The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort

ng’s rage was like lava simmering under the surface with no means to escape, and since Zhao Yuan Feng had placed himself neatly in his sights, he immediately let loose heatedly.
“Your niece has been lured into ingesting an aphrodisiac, how can it be that I can’t take action?!”

This did not sit well with Zhao Yuan Ping.
He said, “Father, what are you fussing about? Hasn’t Xiao Wangye sorted everything out neatly? Not even the slightest hair on Ruan’er’s head was harmed, and she’s safe in Jinying Wangfu.
Why are you venting your anger at Third Brother?”

A few days ago, Xiao Shao had sent a messenger to the General fu with a letter, and the messenger had related the details of the situation from beginning to end, rendering Zhao Guang so furious that he almost charged out with his sword to strike down the people of Langzhong fu and that pervert of a prince.
What had appeased Zhao Guang minutely was that the messenger had also said that Xiao Shao was taking care of everything.
Thereafter, news of the scandal at Langzhong fu had broken the next day, and the Third Prince fu had been exterminated.

Anyone with one brain cell could tell that this had all been Xiao Shao’s doing, but Zhao Guang was still very unhappy.
“This is a family matter, how can we let an outsider meddle in our affairs? Moreover, Ruan’er is an unmarried daughter, what would it imply if she is sent to Jinying Wangfu? Yuan Jia, you go and bring your niece back for me!”

The eldest son of the Zhao family, Zhao Yuan Jia, had been inexplicably signed up for the job by Zhao Guang.
He replied, helplessly, “Father, if we bring Ruan’er back now, won’t that be opening up opportunities for others to take advantage of? Since Xiao Wangye helped Ruan’er, he won’t harm her.”

Recently, there had been several pairs of unfamiliar eyes observing the General fu closely from outside but the servants had searched the area but found no one.
They had to be spies, and were very probably there because of Jiang Ruan.
At the moment, the public claim was that Jiang Ruan was in the General fu.
If her actual whereabouts were leaked right now, it would bode ill for both Jiang Ruan and the entire General fu.
Of course, Zhao Guang understood this rationale, but understanding was one thing, and his discontentment was another.
After all, Jiang Ruan was the granddaughter of the Zhao family, but Xiao Shao, an outsider, had been allowed to take care of the matter of revenge.
Moreover, the attitude of the messenger that day had caused Zhao Guang to choke with resentment, for the implication had been that Jinying Wangfu was truly Jiang Ruan’s home because the General fu had been negligent in the past.

Once Zhao Guang’s crabby temperament got the better of him, it made it impossible for him to take a liking to Xiao Shao.
Although he was grateful Xiao Shao had stepped in at a crucial moment to rescue Jiang Ruan, it was still very difficult for him to calm down.
In anger, he said to Zhao Yuan Jia, “What do you know? Who knows whether that Xiao boy has taken a fancy to our Ruan’er, and whether he has wrong intentions towards her? Ruan’er is so young, what happens if she’s deceived?”

Wasn’t it precisely because Zhao Mei had not been able to discern people’s characters that she had suffered without reason for her entire lifetime, a suffering which had even spilled over to her son and daughter? This was the everlasting pain in Zhao Guan’s heart.

Zhao Yuan Ping scoffed as he said, “Father, that Xiao Shao should have special feelings for Ruan’er? Unthinkable.
Besides, to think that Ruan’er would be deceived by someone? Huh, it would be amazing if no one was deceived by her.”

Everyone in the Great Jin knew that Xiao Shao was cold and humorless, and not susceptible to feminine charms.
Even if Jiang Ruan was regarded as an outstanding beauty, far above the national standard, she would be of no significance in Xiao Shao’s eyes.
Moreover, although Jiang Ruan looked gentle on the surface, she was actually solitary, cold, and vicious in nature.
Zhao Yuan Ping and the rest of the Zhao family looked at women the same way – they felt that women should be like Zhao Mei, warm-hearted and pure.
Although Jiang Ruan was his niece, no man would like her temperament.

Of course, many years later, events would come to prove that Zhao Yuan Ping, the Zhao family’s most intelligent military strategist, could still make an error in judgment.
At present, though, he still felt his analysis was right.

However, Zhao Guang was someone who was quick to jump to a loved one’s defense, even if that person was in the wrong.
He was incensed on hearing what Zhao Yuan Ping had to say and whacked the table heavily before saying, with a stiffened neck, “Are you a f*cking member of the Zhao family or not? What did you say about Ruan’er? Ruan’er is great, that Xiao boy has never met anyone as wonderful as Ruan’er.
You, just get lost!”

Zhao Yuan Feng finally lost patience after hearing this exchange of words.
Standing up, he said, “Father, now is not the time to argue with Eldest Brother and Second Brother.
Let’s talk about this matter of Xiao Wangye another time.
Ruan’er has been so grievously wronged, shouldn’t we do something about it?”

“What can we do?” The moment he said this, Zhao Guang’s hackles were raised again.
“That Xiao boy has done everything already!”

“Aren’t we leaving out Imperial Consort Chen?” Zhao Yuan Feng reminded him.

Zhao Guang frowned.
“She’s someone from the imperial harem, how can we get involved?” Even though his was a burning hatred, Imperial Consort Chen was in the inner palace, and he was a court official.
There was absolutely no opportunity for him to do anything, moreover, they couldn’t make the situation public.
He simply could not think of a way.

Zhao Yuan Ping snapped his fingers and said, “If we can’t take action against Imperial Consort Chen, isn’t Chen daren still there?” He smiled and continued, “I think Imperial Consort Chen’s total abandonment of scruples is the reason for Chen daren’s current arrogance.”

Zhao Guang pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, “That’s right.
I’ve long thought about settling that fellow.
Ha, just right, let’s use this opportunity to teach him a little lesson, otherwise he will keep saying that the General fu is easy to bully.
The three of you come and sit here, this matter is highly important .
.
.”

* * *

A prince of such a majestic kingdom had died so easily.
Even though he was a wastrel of a prince, his death still unleashed a large storm within the imperial court.
However, the Emperor had never liked this son, and thus did not express much grief at his passing.
And while Empress Dowager Yi De seemed to be a little sad- which was rare for her- her emotion also did not seem to be related to this situation.

Jiang Ruan remained at Jinying Wangfu for a few days.
Even after the hullabaloo had died down, she did not return to the Jiang fu.
Instead, Xiao Shao assigned two men to take her to the palace.
These men were no ordinary people, thus reducing the likelihood of some incident taking place.

On her return to the palace, Jiang Ruan went to pay her respects to Empress Dowager Yi De, all the while pretending that nothing had transpired.
However, she noticed that Empress Dowager Yi De looked very haggard, and when the Empress Dowager saw Jiang Ruan, she seemed to recall something and asked, “Aijia heard that something happened on the night of your third sister’s wedding, what is going on?”

Jiang Ruan shook her head and said, “Third Sister did not say, so I don’t know the specific details.”

The Empress Dowager shook her head and sighed; she knew that the relationship between Jiang Ruan and the Jiang family was not good.
When they were at the imperial ancestral temple, Jiang Quan had never once sent a decent letter from home.
She had also observed the attitude that Jiang Ruan held towards the Jiang family – totally lacking in warmth, such that her present detached indifference was natural.

“That Zuo Jiang, aijia thinks that he is not a good person, with his ethics all in a mess.
In future, if the common people follow his example, the entire realm will be in disarray.” This matter was clearly of utmost severity in Empress Dowager Yi De’s eyes.
Although she had taken no part in politics and the government of the kingdom in the past few years, the unique perspective she had developed and honed in her earlier years was still present, and Zuo Jiang had just violated the baseline of her standards.
Jiang Ruan would not talk about such major events in front of Empress Dowager Yi De.
After speaking for a short while, Empress Dowager Yi De appeared tired, and retired to rest.

Jiang Ruan followed Yang gugu outside.
On the way, Jiang Ruan asked, “Does gugu know why Imperial Grandmother is so upset?”

Empress Dowager Yi De seemed very downcast and exhibited a haggardness due to age, which was very uncommon for her.
Jiang Ruan did not think that it was due to regret over Xuan You’s death.
In fact, Empress Dowager Yi De was a swift and decisive person, and she had developed an intense loathing for Xuan You from early on.
In fact, the imperial decree to send him out of the palace to set up his own fu at an earlier time than usual was her doing.

Yang gugu smiled and said, “Junzhu, perhaps the Empress Dowager has been a little tired in recent days, and looks rather low in spirits.
She will be better in a few days.”

These words were mere niceties.
Jiang Ruan responded by smiling slightly before saying, “Is that so? Then I need to trouble Yang gugu to take care of Imperial Grandmother.”

“This servant is unworthy to do as Junzhu has asked.” Yang gugu was Empress Dowager Yi De’s personal servant, one who had been with her for a long time, and she greatly admired Jiang Ruan.
After Jiang Ruan rescued the Empress Dowager at the risk of her own life, she had never used it to gain favors, and in their later interactions, she knew what to ask and what not to.
People as intelligent as her were the most suited for survival in the palace.
Yang gugu looked at Jiang Ruan with no small degree of praise.

Jiang Ruan dropped her gaze slightly.
Sure enough, Empress Dowager Yi De also had her own secrets, and she had not reached that level of intimacy with the Empress Dowager that they would share secrets.
However, she was not interested in other people’s secrets.
If the Empress Dowager didn’t want to talk about them, naturally she wouldn’t ask either.
She had come to the palace for a far more important matter today.

“Yang gugu, quite a few things have happened in the fu in the past few days, and I feel very unsettled.
I heard that visiting the Buddhist temple in the palace can calm my emotions and clear my mind, and so I would like to listen to the scriptures.”

When the Grand Preceptor entered the palace a few years ago, the Emperor had built a Buddhist temple inside the palace for his convenience.
On ordinary days, the womenfolk of the palace with sincere hearts could come before Buddha, and would often listen to scriptures.
The Emperor also looked favorably on all this.

Yang gugu also knew about what had transpired on the night of Jiang Li’s wedding and her heart was gravely pained.
Hong’an Junzhu had a good sense of propriety and was also intelligent and unflappable, but she was unfortunately a member of the Jiang family.
How on earth could there be such a great contrast between the sisters from the same fu? Thinking this, she smiled, then said, “Is Junzhu referring to the small Buddhist temple? It’s at the end of the southern garden; this servant will bring Junzhu there.”

Jiang Ruan smiled faintly and said, “Many thanks, gugu.”

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