Chapter 31: Tsk, my eyes ache.
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Chapter 31: Tsk, My Eyes Hurt
Ye Wanyan had gone out at the Empress Dowager’s command, so she returned without lingering for long.
As they reached the palace gate, Qing Sha looked back from outside and said, “Your Highness, Eunuch Yuan is up ahead.”
“He’s carrying something too. It looks as though he’s preparing to leave the palace.”
Ye Wanyan sat motionless, unwilling even to spare him a glance. Yuan De was the chief eunuch at Emperor Yang’s side. If he was leaving the palace, it was naturally to carry out one of the emperor’s errands. Whatever it was had nothing to do with her, and there was no reason to be curious.
Her carriage could normally have gone straight through the second palace gate, but unexpectedly, someone stopped it for inspection.
“I presume the person seated inside is Her Highness the Noble Consort. This servant pays his respects.”
Ye Wanyan had no desire to acknowledge him, but he seemed quite eager to acknowledge her.
She lifted the curtain and looked at Yuan De’s utterly false smile.
Tsk. Her eyes hurt.
False affection concealed a blade; that was how everyone in the palace behaved. But Yuan De’s expression was especially similar to that of his master. Just looking at him was enough to make her sick.
“Eunuch Yuan, what a coincidence.”
Yuan De narrowed his eyes. “Indeed, what a coincidence. This servant has just received His Majesty’s command to visit the Ye residence and deliver two things to Young Master Ye. Her Highness has presumably just returned from the Ye residence as well. How is Young Master Ye’s injury?”
Ye Wanyan’s face darkened, as though she had no wish to discuss it. “Eunuch Yuan ought to know better than I do.”
With that, she let the curtain fall. “I won’t delay you any longer, Eunuch Yuan.”
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Fortunately, Ye Shaoyang had not seen Ye Wanyan looking so uncomfortable. Otherwise, he would surely have been furious.
Putting on an act. Keep putting on that act.
Although she could no longer see him, Ye Wanyan could feel his gaze fixed on the carriage, like that of a venomous snake flicking its tongue—cold and sinister.
In the inner palace, one could offend anyone except Yuan De. He was Emperor Yang’s trusted confidant and spent day and night at the emperor’s side. At times, a few words from him could carry far more weight than the murmurs of a favored consort at the emperor’s pillow. Even the Empress Dowager was unwilling to antagonize Yuan De lightly.
Ye Wanyan, however, had no intention of humoring him. In this life, she did not want to live in such stifling misery, much less curry favor with a eunuch.
The carriage passed through the second gate, and Ye Wanyan got down to change to a sedan chair. Seeing Yan Chen walking beside it, she said pensively, “Yuan De said earlier that you were sinister and formidable. Is that true?”
Yan Chen: …
Who asked someone whether he was vicious and ruthless? How was he supposed to answer that?
“This servant was raised in the palace, after all, and has learned a few skills for staying alive. I await Your Highness’s command.”
That was a beautifully polished answer.
Leaning against the armrest, Ye Wanyan tapped it with her elegant fingers. “Then I shall properly test your abilities. In that case, go kill him.”
Yan Chen abruptly raised his head, wanting to make sure he had not misheard. Yet at a glance, he met Ye Wanyan’s bright eyes.
Her features were radiant, her eyes clear and her teeth pearly, a shimmering cold light in her gaze. She was strikingly beautiful, but there was not the slightest trace of jest in her expression.
She was serious.
She wanted Yuan De dead.
This Noble Consort truly dared to think of anything.
Yan Chen withdrew his gaze and stared at the ground. He said nothing throughout the journey. Only when the sedan chair stopped before the gates of Guanju Palace did he speak.
“This servant obeys.”
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Ye Wanyan paused, the corners of her lips curving faintly upward.
Qing Sha, walking beside her, wore a blank expression. No one knew of the terror in her heart.
Was Her Highness serious? Could she truly be planning to kill Eunuch Yuan De?
How frightening.
—
The following day, before Ye Wanyan had even risen, she heard that Consort Li had arrived, bringing the First Prince and Princess Fuying with her.
What had she brought two children for? To show off how many children she had?
Clearly not. Consort Li had come to offer an olive branch. After all, the Feng family had indeed been in the wrong this time and had suffered a setback, while Ye Wanyan had helped her. It was the perfect opportunity to ease their strained relationship.
The First Prince, Zhao Zhuo, was eight years old that year. Though still only a child, he had studied for many years and had been instructed by renowned scholars and talented teachers. Even at such a young age, he possessed an impressive bearing. With his stern little face and imposing air, he looked like a younger version of that scoundrel Zhao Yi.
“Zhao Zhuo pays his respects to Your Highness the Noble Consort!”
He was solemn and precociously mature, not at all endearing. The court officials, however, were very fond of him. Before Leng Yunqing became pregnant, he had been the most likely candidate to become Crown Prince.
Although Leng Yunqing’s child later became Crown Prince, Zhao Zhuo ultimately seized the position from him.
As expected, being born eight years earlier was no small advantage.
End of Chapter 31