[A/N: Sorry everyone, the word count was getting out of hand, so I've redistributed. There's a new part at the end of 3.5!]
Finding that Consort Jing's close servants proved impenetrable, for his next trick, the crown prince resorted to using the eunuch who occasionally delivered food and drink to the consort.
The prince was, in the end, merely a child and one that had been raised in a greenhouse at that. He wasn't willing to be responsible for a man's death, he just wished to solve the threat posed by Consort Jing in a manner that wouldn't stain his conscience.
So, the trite scheme he'd devised was to lace Consort Jing's jujube wine with an aphrodisiac, then show his imperial father the scene of how the man was rolling in bed with someone else.
What he'd failed to realize was that a maid overheard his final instructions on the day that the plan was scheduled to take place.
This girl was Yuan Niu. She happened to be a cousin of one of Consort Jing's servants, so she'd been told how formidable this man was, as well as how much the emperor cherished him. Now, hearing the crown prince's vicious idea, she was outraged. To save Consort Jing, she resolutely strode to his suite.
Some minutes later, Chen Yu was flipping through a novel when he eventually became aware of a scuffle outside his door. This was the refined harem, how could there be such an inelegant confrontation?
Curious, he signaled a servant to see what was wrong. The maid returned soon, but she had on an interesting expression, both exasperated and anxious, as she explained that a servant girl claimed she held information about a threat to the consort.
Chen Yu mused. Such brash behavior...seemed to be suited for the female lead?
An honorable personage like that, Chen Yu would of course oblige. Turning his attention back to the pages he'd been reading, he called to allow the girl in.
At his permission, Yuan Niu beamed and strode in. This consort truly knew how to judge! Too excited to go through the formalities and further convinced that her decision to help Consort Jing was correct, she immediately related every detail she'd heard.
From beginning to end, Chen Yu hadn't raised his eyes from the book in his hands, but once she finished her eager recitation, he examined her carefully. By now, Yuan Niu had been working in the palace for a few months at least, how could she be so stupid? To accuse a crown prince without evidence, to forget to bow, to use 'I' before a consort...
But surveying her appearance, Chen Yu understood.
Yuan Niu managed the difficult feat of being both beautiful and cute, with sparkling eyes, a slightly arched nose, and round cheeks on an egg-shaped face. Her features that radiated goodness and naivete had probably led other servants into treating her like a child, sheltering her from the realities of imperial life.
So even in this situation, this girl could genuinely buy into her own play, she sincerely thought she was championing justice. For Chen Yu, on the other hand, it was obvious that she was driven in part by righteous indignation, but more by ambition.
Basically, Yuan Niu had hoped to make a favorable impression on the influential Consort Jing with her 'selfless' act of bravery. Otherwise, would she have so forcefully insisted on appearing in person? Would she have cursed out the crown prince so vigorously? Or, if she hadn't heard that the emperor frequented the consort so often, giving her an opportunity to climb into his bed, would she have even considered behaving like this?
Chen Yu curled his lips. If she was so desperate, he would grant her wish.
Thus, he called the same mama who'd come last time and ordered, "Starting today, this girl will be the replacement for the previous one."
At his command, the old woman and the young girl were both overjoyed—one because the consort seemed so easy to please today, the other because she was so lucky, having flown up so high in one move!
But Consort Jing's next words made them both freeze.
In a slow, measured way, he inquired, "As the servant is now this consort's, this consort must carry out proper discipline. For her crimes of slandering a superior, addressing herself without regard for her status, failing to salute an imperial consort, what are the appropriate punishments?"
The mama sighed in her heart. As expected, it could not be peaceful after all. But her face didn't reveal any emotion when she dutifully recited, "Replying to the imperial consort, the lightest punishment would be to cut out the tongue and be beaten by a plank ten times."
Chen Yu nodded thoughtfully.
This old woman was quite sharp, she would play along very well. "What to do, being hit by a plank would keep the girl from serving this consort well, but this consort wishes to abide by palace rules..."
The mama swiftly proposed, "This lowly servant boldly suggests, slaps may be applied to the girl's face without affecting her work."
At the silence, she glanced up to find the consort stroking the book in his hands silently, so a pause later, she amended, "Since a hand is so much lighter than the plank, fifty slaps would follow palace protocol."
Consort Jing ultimately decided to reduce the sentence to removing the tongue and only twenty slaps, to which the mama bowed, praising his kindness.
During this show of benevolent master and respectful servant, Yuan Niu knelt on the side, shivering with horror but unable to speak a word in her defense. Why didn't the consort appreciate her efforts? How could he be so cruel to her? How could she survive without a tongue, after so many strikes, would her face be permanently destroyed?
At last, hearing the old mama order two servants to take hold of her on their way out, she woke up, pleading fervently for forgiveness. With tears rolling down like raindrops on a pear blossom, anyone who saw that face would feel like treasuring her. Unfortunately, Chen Yu simply didn't look away from the novel he'd resumed reading.
---
That afternoon, as Yuan Niu had anticipated, the eunuch brought over a flask of drugged jujube wine.
Although Chen Yu had halfheartedly dissuaded himself a few times, in the end, he couldn't restrain his curiosity and the thrill of trying an ancient aphrodisiac. So when the wine arrived, he irresistibly drank straight from the flask, keenly trying to feel any changes in his body.
In spite of his rare excitement, however, he had remembered to take some measures against the crown prince.
Once the eunuch stepped out after reporting to the prince that the wine had been delivered and tasted, Consort Jing's servants stepped out from the shadows and bound him up, carrying him to a secluded room for the consort's punishment. Chen Yu had never been a charitable sort, he wouldn't graciously let off minor targets that sent themselves to his door.
At the same time, the crown prince had one of the palace guards drugged as well, then led to the consort's suite. When he felt that enough time had passed, he rushed to have one of his supporters inform the emperor of how Consort Jing had been seen pulling another man into his rooms.
From the beginning, Lu Guanting had been watching the crown prince plot against Consort Jing, but he hadn't made a move to stop him. After all...he wanted to see just what Zhang Hua could do.
When the crown prince's lackey entered to report Consort Jing's infidelity, Emperor Taihe had been discussing a routine matter with his officials. At this hint of gossip, the audience perked up their ears, but they held little hope of being able to relieve their curiosity. After all, access to the inner court was highly restricted.
Shockingly, however, the emperor granted special permission to enter the harem, obligingly leading a group to Consort Jing's suite. The wiser courtiers gingerly withdrew themselves—despite the fact that everyone had a penchant for watching a scandal unfold, they were aware that they couldn't afford to be pulled into such a matter—but many others couldn't restrain themselves, chasing the spectacle.
The majority of those behind Emperor Taihe were following simply to attend a show, while the faction that supported the crown prince were eager to savor this upstart's collapse. The eunuchs who served the emperor, on the other hand, could barely suppress their nervousness. If the consort had actually betrayed the emperor, they understood best that the ending wouldn't be good for anyone.
Lu Guanting was of course aware of his retainers' appetite for gossip, along with the consequences for Consort Jing if he had failed to counteract the crown prince's scheme.
Yet, if Zhang Hua failed such a trivial test, how could he be worthy of sitting behind this emperor?
Besides, these people's presence was inconsequential.
By accepting the emperor's consent to intrude into his private space at face value, they had proven themselves to be the dullest of his retainers. Whether he decided to later eliminate them to shut their mouths or use them as witnesses of Zhang Jia's loose morals, they wouldn't be able to do anything but submit.
So, with a mild sense of anticipation, he walked along the familiar path to the consort's rooms.