Chapter 63

Chapter 63 Fang Yuan'er had been craving sour foods lately, and over forty kinds of dried fruits had been sent up for her to eat as she pleased. Someone had even managed to procure fresh wild fruits from who knows where—sweet and sour, appetizing, and very much to her liking. Just now she had finished a plate, and Qiuxiang brought up another dish of sliced fruit. She smiled warmly and said, "Setting aside the mistress and Concubine Xie, Concubine An still has a child in her belly. By no means should it fall to the child in Concubine Han's belly to be the child of fortune." Fang Yuan'er gave a cold laugh. "I think her belly has grown, and so has her ambition." "Such great fortune—who knows whether she can even enjoy it!" Clearly, the child of fortune in Concubine Han's belly had stirred no small amount of discontent. Fang Yuan'er suddenly smiled. "You should have heard what happened at Qingsong Court today?" Qiukui said softly, "Is the mistress referring to Concubine Li being diagnosed with pregnancy and then going to beg for rewards?" "Beg for rewards?" Fang Yuan'er smiled and shook her head. "Concubine Li is someone who came out of the palace, after all. Her sights aren't that shallow." "I'm talking about her lodging a complaint against Concubine Lu." Qiuxiang: "That's true. Concubine Lu has been running to Qingzhu Court every day these past days, like she was clocking in for duty. The rear courtyard has long been buzzing with talk, everyone saying she probably has other motives." "But what good would harming Concubine Li do her?" Fang Yuan'er chuckled lightly. "What good it does her naturally depends on what Concubine Han promised her." Qiuxiang was startled, then her expression immediately caught on. "Concubine Lu has thrown in with Concubine Han? That makes sense—Concubine Han has family standing, and now she's pregnant." Once Concubine Han is promoted to Concubine Consort, she'll probably have the best family background among all the concubine consorts. "But... she really is bold. Daring to meddle in the struggle for the position of concubine consort." "Isn't she?" Fang Yuan'er gave a light snort. "The Princess Consort will probably send people to investigate Concubine Lu. We might as well help her along." Qiukui and Qiuxiang both looked puzzled. Fang Yuan'er reminded them: "The news from Concubine An's side two days ago—have you forgotten?" Qiukui and Qiuxiang, thus reminded, immediately wore expressions of disgust. This was somewhat of a coincidence. Fang Yuan'er had planted a line beside Concubine An, and two days ago news had come through about a rather amusing matter. Because Concubine Lu's rise had been dishonorable, and she wasn't favored by Prince Jing, the servants in the rear courtyard had shorted her on quite a few things. The most important of these was charcoal. In the dead of winter, without charcoal, how could one survive the days? When a person's official allowance was docked, they would either endure it in silence or go to the person in charge to seek justice. But Concubine Lu did neither. She took a different path—she chose to steal Concubine An's charcoal! That's right, steal! That was what Fang Yuan'er found amusing. When Qiuxiang and Qiukui first heard this news, they nearly thought they'd misheard. After confirming they hadn't, they both felt deeply disgusted. She was a concubine, after all—how could she do something so shameful! Qiuxiang said, "This Concubine Lu really bullies the weak and fears the strong, picking on Concubine An alone." "The reason she dares to steal Concubine An's charcoal is that she's counting on Concubine An's gentle nature—even if she discovers it, she won't make a fuss. Just like how she dared to climb into the Prince's bed back then, she was probably counting on Concubine An to plead for her." "And it's probably not just charcoal. No thief who's gotten used to stealing can look at a room full of gold, silver, and jewels without temptation and only steal coal." Qiukui added, "It's also because Concubine An is too good-natured." "Her own maid betrayed her and climbed into the Prince's bed, yet she still went to plead for her while pregnant. How could that not breed someone as bold as Concubine Lu?" Qiuxiang sighed. "The Princess Consort prides herself on being lenient with her subordinates. If Concubine Lu's charcoal theft ever comes to light, it'll be a real slap in the face." Fang Yuan'er glanced at the ruby ring on her hand. Her jade-white fingers, adorned with a ring of excellent color, immediately took on an air of wealth and elegance. She said lazily, "Find someone to send a message to the Princess Consort." "Since she's going to investigate Concubine Lu anyway, she might as well investigate this matter too." Qiukui asked in confusion, "Why is the mistress helping the Princess Consort?" Qiukui naturally knew that her mistress and the Princess Consort didn't get along. Fang Yuan'er smiled with radiant charm. "I'm not helping the Princess Consort—I'm just doing her a favor, and incidentally keeping Lady Han in line." Concubine Lu was Concubine Han's person. Suppressing Concubine Lu was also a slap to Concubine Han's face. That was Fang Yuan'er's main purpose. She didn't want to see Concubine Han's arrogant face before she'd even been promoted. As for helping the Princess Consort... As long as the Princess Consort's people investigated Concubine Lu, the charcoal theft couldn't be hidden anyway—wasn't it only a matter of time? Fang Yuan'er alerting the Princess Consort first was just doing her a favor on the side. There was a world of difference between the Princess Consort specially investigating Concubine Lu's charcoal theft and the theft being brought to light through other matters. The former counted as self-investigation—somewhat embarrassing, but not damaging to the Princess Consort's authority. The latter would be a slap to the Princess Consort's face in front of all the concubines of the rear courtyard. The two maids understood Fang Yuan'er's meaning and immediately went to handle the matter. At the midday meal, Prince Jing also gave Concubine Li considerable rewards, far exceeding what a concubine's pregnancy ought to receive. Everyone speculated that this was the Prince's compensation and consolation to Concubine Li for missing out on the position of Concubine Consort. Concubine Li accepted it with great delight, and Prince Jing was quite satisfied as well. Since the Winter Solstice sacrifice was to be held in the palace, after finishing their midday meal, Prince Jing and the Princess Consort prepared to enter the palace. Just before departing, the Princess Consort received a message sent by Fang Yuan'er, and her expression immediately darkened. Prince Jing glanced at her casually. "What's wrong? Has something happened in the courtyard again?" The Princess Consort didn't try to hide anything, though her expression wasn't too pleasant. "It's not a major matter. It's just that after managing the household for so many years, I'm afraid I'm about to lose face once." Prince Jing was rather curious. "In what way would you lose face?" His Princess Consort's ability to handle affairs was absolutely beyond question. Unless someone had schemed against her, there was no way she would ever do something embarrassing. But judging by her words, it sounded as if she had made a mistake herself. The Princess Consort didn't want to let the Prince see her make a fool of herself, so she only said, "Your Highness will know by tomorrow." Prince Jing's curiosity was indeed piqued by her words. However, the two soon entered the palace, and all their good moods vanished.