Princess Yijiang was the first to lose patience.
Seizing the moment when Zhang Yu was surrounded by a throng of palace maids, she let out a roar at Su Xiaoqi and drew a riding whip from her waist, charging forward. This time, she was determined to slash across that fair and smooth face.
Upon hearing the commotion, Su Xiaoqi glanced at her indifferently and lightly lifted her leg. It landed squarely on Princess Yijiang's chest, sending her flying towards Consort Li.
"Ah... Help, help!" Consort Li shrieked, startled. She thought they had stumbled their way towards her in the chaos, causing her to cry out in a panic. After enduring a deadly stare from Consort Li for a while, the palace maid standing behind her gathered her courage and pounced on Princess Yijiang. The scene instantly became as boisterous as a marketplace.
After kicking Princess Yijiang, Su Xiaoqi stood up, then promptly collapsed onto the ground, feigning unconsciousness. Princess Yijiang, seeing this through the gaps between the people, was bewildered. However, she had no time to dwell on it. Enduring the pain, she pushed herself up and rushed towards Su Xiaoqi.
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed from outside the palace gate. "The Emperor has arrived!"
Emperor Yongxing saw the palace in disarray. Princesses and palace maids alike were in a chaotic heap, hair disheveled, clothes torn, teacups smashed on the carpet, and tea stains splattered everywhere. This was no longer the imperial palace; it was clearly a battlefield.
"What are you doing?" Emperor Yongxing roared in fury.
"Your Majesty..." Consort Li was startled, and by the time she reacted, Emperor Yongxing was already standing before her. She instinctively stood up and lunged towards him. However, upon seeing her disheveled hair and messy hairpin, he felt a wave of disgust and turned his face away without hesitation.
Consort Li was shocked and, feeling wronged, tried to follow him. But then she saw a graceful figure step between her and Emperor Yongxing. It was that wretch—Consort Ming.
Consort Ming looked at Consort Li before her, a flicker of a smile crossing her face before she quickly concealed it. She then glanced at Su Xiaoqi, who was lying on the ground, and feigned surprise, quickly informing Emperor Yongxing.
At this moment, Emperor Yongxing also looked at Su Xiaoqi and beckoned towards the rear. Shen Yun, who was standing among the crowd, was searching for his wife. After a long while without seeing her, he grew puzzled. Upon seeing Emperor Yongxing's gesture, he approached and saw Su Xiaoqi lying on the ground. His heart trembled. Without a second thought, he rushed forward.
As he helped Su Xiaoqi up, his heart pounded, and anger surged. Just as he was about to question Consort Li, he felt Su Xiaoqi's hand on his waist gently pinch him. His eyebrows flickered, realizing she was acting. His heart eased slightly. He immediately summoned Zhang Yu and quietly asked her what had happened.
"Uh, it's proceeding according to the original plan," Zhang Yu whispered. Of course, she omitted the peculiar fact that her mistress had inexplicably fainted.
Shen Yun, having a rough idea of the situation, knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This minister is at fault."
Emperor Yongxing had also gotten a general understanding of the situation. He found it somewhat unbelievable. His enraged gaze swept over the awake Consort Li and Princess Yijiang, then settled on Consort Li. Pointing at her, he said, "Consort, as the mistress of a palace and in charge of the harem, to behave in such a manner before the juniors is a loss of virtue. I... I am exceedingly disappointed."
As Emperor Yongxing spoke, he pulled Consort Ming closer, stroking her abdomen, and continued, "Consort Ming is with child. She is hereby promoted to Consort Ming and granted the authority to oversee the six palaces."
"Ah, Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Consort Li had a whole stream of words she wanted to say. She wanted to accuse Su Xiaoqi. She had come to her palace to cause trouble, even striking her palace maids and Princess Yijiang in front of her. But, but, what was happening? Why was the Emperor unwilling to even listen to her explanation? He was even bestowing favors upon another woman in front of her. Her heart sank to the bottom.
Emperor Yongxing arrived swiftly and departed even faster, his brisk pace as if some monstrous beast was waiting behind him to devour him. He left Consort Li standing alone, her heart growing more sorrowful and pained with every passing moment. Her body weakened, and she collapsed directly onto the ground.
Normally, when she fell like this, many palace maids and governesses would rush to catch her. But now, her palace maids had been beaten by Zhang Yu, some injured, others terrified, and none dared to approach. She fell straight to the ground, hitting her head. The pain brought tears to her eyes.
From her fallen perspective, she could see Su Xiaoqi nestled in Shen Yun's arms, the two exchanging affectionate glances.
"Bitch, bitch!" Consort Li shouted towards Su Xiaoqi with all her might.
Su Xiaoqi subtly glanced around. Seeing that Emperor Yongxing's men were gone, she stopped acting. She clapped her hands, got up from Shen Yun's embrace, and leaned close to Consort Li, saying, "Your Ladyship Consort, did you think you could do anything to me in your own palace? Your palace is in chaos, and the Emperor will only hold you responsible, blaming you for failing to manage even your own small territory. How can you manage the three palaces and six courtyards? Look, you've lost the authority to manage the harem. Next time you plan to scheme against me, don't lose your own life!"
Su Xiaoqi's threatening words were spoken in a low voice, audible only to Shen Yun and Consort Li. Consort Li was thoroughly enraged, glaring fiercely at Su Xiaoqi as if she wanted to drink her blood and eat her flesh. Su Xiaoqi maintained a smile throughout. After listening, she offered no rebuttal and turned to leave, effectively cutting off Consort Li's opportunity to continue speaking. Consort Li was so infuriated she nearly suffered internal injuries.
However, seeing Su Xiaoqi walk up to Princess Yijiang, take something unknown from her sleeve, sprinkle it on her face, and then leave, Consort Li was completely bewildered. But now that the Emperor was gone and Su Xiaoqi had also left, only the greatly swollen-cheeked Princess Yijiang remained. Suppressing her inner rage, she stepped forward and urged her to immediately go to the Imperial Study to complain to the Emperor.
Princess Yijiang touched her painfully bruised face, hesitating. The beating had been so fierce that her face hurt terribly, and her current appearance was far from presentable. It would be too embarrassing.
"If you don't go now, do you plan to wait until your facial wounds heal?" Consort Li coaxed. Princess Yijiang felt this reasoning was indeed sound. She touched her face, put on what she thought was an attractive smile, and nodded at Consort Li. Tsk, Princess Yijiang, with her swollen cheeks, looked like a clown, smiling at her like that. Consort Li could barely bear to look.
After seeing Princess Yijiang off, Consort Li tidied her clothes and prepared to head to the Imperial Study herself.
The Imperial Study was quite lively at this moment. Princess Yijiang had indeed arrived and was tearfully recounting to Emperor Yongxing the atrocities Su Xiaoqi had committed against them at Consort Li's palace. In her account, Su Xiaoqi had been the aggressor, initiating the physical confrontation with no mercy and no respect for their royal status. In short, Princess Yijiang slandered Su Xiaoqi with the most venomous words she could think of.
Su Xiaoqi stood beside Shen Yun, appearing indifferent. Emperor Yongxing, however, frowned repeatedly as he listened. He looked at Princess Yijiang, intending to interrupt her several times, wanting to tell her not to use such vulgar language to scold another young woman. But Princess Yijiang was in a fit of rage and intent on using Emperor Yongxing's power to deal with Su Xiaoqi, so she completely failed to notice Emperor Yongxing's expression of disdain. She kept talking and talking. Eventually, Emperor Yongxing began to tune her out, as the words she used were simply too offensive, insulting to his ears. He could no longer listen and muttered to himself, how were princesses educated in Nanyue?