Chapter 294

Chapter 294 By rights, now that Xie Run had become a Side Consort, she could have arranged to have an experienced matron by her side long ago. But she had no wet nurse and no trusted confidantes. With all the turmoil in the household recently, she wouldn't have dared to take on new people at a time like that. Now that the storm had temporarily subsided, Xie Run found herself increasingly overwhelmed managing the household affairs. If any of the maidservants by her side so much as stepped away for a moment, she could barely keep up. Xiaoshu immediately understood what she meant. "Mistress wants an experienced matron to serve by your side?" "But the matrons in our household are either too shrewd and cunning, or they're burdened with families and refuse to budge. It'll be hard to find one." Those too clever would be impossible to control—who knew how many masters they secretly served behind the scenes? And those who could be useful were exactly the ones with families in tow, all too easy for others to use as leverage. Xie Run sat in her chair and thought for a moment. "If we can't find a suitable one in the household, I'll ask the Prince to find one for me from the palace." Now that the Empress was under House Arrest and the Emperor had uprooted the power of the princes, the harem was unprecedentedly calm, which made it convenient to seek out capable people. Xie Run had originally planned to bring this up with Prince Jing in the evening. But who would have thought that by the first watch, neither Prince Jing nor Taotao had returned? Xie Run's heart pounded wildly, constantly worrying that something had happened. The maidservants around her all chimed in to comfort her. Fortunately, just before the second watch, Prince Jing sent someone with a message. "The Emperor is unwell. Prince Jing and Fifth Young Master are staying overnight at the palace and won't be returning today." "The Prince feared that Consort Xie would worry, so he specifically sent this servant to deliver word." Xie Run let out a long sigh of relief. "Are the Prince and Fifth Young Master both well?" "Has Fifth Young Master been crying or fussing, or done anything to displease the Emperor?" Worried about her son, Xie Run fired off quite a few questions in one breath. Fortunately, the man Prince Jing had sent was reliable and answered each one in turn. That night, Xie Run lay alone in bed, unable to fall asleep for a long while. If she remembered correctly, this was around the time the Emperor's illness took a critical turn. In the original script, the Emperor was sick to the point of having only one breath left, and the imperial edict had already been written and proclaimed. But who would have thought that he'd cling to that single breath, and slowly, he actually recovered. Having gone through a brush with death, the Emperor began to believe in Taoism, lost interest in governing state affairs, and directly let Prince Jing take the throne while he became the Retired Emperor, peacefully pursuing his quest for immortality. Even though Xie Run already knew the script, her one-year-old son had been taken into the palace for the first time and hadn't returned all night—any normal person would be anxious. She didn't sleep well all night, and in the morning she had to use cosmetics to cover the dark circles under her eyes. She had just finished handling a few matters brought up by the stewards when suddenly news arrived that the Emperor's condition had worsened. Xiaoshu, Dantao, and the others all turned pale with fright. "The young master and the Prince are still in the palace..." Xie Run lowered her eyes, suppressing the worry beneath them. "With the Prince there, Taotao will be fine." Even as she said it, it sounded more like she was trying to comfort herself. Prince Jing returned to the manor with Taotao after the midday meal. He walked in hurriedly, only saying, "Have hot water prepared for a bath. I'll need to return to the palace this afternoon." Afraid the attendants wouldn't be thorough enough, Xie Run stepped forward herself to help Prince Jing change clothes, asking softly, "How is the Emperor now?" Prince Jing's brows were furrowed. "Not good. The Princess Consort still hasn't recovered her health, so the household will have to rely on you to hold things together." Xie Run smiled. "This concubine will do her best." Prince Jing patted her shoulder. "If you can't manage it all, promote a couple of your own people to help. Don't do everything yourself." Xie Run was startled for a moment before realizing that Prince Jing was telling her to cultivate her own trusted confidantes. She belatedly replied, "This concubine... will follow the Prince's wishes." Xie Run thought it over carefully. Sometimes she felt that the rear courtyard of Prince Jing's manor had too many people, with one or two incidents cropping up every few days. But when it actually came to finding a few capable people, counting through them one by one, she found there were too few. At this moment, Xie Run finally understood how Prince Jing must have felt when he looked at the rear courtyard back then. Counting back and forth, the only one she could use on her side was Concubine Lu—but unfortunately, Concubine Lu's status was low, and there was only so much she could manage. It was Dantao who made the suggestion: "Mistress, why not go speak with the Princess Consort and ask Consort Li to help handle some matters?" "When the Princess Consort used to manage the manor, she often had Consort Li help with one or two areas of affairs. I imagine that now that she's raising the Third Commandery Princess, she doesn't truly want to be invisible." Xie Run suddenly realized. "Dantao, you've reminded me—there's still Consort Li." "In that case, go and inform the Princess Consort for me, and bring some gifts along to visit Consort Li while you're at it." Dantao smiled and acknowledged the task. After handling these matters, Xie Run also had to arrange the mourning hall for Concubine Wan. Wan Linlang had passed away in the capacity of a concubine, so there wouldn't be many people coming to pay their respects. Just the household members going to burn a couple of sticks of incense, going through the motions for the sake of appearances. The first to arrive at the mourning hall after it was set up was Fang Yuan'er. In just a few days without seeing her, she had grown noticeably thinner, her clothes hanging loosely on her frame as if a gust of wind could blow her away. Xie Run remembered that Prince Jing had ordered her to reflect on her actions behind closed doors in her own courtyard, yet here she was, suddenly appearing. Concubine Lu had accompanied Xie Run to the hall. Seeing Fang Yuan'er approaching with a dark, brooding gaze, she stepped forward and asked on Xie Run's behalf, "His Highness personally ordered Consort Fang to reflect on her actions behind closed doors in her own courtyard. How is it that Consort Fang has come here?" Fang Yuan'er acted as if she hadn't seen Concubine Lu at all. She walked straight up to Xie Run and asked coldly, "Do you truly believe she's dead?" Xie Run was silent for a long moment before she replied, "Does Consort Fang believe that Concubine Wan is not dead? Is there any evidence?" Her gaze was clear and bright, harboring not a trace of selfish motive, as she looked directly at Fang Yuan'er. But what Fang Yuan'er detested most was precisely Xie Run's self-professed innocent and harmless demeanor. She let out a cold snort and smiled without sincerity. "Evidence? We haven't even seen a corpse." "No matter how violent the earthquake, how could it make a body simply disappear?" "I don't believe she's dead. Setting up this mourning hall here now only strikes me as absurd." "She's probably somewhere gloating right now, having played us all for fools." Xie Run opened her mouth to speak, but Concubine Lu had already stepped forward. "Concubine Wan's death was personally confirmed by His Highness. Whether she is alive or dead, she is dead now!" "I understand that Consort Fang has had her differences with Concubine Wan in the past, but at Concubine Wan's mourning hall, wouldn't it be wise to show some restraint?" Fang Yuan'er cast a cool glance at Concubine Lu, then shot a sidelong look at Xie Run. She laughed with a hint of self-mockery. "Death ends all grievances?" "After all the sins she committed, she still gets to go to a good place. It seems her death was indeed perfectly timed." Wan Linlang had made a very clever choice. If she had remained in the Prince's residence, she would never have had a chance to rise above her station. By using a death-escape to leave Prince Jing's residence and then living under a new identity, she might very well carve out a whole new world for herself. What Fang Yuan'er feared was precisely that Wan Linlang would refuse to give up and continue to contend with her under a different identity. She was now trapped in a dead end herself, no better off than Wan Linlang had been. Her son was gone, her rank had been demoted, and all this at the critical moment when Prince Jing was about to become Emperor. If she simply sat back and waited for her fate, Fang Yuan'er could foresee that her rank after entering the palace would not be high. And when the time came to contend with Wan Linlang again, could she even win?