Chapter 2.2

Su Jiao drew upon every skill she had cultivated in her past life weeping falsely at the tyrant’s bedside, and let each sob fall into place.

“Just now while you were unconscious, Eunuch Xu opened his mouth and declared you would never wake again. He wanted to drag this consort along to be buried with you. This consort was so frightened — wu wu wu.”

She pressed against Xie Yan’s sleeve and dabbed at the tears that weren’t actually there. The soft weight of her body leaned largely into his arms. Xie Yan, who had never been so close to another person, felt his fingertips stiffen. Something uncertain flickered through his dark eyes, and for a moment he did not know how to respond.

Su Jiao had been crying for some time and still saw no reaction from him. The hand hidden beneath his robe promptly pinched his arm again. Xie Yan gave a start and came back to himself.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Eunuch Xu fell to his knees with a thud.

“My Lady the Prince’s Consort, you cannot slander this servant!”

He had indeed said those things — at the time he had been set on reporting to the Empress and arranging some foul play — but now that the Third Prince had woken, those words amounted to outright treason.

Especially since the Empress had always maintained a reputation for magnanimity and benevolence toward the imperial children.

“How would this consort dare speak falsely? He opened his mouth and cursed His Highness, declaring he would never wake, then threatened that everyone in the hall would be buried along with him — and even claimed that all of this had been reported to and sanctioned by the Empress. Your Majesty, this wicked servant has been so brazen as to tarnish your reputation for benevolence. You must not let him off lightly.”

Su Jiao wept pitifully, and glancing up, she saw the Empress was still rooted in place. She could not help but squeeze out two more tears.

“Unless, as this wicked servant claims, what he did was truly done at your command?”

The Empress snapped back to her senses and spoke with displeasure.

“Prince’s Consort, you are insolent. How could this Empress ever treat Yan’er in such a manner?”

“This consort naturally knows that the Empress is magnanimous and loving. But Eunuch Xu has truly been far too audacious. Today he dared to make trouble in Your Majesty’s name — if word spread, I fear it would cause the Emperor and the other imperial brothers to misunderstand Your Majesty.”

Su Jiao held firmly to the words magnanimous and loving. The Empress had long cultivated such an image among the court and the rear palace, and before so many watching eyes, she could not afford to slap herself in the face. She cast a glance over, displeased that Eunuch Xu had so carelessly handed someone this kind of hold over her.

“Prince’s Consort, when Yan’er was unconscious, were you by his side? Eunuch Xu is this Empress’s personal attendant — he would never say such things. Could it be that it was your own negligence, and now you are shifting the blame onto Eunuch Xu?”

Eunuch Xu also fell to his knees, wailing to the heavens.

“Your Majesty, you cannot take the Prince’s Consort’s word alone! This servant also said that the imperial physicians should be summoned for His Highness — why does My Lady the Prince’s Consort conceal this and refuse to mention it?”

“Now that you mention it, this consort had completely forgotten!”

Su Jiao straightened up with a look of sudden realization.

Eunuch Xu had not yet exhaled in relief when he heard her continue.

“When this consort came from the rear hall, she saw His Highness seize a suspicious figure lurking outside — and that figure was none other than Eunuch Xu himself. Whether or not he was in league with the assassins, he was most certainly skulking about outside the hall in a most suspicious manner!”

Eunuch Xu’s vision went dark, and he nearly fainted.

A ripple of unease flashed through the Empress’s eyes as well.

“Eunuch Xu has been so brazen and conspicuous today, and was found lurking outside the hall like an assassin. Your Majesty braved the rain to come and show concern for this consort and His Highness. This consort will not stand by and allow such a person to ruin Your Majesty’s reputation. I shall go at once to the Cining Palace to report this to Imperial Grandmother, and request that Imperial Grandmother have Eunuch Xu handed over to the Bureau of Cautious Punishments for interrogation, so the truth may be forced out of him!”

She said this and made as if to pull Xie Yan up and head outside. The Empress, who had only just used the excuse of the Imperial Guard’s negligence to deal with the assassin situation, could not possibly allow her to leave, and immediately called out sharply.

“Enough!”

After being thrown into disarray by Su Jiao’s tirade, her head had begun to ache faintly. She looked back at the useless Eunuch Xu and felt her chest tighten further.

“Drag him out and give him forty strokes of the board!”

Eunuch Xu was just about to beg for mercy, but the Empress shot him a withering glare, and he could only wail and cry out to the heavens as the guards clapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him away.

So many assassins had been sacrificed and still nothing had been accomplished. Worse yet, Su Jiao had nearly seized the moment to tarnish the Empress’s reputation for benevolence and grace. The Empress looked at Su Jiao, who had been sobbing for quite some time without a single actual tear, and felt her jaw tighten as she prepared to make a move.

“Prince’s Consort, you—”

“From the moment this consort learned that His Highness had fallen unconscious, she remained at his side without leaving. Your Majesty is magnanimous and has been anxious for His Highness — this consort will likewise tend to him with all devotion. The night is cold and the rain has been harsh. Your Majesty has come all this way to Yongning Hall — it has been a great effort.”

The Empress’s words had barely begun before Su Jiao cut her off.

She glanced around once more. Xie Yan was perfectly fine, and Su Jiao had throughout the entire exchange spoken in the Empress’s defense at every turn. The Empress could find no grounds for reproach, and had no choice but to force that fury back down. She left with a darkened expression, tossing out only a curt instruction to rest well.

With that great procession gone, Yongning Hall suddenly felt vast and empty.

Su Jiao put away her tears and felt her spirits lift considerably.

In her past life, Eunuch Xu had used the Empress’s name to trip her up more times than she could count. Today, she had finally caught the opportunity to give him a proper lesson.

The philtrum beneath his nose still ached faintly. Xie Yan’s cool, searching gaze had only just settled on Su Jiao when he heard her ask.

“Your Highness, just exactly why did you faint earlier?”

She simply refused to believe that a sword she had casually thrown could knock Xie Yan unconscious — that was one crime she was not going to take upon herself.

Xie Yan, who had been about to ask his own questions, was beaten to it and fell into silence.

The young and strikingly handsome man sat in his red wedding robes, his expression cold as frost and silent — yet in a corner Su Jiao could not see, his hand quietly gripped the edge of the bed, his brow knotted into a tight knot.

The memory of why he had fainted was something Xie Yan could not bring himself to say aloud.

The night before, Yongning Hall had already received one wave of assassins. Today he had pushed through his wounds to escort the bride in, and on returning had faced a second wave. His shoulder had been wounded twice in succession, and then, by some terrible coincidence, had been struck by the sword Su Jiao had flung at him — and in that moment he had been unable to endure the pain, and had passed out.

But what kind of husband faints from pain on the very first day of his wedding?

And from a sword thrown by his own wife, no less.

Xie Yan pressed his lips together. This is somewhat embarrassing.

“Your Highness?”

He did not speak, and Su Jiao could not help but follow up with a puzzled question.

She remembered that in her past life, Xie Yan in Yongning Hall had been a man of few words — but he had never been quite this silent.

“Your Highness?”

She couldn’t help but tilt her head and lean in closer.

A warm, soft fragrance rushed into his nose all at once, and very nearly half of that small, slight figure pressed into his arms. Xie Yan felt the tips of his ears grow rather warm. He pulled back sharply half a step, his voice cool and flat.

“Don’t ask.”

The sudden cold weight of his tone startled Su Jiao. She muttered under her breath.

“Fine, I won’t ask.”

The tyrant wasn’t going to die anyway.

Sensing the dissatisfaction in her words, something flickered through Xie Yan’s cold eyes. He pressed his lips together and was just considering whether or not to offer an explanation when he heard Su Jiao speak.

“The very first day of the wedding and there is already blood. I heard my mother say this is a bad omen — most couples with such a beginning will not have compatible birthdates either. So Your Highness, would you consider taking a different Prince’s Consort?”