The Princess Wei Yang Chapter 96 part2

Chapter 96: No Different From Treason

Consort and concubine are not equal. Consort is for a higher ranking position, usually denoted by “fei” whereas concubine is lower-ranking and denoted by “pin”. Collectively speaking, they are all concubines.

The Empress’s heart ached. Back when her

beauty was at its peak, she still fell short of De Fei, much less now, having

become a wilted flower butterflies no longer visited.

If she died, Xian Fei did not have a

son, but De Fei gave birth to the favored Qi Huangzi, so she could become

Empress, and someone else will become Taizi. Both mother and son clearly wanted

her to return to the heavens sooner than later!

The thought greatly upset her, making

her furious. As if immediately recovering her strength, she stopped breathing

heavily and straightened up. She coldly demanded: “Tell me then, who gave you

the courage to wear a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin!”

De Fei lived in the palace for many

years and was familiar with the Empress’s temper. She kowtowed and pleaded:

“How could chen qie dare to wear a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin? This is a gift

chen qie received from Bixia this morning, obviously only eight tails…”

Xian Fei remained in a low bow, afraid

to speak up. She was not apathetic and haughty anymore. De Fei dared to wear

the nine-tailed phoenix hairpin reserved for the Empress, which was forbidden.

If the Empress was open-minded, she

would laugh and dismiss it, but now the Empress was gravely ill and despised

those who dreamt of her position, now… It seems Xian Fei herself had also been

involved with unimaginable consequences!

The Empress heard De Fei’s explanation

and felt even angrier. She sneered, her lips curling back as if cracking a

smile. Not waiting for De Fei to finish, she cut in: “By saying this, the one

to blame is the Emperor? Bixia wanted you to become Empress?!”

De Fei wanted to kill someone. She was

certain Li Wei Yang had done something to it. The hairpin was made of high

quality, soft gold. Li Wei Yang must have split one of the tails of the hairpin

into two when no one was paying attention!

She hesitated, aware that she had no

evidence. If she told the Empress, not only would the Empress not believe her

but would also punish her for making a false accusation. Li Wei Yang did not

have a reason to tamper with the hairpin. She was not a concubine, so why would

she harm De Fei?! Even if she begrudged De Fei for accusing her of theft, how

could she retaliate immediately! Not even De Fei would believe this absurdity!

Not to mention, this managed to strike a very sore spot for the Empress—

Before De Fei could answer, a nu guan by

her side Xin er quickly responded: “Empress niang niang, Nubi’s niang niang’s

hairpin has been lost before. Someone must have tampered with it! Empress niang

niang, please don’t misunderstand niang niang!”

De Fei’s heart sank. Damn that naive

Yatou!

Sure enough, the Empress scoffed:

“Someone tampered with it? There are dozens of palace maids present, but among

them, who could force De Fei to wear the hairpin! This is a sign of disrespect

from her. You are a Yatou by De Fei’s side and hope to help Zhuzi push the

blame onto someone else. Unforgivable!”

Her eyebrows rose as she ordered: “Drag

this impudent servant out and beat her to death! Better than to keep troubling

others!”

Xin er could not believe her ears and looked to De Fei

in panic. De Fei only gave her a disapproving stare, which made her heart sank.

How could that be? De Fei had always been favored, and the Empress also

respected De Fei on some level, why was she so furious now… Xin er could not

believe it.

Li Wei Yang smiled wryly. What the Empress hated the

most was someone dreaming of her position. De Fei had Qi Huangzi, so all that's

left was for the fuse to be lit. She gave the Empress a good reason and knew

how the Empress would deal with De Fei!

Heeding the Empress’s order, the eunuchs stepped

forward and a while later, Xin er had been beaten countless times. Jiu Gongzhu

wanted to speak up but did not dare. The Empress looked like she wanted to kill

someone, so she tried to advise her: “Muhou…”

“Silence!” She barely said anything when the Empress

cut her off like a clap of thunder. Terrified, Jiu Gongzhu fell silent. While

she hesitated, Xin er had been beaten to death, heavily bleeding. Xin er was a

palace maid from De Fei’s dowry and accompanied her for many years. To say

there were no emotional ties would be a lie. Xin er and Lan er were De Fei’s

most capable aids and both were suddenly lost in one day.

De Fei was terrified, feeling as if she had been

plunged into cold water and nauseous at the same time. She did not dare to look

at Xin er’s bleeding corpse and raw flesh.

Jiu Gongzhu only stared at the Empress in disbelief.

The Empress who was always gentle, calm, generous, and kind-hearted was also

just as cruel and heartless.

Tuoba Zhen coldly looked on with no intention to step

in and help. He knew very well that when one’s position was threatened, anyone

would become cruel and ruthless. What De Fei did unearthed the resentment

buried deep in the Empress’s heart! Whether De Fei was framed or not, no one

would care. The Empress only cared about the result of this action and wanted

everyone to know who stood above all among the six palaces!

He did not feel this was related to Li Wei Yang. He

knew De Fei had harmed her earlier, but he still could not believe that Li Wei

Yang, a xiao Yatou, could understand the Empress’s hidden sentiments and cause

her anger to boil over.

No, he refused to believe it! Last time, Li Wei Yang

could scheme against him because he was careless, how could she understand the

affairs in the palace as if they were in the palm of her hand… Impossible!

The Empress’s expressions steeled, lips curling up.

Her eyes widened, taken over by fury and the hatred that slowly spread all over

her body, gradually swallowing every last bit of reason. A dreadful color

darkened her face as she felt this was an unforgivable offense!

Xin er rolled to the ground, dead. The four eunuchs

stopped, Xin er’s blood visible on their clothes as they solemnly stood and

waited for the Empress’s order. Everyone knew it would be De Fei’s turn!

Jiu Gongzhu felt a sense of fear she never had before,

frightened to see the ruthlessness and madness on Muhou’s once gentle face. She

did not dare to speak up for De Fei and could only hope Qi ge is on his way

over.

The tension in the atmosphere made it that if a silver

needle fell, everyone would hear it. Suddenly, the silence was broken by

approaching footsteps. Li Wei Yang glanced up and saw Qi Huangzi and the

Emperor arriving, or rather, Tuoba Yu had invited the Emperor here! Oh, the

irony. Li Wei Yang met the Emperor twice in one day, once when facing his

verdict, but this time, it was to sit back and watch two tigresses fight.

The ground was covered with porcelain shards. Tuoba

Yu’s face did not change as he promptly knelt down. The Empress’s face turned

purple, shaking out of fury. No palace maids were supporting her. Her hand

trembled as she pointed at Tuoba Yu and admonished: “You want to plead for your

Mufei too?”

Even the Emperor was stunned by her aggressiveness. He

had never seen her make such a face and indignantly looked at the two consorts

kneeling on the ground. Concubines will be concubines and could not compare to

the Empress. The

Empress stayed by his side during his darkest days and played an important role

in his ascension to the throne, so the Empress was not only his official wife

but also an ally and friend! Seeing the Empress so furious, he already decided

that De Fei and Xian Fei were at fault!

Tuoba Yu calmly knelt near the Empress and said:

“Muhou, Mufei’s mistake has angered you. In any case, arguing will be

counterproductive and is also harmful for your health. Please sit down, drink a

cup of tea, and ease your mind. You must not exhaust yourself.”

The Empress scoffed and turned her face away.

The Emperor glanced at De Fei and frowned: “What

happened? What did you do to anger the Empress?”

A palace maid brought over the hairpin. The Emperor

glanced at it and still did not understand. Then he realized that although the

rules in the palace were strict, if one did not pay special attention, they

would not notice something like this.

The Empress covered her face and wept pitifully:

“Bixia, if you want to depose me, you should have said so. Why continue to look

for physicians and medicine for chen qie? Let chen qie soon return to the

Heavens, then you can make someone else Empress!”

Shocked, the Emperor quickly helped her up: “Why are

you saying this, Empress, when did I ever intend to depose you?! This is the

hairpin I gave De Fei, is there something wrong with it?” He turned back in

surprise and understood, immediately saying: “This hairpin was stolen by a

palace maid earlier, perhaps it was tampered with then…”

His suspicions went to Li Wei Yang, but that was

impossible. How could a fourteen year old child have the mind and courage to do

that! Unless someone intervened in between and borrowed someone’s dagger to

kill? He thought so, and his eyes landed on Wu Xian Fei: “Xian Fei, why did you

turn a blind eye to De Fei’s wrongdoing?”

Wu Xian Fei panicked, cold sweat running down as she

bowed: “Bixia, please calm down. It was not that chen qie ignored this but that

chen qie did not notice.”

The Emperor frowned. The rules in the palace were as

follows: the Empress’s garments consisted of a Wei set, Ju clothes, and Dian

Chai Li set. The Wei set was jewelry in shape of twelve flowers drooping down

on both sides of her head and a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin, but De Fei and

Xian Fei could only wear phoenix hairpins with eight tails.

That phoenix hairpin somehow grew another tail, and De

Fei even wore it, was this to test his relationship with the Empress? The

Empress’s health was not good. De Fei and Xian Fei took turns managing palace

affairs. Perhaps the two had an ulterior motive and used the phoenix hairpin to

see his reaction. If he wanted to depose her, he would only laugh and let this

pass - The Emperor was overly suspicious, so these speculations quickly

surfaced…

De Fei saw Tuoba Yu kneeling and anxiously said:

“Empress niang niang, chen qie will take responsibility for this. Please do not

be too angry and involve Qi Huangzi!”

She did not say anything wrong, but her words sounded

unpleasant to the Empress. Her face darkened. Disregarding etiquette, she

shouted: “You dare say “involve”? Am I that wicked in your eyes?” She angrily

pointed at Zhang De Fei as if she wanted to devour her alive.

Others saw this and rushed to persuade the Empress

otherwise, sending the entire Imperial Garden up in an uproar.

The Emperor looked at the Empress and knew it was not

good. The Empress’s usually pale face grew unnaturally pale. He knew that

normally his wife was calm and reserved but had a lot on her mind. Seeing De

Fei and Qi Huangzi, her heart ached and must have led her to overthink. He

loudly said: “Quickly help the Empress sit down and rest!”

Tuoba Zhen had a blank stare, suppressing the relish

and cruelty in his eyes. Watching a good show and seeing the results he hoped

for was very satisfying. The Empress, De Fei, Tuoba Yu, and even Wu Xian Fei

who continued to kneel in silence, they all stirred his hatred and resentment.

Although Wu Xian Fei was his Muqin in name, but she was domineering and used

him for her own ends. Now, he felt content to see their horrified faces.

Li Wei Yang stood from afar and saw the relish in

Tuoba Zhen’s eyes and sneered. The power struggle had soon twisted his mind,

and he probably resented not being able to kill them all! Except this situation

was not as good as he thought!

Zhang De Fei soon had sweat falling like rain, her

back damp with sweat. Tuoba Yu kept his head bowed, so it was hard to tell what

he was thinking. He did not speak up for De Fei, but his protectiveness was

evident. Li Wei Yang sighed, she did not think about him, but De Fei had stoked

the fire, causing the fire to burn her, so who was there to blame?!

Li Wei Yang’s gaze finally fell on Tuoba Yu who was

kneeling, back straight. She wanted to know what he was thinking right now.

At that moment, an eunuch suddenly knelt down:

“Responding to Bixia, Empress niang niang, Nucai is responsible for managing

internal affairs. Nucai admits to the crime!”

Li Wei Yang thoughtfully looked to the eunuch.

The Emperor frowned: “Admit to the crime?”

The eunuch Jiang bowed low: “Nucai is in charge of

those who gave the phoenix hairpin to De Fei niang niang, but the eunuch was

new to the palace, so the phoenix hairpin for Empress niang niang was

mistakenly given to De Fei niang niang. The phoenix hairpins are almost

identical, except one is nine-tailed and the other eight-tailed. Nucai just

learned of this mistake and came to accept punishment from Bixia and the niang

niangs!” He kowtowed, and his head loudly hit the ground.

Tuoba Zhen sneered, so Tuoba Yu had such quick hands!

Li Wei Yang shook her head. She tampered with the

hairpin, but this Jiang gonggong said it was mistakenly sent out. How could

gifts from the Emperor be so easily been mistaken? This was to deliver a

scapegoat and see if the Emperor and Empress will accept it!

The Emperor coldly told Jiang gonggong: “Go down and

accept a hundred strokes.”

This was to take his life, but Jiang gonggong only

bowed: “Obeying decree.”

Li Wei Yang saw the turn-of-events and had to applaud

Tuoba Yu for having picked a suitable candidate so quickly and push the blame

to the internal palace affairs. The head of internal affairs was an ally of

Taizi, and Taizi being the Empress’s son, gave this act another meaning in the

Emperor’s eyes. Taizi could have set Zhang De Fei up by having the wrong

hairpin sent to her, so the Empress could use this excuse to punish De Fei…

Li Wei Yang sighed. Unfortunately, only a little rain

followed the clap of thunder.

The Empress’s face changed and turned hostile, but she

quickly realized she could not be angry anymore or the Emperor would

misunderstand - she gritted her teeth and reluctantly suppressed her resentment

and put on a calm front. She personally went to help Zhang De Fei up to her

feet: “I was overthinking today and misunderstood meimei.”

Although she said this, the look in her eyes was full

of contempt. Zhang De Fei could only pretend not to see it, slightly lowering

herself, bowed and in a respectful, emotional voice, said: “Chen qie was wrong

for not inspecting the hairpin at first. Hope niang niang will forgive this.”

The Empress smiled and said: “Alright, alright, it is

just a misunderstanding. Quickly stand up.” She ordered someone to help Xian

Fei up. The Empress held both of their hands, guilt appeared on her face: “My

health has not been very good, the same goes for my temper. I hope you two

meimei will generously forgive me.”

The two consorts apologized at once. The Emperor

looked back and forth between the three of them and told Tuoba Yu: “Come, stand

up now.”

When Tuoba Yu stood up, his knees had gone stiff. He found

that Li Wei Yang was standing not far away from him. Their eyes met. Her eyes

were dark as the water in a well, pitch black, with a subtle but frightening

hostility. Tuoba Yu lowered his head, not wanting to see her cold and apathetic

expressions.

He suddenly understood everything.

The Emperor personally walked the Empress back to her

palace. Zhang De Fei and Xian Fei suffered from quite the shock and were helped

by palace maids. When De Fei walked past Li Wei Yang, De Fei gave her a

complicated look. It could be said that it was hatred and a pinch of horror,

and fear with a hint of resentment. Li Wei Yang bowed, “Seeing niang niang

off.” Her smile was lively but far from kind. De Fei’s entire body went limp,

barely able to stand as she leaned against the palace maid. She said nothing

and quickly left.

After this incident, the traumatized De Fei would fall

severely ill and be bedridden for three months. Of course, this would come at a

later time.

Tuoba Zhen smiled coldly and left with Wu Xian Fei

without looking back at Li Wei Yang. Tuoba Yu paused and told Jiu Gongzhu:

“Jiumei, you should go on ahead. I will lead Xianzhu out of the palace.”

His voice was strangely calm as if he did not know

anything at all, but Jiu Gongzhu was picked up on it. She stared wide-eyed at

Li Wei Yang and only saw a cold smile appear on Li Wei Yang’s lips as her eyes

remained cold and detached. She did not dare to point it out and only lowered

her head and left, but she still occasionally turned and looked back.

Tuoba Yu’s expressions were quite normal, but his

words came like a bolt of lightning: “Was this your doing?”

Li Wei Yang looked at a peony under the sun and

indifferently smiled: “Indeed.”

Tuoba Yu’s expressions froze, his lips twitched as if

he wanted to say something, but no words came out. Her small smile was like a

bright, crescent moon. Even though she was smiling, it was a detached smile

without any remorse.

His proud heart began to stir in agony for whatever

reason.

“I’m sorry.” He earnestly said, “I know. Mufei must

have done something to you for you to retaliate.”

Li Wei Yang smiled: “Thank you, Qi Dianxia, for

thinking of me.”

Noticing how distant she was with him, Tuoba Yu felt

numb. He said that he would not let De Fei harm Li Wei Yang, and Mufei had

agreed, only to turn around and do as she pleased. Tuoba Yu knew the more he

liked Li Wei Yang, the more Mufei will see them as an eyesore. Like she once

said, to be a ruler, one must be heartless. Mufei targeted Li Wei Yang, fearing

she will become a threat to him, but she did not know how much he valued Li Wei

Yang. He closed his eyes and murmured: “Wei Yang.”

Li Wei Yang paused, her gaze drifting over to Tuoba

Yu. A faint gold tinge from the sun shone against his handsome face. Tuoba Yu

only called her name and did not say anything else until she reached the

carriage.

He even lifted the curtain of the carriage up for her:

“I said that in the future, I would not make you worry. I thought I could

easily keep this promise, but now, it seems I was overconfident. However, I

assure you, this will be the last time.”

Li Wei Yang sighed: “One thing leads to another.

Things will still be good the next time we meet. If I truly wanted De Fei niang

niang’s life, that would mean disregarding our friendship and a friend like Dianxia,

so I understand the extent of the situation. I hope De Fei niang niang

understands as well. I can only forgive her twice but definitely not a third!

By that time, do not blame me!”

Li Wei Yang climbed onto the carriage, which traveled

down the long road. She lifted the side curtain to look outside. The wide road

was especially clean with not even a leaf in sight. There were eunuchs

carefully sweeping up in the distance. Combined with the sound of horse hooves

and sweeping of brooms, the ground seemed to rumble below them.

Li Wei Yang frowned as she saw a tall silhouette

galloping towards them from afar. At the last moment, that person pulled the

reins and stopped directly in front of Li Wei Yang’s carriage, making the horse

neigh loudly. It was unclear if this was an accident or intentional. Hostility

appeared on that person’s young, handsome face under the sunlight.

“Who are you, why are you stopping Xianzhu’s

carriage?!” The carriage driver raised his voice. The road was wide enough for

four carriages to pass through at once. What motive did this person have?

The whip in the young man’s hands reared back twice as

a cruel smile flashed across his face. The carriage driver saw the horse whip

being raised and struck his face with a “pa.” He cried out and fell from the

carriage to the ground.

Terrified, Bai Zhi leapt out of the carriage. Li Wei

Yang shook her head and lifted the curtain. The carriage driver was still

howling in pain, his hands covering the red marks on both sides of his face.

Bai Zhi trembled, either out of anger or cowering from

fear. Her lips trembled with every word she managed to say: “Impudence! Daring

to be disrespectful to Xianzhu!”

The man scoffed. Li Wei Yang looked over in his

direction. The sun that touched the horizon at the end of road reflected on her

youthful face, making her eyes shine brighter than jade and more like stars

that had fallen into the mortal world.

The man did not turn to look and acknowledge Li Wei

Yang. With a provocative smile on his face, he asked: “Xianzhu? What’s that?”

-------------------------------------------------

Translator: Chau

Editor: Pending

-------------------------------------------------