Chapter 58 - Both had ulterior motives

Yun Fenghuang smilingly rewarded the eunuch for delivering the message, and then ordered other maids to perform their duties, leaving only Xi Le. She then stopped her smiling and snorted, “His Majesty is really affectionate. It was only two days passed that he couldn’t help visiting me. I was so lucky that I can rely on Her Highness. Otherwise, if those who are jealous of me tell this to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager would think that I am a siren who always gets His Majesty bewitched!”

Xi Le advised, “When we go back to Ning Bi Hall later, we can tell Jie Yu Yue that His Majesty always comes here, so Her Highness and others are more suspicious. We can let Jie Yu Yue persuade him not to come here, especially not to use you as a scapegoat.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Yun Fenghuang stared at the doorway with one hand supporting her chin and said lazily, “Since His Majesty is not afraid of irritating the Queen Mother, why should I be afraid?”

After a long while, Emperor Chunjia really came. Yun Fenghuang led him to the seat, let Xi Le make tea, and said smilingly, “Queen Mother of Honor has been ill, but I am too humble to visit her. I heard that Your Majesty has been taking care of her for the past two days. How could you have time to come here?”

“I haven’t seen you for several days, so I miss you.” Emperor Chunjia was as gentle as he was when she met him the first time. Holding the tea, he said gently, “It happens that I am free now, so I come here to see you.”

Before Yun Fenghuang replied, he glanced at the people around and ordered them to leave.

“What did you say to Lianniang before?” When there were only the two of them left, the Emperor immediately changed his face, frowningly asked, “Why has she been dispirited recently?”

Yun Fenghuang said calmly, “Your Majesty, you bully the weak and fear the strong, but don’t frame me up! Although I am always obedient, if I were demoted from Consort in Deputy First-Grade to Jie Yu in Third-Grade, I would be upset, too. What’s more, she is always so impetuous and it’s only been a few days. If she adapted to it, it would be strange, wouldn’t it?”

She added, “Also, I only joined the Imperial Harem for a short time. What can I do to my hostess? If she really gets hurt… Your Majesty, ask yourself, who should be blamed?”

These words were ironic. Obviously, she didn’t treat Chunjia as a noble emperor.

Even if they were ordinary couples, the words were extremely sharp.

Emperor Chunjia didn’t feel angry, but said thoughtfully, “It seems that you are in a bad mood?”

“Your Majesty came so anxiously for Jie Yu Yue, even putting aside what Queen Mother of Honor and Her Highness has suggested that you should visit the newly-come concubines more…” Yun Fenghuang sneered, “Seeing so, of course I have a bad mood!”

Emperor Chunjia raised his eyebrows and said, “It sounds like that you are jealous.”

“You can say that.” Yun Fenghuang said coldly, “I am ignorant since I am young, so I inevitably make some mistakes!”

“…” The Emperor pondered for a while, and showed a little bit of interest, “Did your former fiancé marry another person? So, you can’t stand to see me caring about Lianniang, right?”

Yun Fenghuang was not surprised that he knew Qi Jiulu. After all, she learnt from Mammy Zhu that Qi Jiulu married Chao Jingyou.

At the moment, she became serious and said indifferently, “Your Majesty, you seem to be very happy?”

“Don’t all people in the palace know it?” Emperor Chunjia glanced at her and said calmly, “Lianniang and I got engaged in the past and I intended to only marry her, but… So, when I heard something similar, how could I feel happy? I just feel sad. You didn’t want to be my concubine, and I didn’t want to accept you, but you joined the Imperial Harem to be my concubine… I can only say that it’s just a trick made by fate.”

Yun Fenghuang listened to him silently.

A moment later, she said, “Is that all? I thought Your Majesty would be angry.”

“Why?” Emperor Chunjia chuckled, “Because you still miss your former fiancé? It is said that you are also child sweethearts. I grew up with Lianniang, so I know how profound this kind of affection is. If you forgot him completely within a few years, that would be terrified… Besides, it’s you who love another man, not Lianniang. To be honest, I don’t care if other concubines love other men except Lianniang… As long as they don’t use others’ children to impersonate my blood, everything will be fine.”

He said this calmly, not being angry or excited like normal men when being betrayed, but was even indifferent. He said, “Anyway, everyone knows how the Imperial Harem works. I don’t care whether you concubines love me or not, after all, I don’t love you. Concubines like you, however, are different from those like the Empress. If the Empress and the like have the same thought, they may not tell me. If they do tell me, I would definitely punish them for that!”

“As for concubines like you, who joined the Imperial Harem involuntarily…”

The Emperor sighed slightly, “You are all pitiful, so why do I embarrass you?”

Yun Fenghuang hated others to pity her the most. She almost couldn’t control her expression when she heard the words. After keeping silence for a while, she said, “Your Majesty, you are really kind.”

“You would be nice if you don’t scold me for being hypocritical.” Emperor Chunjia ignored her compliment, took a sip of tea, and said indifferently, “I don’t mind that you still have some feeling with your former fiancé. However, if the Empress is able to inquire about it, others would surely get the news as well. You still have to think of a countermeasure in advance, otherwise, you might be embarrassed by the Empress.”

He hinted, “After all, you and that person are both born in the north.”

“… Did Duke Yi’s Mansion send me to be your concubine because I’m from there?” Yun Fenghuang was silent for a moment, and suddenly asked.

Emperor Chunjia was startled, but immediately said calmly, “I don’t know… I thought you were just from Yun tribe.”

As Yun Fenghuang and Yuan Lianniang had contradictions after that, Queen Mother Yuan investigated into it and learned accidently Yun Fenghuang’s detailed background.

Queen Mother Yuan and her niece Consort Yue had thought to revenge by revealing this matter, but they considered two things. First of all, in their eyes, Yun Fenghuang was on the side of Noble Consort Shu and Duke Yi’s Mansion, but they were the biggest supporters of Emperor Chunjia currently. Yuan Lianniang could disregard everything for revenge, but Queen Mother Yuan and Yuan’s Family in Fuyang County could not let her do that crazily. They were afraid of offending Yun Zhao and his daughter Noble Consort Shu. Second, Yun Fenghuang gained Empress Ji’s protection quickly, which made Queen Mother Yuan completely give up the idea of head-to-head confrontation. After all, Ji’s Family was so powerful in the Harem that even she dared not offend them.

“Duke Yi’s Mansion knows my background.” Yun Fenghuang frowned, thinking for a while, and said as if she was talking to herself, “Even if they don’t want the girl from their tribe to Hu Zhu Palace to be bullied, they could adopt a beautiful girl easily, but they chose me, a close friend of Duke Yi’s baseborn daughter. Did they think less of me and my family, or try to make use of me for controlling the north?”

Emperor Chunjia couldn’t help but say, “It’s not that I take the side of Duke Yi. If your family really had valued you very much, they wouldn’t have sent you alone to Dijing City for avoiding the mishap after your intended engagement was cancelled. Ordinary parents would not let their twelve-year-old daughter leave them afar, right? Though you were kept by your aunt and uncle, they couldn’t treat you the way your parents did. What’s more, it was inconvenient to know your situation because you were thousand miles away. How could they set their hearts at rest?”

As for whether Duke Yi’s Mansion didn’t think highly of Yun Fenghuang and therefore didn’t care about her emotions and wishes or not, Emperor Chunjia said, “I think at least Duke Yi and Shizi are not such people, so maybe there is another story…”

He pondered, and then asked suddenly, “Before you joined the Imperial Harem, have you ever expressed your envy for Mei Ren Yun, or… um… your affection for me?”

Seeing Yun Fenghuang looking at him with amazement, the Emperor rarely showed a little embarrassment, “I know that you have no feelings for me, but I think you are always sweet-talked. Maybe you said something casually, but someone in Duke Yi’s Mansion bore it in mind. Was that possible?”

“… Your Majesty thought too much.” Yun Fenghuang took a deep breath and said straightly, “I am not stupid. I lived in my aunt’s family. If I showed envy to the young Miss of Duke Yi’s Mansion, I would be recognized as an ambitious and shameless person, am I right? As for admiration for Your Majesty, that would never happen… Could I talk about these when I was underage? I am not as noble as other concubines, but I am also a miss who comes from a big family. At least I know the rules.”

The Emperor kept silence for a moment, and then said, “I haven’t seen you behave like a miss since you joined the Imperial Harem…”

Seeing Yun Fenghuang glaring at himself angrily, he suddenly smiled, “Well, since you have doubts on this, I will try to figure it out from Shizi of Duke Yi’s Mansion when he enters the palace as my reading partner. But it is not convenient for me to ask him the details. If he tells me vaguely, I can’t help you more.”

Yun Fenghuang thanked him and said, “Since Your Majesty is kind, I dare not make troubles anymore. I swear that I won’t deliberately fight against Jie Yu Yue. You’d better not go to Ning Bi Hall but Yan Lan Palace to visit Noble Consort Gui! After all, you still have no child at such an age. If you don’t care about Noble Consort Gui who is pregnant, neither people in the Imperial Court nor the Imperial Harem will understand you. If someone wants to dirty your holy reputation deliberately, they can use the excuse that you care about Jie Yu Yue more than your child. Afterwards, you would be described as a wretched emperor who is an indifferent lecher.”

Emperor Chunjia held the tea bowl and did not speak. After a long time, he said with a low voice, “I don’t want to care too much about concubines like you who are forced to join the Harem, but the way you talked to me… I really want to beat you.”

“Otherwise, why do people say that good advice is annoying?” Yun Fenghuang sighed, pretending to be irresolute. She said, “It’s rare for me to thank someone, but Your Majesty wants to beat me for that. Do you want me to please you by trying all kinds of means as before?”

The Emperor thought of her behaviors for pleasing him before, including the terrible Lingbo dance, the pretentious spoiled manner, and the constant sarcasms… He sighed, “Well, you are young… It’s reasonable for you to be ignorant. I won’t mind.”

Seeing this, Yun Fenghuang said, “Your Majesty, just now you said that you don’t mind other concubines except Jie Yu Yue loving others as long as they don’t make a fake imperial bloodline. And now you are not very enthusiastic about the child of Noble Consort Gui. Does she…”

Before she finished speaking, Emperor Chunjia stared at her suddenly, with his eyes looked like a torch, which frightened her. Seeing so, she shut up subconsciously.

“You are so young that you are ignorant.” There was silence in the room for a moment. Emperor Chunjia then put down the tea bowl and said indifferently, “Since you have joined the Imperial Harem, it would be fatal for you to be so ignorant.”

“…” Yun Fenghuang sat properly, and nodded obediently, as if she didn’t ask the unpleasant question that might get her into trouble. Seeing this, Emperor Chunjia calmed down and said seriously, “I can tell that you are smart by nature, and act brusquely but in a self-conscious manner, so you seized the opportunity when you joined the Harem. Because of that, your grade has been promoted in a row within a few days. But your family background is not good, not to mention you cannot depend on the Empress for a long time. After all, you cannot solve everything by using your good look and wisdom… You’d better be cautious in the future. The Imperial Harem is not as simple as you think it is!”

Yun Fenghuang rolled her eyes and said, “Can I rely on Your Majesty?”

Emperor Chunjia glanced at her and shook his head with a smile, “You don’t trust me, and I have no time to take care of you. How could you talk about relying on me?”

He didn’t want to talk more with this young concubine. After checking the time, he got up, “I’m leaving, and you should conduct yourself well.”

He had said this to Yun Fenghuang before, and it was mostly a warning at that time, but this time it seemed to be a kind hint… Yun Fenghuang got it, so she became more serious.

When the Emperor was sent away, Xi Le came to her and heard her muttering to herself, “It’s better to win the hearts of people rather than attack the city… His Majesty has high aspirations. I am afraid that Ji’s Family hasn’t known him well!”

She raised her chin towards Xi Le, “Tell your master what I just said and let him take actions cautiously.”

As Xi Le lowered her head and accepted the order, the emperor was on his way out of Hu Zhu Palace. Yan Yin also asked in a low voice, “Your Majesty, is Gui Ren Yun reliable?”

The Emperor smiled lightly, “She pretended to be like that. She doesn’t believe me at all! But… I don’t need her trust, either.”

He pondered for a while, “Has Ji’s Family known that the son of Qi’s Family was recruited by Prince Regent’s Mansion?”

“They’ve already known that.” Yan Yin said, “Today the Titled Madams went to the palace to greet Queen Mother of Honor. Presumably, these of Ji’s Family would talk about this at Mian Fu Palace.”

“That’s good.” Emperor Chunjia said calmly, “Gui Ren Yun is young but suspicious by nature. If I want to make her love me through warmth and passion, I could only make it after years of effects. Moreover, I don’t want to please a girl who just became an adult… Although the Empress is clever, she is quite restrained by Ji’s Family… We can make good use of this. At that time, Gui Ren Yun would not be so calm and composed!”

Yan Yin thought for a moment, and couldn’t help but say, “Your Majesty, Gui Ren Yun is a low-grade concubine, and has no prominent family background. Why do Your Majesty and Her Highness both value her so much?”