Blood-Sucking Empress - Chapter 28

Li Qujun’s spry and spirited zither playing echoed continuously in the Imperial study for an entire afternoon. The people inside and outside the Imperial study listened to the lively-played notes quietly, but inwardly everyone possessed different thoughts. And just as everyone had been pensively and thoughtfully withdrawn within themselves, it was already time for dinner.

Feng Ying walked in cautiously and lightly, wanting to ask the Empress where she wanted to have dinner, but couldn’t bear to disturb Li guiren’s zither performance. As such, she stood quietly to the side, gently murmuring that she had something to report. 

Guiren: means Noble Consort/lady and is ranked below Imperial Consort

Li Qujun had also felt Feng Ying’s presence. After a short pause, he gently lifted his fingers off the zither and looked at the Empress, whose gaze rested on Feng Ying.

“Empress, it’s time for dinner.”

“Bring the meal here, zhen still has some matters to deal with. The two guiren will also be eating here with zhen.”

During dinner, Luo Xingchen and Li Qujun sat on either side of Qianhe Liyou. Qianhe Liyou first picked up the chopsticks and signaled to the other two that they could start eating. Then after dinner began, she noticed something was not quite right. Qianhe Liyou had discovered that this difference lay with Li Qujun…

“Eat.” Qianhe Liyou selected some dishes using her chopsticks and set them onto Li Qujun’s plate. He had continuously played the zither all afternoon and hadn’t taken a rest in between. Li Qujun’s hands were a bit overworked, and he couldn’t get a good grip on his chopsticks, those wooden sticks fumbling insecurely in his fatigued hands. Li Qujun just awkwardly drank the soup in front of Qianhe Liyou with a spoon…

“Thank you.” Just as he was feeling quite awkward, Li Qujun witnessed Qianhe Liyou personally serving him some dishes. He was touched and hence gave Qianhe Liyou a bright, splendid smile. Although his wife was different from others, she reigned supreme over them all. She was the Empress, but no matter how high of a status she had, she was his wife and she would take care of him.

Qianhe Liyou nodded, not speaking an extra word. Li Qujun’s shaking and trembling hands were because of her, it was expected that she should take care of him.

Luo Xingchen watched from the other side, the hand holding the chopsticks shook slightly, but it was only for a marginally small second. His eyes dimmed gloomily, his heart feeling inwardly miserable…it was as if at this moment, it felt like he was just an unnecessary piece of wool to the others.

“You two should go back.” After using dinner with them, she had pretty much understood all there was to these two concubines, so she did not feel the need to make them stay any longer.

Li Qujun and Luo Xingchen simultaneously lifted their heads, their surprised faces mirroring each other. But, the sight that greeted them was Qianhe Liyou’s indifferent expression. Not daring to say anything, they left as ordered.

After the two were escorted out, Feng Ying, who had been guarding the door outside, walked in and asked softly: “Empress, is Your Majesty still wanting for someone to serve Your Majesty tonight?” She thought the Empress had taken a liking to Li guiren and would have asked Li guiren to stay behind for the night. She hadn’t expected for the two noble consorts to leave so quickly after dinner.

“Feng Ying, are there any others that zhen has favored in the harem?” There were still fragments of old memories floating in her mind, but they were blurry and distorted. She couldn’t even remember the appearance of people who had been close to the previous Empress. 

“This…there shouldn’t be any left…”

When Feng Ying replied, she looked slightly hesitant and paused. Qianhe Liyou’s gaze immediately swept over her coldly, and Feng Ying immediately divulged the truth of the matter: “When the Enchanting guifei was still in the Imperial Harem, he was very strict in this regard. Except for a few titled consorts or concubines, if other attendants were favored by the Empress, they would be dealt with by the Enchanting guifei…”

Guifei: imperial consort of the highest rank underneath the Empress (King Consort in this novel)

Alas, so many innocent lives, she had just watched them as lives were snuffed out, drifting out of existence. Now, she could not help but feel a little regretful. But what about regret? What happened had already passed, and one could not change it, no matter how much regret they felt.

“Hm, Enchanting guifei….Feng Ying, take good care of him, at least let him give birth to the unborn child safely.” When she thought of the Enchanting guifei, she was immediately reminded of Luo Weiqing, Yun Tai Ling and Luo Yu. They did not all get along very harmoniously, but they seemed to have an astonishing resemblance to each other at certain moments. Additionally,  it seemed that between all of them, they all carefully paid attention to the other harem members’ actions, and this axis of concern revolved around her as the focal point.

 “Yes, this servant obeys the orders.” It seemed like the Empress still held some affection and regard for the Enchanting guifei. She would have to instruct the palace attendants to pay more attention to their duties and not shirk them. Feng Ying had feared that the Empress wouldn’t have wanted her to do more about the matter, so she could only watch with a blind eye as attendants continuously caused trouble and mischief. As of recently, it had been hard on the Enchanting guifei, but it was not just him alone that was suffering. The King Consort was also in poor health and condition recently. Several palace attendants had come to report that the King Consort was ill. Although it was not a serious illness, he had been unwell, unable to recover for a long period of time and his mood was also poor. Feng Ying hesitated to report this matter to the Empress. The Empress’ mind had already become unreadable and unfathomable to her, she could not guess what the Empress was thinking anymore.

After sending everyone away, Qianhe Liyou felt like she was still not comfortable, and this feeling made her feel very strange. She had been alone for thousands of years and had never once felt lonely. How could she feel that way at this moment? How strange.

Qianhe Liyou briefly shook her head, not wanting to let herself fall prey to such bizarre thoughts. She looked outside the window at the twinkling night sky, planning on going out alone. As such, she shifted but for a moment before reappearing on the top of the tallest tree in the Imperial Gardens. The shimmering moonlight there was very ethereal….

“Have you heard? The King Consort has fallen severely ill and has been bedridden for quite a while. I don’t know how he was tormented by the Empress this time. I thought he would have been favored, but I didn’t expect it to turn out like this…alas…”

Standing on the century-old tree, Qianhe Liyou suddenly felt a little fretful. Why was it that every time she came here, she would always come across people and always catch wind of conversations that would always disturb her mood. 

“Right, but it’s actually not that hard to deduce the crux of the matter, the Empress, well, that’s just the Empress. Isn’t there a saying that it’s easier to change mountains and rivers than to alter one’s character? If you think about the Empress’ disposition in the past, we should not be feeling surprised…: Another attendant echoed on the side.

easier to change mountains and rivers than to alter one’s character (idiom): meaning that you can’t change who you are, that it’s hard to change one’s inherent nature

These two palace attendants were responsible for cleaning and maintaining the Imperial Garden. Night had already fallen, but they were just sneaking out for a quick walk.

“That’s right, heaven’s might is hard to fathom. Recently the Empress has been summoning all the different consorts and concubines. I heard that Li guiren had played for an entire afternoon, but who knows why, but afterward, Li guiren was not asked to stay behind to serve the Empress. Everyone feels that this matter is quite strange.”

“Xiao Yu, in the end, which consorts or concubines will get favored? There is a lot of discussion in the Imperial palace, and some people are speculating that the Empress is waiting for the Imperial Selection happening in seven days. After the selection, there will be numerous fresh beauties in the palace. At that time, the Imperial Palace will be bustling with noise and excitement.”

“Fool, that excitement is just the Empress’ excitement. It’s already considered quite good that none of us has been unlucky yet. The various consorts and concubines in the current Imperial harem all have quite good temperaments and the scheming, ruthless Enchanting guifei has already been banished to the Cold Palace. But who can predict what type of temperaments the new beauties will have. If we are unlucky enough to be arranged to serve one with a bad temper, we will be miserable.”

“Indeed, it’ll be miserable if another Enchanting guifei appears…”

“Yeah…”

Qianhe Liyou no longer wanted to listen anymore and she had already left the Imperial Garden in a mere blink. Along the way, she saw several groups of Imperial Guards making their nightly rounds, but she silently slipped past them. She continued to flash in and out of the shadows until she reached all the way to the King Consort’s palace, Fengqing Palace. Standing outside the window, she heard the concerned voices of the palace attendants in the residence. 

“King Consort, please take your medicine and rest early. Don’t catch a cold, the Imperial Physician already said, if you don’t rest well, your condition will only get more severe…”

“Ling’er…cough cough…you go to rest.” Wracked with weak coughs, the gentle and kind voice sounded very frail. Qianhe Liyou frowned as she continued to listen outside the window.

The attendant did not dare to disobey the order, and retreated obediently, leaving Luo Weiqing alone in the room. After a deep sigh, the residence became quiet.

Qianhe Liyou pondered for a while, and then she materialized in front of Luo Weiqing’s bed….