Chapter 43: Contrast

Xu Luoyan slowly unfolded the letter, looking at the words on it and the final signature "Yan'er".

Her expression suddenly turned icy as she knelt on the ground and shouted, "Emperor, I am wronged!"

She turned her head again, glaring fiercely at Wan Tang, and roared, "It's you, you slut!"

"It is my fault; only now do I see clearly that I should not, for sisterly affection, keep deceiving the Emperor," Wan Tang said.

"My awakening was too late, and thus the rift with the Emperor arose," Wan Tang's voice always carried a faint tremor.

Looking into the Emperor's gaze, there was an even deeper affection.

Wan Tang once thought that one only needs a single person in a lifetime; she had initially used the Emperor to survive, and later intended to treat him with a sincere heart.

But later she realized that the emperor's heart is vast and tolerant; in her sea of feelings, she was merely a small boat that could be capsized at any moment.

Thus she dared not claim that "hand that holds," only hoping that among the three thousand beauties she might be a little more special in the Emperor's heart, though that was merely a fleeting illusion.

To survive in this Imperial harem, Wan Tang had no other path but scheming and endless fighting to secure safety.

Moreover, she could not act for herself; with people she must protect and enemies still at large, how could she learn a gentle heart and soft hand?

Xu Luoyan sharply raised her hand toward Wan Tang, her voice sharp: "How dare you spout nonsense, slandering that this palace and Rong Ruo are having an illicit affair? It's utterly absurd!"

Wan Tang knelt on the ground, her back straight, her voice cold: "If the Noble Consort is innocent, then tell us who truly has been Rong Ruo's childhood playmate?"

Wan Tang spoke word for word: "For ten years, you and Commander Rong have been covertly colluding; I, a lowly subject, am forced now to reveal the truth."

Chu Yunzheng stood with his arms crossed in the Langxia, the golden threads on his dark dragon robe shimmering coldly in the twilight.

He said nothing, his gaze slicing the crowd like a blade, the imperial pressure causing the air to thicken.

Xu Luoyan's heart trembled, and she hurriedly knelt at his feet: "Emperor, see clearly! This letter was not written by me; it is Wan Tang's deliberate frame-up!"

Empress Xiao Mingshu lightly brushed the gilt armor and stepped forward slowly.

A smile curved her lips, but coldness glinted in her eyes: "Noble Consort sister, if Wan Tang intended to frame, how could she have precisely predicted the Emperor's passage through here? Could she be prophetic?"

Before the words finished, Xu Luoyan's complexion hardened abruptly.

At that moment, a eunuch bearing a lacquered wooden box rushed in.

Chu Yunzheng took it and, with a reverse hand, poured the contents onto the ground.

Dozens of yellowed letters scattered, each line lingering, all filled with longing for Rong Ruo.

"Wan Pin, what do you have to say?" the emperor's voice was low, like the calm before a storm.

The letters were produced, and Xu Luoyan's eyes instantly gained confidence as she sneered at Wan Tang.

【Ah, aren't these all letters Wan Tang wrote to Rong Ruo? They were originally one‑sided longing with no reply, but now they've become ironclad evidence.】

【So stupid, these things Xu Luoyan had already submitted. It's just a letter—how can it prove innocence?】

【Does this count as a failed theft that ends up losing the rice?】

Wan Tang was secretly startled, not expecting that the letter she had let Xu Luoyan send out was actually never delivered, and she had even kept it.

Wan Tang picked up the yellowed letters and the embroidered items, sneering inwardly.

Back then, aware of her humble status, she expressed her feelings through love poems without any signature; she never imagined that that humility and respect would become today's lifeline.

"Emperor, look, I am so wronged!" Xu Luoyan cooed in a coquettish voice: "The handwriting on these letters is identical to the letters found on Rong Ruo."

"If not Wan Tang, then who could it be?"

That voice was mesmerizingly tingling; no one expected Xu Luoyan could produce such a sound before so many people.

Chu Yunzheng's aura at this moment was almost suffocating.

Wan Tang lifted her gaze to stare at the Son of Heaven, her eyes showing no panic: "I have never written these; the handwriting proves my innocence."

Xu Luoyan sneered: "The evidence is as solid as a mountain; you still dare to argue?"

Xiao Mingshu bent down suddenly, picking up a letter and comparing it with Wan Tang's copy of the Women's Precepts.

She feigned surprise, placing the two stacks of paper before Chu Yunzheng: "Emperor, look…"

Chu Yunzheng took the two items, his gaze terrifyingly deep.

The handwriting in the Women's Precepts was soft yet firm, while the letter's pen strokes were overly proper and orderly, clearly revealing a young girl's style, unmistakably from two different hands!

Looking at all the embroidered items on the ground, Chu Yunzheng glanced once, and Li Defu hurriedly picked up an embroidered handkerchief and handed it to Chu Yunzheng.

"Emperor, I will now send someone to retrieve Wan Pin's sister's embroidered items," Xiao Mingshu was about to instruct Bai Wei.

Chu Yunzheng waved his hand, then took a scented sachet from his waist: "This is what I personally saw Wan Pin embroider."

Xiao Mingshu took it with both hands, examined it closely, shaking her head repeatedly: "No, no, these stitches are not from the same person."

"Emperor, when it comes to calligraphy and painting appraisal, you are the master. But this needlework cannot escape my eyes," Xiao Mingshu's gaze was full of anguish as she shook her head at Xu Luoyan: "You are already a Noble Consort; why are you still so foolish?"

"How could such vile methods be produced?"

Xu Luoyan could never have imagined the affair would turn out like this.

She kept insisting it was impossible.

She even pointed at Wan Tang, shouting angrily: "What's going on? Clearly these were done by you, how did it become like this?"

Wan Tang's face was streaked with tears: "Your Highness, the evidence is conclusive; why still defame me?"

【Exactly, I'm also puzzled; I saw Wan Tang write them with my own eyes! All of them were hers, why did the handwriting change?】

【I've been watching TV attentively, what did I miss?】

Wan Tang sneered inwardly, recalling that from childhood onward, any task Xu Luoyan didn't want to do, Wan Tang had done for her.

Back then, the Imperial Tutor assigned the homework, and later the grandmother demanded the needlework as well.

Since childhood, Wan Tang used only one style of handwriting and embroidery, which was Xu Luoyan's.

Perhaps even Xu Luoyan didn't know that Wan Tang and she were fundamentally different, secretly maintaining contact with the things she loved.

The right hand belongs to Xu Luoyan.

The left hand belongs to herself.

Since becoming enemies with Xu Luoyan, Wan Tang has always used her left hand.

"Emperor, it truly wasn't written by me, nor was it done by me. All of this is hers!" Xu Luoyan's tears streamed down as she raised her hand and pointed at Wan Tang.

"You once made a nightgown for me, and I praised your skillful hands."

"Consort Wan's embroidery is not as good as yours. I fear that throughout the entire Imperial harem, no other concubine's embroidery surpasses yours."

Chu Yunzheng's eyes darkened, the sound of fabric tearing rang out, and the embroidered handkerchief in his hand split in two.

Xu Luoyan staggered backward, the pearl hairpin at her temple trembling erratically: "This… this is because…"

She had grievances she could not voice, glaring fiercely at Wan Tang. Wan Tang met her gaze with a calm expression.

Xiao Mingshu sighed and shook her head: "Noble Consort sister, forging a signature to frame another is a crime of deceiving the ruler."

She turned her head toward Wan Tang, a gentle smile like water, and said, "Consort Wan, little sister, you have been wronged."

Wan Tang lowered her head, covering the scorn in her eyes, and when she lifted her gaze, tears filled her lashes: "Your humble servant's heart toward the Emperor can be witnessed by heaven and earth."

"If the Emperor still does not believe, you may search the palace. Ten years of affection have left traces everywhere; it's just that no one has asked about them in daily life!"

Chu Yunzheng stared at the chaotic ground, then let out a cold laugh. He raised his hand to signal the Imperial Guard to advance, "Thoroughly investigate He Feng Imperial View Palace and Pine and Cypress Palace; not a single brick or tile may be spared!"

Xu Luoyan collapsed limply on the ground, her head crown askew.

Xiao Mingshu, from her lofty position, glanced at her, then turned and grasped the Emperor's arm, speaking softly, "Emperor, calm your anger; the dragon body is crucial."

Rong Ruo slowly closed his eyes, filled only with despair…