Chapter 190 - Cui Jianlian’s Ending

When Song Yixiao woke up the next day, it was already in the morning and her husband was gone.

She summoned Jinxun inside for service. While serving her to wash up carefully, Jinxun reported in a soft voice, “His Highness has gone to the Empress Dowager’s palace. Before leaving, His Highness asked me to tell you not to go anywhere but wait at the mansion for his information.”

Song Yixiao had learnt that it was Jian Xubai who asked Jinxun to stop her. Now Jinxun’s face was clearly swollen despite being covered with make-up. After all, this maid had served Song Yixiao since she was a child. Hence, Song Yixiao felt pitiful for her and said softly, “Go and see a doctor later. A girl’s face is very important and don’t leave any scar on it!”

“I am not that delicate.” Jinxun was reckless and yet not vengeful. Now that she knew that her mistress was not mad with her, she instantly said with her face wreathed in smiles, “Moreover, you didn’t slap harshly. I will get better in a day or two!”

“Just go to see a doctor as told!” Song Yixiao snapped softly, “The fees for the consultancy and medicine will be at the expense of the mansion. You don’t have to pay!”

Jinxun finally expressed her gratitude and then said, “It will be only a few days before Her Highness the Grand Princess. Qiaoqin asked just now whether you would like to review the list of presents if you had time now.”

Song Yixiao nodded, “Let her show it to me after I have a meal!”

Unexpectedly, after a while, she just put down the chopsticks when a servant rushed inside and reported, “A eunuch arrived, saying that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager summoned Your Highness into the imperial palace immediately!”

“Into the imperial palace?” Song Yixiao was slightly stunned and felt that something was wrong. She composed herself and asked, “Do you know where Xubai is now?”

“Your Highness, the eunuch only conveyed the message of the Empress Dowager without saying anything else!” The servant replied carefully.

“Okay!” Song Yixiao took a deep breath and rose, “Jinxun, give a pair of gold ingots to the eunuch and ask him to wait for me. I’ll get changed before leaving!”

However, after she went into the Palace of Mingren in a twitter, the eunuch didn’t conduct her into the Qingxi Hall. Instead, she was ushered along the less trodden path with few passers-by towards a corner.

“Where is he leading me to?” Song Yixiao was confused but as she thought that she was ushered into the palace above board, only a eunuch couldn’t dare to play tricks in front of the Empress Dowager. If it was the Empress Dowager’s idea, she couldn’t get away anyway!

Hence, she held back her confusion and only speculated about what might happen next.

After a while, the eunuch brought her to a long-deserted side hall and stopped before it, saying in a soft voice, “Your Highness, according to the verbal instruction of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, the person inside hopes to have a private talk with you. Please go inside alone! Just rest assured. The one in there is sick in bed, who cannot hurt you anyway! If anything untoward happens, you can just shout for help and I will rush inside at once!”

Upon hearing that the person was sick in bed, Song Yixiao was astonished immediately and thought of it as Ms. Zhao. However, when the eunuch mentioned that the one couldn’t hurt her, she felt relieved and then doubted whether the person was You Qingchun.

However, when she went inside, she found that it was Cui Jianlian!

No matter how deserted the side hall was, it was much bigger than an ordinary room.

However, very few furnishings were found here. Only a person was lying on the bed that was placed inmost.

As she walked forward, in the light cast from the window, Song Yixiao recognized the person lying there with a red face and closed eyes as Cui Jianlian!

The bed and the bed net should be the things in the hall, which could still show the past magnificence of the side hall, but the dust, spider nets and dilapidated traces just reflected the collapse of prosperity.

The current Side Concubine of the Crown Prince was no longer exalted and coddled like she was the other days. She was lying on the thinly-cushioned bed, covered with a fishing net rather than a quilt. Her clothes were clearly rather ill-fitting and made of poor materials.

She stared at Song Yixiao in confusion instead of with hatred and arrogance, “There you are.”

“Why do you want to meet me?” Song Yixiao was aware of her situation and induction. Now it was lucky for her to survive and wake up. Nevertheless, Song Yixiao stood seven or eight steps away from the bed as a precautionary measure, asking with a frown, “I thought you hated to see me?”

“My babies are gone,” Cui Jianlian stayed silent for a while and said, “Both of them.”

Song Yixiao didn’t expect that she would say so after ruminating for a moment. Having been in a daze for a while, Song Yixiao said ironically, “What’s the point of regretting now?”

“My aunt adored me most since I was a kid by satisfying all my requirements. Sometimes when I made a mistake and my father meant to punish me, my aunt would stop him anyway!” Cui Jianlian burst into tears, as if she didn’t hear Song Yixiao’s words, “People always say that it is because my aunt has no birth daughter. However, Kou’er is my aunt’s legitimate niece, who is even a better girl than me, but my aunt just dislikes her. Therefore, I always believed that she loved me with sincerity, who would help me forever!”

She cried out loud, “Out of my expectation, after making sure that both of my babies are gone, my aunt made me take the medicine like a maniac!”

“No wonder she is awake with a weirdly red face!” Song Yixiao glimpsed her red face and took a tumble, “It turns out that she is simply resuscitated from near death after taking the medicine!”

The dying Side Concubine of the Crown Prince was wailing sadly in bed. A wail of sorrow pervaded the hollow hall, which inevitably reflected her resent and drew tears. However, Song Yixiao didn’t feel pity for her at all. She just stared at Cui Jianlian’s shuddering shoulders coldly and then said, “You will die soon but at least you are still alive now! But your babies are gone. By now, you haven’t mentioned feeling apologetic for them and kept accusing the Noble Consort of not protecting you…”

“I can conceive again despite the miscarriage. Moreover, I am a side concubine instead of a nameless imperial maid!” Cui Jianlian stopped crying and interrupted her, shouting emotionally, “Did my aunt ask me to serve the Crown Prince only in order to let me give birth to babies? So I must die after the babies are dead? Which one does she love, the babies or me?”

With her mouth slightly open, Song Yixiao stared at her for a while before saying, “Do you really not think you are wrong?”

“Do you think my aunt loves me?” Cui Jianlian stayed silent for a while and suddenly asked.

“Here I am. Do you even need to ask that?” Song Yixiao had complicated feelings now. Cui Jianlian became so miserable only because she couldn’t get Lu Guanlun out of her mind.

However, by now she didn’t mention Lu Guanlun at all. Instead, she complained about Noble Consort Cui, her biggest backer. Song Yixiao was not sure whether she deliberately avoided mentioning him for she loved Lu Guanlun too much or just because she just hated the Noble Consort for abandoning her.

“Given what you’ve done, do you think that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager would have me come here just for your dying wish without the pleading of the Noble Consort?” Song Yixiao laughed ironically, “You hate your aunt for making you take the medicine, but have you thought of her feelings when she did that? Have you ever realized how cruel you are to force your beloved aunt who adores you well to do so?”

Cui Jianlian stared at Song Yixiao and then her tear-stained face suddenly wore a satisfied look, “Then I’ll be relieved. Even if I die now, my aunt will hold this grudge against you forever! She will never let go of you! She is a noble consort and the birth mother of the Crown Prince but you are only Lady of Yan…”

Before she finished talking, a burst of rapid footsteps came from outside the hall, followed by the hysterical shout of Noble Consort Cui, “Shut up! That is not what you told me when you begged me to make an appointment with Madam Song!”

The unlatched door was suddenly pushed open. Noble Consort Cui strode inside, astonished and frightened. Meanwhile, Cui Jianlian fell down with a smile, “Aunt, I knew it. You wouldn’t see me die alone. See? Even if you claimed not to see me again, you still couldn’t help guarding me outside.”

After she said that, she tilted her head and died finally!

Dead as she was, her smiling eyes were still open, staring at Noble Consort Cui, full of “trust” for her.

Her open eyes frightened Noble Consort Cui so seriously that she almost wrung off the silk handkerchief with her face turning ghastly pale!

The Noble Consort stood for quite a while on the sill before mumbling, “She said… She regretted and wanted to apologize to you on her deathbed… As a saying goes, people speak kindly in the presence of death… Therefore, she knelt outside the Qingxi Hall for four hours so as to gain the permission of the Empress Dowager!”

“I really thought that she wanted to apologize to you…”

“To my surprise…”

“To my surprise, she was still so wrongheaded!”

The Noble Consort shuddered all over her body and covered her face with her sleeves. If an old maid didn’t support her in time, she would fall down, “Oh gosh! Why was such a girl one of the Cui Family?”

“She was regarded as a pearl in the palm by the family for more than ten years!”

“She was never expected to pay back or bring glory on the family. All I wish is that she could live a safe and happy life!”

“I tried my best to pave the way for her wealth. As a saying goes, despite no outcome, efforts made should be rewarded anyway!”

“Even if I didn’t do enough, I’ve tried my best anyway!”

“However, in the end, she hated me most!”

“She hated me!”

Noble Consort Cui wept her heart out regardless of her bearing. Cui Jianlian even claimed that her aunt would avenge her death and after Noble Consort Cui rushed inside to stop her, she said that her aunt wouldn’t bear to leave her alone, which sounded like a threat to Song Yixiao. Actually, what she said would drag her aunt into trouble!

Initially, because of Cui Jianlian’s mistake, the Noble Consort didn’t reach a consensus with Jinguo Grand Princess on the evening of the Lantern Festival!

Now thanks to Cui Jianlian’s last words, how could Song Yixiao believe that the Noble Consort wouldn’t rake things up against her?

Most importantly, they were in the Palace of Mingren!

How could the Empress Dowager not be informed of anything that happened?

Noble Consort Cui recommended such a niece to the Crown Prince as the side concubine, which already displeased the Empress Dowager. If Cui Jianlian really apologized to Song Yixiao as she promised, it would be easy for Noble Consort Cui to mediate. However, Cui Jianlian broke her words and acted like that when she saw Song Yixiao!

The Noble Consort couldn’t imagine how to explain to the Empress Dowager.

Song Yixiao stared blankly at Cui Jianlian, who was dead in bed, and tried her best to hold back her disgruntlement by clenching her fists. This domineering and vicious girl died of her wayward personality rather than inability. How innocent Zhiqin was to be ruined by such an ungrateful woman!”

The Noble Consort was still crying out loud while Song Yixiao didn’t feel pity at all. She knew that the Noble Consort was crying not only for venting her feelings but also for arousing her sympathy. However, without this noble consort and her love for Cui Jianlian, Cui Jianlian might not be that bold!

When it came to responsible party, how could Noble Consort Cui and the Cui Family absolve themselves?

Nevertheless, Song Yixiao knew that it was unwise to harbor resentment against the birth mother of the Crown Prince. She composed herself and intended to walk forward to comfort the Noble Consort when the eunuch who ushered her here suddenly came in and saluted her, reporting calmly, “Her Majesty the Empress Dowager would like to meet Lady of Yan in the Qingxi Hall!”