novelraw Chapter 589: The Arrogant Noble Consort Who Failed in the Struggle for the Throne (1)
Chapter 589: The Arrogant Noble Consort Who Failed in the Struggle for the Throne (1)
"Your Highness, Your Highness, it's terrible, something has happened, something major has happened, His Majesty he..."
"His Majesty he..."
At the early morning hour, the resplendent and magnificent Luan Yi Hall was in a state of quiet tranquility.
In the center of the great hall, the misty fragrance of roses was slowly burning, and a glance around revealed all sorts of rare treasures.
Amidst the profound silence.
Suddenly, from outside the hall doors, a sharp, frantic cry rang out. A young palace servant, roughly thirteen or fourteen years old and dressed in fruit-green palace attire, with flushed cheeks, was hurriedly running into the hall, shouting something loudly as she ran.
She was clearly in a state of utter panic and confusion.
The considerable commotion quickly roused all the palace servants on duty. A light breeze brushed past, causing the pearl curtain adorned with large pearls to emit crisp, tinkling sounds.
Not long after, a young woman emerged from within, dressed in an autumn-fragrance-colored diamond-patterned satin skirt, her hair styled in a long chignon, also appearing as a palace servant.
The palace servant named Qing Yu first shot a fierce glare at the person:"What's all this racket!"
"Hong Yu, what's wrong with you today, girl, has your brain gotten clogged? If you truly disturb Imperial Noble Consort's peaceful rest, even if you had nine lives, it wouldn't be enough!"
As she said this, Qing Yu didn't forget to pull out her hand and give the "useless" little girl in front of her a hard pinch.
"You silly girl, don't you know Her Highness just attended to His Majesty's illness yesterday and is especially tired right now?"
Though her words were so, when mentioning attending to the illness, the palace servant's face showed a trace of worry, yet her eyes held an indescribable excitement and delight.
His Majesty had always been diligent, but he hadn't attended court for a long time now, which showed his illness was truly... ahem!
If His Majesty really couldn't pull through this time, the Crown Prince is Her Highness's own son, wouldn't that mean...
I heard yesterday His Majesty even instructed our mistress to treat the previous princes well! Isn't that clearly making arrangements for after his passing?
Thinking of the barely concealed joy in her mistress's expression when she returned yesterday, Qing Yu's heart grew even more turbulent with excitement. Looking at the pale-faced little girl now, her heart gave another leap:
"Right, you just said His Majesty..."
Seeing this agitated expression, with reddened eyes, could it be that His Majesty truly was not doing well!
That would really be... too wonderful!
Believing she understood the other's unspoken words, Qing Yu couldn't help but take a deep breath. Looking at the panicked little girl before her, whose face was now written with 'something terrible has happened,' she no longer felt annoyed.
Heh, it seems this Hong Yu girl, though usually noisy and flustered, isn't bad at acting when it really counts!
Look at how genuinely pale and frightened she's acting; she'll have to learn more from that later...
Hah, her mistress will soon be the Empress Dowager. As the future senior palace maid, she can't afford to mess up...
Thinking this in her heart, Qing Yu immediately furrowed her brows fiercely, barely suppressing the smile about to spill from the corners of her mouth. Who would have thought the next second:
"It's terrible! His Majesty has just issued an edict to depose our Crown Prince and establish Prince Jing in his stead!"
Senior palace maid Qing Yu: "?? Huh... what?"
At the same time, inside the gauze curtains, a beautiful woman, radiant as peach and plum blossoms, slowly opened her eyes.
An Ning, who had just opened her eyes and was immediately confronted with this bombshell: "..."
Especially upon seeing the chaotic mess outside.
The little palace servant's voice hadn't been small just now. At this moment, within the great hall, amidst shock, panic, and disbelief, the entire hall of palace servants had already descended into chaos.
While closing her eyes to receive the memories, An Ning couldn't help but think, the original owner's palace servants aren't very clever, are they!
Yet, after about half an hour:
Having completely absorbed the memories, An Ning on the bed had completely collapsed into a limp cat-pancake.
Oh, so the real 'big brain' is here!
Indeed, if she had even a shred of cleverness, she wouldn't have been so utterly dismissive of all the other princes when the emperor was making arrangements for after his passing.
Seriously, sister, you were at the final step, you could at least have pretended a little!
What is this called, opening the champagne at halftime?
If not for the era name and people not matching up, An Ning would have almost thought she had arrived in some historical period again.
And the timing of this arrival, oh my! Lying on the bed woven from superior cloud-patterned brocade, An Ning couldn't help but hold her forehead.
"Exactly! If only it had been one step earlier!"
At this point, the imperial edict had already been issued.
Stealing a glance at her host, within the spiritual sea, the system couldn't help but speak somewhat sheepishly:
"Well, the truth is, the amount of merit and virtue this person possessed really wasn't that substantial, so, well, sometimes the timing options aren't that plentiful either."
"But... ahem!"
Sensing a certain danger, the system immediately spoke up to remedy the situation:
"At least the original owner's wish isn't too outrageous. She didn't insist on preserving her son's position as Crown Prince. She just wanted a lifetime of glory, wealth, and high status, to trample those she dislikes underfoot, and not let those detestable people laugh at her."
"It would be best if she could become Empress. Empress Dowager would be even better!"
"Oh, and if possible, her daughter could also live a better life this lifetime."
An Ning: "..."
How to put it, this wish is truly very 'original owner'...
The entire thing mentions no one else. Forget the family clan, even her own biological daughter is just an afterthought. Thoroughly, the most important thing in life is herself.
As for her son, the original owner is probably just displacing her anger onto him!
After all, in her view, the reason His Majesty changed his mind naturally couldn't be her fault. The blame lies with her unlucky son for simply not living up to expectations.
You know, this mindset is also quite something!
Lying on the soft pillow permeated with osmanthus fragrance, while slowly sorting through the memories, An Ning couldn't help but muse.
As the saying goes, speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives.
The news of deposing and establishing a Crown Prince was such a major event that it could be said to have caused an earthquake throughout both the Front Court and the Rear Palace. Not long after, a hurried set of footsteps came from outside the great hall.
"Mother..."
"Mother, please save your son! Imperial Father really intends to depose me! Has Imperial Father gone mad..."
Imitating the original owner's manner, An Ning had just slightly furrowed her delicate brows and opened her eyes with an impatient expression, not even having time to speak, when she heard a familiar voice from outside the hall.
It was undoubtedly the original owner's biological son, the current Third Prince, aged fourteen, also the former Crown Prince, Xiao Yu.
'Yu,' meaning bright and brilliant, was a name personally decided by the current emperor the very day he was born.
The current emperor is about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old this year, with a total of five sons and five daughters. The original owner's son could be said to occupy neither the position of the legitimate eldest son nor the eldest son overall. Even his maternal family was originally just a low-ranking minor official. Despite this, he was established as Crown Prince before the age of eight, showing the degree of favor he enjoyed.
Or rather, the degree of favor the original owner enjoyed.
The original owner, being rather thick-skinned, might not have noticed, but An Ning understood clearly that the emperor himself had quite a few dissatisfactions with this Crown Prince he had personally established.
Thus, this outcome isn't surprising...
Considering the various aspects of this son in the original owner's memories, and looking at this impatient figure before her now, An Ning couldn't help but silently think to herself:
No, is it possible that, in fact, your Imperial Father has just come to his senses?