Chapter 56: This Concubine Will Not Go

Flower-filled paddy fields, heavy rain, embankments, and repeated mentions of being washed away—how could Chu Mingheng not know which embankment she was referring to?

The Sanzhou Canal Embankment bordered three prefectures. It had been inspected just the year before last, and funds had been allocated by the court for repairs. By all logic, it shouldn’t be at risk of collapse as Lan Wu described.

Yet Lan Wu spoke with such certainty, describing a dream as if it were an imminent reality.

Hearing the exact location from Chu Mingheng, Lan Wu immediately shook her head, looking at him with confusion. “What Sanzhou Canal Embankment? This concubine has never even heard of it.”

Never heard of it meant never heard of it. Even if Chu Mingheng tied her up and interrogated her today, she would still claim ignorance, refusing to reveal another word.

Her eyes glistening with moisture, Lan Wu wore an expression of anxiety and unease, turning the question back to Chu Mingheng. “Your Majesty, will that embankment you mentioned be washed away?”

Chu Mingheng remained silent, turning his head to gaze at the fine rain outside the window.

The sound of rain drifted into the hall, a gentle patter filling the air with dampness.

Lan Wu thought to herself that she had given enough hints. Chu Mingheng should have a grasp of the situation now. She had alerted him, but how to handle the matter ultimately depended on his own plans.

Listening to the rain, Lan Wu grew drowsy. She leaned against Chu Mingheng, lifting her weary eyelids to glance at the bookshelf nearby.

Her ear was gently pinched.

It tickled a little.

She shrank back, trying to avoid it.

But then Chu Mingheng spoke, not about the embankment, but about Rong Shu Yi.

Lan Wu sat up straight with a jolt, stiffly waiting for him to continue.

“Consort Shu said that Rong has not seen outsiders for a long time and fears she may be harboring deep, troubling thoughts.”

Chu Mingheng continued to play with Lan Wu’s ear, his fingers tracing slowly from the tip down to her soft earlobe.

Speaking of Rong Shu Yi, Lan Wu had previously asked Court Physician Chen to inquire about Imperial Physician Xu’s situation. It wasn’t entirely fruitless, but she couldn’t understand why the medicine Imperial Physician Xu sent had no effect on Rong Shu Yi.

“I have already permitted Jia Pin to visit and offer her some comfort.”

Chu Mingheng’s fingers toyed with the small round bead dangling from Lan Wu’s ear—a crimson gemstone with facets that caught the light. It was a gemstone Lan Wu had requested for herself.

His thoughts shifting, he glanced sideways at Lan Wu, releasing her ear and casually asking, “Would A’Wu like to go see her?”

Lan Wu swallowed hard, her eyes widening slightly.

What was Chu Mingheng trying to do? Stir up trouble?

If she went to see Rong Shu Yi, the roof of Qiushui Pavilion would likely be torn off.

“…Your Majesty, this concubine will not go…”

Lan Wu dared to say that Rong Shu Yi’s miscarriage was not her doing. The more she looked into it, the less it seemed like an accident. But in the end, Rong Shu Yi had firmly marked her as the enemy.

Hearing her reluctance, Chu Mingheng frowned slightly.

“Didn’t I say it before? This matter has nothing to do with you,” he hinted.

Yes, yes, she knew that.

Lan Wu nodded repeatedly, but she was afraid she and Rong Shu Yi would end up fighting.

Chu Mingheng knew Lan Wu had been investigating this matter privately. After all this time, he wondered what she had uncovered. Yet she still claimed she dared not go. Had she not discovered that Rong’s pregnancy was fake?

By now, even Rong herself should have realized it.

Inside Qiushui Pavilion, the lingering scent of blood, made even more repulsive by the heavy rain, hung thick in the air.

Rong Shuyi lay on the bed, her body noticeably thinner, her face pale, her lips devoid of color. Only her eyes stared emptily at the ceiling, their pupils dark and sunken. Even when she heard movement, she did not blink, as if her soul had departed.

She had laughed enough—from the moment she guessed the truth to when she received the definitive answer from the Imperial Physician, she had laughed like a madwoman.

No pregnancy—she had never been pregnant—nor had there been any so-called miscarriage.

How laughable that she had grieved and shattered for a child she had never lost, only to find it all empty, nothing at all.

His Majesty had known all along. Perhaps he thought she had feigned pregnancy to deceive the emperor, but in his merciful heart, he neither killed her nor exposed her. Instead, he gave her this punishment.

What a lesson, what mercy.

Why not just kill her!

No—she could not die yet!

A deep, loathing hatred erupted in Rong Shuyi’s eyes.

The Imperial Physician had said she could never conceive again. Her body was already damaged from taking medicine that induced short-term signs of pregnancy. That medicine was no good thing—within days of taking it, symptoms of a ‘miscarriage’ would appear.

And the timing of her ‘miscarriage’ had been chosen perfectly.

Zhen Shuyi had just pushed her, and then she miscarried.

That day, Consort Rou had invited her to go boating on the lake. Among those below the rank of Jieyu, only she had gone.

How clever Consort Rou was—killing two birds with one stone. She could no longer bear children, eliminating her as a threat. And if she remained unaware of the truth, she would naturally see Zhen Shuyi as a thorn in her side. Alone, what could she accomplish? That was when Consort Rou would extend an olive branch.

She had been truly foolish, so easily manipulated.

No, it wasn’t that she had been careless—Consort Rou was too shrewd. She had intervened when Consort Shu mocked her last time, earning her gratitude.

Consort Rou had been scheming against her from the start.

The door was knocked.

Zhu Xia spoke softly outside, her voice just loud enough to be heard inside: “Your Ladyship, it is almost time for the evening meal. This servant will send someone to arrange it shortly. What would Your Ladyship like to eat?”

Rong Shuyi sat up from the bed, her dark gaze shifting to the floor. She let out a breath, her voice dry and hoarse, like that of a seventy-year-old woman.

“…Come in.”

Zhu Xia pushed the door open and entered.

The hall had been tidied, appearing neat and clean, but the scent of blood still lingered.

She stood unhurriedly a few steps away from Rong Shuyi, allowing her to be examined. At that moment, she carried an added air of deference.

Rong Shuyi studied her carefully, then asked, “His Majesty sent you here… what does he want me to do?”

Zhu Xia acted as though she did not understand, neither nodding nor shaking her head. She only said, “This servant was assigned to help Your Ladyship.”

Help her… help her?

Rong Shuyi leaned over the bed and let out a low laugh, then asked Zhu Xia softly, “If I want to kill Consort Rou, will you help with that too?”

Zhu Xia’s expression remained unchanged, her tone as calm as ever, only reminding Rong Shuyi: “If Your Ladyship declares your intentions so openly, you will not accomplish anything significant.”

Before, Zhu Xia had kept asking her if she had figured it out.

At the time, she had wondered—what did His Majesty want her to understand?

Now that the truth had come to light, she realized His Majesty had given her quite a ‘surprise.’

Zhu Xia was from the Imperial Presence. She wanted to kill Consort Rou, to make her suffer the same pain she felt—and His Majesty had guessed it.

He knew, yet he did not stop her.

So Consort Rou was just like that after all.

“You’re right, it was rash.” A glimmer gradually returned to Rong Shuyi’s eyes as she nodded in agreement.

Zhu Xia continued, “Your Majesty has another message for you, my lady.”

“What is it?” she asked, her gaze fixed intently on Zhu Xia.

“Your Majesty said that Zhen Shuyi is still young, and we mustn’t let her develop any improper thoughts.”