opera singing, and soon after, the sound of opera in Consort Qi’s palace ceased.

"I will have the opera troupe sent out of the palace. I never understood why Consort Qi is so fond of watching opera; I certainly never enjoyed it."

Consort Jing smiled, "The opera troupe sings of love and passion, Your Majesty, you who command the respect of the entire realm, why would you indulge in opera?"

The Emperor enjoyed hearing Consort Jing praise him, and he asked, "I heard you also attended a play before; why did you stop attending? How about I keep them here, and once you’ve recovered, let them perform for you again?"

Consort Jing’s face turned pale, and she quickly waved her hands, saying, "That’s all right, Your Majesty, I am not fond of watching plays either. After I listened last time, I always felt headaches."

"Then I’ll have them sent out of the palace."

Consort Jing breathed a sigh of relief, the image of Master Mei standing by the stage flashed through her mind, and she silently clenched her handkerchief.

After the palace ceased hosting plays, Consort Jing’s "illness" also improved.

In a few days, it would be the Chrysanthemum Festival.

It has always been a tradition among the people to have dragon boat races; this year, the Emperor decreed that the Imperial Family would also hold a dragon boat race, personally presiding over it on the moat.

The women of the inner palace naturally could not leave the palace; in previous years, the Empress presided over the Chrysanthemum Feast, and all palaces prepared various delicacies made from chrysanthemums, such as chrysanthemum cakes, chrysanthemum pastries, and chrysanthemum wine, to celebrate the Chrysanthemum Festival together.

This year, the Emperor appointed Consort Jing to host the event, marking her first time hosting a grand affair of the inner palace since the death of the Empress; this was paving the way for Consort Jing.

The dragon boat race was also the Emperor’s way of building momentum for the Third Prince.

This time, the participants in the dragon boat race were all from the Imperial Family, divided into several teams for the competition, and the citizens could also watch from a distance; the Third Prince was one of the team members.

Today, the foremost team would undoubtedly be the Third Prince’s team.

The Emperor, giving the reason that he valued Jun Yuyan’s abilities, tasked him with the safety of the Imperial Family members, not letting him participate in the dragon boat race.

Meanwhile, Murong Jiu had already brought the chrysanthemum cakes made by the Prince Mansion’s cooks into the palace.

Being a Princess Consort and the son-in-law of the Emperor, she naturally had to participate in the palace activities.

Participating alongside her were Consort Yun Weiwei, the Principal Consort of the Second Prince, and Li Yuhuan, the Imperial Princess Consort of the Third Prince.

Though Consort Jing was said to host the Chrysanthemum Feast, in reality, the palace maids and eunuchs by the Emperor’s side had already made all the arrangements; Consort Jing only needed to step forward to preside over the gathering.

Consort Yun and Consort Qi had arrived, and Consort Jing was the latest to appear.

The other concubines still had to praise Consort Jing for hosting the banquet so comprehensively.

Consort Jing smiled without responding; after a while, she turned to Consort Yun and said:

"It is indeed rare to see Sister Consort Yun; why didn’t you bring the Young Prince along today?"

Consort Yun responded with a cheerful smile: "The Young Prince is at his crying age; I feared he might disturb everyone and spoil the mood."

All eyes fell on Consort Yun; while she was beautiful, she had gained considerable weight after giving birth to the Young Prince, appearing plump and radiant. No wonder the Emperor no longer spent nights there. Perhaps other men might like such appearances, but the Emperor especially favored slender beauties.

Everyone felt a mix of emotions, both jealous and reveling in her misfortune.

The jealousy was naturally over her having given birth to the Young Prince; as long as he remained healthy, Consort Yun could be said to be worry-free for life.

But being the only one to have fallen out of favor after childbirth, many in the palace scoffed at her.

However, most attention was on Princess Consort Ling.

Although Princess Consort Ling often visited the palace, she usually dressed very modestly; but today, since she was attending the Chrysanthemum Feast, she was dressed more formally and had light makeup on, highlighting her naturally exquisite and stunning face to appear even more radiant and ethereal, like a fairy descended to earth, unspeakably beautiful.

Among so many women in the inner palace, none could compare to her.

They were relieved that Murong Jiu wasn’t a woman of the palace; otherwise, how could they compete with her?

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