Chapter 195
The next day, Yun Wan was awakened by the noise outside. She opened her eyes and propped herself up, her delicate brows slightly furrowed. A faint displeasure at being woken up laced her tone: "Who is making a racket outside?"
A palace servant glanced outside and whispered, "It seems to be the Noble Consort."
There was only one Noble Consort in the palace now, and that was Lady Li.
"During the days you have been recovering, she came every day, saying she wanted to see His Majesty."
However, His Majesty had never granted Noble Consort Li an audience.
Outside the Zichen Palace, at the foot of the bluestone steps, Noble Consort Li, dressed in plain clothes, sharply scolded the young eunuch blocking her way. "Step aside! I want to see His Majesty!"
The young eunuch did not yield an inch. "Your Highness, it is not that this servant is deliberately making things difficult for you, but this is the imperial presence. Without His Majesty's orders, this servant dare not let you in."
Noble Consort Li didn't believe a single word of this. She bossed him around, her face full of disgust. "You are deliberately deceiving me. You have used this same excuse for the past few days. You clearly just don't want me to see His Majesty!"
Ever since the incident with the Li family, she had wanted to beg for an audience with Emperor Jingxuan every day. Unfortunately, she couldn't see him and was constantly blocked by the palace servants. Noble Consort Li had never suffered such humiliation, but for the sake of her brother's family, she had to try her best.
Resolving herself, she pushed the young eunuch aside and tried to walk up the steps.
Seeing this, the young eunuch's patience ran out, and he signaled the nearby palace servants to get ready.
"If you take one more step, you will be trespassing in the imperial presence. This servant will have to call for the guards!" he warned.
Noble Consort Li sneered, "Call them, go ahead and call them. It would be best if you called His Majesty here. Do not forget that I am still the Noble Consort personally appointed by His Majesty, the birth mother of the Crown Prince!"
Just as the palace servants were about to step forward, a faint voice came from the top of the stairs: "Let her go."
The young eunuch looked back and hurriedly bowed. "Please forgive me, Your Majesty the Empress. This servant tried everything but truly could not stop Her Highness the Noble Consort."
Yun Wan stood in front of the palace, looking down condescendingly at Noble Consort Li, who was being held by the palace servants. Her gaze was placid.
She wore no makeup, showing her natural face. A thin outer garment was draped over her shoulders, and her black hair hung down her chest like silk.
Meeting her almost contemptuous gaze, Noble Consort Li froze in place, the humiliation in her heart growing even stronger.
She thought it was Emperor Jingxuan in the hall, simply unwilling to see her. She never expected it to be Yun Wan. Didn't that mean all her previous behavior had been seen by her?
Turning a blind eye to her hostile expression, Yun Wan ordered lightly, "Let her come up."
After speaking, she turned and entered the hall, waving the others away.
With Yun Wan's orders, the young eunuch voluntarily let her go.
Noble Consort Li secretly cursed the castrated dog and entered Zichen Palace.
Seeing Yun Wan, her expression was complicated.
Before she could make a sound, Fuling, who had stayed by the side, coldly reminded her, "Her Majesty the Empress is here. Is the Noble Consort not going to kneel and pay her respects?"
At the thought of her mistress and the little prince almost losing their lives a few days ago, Fuling was filled with resentment towards the Li family, including Noble Consort Li.
Anger flashed in Noble Consort Li's eyes, but remembering the purpose of her visit, she lowered her eyes and said tepidly, "This concubine, Lady Li, pays her respects to Her Majesty the Empress."
The words of greeting were squeezed through gritted teeth, full of reluctance.
Yun Wan sat quietly, holding a teacup. Hearing this, she didn't even glance at the other woman, only saying lightly, "Since the Noble Consort is not willing to pay her respects to me, then forget it."
This was a clear intention to chase her away.
No matter how reluctant Noble Consort Li was, she didn't dare show it. She curtsied again to pay her respects. "This concubine, Lady Li, pays her respects to Her Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty be blessed with peace and prosperity."
Yun Wan finally raised her eyes to look at her. "His Majesty is not here. What do you want to see him for?"
Noble Consort Li's expression was wooden. "For the matter of my brother."
Yun Wan paused, her interest piqued. "Grand Tutor Li? What happened to him?"
"What happened?" Noble Consort Li's expression was icy, revealing a mocking smile. "Does Her Majesty the Empress really not know that my brother has been thrown into prison for attempting to murder the imperial heir and the imperial concubine? He is to be beheaded in three days, and the rest of my Li family is to be exiled three thousand miles away to the bitter cold lands?"
Yun Wan truly did not know. During these days of peaceful recuperation, she hadn't paid attention to outside affairs and hadn't deliberately inquired about the Li family.
Beheading, exile.
Her expression remained placid and unruffled as she retorted, "You yourself said that your brother attempted to murder the imperial heir and the imperial concubine. Is he not just reaping what he sowed and bringing this upon himself?"
She had no sympathy; she only felt he deserved his punishment.
"My brother is not such a reckless person who acts without considering the consequences. Someone must have deliberately framed him and planted false evidence!"
Noble Consort Li was agitated, staring fixedly at Yun Wan. "Besides, aren't Your Majesty and the little prince fine?"
Yun Wan was angered to the point of laughing by her shamelessness. "Are you blaming me and Sui for being too lucky to die?"
"The lives of your Li family members matter, but the lives of us mother and son do not?"
She put down the teacup in her hand and approached step by step, her lustrous eyes fixed on the other woman, extremely cold.
Noble Consort Li subconsciously stepped back, a bit of timidity rising in her heart.
Without paying attention, she fell onto the cold floor.
Yun Wan crouched down, leaned close to her, and curled her lips slightly, her clear black and white eyes exuding a chilling aura:
"I'm afraid Her Highness the Noble Consort has never tasted the pain of losing a child, has she?"
This single sentence made Noble Consort Li feel a bone-piercing chill. Her face changed drastically. "Y-you, what do you want to do?"
Yun Wan only stared at her quietly, not saying a word.
Because of this, Noble Consort Li grew even more terrified. "What do you want to do to my son? He is the Crown Prince! If you touch him, His Majesty will not let you off!"
"The Crown Prince?"
Yun Wan chuckled lightly and whispered into her ear word by word: "His Majesty does not only have one son, and the position of the Crown Prince does not necessarily have to be his. What if your son accidentally falls off a horse..."
She paused, smiling ambiguously.
And this smile that didn't reach her eyes was no different from a ghost's in Noble Consort Li's eyes.
She took a sharp breath. "You! You're threatening me? Don't you touch him! If you have a problem, come at me!"
Yun Wan stared at her as if admiring a spectacle.
The fear in Noble Consort Li's heart intensified. She had to admit that with Yun Wan's current status, there was no need for her to even speak; there were plenty of people willing to be the knife in her hand, rushing forward to go through fire and water for her.
Looking at herself, without her maiden family acting as her eyes and ears in the court, it was hard to say whether she could even maintain her future glory and wealth.
After thinking it through, she put away her hostile expression and quickly changed her face. "Yun Wan, no, Your Majesty the Empress, it was wrong for my brother to attack you, but he has already paid the price. This matter has nothing to do with us mother and son."
"If you have any grievances, direct them at him, but do not hurt my son!"
Yun Wan remained silent.
It wasn't until Noble Consort Li was about to break down that she said leisurely, "I can leave him alone, unless you tell me why you sent someone to place contraceptive musk beads in my room?"
Noble Consort Li was stunned. "What nonsense are you talking about? What musk beads?"
Yun Wan did not speak, quietly gazing at her, trying to find any trace of a guilty conscience or a lie on her face.
However, there was none.
A gleam of light flashed in her eyes, and she muttered in a low voice, "If it wasn't you, then she really was lying."
Noble Consort Li: "What on earth are you—"
She still wanted to ask clearly, but Emperor Jingxuan, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, scolded her displeasedly:
"What are you doing here?"