Today, Shang Xi brought a basket of seasonal fruits to the Hall of Eternal Light for Luo Wei, a reward from Luo Zhi Yi, the empress.
"How is Her Imperial Majesty?" Luo Wei half sat and half lounged in a rocking chair, under the circular window in his bedroom.
"Her Imperial Majesty is doing well," Shang Xi answered, then stepped a little closer to Luo Wei, speaking quietly, "Young Master, should we let Her Imperial Majesty know about this?"
"Don"t you do anything," Luo Wei was gazing out the window, also quiet in his voice, "Just sit by and watch."
Shang Xi"s expression carried a sense of anxiety, "But Her Imperial Majesty is planning to go see Consort Liu at the Hall of the Blossoming Beauty."
Luo Wei smiled lightly, "Don"t worry. Auntie isn"t a good actress, if we told her everything, there"d be no show for us to watch."
"Young Master?"
"Don"t worry," Luo Wei reached for a green olive, playing with it in his hands, "Don"t they say that the weaker a woman is, the greater the man"s desire to protect her? It"s going to be fine."
"Yes, this humble servant understands," Shang Xi guessed that Luo Wei had already planned everything out.
"You may excuse yourself, and thank Her Imperial Majesty for me," Luo Wei watched the storm clouds gathering at the edges of the sky, saying, "Looks like it"s going to rain."
Everything happened like last time.
Three days later, the empress went to the Hall of the Blossoming Beauty to visit the overseer of the Back Palace, Consort Liu. It was on this day, close to midnight, that the head eunuch of the Hall of the Blossoming Beauty came to the Hall of Eternal Light to make a report. Consort Liu had miscarried. Emperor Xing Wu went to the Hall of the Blossoming Beauty immediately, only returning after daybreak, face dark as a stormy sea. After that, gossip spread from the palace that the empress had gone to see Consort Liu and gifted her a herbal broth that was supposed to be good for protecting the pregnancy. The gossip went that Consort Liu had lost her child on that very night after she drank the herbal broth.
"Your Imperial Majesty!" Luo Wei looked like he wanted to defend the empress against this injustice.
"Don"t worry," But Emperor Xing Wu was calm, comforting Luo Wei, "I know what"s going on. You just watch."
The empress wanted to see the emperor, but the emperor would not see her. Luo Zhi Qiu wanted to request an audience with the emperor, but the emperor also declined. This time, the rumors about the empress poisoning Consort Liu to cause her miscarriage became even more rampant.
Two days later, the empress dowager arrived at the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix and ordered an immediate search, discovering a forbidden item in the palace, saffron(1).
When Emperor Xing Wu and Luo Wei arrived at the Hall of Longevity, where the empress dowager resided, almost all of the consorts and concubines from the Back Palace were present.
The empress dowager looked enraged as she sat on the central throne. Consort Liu, who"d just lost her child, sat at the empress dowager"s lower right while Long Xuan stood beside her. But the empress was on her knees, bowing down at the empress dowager"s feet as she sobbed.
Luo Wei made a move as if he wanted to go and help her up, but Emperor Xing Wu stopped him.
As the empress dowager saw Luo Wei, her express grew even worse, "Your Imperial Majesty, why did you bring him here?" She pointed at Luo Wei, asking the emperor.
"Your humble servant bows for Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager," Luo Wei paid his respects to the empress dowager.
She didn"t even look at him and only made a noise of disapproval.
Awkwardly looking around, Luo Wei didn"t know whether to kneel or stand.
"Luo Wei," Emperor Xing Wu spoke up, "Come stand behind me."
At this, Long Xuan felt that something was slightly off.
"What is all this?" Emperor Xing Wu sat at the empress dowager"s left as he asked.
The empress dowager answered, "Consort Liu miscarried all of a sudden, should I not investigate and see what happened?"
Emperor Xing Wu replied, "Then has my imperial mother found anything?"
The empress dowager spoke, "Why don"t you ask your empress, ask her why she had saffron in her palace!?"
"Imperial mother," The kneeling empress cried as she spoke, "I don"t know."
The empress dowager pressed, "You"re saying you don"t know about something that was found in your own part of the palace? Do you think that I"ve become a fool in my old age, that I"m just trying to stir up nonsense?!"
"Imperial mother!" The empress was startled and frightened at the same time, crying so hard that she couldn"t even speak.
At this point, Consort Liu spoke up, her voice weak and feeble, "Imperial mother, this has nothing to do with my older sister, I"m sure of it. Please, don"t blame her."
The empress dowager looked at Consort Liu, her eyes full of pity and protectiveness, "Are you really such a fool? She"s just taking advantage of your kindness!"
"Imperial mother," Consort Liu knelt down as well, "Please, don"t let your anger affect your health, your humble daughter is sure that her older sister didn"t do this. She wouldn"t hurt me like this, imperial mother!" Consort Liu shed tears as she spoke, like a pear blossom drenched in the rain, drawing on the sympathies of everyone who could see her.
FOOTNOTES:
1. Saffron - Eating excessive amounts of saffron during pregnancy can cause contractions, and thus is harmful to pregnancies. Though the name is similar, saffron and safflower are two different things, though sometimes safflower is used as a cheap alternative of saffron. Earlier in the translation, Luo Wei (in the past life) spread rumors about safflowers, and it"s uncertain if he was just stupid back then or if the author meant the same thing.
TRANSLATOR"S NOTES:
D-D-DOUBLE UPDATES TODAY!!! I have a busy weekend coming up and might not be update everyday this weekend, so I thought it would be nice to do a double update today! : ) Sorry it"s on such a cliffhanger, but trust in the emperor to see through it all~