Chapter 14: The Story of Zhen Huan – Summer, Winter, and Spring 13
Page (1/3)
“Your Ladyship, wake up! It is time to pay your respects,” Paozhu called repeatedly, holding a small golden basin as Xia Dongchun showed no sign of getting out of bed.
Ye Yun was far more direct. Leaning close to her ear, she said, “Your Ladyship, have you forgotten Zhen Huan? Serving others with beauty—serving others with beauty!”
“Ah! I’m up!”
“Someone, come dress me and do my hair. Today, I’m going to tear her apart.”
At once, the entire Zhaohua Palace sprang into action. Everyone bustled about Xia Dongchun, determined to make her so dazzling that she would outshine every other woman there.
Arriving neither early nor late, but precisely on time, Xia Dongchun happened to run into Noble Consort Nian. After hurriedly offering her obeisance, she rushed inside. At the doorway, she even adjusted her posture before striding toward her seat with proud, vigorous steps.
Behind her, Noble Consort Nian stared at Consort Xiang in confusion. “What has happened to her?”
Consort Xiang was equally bewildered. “Perhaps she is excited because the newcomers have arrived.”
It had to be said—she had guessed correctly once again.
With a trace of puzzlement, Noble Consort Nian seated herself with graceful composure.
Then came the newcomers’ formal greetings.
Kang Luhai announced, “All the newly arrived ladies pay their respects to Her Majesty the Empress!”
What followed was smooth enough: the hand gestures of beckoning fortune and the standard auspicious pleasantries. But when they reached Noble Consort Nian—
The noble consort did indeed intend to target the Empress, but that did not mean she would spare the newcomers. She could do nothing to Jia Pin, but she could certainly put these women in their place.
Thus came emeralds, followed by South Sea pearls—one flaunting her favor with His Majesty, another displaying her noble status. Just as those kneeling below were beginning to lose the feeling in their legs, the Empress started smoothing things over and winning everyone’s gratitude.
But then Xia Dongchun interrupted.
“Wait!”
Everyone: “…”
The newcomers in particular: “…”
Two of them collapsed on the spot.
The Empress dearly wished to have this eyesore thrown out, but when the corner of her eye caught sight of Little Xia by the window, she forcibly restrained herself.
She put on an expression of helpless tolerance and asked gently, “What is it, Younger Sister Jia Pin…? Could it wait until later? Let all the younger sisters rise first.”
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
The words she had intended to use to stir up trouble were cut off halfway. Hearing only the first part, Xia Dongchun immediately charged in.
“Isn’t Zhen Huan merely a First-Class Attendant? Even if she has an honorary title, she is not qualified to stand in the front row. And that hanger-on sister beside her is the same. Even if she is a Noble Lady, the Manchu and Mongolian women should still stand before the Han women.”
She rattled off an entire string of accusations. The words were unpleasant, but the reasoning behind them was undeniably sound.
Noble Consort Nian froze for a moment, then instantly picked up the rhythm. This was the old witch’s fault, so she had better make it stick.
“That is true. The newcomers’ positions were all arranged by Her Majesty the Empress. What is the meaning of this?”
Xia Dongchun knew exactly how to answer.
“Openly leading others in violating palace regulations!”
Noble Consort Nian: “…”
There was no need to be quite so helpful, thank you.
Ye Yun: “…”
She knew it.
The Empress was instantly furious. Yet after looking left and right, she found that none of those involved was easy to provoke, so she could only turn her gaze toward Jian Qiu.
Receiving the signal, Jian Qiu immediately stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, the arrival of so many newcomers has kept everyone extremely busy these past few days. The first two ladies arrived earliest, so they were placed there. This servant failed to notice the error in time.”
It was an artful explanation. She had shifted the blame completely while making the mistake seem understandable.
The two women leading the newcomers also realized at once that the blame had landed on them. They promptly dropped to their knees and completed the entire ritual of admitting fault and begging forgiveness.
“This concubine knows she was wrong. Please punish us, Your Majesty.”
Seeing this, the Empress intended to muddle the matter and let it pass. After all, the trio had been assembled only a few days earlier, after she had been angered, specifically to deal with Jia Pin.
Normally, in a situation like this, everyone would smile and let it go. The Empress would smooth things over a little, and the matter would end there.
Unfortunately, they had encountered someone who played by entirely different rules.
“Oh, so you know how to admit fault this time? Isn’t Zhen Huan’s mouth made of iron? She could bring the dead back to life with her words…”
She then launched into a torrent of accusations, exposing everything Zhen Huan had done before the palace selection.
Seeing that the matter was still not quite complete, Consort Xiang hurriedly added the finishing touch.
“Your Majesty, the younger sisters behind them are still kneeling. It would hardly be proper to make them kneel without fault, together with First-Class Attendant Wan and Noble Lady Shen.”
The Empress’s expression darkened at once. Consort Xiang had directly shifted the responsibility onto Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang—and had even faintly implicated the Empress herself.
“It was this palace’s oversight. Younger sisters, rise. Jian Qiu, grant them seats and serve them tea.”
Then she turned toward Jia Pin with a gentle expression.
“Is what Younger Sister said truly accurate? Such things must not be said recklessly. Could you have remembered incorrectly?”
The implication was clear: she wanted to let Zhen Huan off with a few words.
But who was Xia Dongchun? She immediately went on the offensive.
“Hmph! Six eyes and six ears—mine and those of my attendants—were watching and listening. Could I possibly have wronged her?”
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
Just as Zhen Huan was about to open her mouth in defense, Xia Dongchun delivered her strongest blow.
“I was selected for the palace in the same group as she was…”
“She did it deliberately. I saw her clench her fist when her name was called the first time.”
“And that poem she recited—I looked it up afterward. It was an obscene, suggestive song. She was openly trying to seduce His Majesty. Hmph!”
The Empress was left speechless. She genuinely had not known what the poem meant beforehand.
Zhen Huan also panicked for a moment. After a brief calculation, she realized that Jia Pin had no evidence, and the maid could not be considered a witness. She even began thinking of turning the accusation around and claiming that Xia Dongchun was deliberately smearing her reputation.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “This concubine does not know how she offended Your Ladyship Jia Pin that you would slander me so viciously. Even if my knowledge of poetry and literature is lacking, Your Ladyship cannot simply declare me guilty without proof.”
With that, she began to weep pitifully.
The others were one thing, but Noble Consort Nian and the Empress were both deeply startled. Based on their brief understanding of Xia Dongchun, she did not seem like someone who would lie.
That meant Zhen Huan must truly have done it.
Who would have thought? Zhen Huan was ruthless, vicious, and shameless enough to deny everything outright and then accuse her opponent instead.
Xia Dongchun was so enraged that she nearly started a fight. At that moment, the Empress spoke.
“First-Class Attendant Wan, do stop crying. How pitiful…”
With those words, she effectively declared Xia Dongchun a liar.
Then she looked at Xia Dongchun with an expression of indulgence.
“Your Ladyship Jia Pin surely did not mean it deliberately. Perhaps you remembered incorrectly, so…”
Xia Dongchun was not about to swallow that insult. She had already seen through the Empress: she was nothing but an old monster.
Cutting her off, Xia Dongchun said, “Then what about during the period when you were being taught palace etiquette? You allowed your maid to say that the Empress was of secondary birth, and even claimed that Noble Consort Nian and I could not know how long we would prosper by serving through our beauty.”
Zhen Huan’s face went deathly pale.
The Empress’s expression turned livid as well, as though she had just been slapped across the face.
Xia Dongchun continued her barrage.
“Then on what grounds did you enter the palace? Because you have no shame? Because you can twist right and wrong? Because you can deny everything with nothing but empty words?”
“This concubine…”
Xia Dongchun wanted to hear only one thing from her.
“Are you admitting it or not?”
When she saw that Zhen Huan seemed ready to cry again, presumably hoping to make Xia Dongchun bear the blame, Xia Dongchun redoubled her attack and continued without pause.
“Every matron who was present knows about this. My matron is standing right beside me, and yours is serving before His Majesty. If you continue shamelessly denying it, I will have someone bring her here.”
Page (3/3)