Chapter 275: Noble Consort Su Falls Out Of Favor
Bai Xiangxiu was soon held down by Noble Consort Suâs men. She wasnât actually feeling much pain, but her weak and sickly act made her seem extremely pitiful. Saying that she was innocent really helped her case as well.
Xiaoshi had already been coached to act in this situation. She immediately jumped to her mistressâ aid while crying, âDonât injure our madame! Her old wounds from the enemy soldiers have yet to fully heal!â
Old wounds? Her wounds hadnât been all that serious and had fully healed a long time ago. However, Bai Xiangxiu was making it seem like sheâd once received mortal injuries and they were causing her so much pain that she couldnât get her breath back.
âWhy keep on acting? Everything today has been meticulously planned by youâŚâ
âIt hurts! Please stop! My arm is about to break!â Bai Xiangxiu was a very talented actor. Sheâd managed to trick countless people throughout her life so far. And because of that, a lot of people could no longer stand by and watch when they saw how much pain Bai Xiangxiu seemed to be in.
âHey! What are you castrated men trying to do! Who in the world would treat two helpless ladies this way? Moreover, sheâs Princess Consort Li! The female Zhuge Liang who helped Prince Li defeat the enemy troops!â That one sentence was like a single stone that birthed a tsunami. No one dared be the first to speak out, even though they were angry. However, their mouths could no longer stay shut once somebody got them started.
Some people began to riot as their resentment grew. There was even some friction between the palace soldiers and the citizens that wanted to protect Bai Xiangxiu and the doctorâs wife. The scene became quite chaotic once the people were riled up. Su Yun had always been the type to stop violence with more violence. Without much thought, she quickly yelled, âSubdue these misbehaving citizens! They are all intending to revolt! Spare no one!â
Yu Kuang sucked in a quick breath of air. This was finally his time to shine. He leaned forward, diving from atop a nearby tavern, but Luo Yunzhengâs men had beaten him to the punch. They mixed into the rioting crowd, acting as poor folks from the wulin as they joined the fight. It didnât take them long to subdue all of the palace soldiers with careful blows. They even scurried left, right and center to keep the citizens safe.
Noticing the situation quickly turning sour, Su Yun immediately ordered the servants to lift her away. She headed for the magistrate instead of the palace to order the palace officials to capture the rebels. The officials didnât dare tarry when they realized that this was the emperorâs most favored concubine. They quickly dispatched more palace soldiers to the scene.
Su Yun believed that nobody in the capital would ever dare to challenge imperial authority. Therefore, in her mind, Bai Xiangxiu and Prince Li mustâve arranged these citizens to be there beforehand. Things would all be under control once those people were subdued. Unfortunately, she hadnât realized that so many people were already very dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, even though the capital had been relatively peaceful all this time. Because everyone had kept their dissatisfaction repressed, things quickly got out of hand when the first of the riots started, blowing up like an explosion.
The reinforcements were then naturally embroiled in a full blown conflict with the citizens of the capital. Even Bai Xiangxiu had never imagined that things would get out of hand so quickly. Many of the citizens protected her as she made her way back to the manor. This is strange. These men may be courageous, but I never imagined theyâd do such a thing. Come to think of it, their faces do seem a little familiar. However, I canât seem to remember where Iâve seen them before.
She slumped to the ground immediately after she arrived at the Prince Li Manor. Long Heng quickly came to pick her up and prepared to enter the palace together to plead for mercy. Bai Xiangxiu suddenly grabbed onto Long Heng and whispered. âYou donât blame me for taking things too far? There doesnât seem to be a quiet corner in the capital anymore.â
âHah! Youâre overthinking things. Youâve done a good job. A very good job indeed. I never thought that youâd do so well.â Long Heng caressed her head. He knew that she mustâve had quite a long day today.
Bai Xiangxiu was relieved when she realized that Long Heng didnât blame her for anything. It almost seemed like anything was achievable when she was with this man. The couple was then received by a very furious emperor once they entered the palace. When the very confident Su Yun set out to prove that she had nothing to do with anything, heâd never imagined that sheâd come back even uglier than ever before. But his problems didnât stop at just that. Suddenly, he found himself on a very shaky political footing. People had even come all the way to the palace gates to cause trouble.
They managed to arrest some of the major rioters, but quickly realized that they were nothing but common citizens. They just wanted to help after being angered by Noble Consort Suâs actions. They hadnât done anything overboard and itâd be heresy if he were to sentence them to death after just a dayâs worth of trial. So, they were all released with stern warnings.
Noble Consort Su had actually quarreled with him over this and called him a short-sighted pansy. Indeed, he liked the fact that this woman was different from any heâd met before. He liked her boldness, her wit, and definitely her ruthlessness. Because of that, she was the only woman he thought capable of keeping up with his footsteps. She wasnât like other women who would only hide when there was a problem. However, sheâd gone extremely overboard today and seemed to have forgotten her place. Because of that, he furiously stomped out from her room. He didnât even ask if sheâd be able to restore her previous looks.
Seeing Bai Xiangxiuâs face after that horrendous face made him realize the stark contrast between them. He finally realized that a fake beauty would never be better than a real one. Noble Consort Su might seem extremely beautiful, but she seemed extremely unnatural at the same time. The main reason for that was because she hadnât fully recovered from the various surgeries yet, so she didnât even dare smile too widely.
âYou may rise. The floor is too cold for kneeling. Princess Consort Li, I heard that you were injured. If so, why enter the palace?â The emperor had calmed down a bit, which showed in his manner of speech. He even seemed to be flirting a little.
Long Heng clenched his fist and chose not to rise. âYour Majesty, forgive my wife for being discourteous to the Noble Lady. She only wanted to lend Noble Consort Su a hand, but didnât imagine that her intentions would be misread instead.â
âI will investigate this matter clearly.â
âThank you, Your Majesty. I hope that the noble consort wonât bear too much of a grudge for this matter.â
âWhy would she do that? Iâm more worried for your well-being, Princess Consort Li. Why donât you stay in the palace and let the palace doctors tend to your injuries?â
âA doctor has already tended to her injuries, Your Majesty. Sheâs always been a little fragile, but itâs nothing a little bit of rest wouldnât cure.â
âIf thatâs the case, you may return and rest. However, the matter in the capitalâŚâ
âThis subject will announce that Noble Consort Su has forgiven her.â
âMm. I hope that everything will end here. You are dismissed!â It wasnât a pleasant feeling to see a beautiful woman falling weakly into the arms of another man. However, Long Heng was protecting her well. In fact, it felt like a luxury to be able to catch even a few extra glimpses of this woman.
Why would such a demure, well-behaved, and most importantly, intelligent, woman stay by his side? The one by my side is simply too arrogant! But I better still show her some concern. Iâve cast my empress off to the cold palace for her, so now sheâs the only one keeping my imperial harem in check.
The emperor suddenly realized something. An emperor like him was actually feeling helpless in the face of a noble consort! Upon further thought, he realized that Su Yun was simply too clever. He didnât know how, but sheâd pulled together a few officials to support her at some point. He didnât think too much of it at first, after all, she might become his next empressâŚ
But now, he finally saw this âempressâ of his. Her face was frightening beyond belief. When she wore a veil before, her forehead and her eyes were actually quite mesmerizing. But now, even if she were to cover her face, there was red scars all over her forehead that looked like newly cut wounds which made it impossible to look straight at her. Sheâd never be able to be an empress like this. It would probably destroy the nationâs image whenever an ambassador from a foreign nation came.
âWhen will the noble consortâs wounds heal?â The emperor no longer wished to see that face again and turned to the palace doctors. There werenât too many doctors in the palace anymore, likely due to fear of this noble consort and the rumours swirling outside.