Chapter 818: Chapter 818: Xiao Lian Hua Captured
Slowly walking towards the North City Gate with the ceaseless crowd, a team of caravans driving tall mules and horses passed by. Xiao Lian Hua, using her small stature, hid among them, constantly observing her surroundings, afraid that someone would jump out and catch her.
All her attention was focused on carefully identifying those bad guys. When she was very close to the city gate, she nestled in a corner and looked for a long time, making sure it was safe before carefully stepping out, following a caravan of a dozen horse-drawn carriages towards the city gate.
As the coachman dismounted through the city gate, the groom of the caravan beside her seemed to have just eaten and drunk his fill, burping with a spray of alcohol breath.
It was not until she was about to successfully pass through the city gate that Xiao Lian Hua revealed a small smile, inwardly feeling relieved that no one caught her.
But before she could finish her happiness, a strong sense of unease suddenly arose in her heart. She quickly looked around and saw a few tall horses under the tea shed a hundred steps outside the city gate.
Xiao Lian Hua’s pupils shrank; she had seen those horses before!
Instinctively she looked towards the shed, and inside sat several people, one of whom was staring at her with a pair of shady eyes, like looking at prey, making her shiver despite the hundreds of steps between them.
In an instant, Xiao Lian Hua’s mind went blank, it was that person...
The person slowly curled a contemptuous smile on his lips, rising and striding rapidly towards her, quickly closing a considerable distance.
Just then, chaos erupted, with carriages and horses intermingling at the city gate. Someone inadvertently bumped the groom next to her, causing him to stumble and quickly reach out to steady the nearby horse, inadvertently brushing the horse’s eye with his whip.
The horse was startled, instantly raising its front hooves and neighing loudly, causing the other horses to panic as well. The people around, fearing being trampled by the horses, descended into chaos, and the city gate became a scene of panic.
Xiao Lian Hua suddenly snapped back to reality, her heart pounding rapidly. She turned and ran, swiftly dodging through the chaotic crowd and running back through the city gate. Running out of the city was no different from courting death; she had to retreat back into the city and hide.
As she ran, she kept looking back. There were too many people and she was too short to see the situation outside the city gate, but she knew that person would soon chase after her because the city gate, under the arrangement of the city guard soldiers, was gradually becoming orderly, and that person would soon pass through.
Just when it was a critical moment, someone grabbed the collar at the back of her neck and lifted her into the air. A sharp voice came from beside her: "You little brat, finally caught you!"
Struggling, Xiao Lian Hua turned her head to look. It was that old woman with the shaded eyes and that repulsive ulcerated man!
...
The Harem, under strict lockdown, dared not move, and it wasn’t until two or three days later that news came out.
"Liu Lingyi is dead?" Noble Consort Xue breathed rapidly, stood up with her body leaning forward, her sharp phoenix eyes fixed tightly on the palace maid in front of her.
Cai Xia’s eyes revealed joy: "Yes, Your Consort."
"Liu Lingyi is really dead?" Noble Consort Xue asked again.
Cai Xia nodded vigorously: "Indeed, absolutely true."
Noble Consort Xue slowly sat back in the peony-carved sandalwood chair, her expression dazed, muttering incredulously: "I’ve battled with that bitch for over ten years, yet she had such a stubborn life. Each time I thought she was about to die, she managed to pull through. How could it be... how could it..."
Cai Xia’s face brimmed with a smiling pleasure as she echoed: "I didn’t dare believe it either at first, but after repeated inquiries, it was confirmed. Consort, Liu Fei seemed like someone with a thin fate. She only had some fortune these years because of His Majesty’s favor. Now that His Majesty’s favor has withdrawn, naturally, her life ended as well. Consort, I also heard that Liu Fei angered His Majesty somehow, was stripped of her concubine rank, and demoted to a commoner, said to have died of a fit of rage."
When Cai Qin told her, she didn’t dare believe it either, doubting Cai Qin’s intentions in delivering such monumental news to the Consort. After repeatedly confirming, she finally believed it.
In these times of poor communication, obtaining such news was extremely difficult. If not for the young eunuch who served the meals, warning her not to act recklessly or face the same fate as those in Huafu Hall, she wouldn’t have dared to believe it either.
The Cai Qin she was thinking of stood expressionlessly in a corner of Huaqing Palace. Whether or not Cai Qin could perceive it, within her churned an unpacified heart. Liu Fei was dead, and she was torn between the blood feud of her brother and the life-saving grace. After standing for an undetermined time, her eyes gradually firmed, the Xue family’s young lady must pay the price...
Inside the room, Noble Consort Xue was shocked by the sudden news of Liu Fei’s death. When she heard Cai Xia’s conjecture, she regained her wits in surprise: "What? That sickly creature never even left the palace hall, how could she have angered His Majesty?"
"I don’t know either," Cai Xia shook her head, her attempts to find out futile. But thinking of a possibility, she said, "Consort, hadn’t Steward Zhang previously mentioned not to roam freely in the Harem? Those who disobeyed were to face unforeseeable consequences? I suspect Liu Fei, no, Lady Liu disobeyed the decree, hence incited His Majesty’s wrath."
Noble Consort Xue felt it unlikely. Based on her knowledge, the Emperor wouldn’t demote someone from concubine rank to commoner for such a trivial matter; there must be something she didn’t know, possibly connected to this curfew!
But regardless, fulfilling her longtime wish in an instant was indeed a cause for celebration.
With repeated confirmations, Noble Consort Xue gradually believed in its reality, overwhelming joy swelling within her, hahahaha, after more than ten years, finally, she had awaited the death of that bitch, hahahahaha...
Noble Consort Xue couldn’t control her hysterical laughter: "That bitch, that bitch! After I lost my child, every day I wished for her death, hahahaha..."
The Former Empress Dowager didn’t find anything on that bitch, allowing her to escape a calamity.
Damn it, later when she personally intervened, that bitch’s life was so tenacious. She endured severe poisoning back then and still clung to life, somehow surviving all these years, stuck like a fishbone in her throat and never giving her a chance to strike again.
Later, the person she arranged finally got into Huafu Hall, only for them to be dragged out and executed under some pretext before long. That bitch, whom she loathed deeply!
Hearing Noble Consort’s long-suppressed words, Cai Xia was shocked, quickly lowering her head and retreating, checking around to ensure no one was near before relaxing.
The inner room still emitted hysterical laughter, faintly intermingled with joyous words: "Finally, finally, I awaited this day, hahahahaha..."
The tears streaming from Noble Consort Xue turned into uncontrollable laughter and continued to flow: "My whole life was ruined by this bitch, and now she’s dead. I should be happy..."
If it hadn’t been for Liu Lingyi’s meddling, she would have entered the Eastern Palace as Crown Princess Consort, and upon the Emperor’s ascension, naturally become Empress. The unborn child in her womb would be rightfully the legitimate heir, the most noble Prince in the world, the future master of all under heaven.