"Xuan Er, are you not going to help your consort mother(1) up?" The empress dowager looked like she wanted to help Consort Liu up herself, but instead she spoke to Long Xuan, who was still standing, "How can you let her kneel in her condition!"
"Imperial mother," But Consort Liu wouldn't stand, pleading with the empress dowager, "Please have mercy on my elder sister, the empress, if not, I'd rather die here kneeling!"
"You little fool!" The empress dowager's pity for Consort Liu showed on her face, "Why can't you see through this?!"
Consort Liu wept, "The empress and I have always been close like sisters, I don't believe she would hurt me. Imperial Mother, it's my own bad luck, it was me who hurt this little prince! Imperial Mother, this has nothing to do with my older sister!"
The best actor in the world could probably only match the level of Consort Liu. The prince had clearly been a princess, she clearly wanted nothing more than to watch the empress die, but begged for mercy on her as if they were sisters. Luo Wei threw a look at the empress, who aside from crying, did more crying. She was obviously being wronged but she couldn't even say a single word in her defense. How could an empress like this do battle and win against Consort Liu? At this, Luo Wei couldn't stop a sneer from reaching his lips, this was truly a great play.
As Long Xuan watched the momentary sneer on Luo Wei's face, he suddenly realized what was happening. If his father really didn't believe the empress, then why did he bring Luo Wei with him? Did he want to teach Luo Wei a lesson? No, that wasn't it, "Consort mother, don't..." Long Xuan wanted to stop his birth mother from acting out the rest of this play, but he only let out a part of a sentence before stopping himself. If he showed himself, then that meant he knew the truth behind all of it. Long Xuan subconsciously glanced towards the sitting emperor, but only managed to see his father's frigid expression.
"Xuan Er is begging for you to get up too," But the empress dowager only cared about Consort Liu, and was focused on her getting up.
Emperor Xing Wu never thought that Consort Liu, Liu Qing Ge, was a woman as devious as this. And he had actually shared a bed with the woman, raised children with her. Emperor Xing Wu felt as if he'd been blind all this time, as if he'd been cheated. That feeling made him wish he could kick this woman to death and stop her pretenses.
But he wouldn't. Luo Wei could feel the rage from Emperor Xing Wu, but even he knows that Xing Wu wouldn't do anything to Consort Liu today. The skill of a good emperor was to find an opposing balance. That's why the palace had Luo Zhi Yi as empress, but the head of the Back Palace was Consort Liu. In court, there was the Senior Chancellor, the Junior Chancellor, and Grand Marshall. There were loyal ministers and treacherous ministers. There were good people and also bad people. Every single force of power needed to reach a kind of equilibrium, and it was this equilibrium that kept the emperor's throne steady. If the Liu family lost power, who would reign in the powers of the Luo family? Luo Wei stood behind the emperor and watched. The emperor thought he didn't know the ugliness in the world, but he'd already seen through it all.
"Wei Er," After watching this scene play out for a while, Emperor Xing Wu finally opened his mouth and spoke to Luo Wei behind him, "Go help your aunt up."
"Understood," Luo Wei quickly stepped down and dragged the empress up by the hand without minding whether she wanted to stand or not.
"Your Imperial Majesty!" The empress dowager was angry beyond belief, asking the emperor in an accusatory tone, "What are you doing?!"
Emperor Xing Wu replied, "This has nothing to do with the empress."
"What did you say?!" The empress dowager nearly jumped out of her seat.
"I ordered the empress to keep those flowers," Emperor Xing Wu said, expressionless, "Even that herbal concoction was something I ordered the empress to deliver to Consort Liu. Does my Imperial Mother suspect that I've harmed my own child?"
Silence.
For a moment, the empress dowager didn't know how she should react.
Consort Liu's face suddenly paled, her expression turned to one of terror.
The empress watched Emperor Xing Wu with tearful eyes, her face full of gratitude. The emperor told a lie for her.
The consorts all stood with their heads down, none of them dared to even speak a single word.
Long Xuan subconsciously held his fists tight, but also kept his head down, silent.
Emperor Xing Wu addressed Luo Wei, "Wei Er, take your aunt back to the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix."
Luo Wei paid his respects to the empress dowager, frozen on her seat, and half forced the immobile empress out of the hall.
FOOTNOTES:
1. Consort Mother - There's a distinction between mothers in the Back Palace. The Empress is (empress dowager was) mother to the nation, and thus the Imperial Mother to all. In the original text there is a distinction between the terms of address for the empress and the mother of Long Xuan, who is just a consort. This is another way to differentiate them, and to remind the consort of her position as someone who is below the empress, and not the official wife of the emperor. Since the emperor mentions it later on in the next chapter, the distinction was made in the translation.
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES:
Sorry for being away for so long!! It was the long weekend and I went away with family without internet :((( got pulled into a lot of activities too so I had no time. When I came back there was a bunch of work drama, and ended up not having the time or energy to translate. The normal schedule will resume, and I hope that I can add in a few extra updates in the next few days. Thanks for being so patient!
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