Why Harem Intrigue When You Can Just Raise a Dog Instead

It was almost as if the news of Virtuous Consort punishing the Imperial Guards had sprouted wings and spread throughout the capital. Some claimed that Virtuous Consort even dared to slap the Emperors face [1] due to receiving the Emperors favour and becoming conceited. However, after this incident, Virtuous Consort stayed within her palace and did not concern herself with worldly affairs, so the claim lost its credibility. With her father accomplishing the achievement of a lifetime at the frontier, shouldnt she be seeking the Emperors favour and swaggering around with pride? With Virtuous Consorts act of self-confinement, it was clear that the Emperors suspicion towards her had deeply hurt her feelings.

No matter how the outside world judged her, Meng Sangyu completely ignored them, closed her palace doors, and only concerned herself with rooting out the spy.

Do these things look familiar? Meng Sangyu threw a cloth bundle in front of Xiadong, Lanxin, and Huixin, who were kneeling on the ground near her chair. The cloth bundle loosened as it travelled through the air and opened as it hit the ground. Out tumbled the voodoo doll and two cursed paper talismans that were inside.

Upon seeing these inauspicious items, the threes faces showed similar expressions as they repeatedly kowtowed in denial. Looking at their identical frightened expressions, it seemed that it would be impossible to tell which of the three harboured evil intentions if they kept them all together.

Bishui approached their master and quietly reported her observations. All three of them were suspicious, but Lanxins abnormal reaction put her above the others as the culprit. Faintly hearing her name from Bishuis lips, the sound of Lanxin kowtowing became even louder. In a moment, a purple bruise formed on her forehead and her entire body was covered in a layer of cold sweat. She was extremely nervous.

Her nervousness caused the scent of rouge mixed with sweat to grow. Emperor Zhouwus nose twitched. He jumped down from Meng Sangyus lap to walk up to Lanxin and barked loudly. Its this smell! Im sure of it!

Lanxin, ABao already recognizes you. Are you still not going to admit to what you did? ABao clearly remembers the smell you left on the flower vase, the bed, and on the screen! Meng Sangyu languidly spoke. She still hadnt removed her makeup so her face looked sharp and intimidating. It caused others not to dare to look her directly in the eyes.

Xiadong and Huixin looked at Lanxin in disbelief.

Your Your Ladyship Lanxins body trembled uncontrollably to the point where she had trouble forming words. She finally realized where she had slipped up. She never expected that she would fail because of some stupid mutt.

However, to be able to avoid Duke of Protection Mengs stern gaze and successfully conceal herself by Virtuous Consorts side for two years, she was no pushover either. She quickly collected herself and refuted, Replying to Your Ladyship, the sun and moon can testify to this servants loyalty towards Your Ladyship. This servant begs Your ladyship to investigate further! ABao is just a lowly mutt. How could his reactions be taken seriously? This servant often serves in the chamber. It would be normal for this servants smell to linger.

ABao, come here. Meng Sangyu ignored her and extended her hand towards ABao, who had a fierce expression. When ABao jumped onto her lap, she kissed his little nose and leisurely spoke, Bengong will be honest with you. ABao has determined that you are the culprit. No matter what you say, Bengong will not believe it. You dont need to waste your time defending yourself. Bengong will also not force you to confess who gave the order. Bengong knows who it is clearly in Our heart and will definitely pay that person back in the future. As for you, go die by caning. Your family will soon join you in the afterlife.

Please dont, Your Ladyship! Please spare this servants family, Your Ladyship! This servant was blinded by a moment of weakness! It has nothing to do with them! Knowing in her heart that her master always meant what she said, swiftly and decisively, Lanxin hopelessly cried out. She quickly crawled forward on her knees to her master and grabbed her legs, asking for mercy.

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The eunuchs standing by the door took the hint and walked forward to drag her away. They also stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth to quiet her. While the sound of begging for mercy abruptly ceased, it was replaced by the oppressing sound of caning outside in the courtyard.

It was silent inside the chamber. Xiadong and Huixin had long lost all strength in their limbs. Their faces were ghastly pale. Meng Sangyu tiredly waved a hand, gesturing for people to take them away.

Burn these evil things. The Emperor is still in a coma so burn several Buddhist scriptures to bless his recovery. Since transmigrating to Great Zhou, Meng Sangyu believed in the concept of souls. Even if she didnt like Emperor Zhouwu, she wouldnt make a move to purposely harm him. Whether he lived or died was up to fate. She could only seize opportunities when they came.

Emperor Zhouwu was moved and sniffed, licking the womans pure white wrists. Nowadays, Sangyu was the only person who was concerned about his real self, who was in a coma. Shen Huiru couldnt wait for him to die. The cursed doll and the cursed talismans were all bonafide items.

Yes. Yincui and Bishui took the small cloth bundle to the kitchen, where they threw it into the stove furnace to be burned to ash.

Nurse Feng poured her master a cup of tea and hesitantly spoke, Your Ladyship, Lanxins parents have already passed on. Her family only has a little brother and little sister left. Both of them are still children. Why not spare them, Your Ladyship?

Spare them? Meng Sangyus hands that were playing with ABaos ears gripped them with sudden strength.

Emperor Zhouwu clenched his teeth, forcing himself to endure the pain to his ears. He raised his head to look at her with worried eyes. Her expression suddenly turned cold.

Even if I spared her family, has she ever considered sparing mine? If I actually fell into her trap, me, you, Bishui, Yincui, Father, Mother, Elder Brother, the Meng familys two thousand clansmen, and even ABao all of us would face execution! I only want the lives of her small family of three. Considering all the things shes done, this is already quite merciful. Since shes willing to act, she should bear the consequences that result from them. She should have long foreseen this outcome beforehand!

Having vented out these chaotic feelings, her eyes became empty. In a heavy voice, she asked, Nurse, do you remember Su Jieyu [2]?

Nurse Fengs expression changed to shame. She carefully replied, Wasnt Su Jieyu the one who suddenly passed away last year from illness in the middle of the night?

Yes, her. You might remember the two head maids at her side? They were a pair of sisters?asked Meng Sangyu.

This servant remembers, nodded Nurse Feng, The older sister committed a crime and was expelled to the Laundry Department [3] by Su Jieyu. When Su Jieyu passed on, the younger sister was recruited by Imperial Consort and is now one of her head maids. Her older sister was quickly recalled from the Laundry Department and currently serves as a second-rank maid in Imperial Consorts palace.

Dying from illness? Give me a break! It happened depths of in winter. The rooms underfloor heating [4], as well as four braziers, were all burning fiercely. Even if Su Jieyu was afraid of the cold, she wouldnt be scared to this extent! The charcoal burned so vigorously, yet the doors and windows to the inner hall were tightly locked. There wasnt even a crack left open! This was the work of someone who deliberately planned on killing her. The burning charcoal consumed all of the fresh air inside the chamber and emitted a poisonous gas causing Su Jieyu to die of poisoning. Besides her head maid who had the night shift, who else could the culprit be? It was a pity that the Imperial Physicians didnt care about the original cause and easily let the culprit off the hook. If you want to get rid of a problem, you need to pull it by its roots. Su Jieyu died because of her soft-heartedness, and Imperial Consort definitely had a part in it. Noticing that her hands were gripping too tightly, Meng Sangyu hastily let go of ABaos ears and apologetically kissed his forehead.

Su Jieyu died from illness because her body was weak. Her manner of conduct was also extremely low-key. Even in death, she died silently. He had never heard a trace of this rumour before. He didnt expect that this incident concealed this kind of filthy scheme. These women in the harem were far more cruel and ruthless than he had ever imagined. On the one hand, he was the one who pushed Sangyu into the heart of the struggle, forcing her to fight in order to protect herself. On the other hand, he despised her for the methods she used to defend herself. He really was

Emperor Zhouwu didnt know how to describe his current state of mind. He hated that he couldnt ruthlessly slap himself. Since his soul had slowly adapted to ABaos body. ABaos reflex arc was very short. He actually used his paws to firmly slap himself a few times. When he finished hitting himself, he was left in a daze. He could only bitterly laugh that more and more, he was incapable of controlling his own actions.

Seeing ABao use his little paws to hit his own face with a comically tense expression, Meng Sangyu laughed in a low voice. The mood slowly lifted.

She glanced at the dumbstruck Nurse Feng and couldnt help but add, Nurse, to protect myself, there are certain things that I must do. If I spared Lanxins family today, later on how will I control the servants under me? Who could I still trust? If I spared those two children, its hard to say that they wont be used by people harbouring bad intentions. If they insisted on getting revenge for their older sister, in the future, there would be two more people out to destroy me. An ant may well destroy an entire dam [5] No one should be underestimated, especially if they are your opponent.

Nurse Feng was left speechless from her argument and her face completely paled. She could only nod repeatedly n agreement. On the other hand, Emperor Zhouwu was fixed on the phrase, an ant may well destroy an entire dam. He thought once more of how the current state of the country was in shambles. It caused him to have mixed feelings.

The black magic incident passed like so. The Inner Palace was quiet for a few days. No one expected that something disastrous would happen! The Fifth Prince who choked on the longyan was supposed to have long recovered, yet the more he rested, the weaker he became. A month hadnt even passed before his sickness became incurable. Medicine was useless at this stage. The Worthy Consort was devastated. She summoned all kinds of doctors to try and cure the Fifth Prince. Consequently, they discovered that the Fifth Prince wasnt sick at all he had been poisoned! This medicine was planted in the medicinal herbal concoction that Fifth Prince consumed every day. Now that the poison had accumulated so much in the body, having taken around twenty servings,the Fifth Prince was beyond saving.

Worthy Consort Li cried in front of Qianqing Palace. The Emperor became angrily vowed that he would investigate the truth behind the poisoning incident. Everyone in the palace felt insecure and feared being implicated in the matter.

In Bixiao Palace, Meng Sangyu was in the study practicing calligraphy. ABao sat on the desk. He held the ink stick between his little paws and moved it around and around, grinding the ink. This tableau was slightly comical but extremely sweet and warm.

Nurse Feng entered the room and quickly reported what happened. Once she was finished, she gazed at her master with worried eyes.

No need to worry. Didnt Worthy Consort complain that I was inauspicious? Since saving the Fifth Prince, I havent stepped foot in her Jiangzi palace. I havent even sent her a gift to send my regards. We wont be drawn into this matter. Meng Sangyu put down her brush and briefly muttered to herself before saying, There is an 80-90% chance that this incident is aimed at Imperial Consort Li. Nurse, over these next few days, keep a close watch on the palace gates. Dont let unnecessary people enter. If my hunch is right, the palace will undergo some drastic changes.

Of course, this servant understands, replied Nurse Feng seriously.

Meng Sangyu sucked in a breath, spread out a roll of raw silk and dipped her brush into the pitch-black ink. On the surface, she wrote, The wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mountains, these seven big words in wild cursive hand [6].

Looking at these words, Emperor Zhouwus abysmal state of mind became even worse. Fifth Imperial Son was poisoned by someone? Who on earth did it? Shen Huiru? This name practically leaped into his mind and caused him to grind his teeth.

..

Events passed like Meng Sangyu had predicted. Matters became more complicated. The investigation into the poisoning still had no reasonable leads, yet the Second Prince ended up causing another monstrous disaster. While playing, he accidentally pushed his study mate [7] into the lotus pond and he drowned. That study mate was one of Left Chancellor Lis most dependable subordinates grandchildren from the main line. To make matters worse, he was his familys only son and heir. The subordinate felt inconsolable grief and took the matter to Court, and finally, the Hall of Golden Chimes [8].

The Emperor was furious. He punished the Second Prince with 30 beatings and put him under house arrest for half a year to ponder his errors in seclusion. Still, this conflict was unresolved. Seeing the Second Prince only receiving a corporal punishment while his own son had lost his life, the subordinates heart filled with rage. He was so angry that he presented evidence to the Emperor proving that Chancellor Li had been forming cliques within the Court for self-interest, selling court positions and titles for profit and embezzling funds. At the same time, the results of the investigation into Fifth Princes poisoning were released. It was the work of Imperial Consort Li. Her motive was to help her son to get rid of any competitors for the position of Crown Prince.

Once the news broke, the entire Court was in an uproar. The Emperor swiftly dealt with the matter. He demoted Chancellor Lis entire clique. He stripped Chancellor Li of his post and sent him to jail to await questioning. Imperial Consort Li was arrested and banished to the Cold Palace without any chance to defend herself. As quick as lighting, Imperial Preceptor Shen assumed power and replaced Chancellor Lis position in Court. In the blink of an eye, the power balance shifted within all levels of society.

[1] Theconcept of {face}

[2] (jiy) Lady of Handsome Fairness a lower-ranked concubine (now added to mycharacter listalong with the other consorts we havent seen in a while)

[3] (hunyj) The Laundry Department a common department to banish servants or even concubines who have lost favour; known for being a place of hard labour.

[4]Thank you, Nopenopenope,for explaining what a is. This sentence made so much more sense after your explanation!!

(dlng) is a type of underfloor heating system in which hot air/smoke is channelled under the floor to heat it up to keep the room warm.

[5] (qin l zh d, ku y y xu) A Chinese idiom meaning that if a small problem is overlooked, it could develop into a big disaster. Ants multiply quickly and make tunnels in dams, allowing water in and consequently causing it to collapse.

Ill add this to mychengyu page. While I was looking up this phrase, I found agreat resourcethat has a bunch of idioms, including how to pronounce them, their literal meaning, and the figurative meaning behind them.

[6] (kungco) Wild Cursive Hand is an erratic type of cursive hand where characters are often illegible.

[7] (bnd) A person hired to be a companion to children from a wealthy family. To my knowledge, it was usually children of nobility who were invited into the palace as study mates and playmates for the princes and princesses.

[8] (jnlundin) The Hall of Golden Chimes was a popular name for the Emperors Audience Hall in the palace (a.k.a. (tihdin) The Hall of Great Harmony).