Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 31.1

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WARNING: MTL

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Volume 2: Power Over Court and Country

The Deposed Empress 06

Covering The Heaven With One Hand

The sound seemed to have the power to soothe one’s heart. Ah Rou breathed silently and tugged hard at the sleeve of the person behind her, pointing ahead.

            

That person appeared very familiar with this place, leading her backward through the arch gate and corridor, winding toward another location.

In the darkness, Ah Rou could neither see that person’s face nor where this path led, only knowing they had shaken off those who were following her.

That person walked and walked, then came to a stop.

            

Ah Rou saw her push open the vermillion-painted main gate (traditional Chinese doors painted red for good fortune), lead her inside, and then close the door.

This seemed to signal safety, and Ah Rou let out a breath of relief, but then by the indoor lamplight she clearly saw the face of the person who had been pulling her along, and that breath caught again.

It was actually the Deposed Empress!

            

For a moment, her heart was tangled like hemp (a Chinese idiom meaning to be extremely confused and anxious), and though Ah Rou wanted to say something, she didn’t know what to do.

But then thinking of her master who now lay lifeless in the palace, Ah Rou made up her mind.

Xin Lan sat down in the chair, patting the dust off herself.

            

She had originally been just an observer in this matter, until Ling Jiu told her that Consort Liu’s personal maid was fleeing, with people chasing her. She must know something, and their conversation was also relayed by Ling Jiu, so this servant must know the truth – that’s why Xin Lan immediately went out to save her.

“Master, isn’t this one from Consort Liu’s household?”

Chunyue lived in the outer chamber, and she woke up because of Xin Lan’s movements. When the master left without saying anything, Chunyue didn’t ask questions and just waited here for her return. Unexpectedly, last time she brought back an unknown man, and this time it was Consort Liu’s servant girl.

            

Ah Rou nodded, opened her mouth wanting to speak, but only produced some breathy sounds. She pointed to her throat and waved her hand at Xin Lan.

“Cannot speak?”

Ah Rou nodded.

            

Xin Lan looked at the bruises on her neck, her eyebrows creasing almost imperceptibly.

Perhaps when they strangled her throat she had tried to scream, causing damage to her vocal cords, making her temporarily unable to make sounds.

Letting her hide here wouldn’t be a problem. Xin Lan thought she might need to get some medicine tomorrow, as the herbal medicine shops would probably be closed if she went out now.

            

“You should go rest for now. Perhaps there are spare quilts in the side chamber (xiang fang – auxiliary rooms in traditional Chinese houses), or you could share space with Chunyue for now.”

Xin Lan said this, but then saw Ah Rou frantically grab hold of her.

“Do you have something to tell me?”

            

Ah Rou nodded desperately; if she couldn’t speak, she felt her heart wouldn’t be at peace.

“Can you write?”

Ah Rou shook her head – how could she know how to read or write (literacy was uncommon among servants in imperial China).

            

“Then wait until your throat heals to speak.”

Ling Jiu: “Host, I’ve scanned her throat damage and natural healing ability without medicine. It might take more than four days before she can speak.”

Hearing this, Xin Lan’s brows furrowed again. A delay of four days shouldn’t be too big of a problem.

            

But Ah Rou shook her head again. She was extremely anxious now. Even if she knew she could walk out of here tomorrow and go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Dian – the emperor’s main audience hall) to tell everything to His Majesty, she couldn’t speak now. She didn’t know if she could speak tomorrow, nor what would happen to her.

The Deposed Empress had fallen to this state because of her master’s lost child, so if she knew the truth, she would surely speak out. If one more person knew that person’s secret, even if she died, someone could speak for her.

Ah Rou felt that if that person dared to kill her master, perhaps even if she found His Majesty, she would still die.

            

If she couldn’t let someone know about this matter tonight, her heart truly couldn’t find peace.

She pointed at Chunyue, pointed at Xin Lan, then pointed at herself, and pointed at the air beside her.

“Me, master, you, what?”

            

Chunyue was somewhat confused.

But Xin Lan, who knew the background story, understood what Ah Rou wanted to say.

“You want to talk about your master?”

            

Ah Rou nodded desperately, then drew her finger across her throat.

“Dead?”

Ah Rou nodded again, with sorrow appearing in her eyes.

            

“Consort Liu is dead?”

Xin Lan put on a shocked expression, while Chunyue beside her showed genuine astonishment.

“How did she die?”

            

Ah Rou clutched her chest, suddenly fell to the ground, then crawled back up.

Xin Lan knew she was recreating the scene, but the cause of death wasn’t the most important thing. She was just asking routinely, because there must be a murderer.

“Do you know who did it?”

            

Ah Rou nodded, swaying as she made a dancing posture (dancing was associated with certain imperial consorts who were skilled in performance arts), her eyes fixed intently on Xin Lan.

“Consort Man?”

Ah Rou stopped her movements. She was already anxious about not being able to speak, but fortunately, the Deposed Imperial Consort understood her meaning.

            

“So it was her.”

Xin Lan murmured, not surprised.

She had been suspecting it was either Consort Xi or Consort Man, with the Noble Consort being less likely. After all, though the Noble Consort seemed arrogant, she didn’t seem to have the courage to do such things.

            

Xin Lan thought Ah Rou had finished speaking, but unexpectedly, Ah Rou continued making gestures where she stood.

She lightly stroked her belly, gesturing to Xin Lan.

“Child?”

            

“No?”

“Roof?”

When Xin Lan guessed the last one, Ah Rou shook her head and walked outside, pointing to the sky.

            

“Heaven?” (in imperial China, ‘heaven’ was closely associated with the emperor, who was known as the Son of Heaven)

Ah Rou nodded, then repeated those three gestures.

“Child, no, heaven… the child wasn’t the Son of Heaven’s?”

            

Xin Lan connected the meanings, her eyes widening slightly.

This… was it that green? (a metaphor for infidelity)

Chunyue covered her mouth in shock, this was too…

            

Seeing that Xin Lan understood, Ah Rou nodded joyfully, but then seeing they seemed to have misunderstood something, she frantically waved her hands, her face turning bright red, so anxious that tears were about to come out.

“Don’t be anxious, take it slowly.”

Xin Lan thought that Consort Liu had played a dangerous game with an outsider man and became pregnant. She wanted to get rid of the child, but Consort Man found out and used this to blackmail Consort Liu, threatening to reveal the pregnancy and then use the opportunity to frame the original host.

            

But if that were the case, Consort Man wouldn’t have needed to kill Consort Liu.

So there must be hidden circumstances. Only if Consort Man felt that Consort Liu’s existence threatened her would she strike so ruthlessly. Consort Liu couldn’t possibly threaten Consort Man’s position, so she must have known something she shouldn’t have known.

Ah Rou took a deep breath. Unable to use sign language, she could only explain word by word according to her understanding.

            

“Consort Man… captured your master?”

From Ah Rou’s gestures, Xin Lan understood what had happened.

Consort Man had captured Consort Liu, had people do that kind of thing to her, Consort Liu became pregnant, and used the child in her belly to deal with the original host.

            

What a chain of events. The scheme wasn’t particularly clever, just too unexpected. After all, this was the emperor’s inner palace (harem where imperial consorts resided), to force an imperial consort to have relations with someone else, then use that illegitimate child to eliminate rivals – if Ah Rou hadn’t appeared, Xin Lan wouldn’t have thought of this possibility.

After all, following everyone’s habitual thinking, such matters were usually due to jealousy or other emotions. No one had suspected whether the child was truly of imperial bloodline.

Ah Rou made two more gestures, then helplessly lowered her hands.

            

She held her head, looking very confused.

Xin Lan moved closer and patted her shoulder, trying to help her relax.

“Is there more you want to say?”

            

Ah Rou raised her head, nodding while crying.

“But you can’t gesture it out?”

Ah Rou nodded, pulling at Xin Lan’s sleeve, looking completely helpless.

            

“It’s alright, don’t worry. I already know some of it. Just rest well for now and hide here. We’ll see how your voice is tomorrow.”

Ah Rou could only nod.

“Chunyue, let her share your bed.”

            

Chunyue nodded. Having suddenly learned such major news tonight, she felt dizzy and couldn’t quite process it all.

Xin Lan lay on her bed, but had no desire to sleep.

Consort Man, Consort Liu, and that secret Ah Rou knew but temporarily couldn’t express.

            

It must be a very big and interesting secret, something that Consort Man had to be wary of.

Xin Lan felt she had already guessed what that secret might be, and felt confident about it.

But after daybreak, news of Consort Liu’s incident would surely spread, and Xin Lan didn’t care what methods Consort Man would use to settle things. What she cared about was how Ah Rou should spread the truth.

            

Before Ah Rou could speak out, Consort Man would certainly be frantically trying to find her and silence her.

But this was in the imperial palace, and without being the emperor or having legitimate reasons, trying to find and kill someone without alerting anyone was no easy task.

However, Xin Lan believed that Consort Man must have people by the emperor’s side.

            

If they brought Ah Rou, who currently couldn’t speak and could only gesture, before the emperor, His Majesty would definitely keep her, but her safety couldn’t be guaranteed.

If Consort Man knew the person was with the emperor, having a clear target would make taking action much easier.

Xin Lan didn’t know if she was overestimating Consort Man by thinking this way, but she knew it was better to use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken (an idiom meaning to use excessive force for a small task) than to underestimate someone.

            

But if they hid her for four or five days before Ah Rou went out, the meaning would be different.

Timing was crucial, and it would be best if Ah Rou could speak by tomorrow.

This matter could be told, but they had to keep her completely separate from themselves. If there was any connection to the Xin family, the credibility of Ah Rou’s words in the emperor’s mind would be discounted. It wouldn’t be good if the truth turned into falsehood.

            

People’s suspicions were sometimes strange like this – truth could be seen as lies, and made-up stories could be believed as truth.

They must use medicine to treat Ah Rou’s voice, but where could she get such medicine?

Ling Jiu: Does the host plan to eliminate Consort Man? I thought you would save her for last.

            

Consort Man was a princess from another country, making her status rather delicate. Things were fine during times of political friendship, but once relations soured, the situation would become extremely awkward.

The emperor wouldn’t provoke external troubles while internal problems remained unsolved (a reference to the classical Chinese political principle of “securing internal stability before dealing with external threats”), but that didn’t mean external troubles wouldn’t come looking for him.

From Xin Lan’s perspective, Consort Man was temporarily working toward the same goal as her, but Consort Man’s actions had wider implications, which was something Xin Lan absolutely didn’t want to see.

            

She was like a chess piece difficult to use skillfully. Discarding her seemed wasteful, but using her meant this sharp blade might end up wounding oneself.

After careful consideration, Xin Lan decided to break this balance in the inner palace, using the emperor’s hand to deal with one person first.

After all, in a sense, Consort Man was one of those who had harmed the original host. Although in these inner palace struggles, losing meant losing, it didn’t mean Xin Lan couldn’t pay it back.

            

If the emperor knew what Consort Man had done, he absolutely wouldn’t tolerate it.

Because right now, he was already exhausted from balancing various forces while gradually uprooting the Xin family.

However, like in chess, moving one piece affects the entire game. Xin Lan wasn’t sure if the emperor would use this force against another force, taking the opportunity to frame someone else.

            

Xin Lan pressed her temples and made up her mind.

No matter big or small matters, one must investigate thoroughly from beginning to end, and handle things personally.

She climbed out the window and activated her qinggong, quietly leaving the imperial palace, her figure disappearing into the vast night.

            

Meanwhile, upon hearing the servant’s report, Consort Man gripped her teacup so tightly that cracks appeared on its walls. It shattered on the table, spilling tea everywhere, making a mess.

“That girl is so unaware of the situation. And you are useless – can’t even catch up to a mere servant girl. She must know about her master’s affairs. We must find her.”

Consort Man’s beautiful face became somewhat ferocious, though despite her burning anger, she still spoke in soft whispers.

            

She hadn’t expected that secret conversation would be so coincidentally witnessed by Consort Liu who was resting by the artificial mountain (artificial mountains were common garden features in imperial palaces). She initially wanted to take action, but then thought of a better plan.

The inner palace had no children for so many years, partly due to her ‘contribution.’ Continuing such actions might alert the emperor, so instead, why not have a lower-ranked consort bear a child not of imperial blood. With someone pregnant first, the emperor would feel relieved and shift his attention.

Everything was proceeding as she wished, but she hadn’t expected that worthless woman would try to secretly terminate the pregnancy, which couldn’t be allowed.

            

But that bowl of medicine had already been consumed, and she couldn’t undo it, so she specially bribed people to insist it was the Empress’s doing, going with the flow to give the emperor a reason to depose the Empress.

Either way, the Xin family couldn’t possibly align with her, so she might as well strike first to weaken them, but she hadn’t expected the Xin family to have backup plans.

This time, apart from driving away Xin Lan, she gained nothing.

            

Originally, she was already displeased with Consort Liu for ruining her plans, but unexpectedly, Consort Liu grew bold and actually tried to turn around and threaten her.

Consort Man forced herself to calm down, sending several people to continue searching. If the matter was exposed, she had ways to deal with it, but she would necessarily have to keep still for many days.

While she was worried, the person she was concerned about was equally unable to sleep.

            

Ah Rou lay in bed with open eyes, completely sleepless.

Her body was stiff, and despite the hot summer, she felt waves of coldness.

Chunyue lay beside her, also unable to sleep.

            

Others might not know, but as someone who had served closely for four years, how could she not notice how much her master had changed.

She had become much more formidable, and much more difficult to read, giving off an unfamiliar and fearsome feeling.

The changes began after moving to the Cold Palace, Chunyue thought. Perhaps her master had been shocked, which was why her actions became increasingly strange.

            

Whether it was discovering He Hua’s betrayal, the sudden disappearance from the room and reappearance from outside with a man, or that unreasonable person barging in to search, or today’s sudden departure and return with Consort Liu’s maid.

Though Chunyue had been constantly by her master’s side, she found herself unknowingly unable to understand many things.

But what was clear was that her master had become more capable than before, in every aspect.

            

Chunyue closed her eyes – never mind, thinking too much was useless. She would just do as her master said.

Xin Lan followed the route provided by Ling Jiu, heading toward her destination.

Before Shang An fell into a drowsy sleep, he felt someone watching him.

            

He opened his eyes and met a pair of pitch-black eyes, startling him completely awake.

Before him was a veiled person, whose figure suggested it was a woman.

He wasn’t yet married, and although it was very strange for a veiled woman to break into his room in the middle of the night, he couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat.

            

“May I ask why the lady has entered my room in the middle of the night?”

“Do you know what medicine to use for a damaged throat?”

Xin Lan not only wore a veil but also deliberately changed her voice when asking.

            

Her original voice was gentle with a hint of sharpness, but she specifically changed it to a more distinctive mature woman’s tone.

“I do know, I am a physician. Have you come to buy medicine?”

Coming to buy medicine in the middle of the night while veiled was strange no matter how one looked at it, but since she wasn’t stealing or robbing, Shang An deliberately ignored this oddity.

            

“Yes, could you prepare it brewed and bottled for me? The payment will be generous.”

“How was it injured?”

“Someone gripped my throat while I was screaming, now I can’t make a sound.”

            

Xin Lan said this, making Shang An’s heart slightly tremble.

Just as he began to feel timid, he was frightened by the lady’s cold gaze.

“I’ll get the herbs and brew the medicine now. If the injury isn’t too severe, it should heal in a day or two with medication.”

            

Xin Lan nodded. She had originally planned to seek someone at the Imperial Medical Bureau, but Consort Xi had people there, so she didn’t go.

Shang An nervously prepared and brewed the medicine, with those eyes following his every move like a shadow.

Since hot medicine in a bowl wouldn’t be convenient to carry, Shang An found a wine flask and poured the medicine into it.

            

“Thank you.”

Xin Lan left some silver pieces and prepared to leave.

Shang An held the money, which was much more than the medicine’s worth, watching the closed door and feeling puzzled.

            

But he never overthought things, so he removed his outer robe, fell onto the bed, and continued sleeping.

Xin Lan immediately returned to the imperial palace with the wine flask, softly called out to Ah Rou, and found her quickly rising, looking as if she hadn’t slept at all.

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LP: Re-translated on December 05, 2024

            

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