Five Years To Ascend The Throne, Three Years Of Mock Simulations - Chapter 16

Three full days of rest were simply far too comfortable.

Ming Tan had already agreed with Lin Shurong that she would visit the Lin Estate on the second day of the break, so today, she simply slept to her heart’s content and only crawled up for lunch when the sun was already high in the sky.

During this period, she had studied diligently and truly put in effort, so the empress was also quite tolerant of Ming Tan. Not only did she not blame her for her disordered schedule, she even agreed to her daughter’s request to stroll outside Kunning Palace in the afternoon.

“Just one thing. You must not go without Jinkui following you.” The empress stood by the palace doors and gently reminded her, “Remember to come back before dinner.”

“Mm, mm, mm. This daughter respectfully obeys Mother Empress’s decree!” Ming Tan smiled so widely her teeth showed but not her eyes. She waved at her, then turned and skipped outside.

She had been studying so hard recently that heaven and earth had gone dark. Before she knew it, the scenery in the palace had also changed. More than half the flowers in the imperial garden had withered, while the trees had instead grown even more lush.

The sky was clear and the air fresh. A gentle breeze blew past, and the dense green branches and leaves rustled along with the sound of flowing water not far away.

Ming Tan stepped onto a stone stair, bathed in sunlight, and her whole body grew lazily warm from the sun. “Jinkui, why is there always hardly anyone in this imperial garden?”

She could not stay still in Kunning Palace, yet after coming out, she did not know where to go, so she could only wander around the imperial garden. Every time, she hoped she might run into some excitement like in TV dramas, but every time, she could not even see a person’s shadow and could only return disappointed.

“This servant has heard older momos mention it before…”

Jinkui thought for a moment and said, “When the late emperor was still alive, he once exclusively favored Imperial Noble Consort Shu. Her Highness Imperial Noble Consort Shu was an elegant person and loved coming to the imperial garden to admire the scenery. She often lingered here and dealt with consorts and concubines who offended her in this place… As time passed, the ladies of each palace all avoided her edge. They would rather take a detour than lightly step into the imperial garden again.”

Imperial Noble Consort Shu of the Shen clan had been the most favored consort during the late emperor’s reign.

The previous empress had passed away early, dying not long after giving birth to Ming Yi. In the six palaces, only Imperial Noble Consort Shu remained dominant, holding power in her hands. If not for the court officials strongly opposing it, disliking the fact that she had never had children, then with the late emperor’s favor toward Lady Shen, he would long since have issued a decree making her the succeeding empress.

Back then, in order to preserve his position as crown prince, Ming Yi had suffered quite a bit under Lady Shen’s hands. Thus, after he became emperor, the first thing he did was send Lady Shen to the imperial mausoleum for quiet cultivation, letting her keep the late emperor’s coffin company.

Aside from this, as far as Ming Tan knew, there was another thing worth mentioning…

Back then, Imperial Noble Consort Shu had been graced with imperial favor, and her maternal family had risen together with her. For example, Lady Shen’s younger brother had been personally ennobled by the late emperor as Duke Cheng.

Duke Cheng himself was much smarter than his elder sister. Back then, he had chosen sides in time and also contributed quite a bit to Ming Yi’s ascension to the throne, so he did not end up with the same bleak fate as Lady Shen. Instead, he continued enjoying wealth and honor in the capital.

Moreover, he had a daughter who was a consort in the palace—none other than the current Noble Consort Wan, Shen Ruofu.

But all of this was old history.

“I really didn’t expect that the imperial garden, which looks so bright and beautiful, would actually have such a story behind it,” Ming Tan sighed. “So unlucky. No wonder it’s usually so quiet and empty.”

Jinkui smiled and very appropriately did not reply.

After learning that Imperial Noble Consort Shu had loved coming here, Ming Tan also found it rather unappetizing. On the spot, she lost all interest in continuing the stroll and prepared to turn back.

She and Jinkui returned along the way they had come. After turning several corners and just as they were about to reach the southern bridge, they suddenly heard an unfamiliar woman’s voice from ahead.

“…She is merely a lowly Noble Lady, yet she dares fight with this palace? Truly unable to tell good from bad!”

—Noble Lady?

Ming Tan paused when she heard this. She blinked and instinctively stopped walking.

Could it be Zhaozhao-jie’s mother consort, Noble Lady Ying?

She frowned and was just about to quicken her steps and hurry over when she heard another person speak timidly. “This concubine did not intend to ask Your Majesty for this flower. May Your Majesty Noble Concubine calm your anger…”

Jinkui tilted her ear and listened carefully, then said to Ming Tan, “Your Highness, the two people ahead should be Noble Concubine Song and Noble Lady Jing.”

Ming Tan quickly ran these two names through her mind.

…She seemed to have no impression of them.

Fortunately, Jinkui also seemed to know that she was unfamiliar with these two and immediately explained, “Noble Concubine Song is the birth mother of His Highness the Sixth Prince, while Noble Lady Jing is the birth mother of Her Highness the Seventh Princess.”

After hearing her mention the Sixth Prince and Seventh Princess, Ming Tan was able to match them up.

The Sixth Prince, Ming Ye, was the youngest prince in the palace, born only a few months before Ming Tan. As for the Seventh Princess, Ming Xuan, she was nine years old this year and had always been known for staying deep in seclusion… Thinking about it carefully, ever since Ming Tan could remember, she and this princess had actually never even met once.

That was truly rare.

Since she now knew this had nothing to do with Ming Zhao’s mother consort, Ming Tan settled down and was no longer in a hurry.

She lowered her voice and excitedly called to Jinkui, “Keep quiet. Let’s go closer and have a look!”

Jinkui was somewhat helpless and was just about to advise her, but Ming Tan had already bent down like a cat and darted over in a flash.

What a joke. The excitement she had been yearning for was right before her eyes. How could there be any reason not to join in?

Once the distance shortened, the voices became clearer. Ming Tan hid behind a large tree and quietly poked out her head, just in time to take in the three women standing on the southern bridge.

One of them had a face full of arrogance and was dressed in glittering jewels. A young girl who looked like a palace maid followed behind her. Presumably, this was the haughty-sounding Noble Concubine Song.

“Hmph! This peony has only bloomed one flower. It naturally ought to be taken back to this palace’s residence for appreciation. Why should it be given to you?”

“Your Majesty Noble Concubine, please hear me. In order to wait for this flower to bloom, the Seventh Princess has not thought of tea or rice for half a month. She only wants to see whether it is the same as the one painted in the book… Moreover, this peony was clearly picked by this concubine first. How can Your Majesty seize someone else’s cherished thing by force?”

“What, do you think that if you bring out the Seventh Princess, this palace will be afraid?” Noble Concubine Song sneered and lifted her head, staring down at the other woman from above. “It is true that you picked the flower first, but this palace was the first to see it. How will you argue against that?”

Opposite her, the plainly dressed Noble Lady Jing suddenly raised her head, her face full of disbelief as she blurted, “How can Your Majesty twist logic like this?”

“Oh? You say this palace is twisting logic?”

Noble Concubine Song’s eyes lit up, as if she had finally caught hold of the other woman’s weakness. Her tone quickly became firm and decisive. “It seems Noble Lady Jing keeps her doors shut all day and has even thrown palace rules to the back of her mind. You actually dare disrespect a higher-ranked consort! You ought to be punished!”

“But Your Majesty…”

“Why haven’t you knelt before this palace yet!” Noble Concubine Song shouted sharply. “Or must this palace report this to Consort Ning and invite her to personally punish a shrew like you?”

Noble Lady Jing trembled all over. Biting her lower lip, she seemed to be intimidated by the words “Consort Ning.” Closing her eyes, she was just about to bend her knees and kneel when—

“Eh? This princess has truly heard it for the first time. Matters that violate palace rules are not reported to Kunning Palace or the Shanggong Bureau, but are instead handed over to Consort Ning for judgment?”

Noble Concubine Song was horrified. She abruptly looked toward the direction of the voice and saw Ming Tan standing not far away, both hands clasped behind her back, smiling as she looked at them. Her legs instantly went weak.

“N-Ninth… Your Highness the Ninth Princess…?”