"Sister Qi, I have never harmed you nor have I offended you. Why are you framing me?" Imperial Consort Su turned towards Concubine Qi and asked, feeling extremely wronged.
Imperial Consort Su's words shocked every single person in the study hall. The Emperor stared at her in mild shock as Concubine Qi frowned in confusion.
"Sister?" Concubine Qi looked at Imperial Consort Su in disbelief.
Imperial Consort Su stood up from her seat and kneeled before the Emperor as she continued.
"Your Majesty, whatever Sister Qi has done, it has nothing to do with this Consort. This Consort has never told Sister Qi that she is unhappy about Your Majesty's treatment, neither did this Consort asked her to take action against Miss Ling Xuan for this Consort. It was all Sister Qi's own intention. To tell the truth, Sister Qi was unhappy with the favor that Miss Ling Xuan gained and came to this Consort's palace to complain about it. This Consort told her that whoever the Emperor favors, it has nothing to do with the sisters in the harem. After advising Sister Qi, this Consort sent her off and rested for the day. This Consort did not know she would go as far as to ruin the Imperial Garden that Your Majesty gifted Miss Ling Xuan, this Consort has nothing to do with this matter, this Consort is innocent."
"This Consort did not wish to expose such details but in order to prove this Consort���s innocence, this Consort cannot keep quiet about this any longer. Sister Qi, please do not blame me. You bought this upon yourself when you tried to drag this Consort down with you when this Consort has done nothing but treat you like my own sister." Imperial Consort Su shook her head, her face full of hurt as though she has been betrayed by Concubine Qi.
The Emperor narrowed his eyes as he listened to Imperial Consort Su's words. He has some thoughts but did not dare to think deeply about them because once he does, his image of the pure and kind Imperial Consort Su will be shattered. He would no longer be able to treat her the same way as he did before, and the Emperor did not want that.
Ling Xuan watched this play quietly and knew what the Emperor is thinking. If she wanted to finish Imperial Consort Su, she can just use her dark arts and kill her without all this trouble. But no, that would be letting her off too lightly. If she were to use this one incident to wipe her off the chessboard then where is the fun in this revenge? Where is the satisfaction?
What Ling Xuan wants is to slowly strip away that pretty image of Imperial Consort Su and take away her things, one by one, as she watches her suffer. Only that will her revenge be complete, her anger quelled, and the spirit of Ah-Lin satisfied.
This is just the beginning.
"Imperial Consort Su is right. Who cares if she is a sister to you? If she framed you, you need to stand up for yourself and prove your innocence. Ling Xuan does not understand the workings of the Imperial Harem but since the Emperor is here, that means that Concubine Qi is to be punished with the kingdom's law and not the harem rules. According to the kingdom rules, disrespect to the Emperor is immediate execution and if the crime is severe, execution of the nine generations as well. If Concubine Qi did succeed in framing Imperial Consort Su, what a tragedy that will be? How vicious of you, Concubine Qi."
Ling Xuan stood up and walked towards Concubine Qi. She stared down at her, disgust apparent in her face. "Imperial Consort Su treating you like her sister, that is your fortune. But you should not forget the supremacy in ranks in the Imperial Harem. She is an Imperial Consort while you are just a Concubine, you did not appreciate that kindness and wants to implicate her. She advised you not to go against the Emperor, but you did not listen. For disobedience towards someone of a higher rank, you deserve death. For offending the Emperor, you deserve death."
Ling Xuan then turned towards Imperial Consort Su with a warm smile. Holding her hands in hers, she grinned innocently like a small child who has found a best friend. "Imperial Consort Su does not need someone like her as a sister. Ling Xuan can be Imperial Consort Su's sister instead, Ling Xuan promises that she will never betray you like how Concubine Qi did."
Imperial Consort Su tried to swallow down her anger. If not for Ling Xuan, would this incident even happen? Now Imperial Consort Su has lost a good and loyal lackey and Ling Xuan wants to be sisters with her? Is she joking?
But no matter how Imperial Consort Su wanted to shake off Ling Xuan's hands from hers, she cannot do that in front of the Emperor. It would show that she does not like Ling Xuan and that could raise suspicion from the Emperor. Imperial Consort Su cannot allow that to happen, not when she is so close to becoming this kingdom's Empress.
And so Imperial Consort Su returned Ling Xuan's smile and nodded to her words. "Of course. When Ling Xuan enters the Imperial Harem, do come to my palace and have tea. This Consort thinks Ling Xuan will be a good company for walks and chats," Ling Xuan nodded enthusiastically to that while internally, she was applauding Imperial Consort Su for her control. She was hoping that she would lose control and lose her reputation in front of the Emperor but that is fine too. Imperial Consort Su might have not caught what Ling Xuan implied with her words previously but Ling Xuan knows the Emperor did.
Ling Xuan words might have seemed to side with Imperial Consort Su, but it implied how cold-hearted she is. Concubine Qi ruined the garden because she feels that Imperial Consort Su has been treated unfairly. Concubine Qi talked back to the Emperor because she feels that she should stand up for Imperial Consort Su because she was suffering. All the things that landed her into her current situation were because of her devotion to Imperial Consort Su.
But what did Imperial Consort Su do?
In order to "prove her innocence", she extracted herself out of the mess and blamed everything onto Concubine Qi. Even if she did want to prove her innocence, she should not have pushed Concubine Qi further into the abyss. By agreeing to Ling Xuan's words, Imperial Consort Su has killed any hope of her pleading for mercy for Concubine Qi. If Imperial Consort Su pleaded for Concubine Qi, the Emperor might just lightly punish Concubine Qi based on the close relationship between Concubine Qi and Imperial Consort Su.
The Emperor stared at Imperial Consort Su in mixed feelings. The thoughts that he did not want to think about have just been said out loud by Ling Xuan. Ling Xuan has always given the Emperor the impression where she does not think before she says things, so the Emperor thinks that Ling Xuan did not deliberately hide meanings in her words. She is not cunning like this, so the Emperor does not think Ling Xuan was trying to defame Imperial Consort Su. She genuinely feels sorry for Imperial Consort Su for being dragged into this and wanted to make her feel better. But the Emperor was shocked at how Imperial Consort Su cold-heartedly abandons Concubine Qi. This was out of his expectations.
Seeing the seed of doubt being planted in the Emperor's mind, Ling Xuan was satisfied. This will be the start of Imperial Consort Su's downfall and Ling Xuan will watch her fall from the highest seat. Looking at the Emperor, Ling Xuan asked with a bright smile.
"Your Majesty, Ling Xuan feels tired. Imperial Consort Su feels tired as well, right Sister Su?"
Imperial Consort Su smiled gently as she agreed with Ling Xuan. She does want to return to her palace and rest. Whether Concubine Qi lives or dies, Imperial Consort Su does not want to be involved in this anymore.
"Yes, Ling Xuan should rest. You have suffered. Imperial Consort Su too." The Emperor agreed before ordering his servants to take Concubine Qi into the cold palace and demote her to a servant. She is to be sent to work with the Imperial Garden servants and rebuild the Imperial Garden.
Concubine Qi had already fallen into a daze when Imperial Consort Su spoke. She had lost all hope and the light seem to dim in her eyes. It was as if she has nothing to live for anymore, there is no difference between her and a lifeless corpse.
After hearing the verdict, Ling Xuan smiled a little. She knows that the Emperor is trying to keep an image of being merciful since he did not help the people outside the capital. So at the very least, he wants to show people that he is a kind Emperor who does not order people to death so easily. To Ling Xuan, it does not matter because she knows his reputation cannot be changed that easily with one action.
She is quite happy with the punishment given to Concubine Qi because when she was still a noble lady, Concubine Qi had bullied her quite a few times. When she was promoted to Imperial Consort Qi, she did not dare to continue bullying her but did glare at her whenever they cross paths. Ling Xuan knows Concubine Qi is extremely loyal towards Imperial Consort Su so this entire show satisfied her because Ling Xuan watched the most important person in Concubine Qi's heart abandon her for herself. She truly believed that Imperial Consort Su would plead for her because all that she did was for Imperial Consort Su. Concubine Qi was not even allowed death, she had to work as a servant and watch Imperial Consort Su, a sister who betrayed her to save herself, high up in the Imperial Harem, enjoying herself. This mental torture, Ling Xuan approves of it very much.