Chapter 475

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

"He Chongyi, does Imperial Consort mind if this palace stays here to sit for a bit?"

Shen Yao wore a faint smile, and after asking He Chongyi she did not wait for an answer, simply sitting down neatly.

He Chongyi: …?

Since she didn't need her to speak an answer, why did the Empress still seek her opinion? Utterly superfluous.

He Chongyi inwardly complained that this newly elevated Empress was somewhat hypocritical, but then she herself smiled faintly, because they were all the same kind of people.

"The Empress is the mistress of the Huang Hou; where can she not go, where can she not sit? This subject dares not."

Though her heart already held nothing, her words still carried a resentment that could be heard, and He Chongyi felt she also had a small temper, could not simply let herself be bullied — after all, she was a Main Position of a palace.

The two new personal maids who had been transferred to Shen Yao's side, Hongguo and Lvying, exchanged a look; they wanted to speak up and remind He Chongyi not to offend the Empress with her words, but were stopped by the Empress raising her hand.

"He Chongyi dares not, rather than does not mind; one surmises she is still dissatisfied in her heart."

Speaking, Shen Yao suddenly heaved a heavy sigh toward the surroundings, "This is also no wonder; I hear from palace people that these past several days He Chongyi, because her family left the capital, has had no appetite for tea or rice and cannot sleep at night.

He Chongyi has been here from Jiangnan for five years; five years before she could see her family once — this palace understands He Chongyi's bitterness and helplessness, and also believes the chance for you to meet again will arrive very soon."

He Chongyi raised her head and met Shen Yao's silence — neither denying nor agreeing, like a tacit protest?

Shen Yao continued smiling, tapping her fingers on the tabletop, "Does He Chongyi miss home?"

"Does Imperial Consort miss home?" He Chongyi countered; she somewhat understood why the Empress had come to the Imperial Garden today — could it be to corner her?

Why?

He Chongyi did not understand, and simultaneously reflected on whether there was some obvious flaw somewhere on her person; otherwise, why would the Empress — who is not a whit less formidable than the Emperor — pay attention to her? She was merely a minor Second-Rank Chongyi.

A minor Second-Rank Chongyi? She ranked among the Nine Pin, not even the lowest Chargyuan; He Chongyi's self-positioning was really too modest.

"Since this palace came today, it is to do a deal with Chongyi.

Chongyi need not worry how this palace will treat you, and need not probe what this palace intends?

Put differently, Chongyi thinks, if this palace truly wanted to make trouble for someone, would this palace be so thoughtful as to leave the other party a chance to react?"

Absolutely impossible; when Shen Yao schemes against people she never stops until she achieves her goal.

There is no such thing as hesitation and indecision; sometimes even the System would evaluate Shen Yao as somewhat excessively cold.

He Chongyi's expression changed slightly; though she quickly adjusted, the tell was still visible.

Shen Yao kept waiting for He Chongyi to answer, as if she would not rest until she heard words to her satisfaction.

He Chongyi: …

He Chongyi lowered her eyes, looking at her folded hands, drew a breath, "That this subject receives such regard from the Empress is this subject's fortune.

Please, Imperial Consort, speak plainly; this subject will certainly cooperate fully." Can't beat them, join them — why die for a clan that has nothing to do with her?

Even if on the surface He Jieyu seems more likely to turn traitor than He Chongyi, who told Shen Yao to come straight for her? He Chongyi had barely endured to today; the He Family not only didn't help but liked to drag her down — sending in a muddled He Jieyu wasn't enough, they planned to send a second, a third… heh, did they really think she had spent these years in the palace just eating vegetarian and chanting Buddha?!

"Since He Chongyi has already made up her mind, presumably she will not go back on it again.

To speak truth, although there are many Jiangnan Consorts in the Huang Hou, the one this palace favors most is still you.

What is the purpose of people like us entering the palace? Family glory is certainly important, but one must also have the life to enjoy it; otherwise it is a death-summoning talisman."

Who says it isn't!

He Chongyi agreed far too much with Shen Yao's words; if Shen Yao were merely chatting, not forcing her to choose, she might be happier than now.

"Imperial Consort, what's wrong with you?"

The maid reminded the entranced He Chongyi, expression worried, saying they had already spent a whole day in the Imperial Garden; if they kept walking like this, Imperial Consort's legs would be ruined.

Could it be the Empress's words truly had such killing power on the master? How come the Empress has been gone a long while, yet the master still hasn't recovered?

No, that's not right.

Ever since Madam left, the master has never been as carefree as before; it should have nothing to do with today's Empress.

The maid's mind spun all sorts of speculative conspiracy theories, but what she voiced was full of concern.

He Chongyi shook her head, "This palace is fine, just making some plans."

Betraying the He Family is nothing; He Chongyi never had a good impression of the He Family to begin with. What she worried about was whether, after betrayal, she as a traitor could meet a good end.

The Empress's words made her very sober, but the Empress was also painting a big pie; the He Family's big pie at least shows a bit of filling — what about the Empress?

"Forget it, let's return to the palace."

Fortunately the Empress did not explicitly demand she declare her stance today, allowing her to think a bit more, to find a retreat route first.

He Chongyi brought her maids back to Changle Palace, only to have the maid left on duty deliver a wooden box, saying it was sent from Fengyi Palace in the afternoon and must be handed to the master personally, to be opened by the master herself.

He Chongyi: …??

What?

He Chongyi curiously opened the wooden box and saw a bead string of extremely exotic style.

'Host, sending it over so blatantly like this — won't it scare He Chongyi?'

That is a Nanman specialty item; though not strictly prohibited in Yu Guo, to just send it to someone so openly is really a bit too ahead of its time.

Shen Yao turned over and continued lounging, 'What do you mean "ahead of its time"? I'm reminding her not to hesitate — the He Family is walking a dead end.'

Daring to get entangled with Nanman people — the He Family really ate a bear's heart and a leopard's gall!

This news is known not only to Shen Yao; even the Shen Family outside the palace knows.

It is also because Shen Yao deliberately concealed it, unwilling to let the Emperor know; otherwise He Chongyi would have no chance to agonize in Changle Palace — she would be sent straight to the Cold Palace, never to turn over again.

System: …

The system felt the Host was too confident; carrying such a mindset was not good — they had to learn restraint and caution, to prevent capsizing midway.

The possibility of Shen Yao capsizing existed in the future; for now, the one affected was He Chongyi of Changle Palace.

As long as she wasn't stupid, He Chongyi would be able to discover the hidden meaning of this bead string.

Connecting it to the words the Empress had said openly and covertly during the daytime, He Chongyi broke out in a cold sweat all over; even more so, she was frightened speechless by the He family's suicidal actions.

So that's how it is? So it's this kind?

He Chongyi put away the wooden box, gripping it tightly in her hand and securing it properly: "Tomorrow morning, follow this Palace to Fengyi Palace."

She could not delay the time too long; she should draw a clear line with the He family as early as possible — this matter appeared to hold no benefit for her in the short term, but held no harm in the long term.

…………

Early on the second day, Shen Yao was in the hall handling the palace affairs that had been sent over — all trivial, chicken-feather-and-dog-scrap matters, originally not troublesome, but Shen Yao needed evidence, so she had to brace herself (borrowing the system's convenience) to find errors and omissions within them.

Hongguo entered carrying a teacup, walked to Shen Yao's side, and said in a low voice: "He Chongyi of Changle Palace has come to pay a visit."

Shen Yao let out an "Oh," set down the account book in her hand, and said: "He Chongyi has come? Quickly invite her in."

She thought for a whole night and decided on a course; He Chongyi was also a decisive person.

Hongguo acknowledged the order, turned around, and led He Chongyi in from outside.

"Empress Niangniang"

"He Chongyi"

Shen Yao waved her hand, signaling Lvying to serve tea, and herself walked to the bedchamber, turned, and sat down: "He Chongyi coming in such a rush this time — has yesterday's hesitation been resolved?"

At this moment, inside the main hall, besides He Chongyi, only Shen Yao remained.

The two people sat facing each other; Shen Yao sat higher, just right to take in He Chongyi's expression and emotions.

"May the Empress Niangniang permit your subject to report: your subject returned to the palace yesterday and gained clear comprehension — the He family harbors treacherous intentions, acts contrary to the proper way, and feels ashamed of Your Majesty's vast grace.

Your subject is willing to uphold great righteousness by exterminating kin, only because the people of Yu Guo should not harbor divided loyalties."

The situation in Nanman is savage and fierce; the Jiangnan clans, as long as they have existed long enough, have all suffered various kinds of harm — the He clan are natives of Jiangnan, their ancestors were even captured, killed, and tortured by Nanman soldiers; yet now they dare betray their ancestors and entangle themselves with Nanman — He Chongyi could only first extract herself from the matter before speaking further.

Shen Yao reached out, her expression serious, and helped the bowing He Chongyi to her feet: "He Chongyi acts with great righteousness; even if His Majesty learns of it, he will not blame you."

These words counted as a promise and guarantee from Shen Yao to He Chongyi — the He family's affair could not implicate her.

He Chongyi breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, then brought up He Jieyu of Qimei Palace, stating that her relationship with the other party was discordant; if not for consideration of the family's instructions, "your subject would not have chosen to endure again and again, to the point of letting He Jieyu act arrogantly time and again, creating so many laughingstocks and adding trouble for Niangniang."

He Chongyi did not forget to lodge a complaint against He Jieyu; after all, when He Jieyu was pregnant, she did not miss the chance to use the opportunity to cause all kinds of trouble — only after the child was gone did things quiet down for a while, but with the He family's madam entering the palace, there were signs of dying embers rekindling.

He Chongyi hated the He family sending more people into the palace; He Jieyu, on the other hand, hoped for newcomers to enter the palace to help her turn the tables against the wind — the two people held two different attitudes; originally, if it were well water not offending river water, He Chongyi would not have thought much of it.

But He Jieyu was always abstract and arrogant; if she didn't play by the rules, wouldn't He Chongyi be the unlucky one? Since she could even sell out the He family, there was even less reason for her to be reluctant about He Jieyu.

Shen Yao understood He Chongyi's implied meaning, laughed, and patted the back of He Chongyi's hand: "This Palace knows; Qimei Palace's affairs have nothing to do with Chongyi — in the future, if anything arises, just send someone to report to Fengyi Palace."

Fengyi Palace is the Middle Palace, managing the entire Huang Hou — no matter how much Qimei Palace stirs up trouble, it will be pressed down.

This is also why He Jieyu, for all her fussing, only dares to make trouble for He Chongyi and not for others — no matter how crazy she appears on the surface, that string in her heart is still there; she won't lightly seek death.

Laughing, they chatted a couple more sentences about other matters, and only then did He Chongyi take the excuse of palace matters and leave.

"System, look — isn't she quite clever? Only a Second-Rank Chongyi, truly a waste of talent."

If she's useful, she can be promoted a bit — the Four Consorts' positions aren't filled yet.