Chapter 34 - People would be cleverer under pressure!

“Importance?” Gongxiang Xiao couldn’t help laughing at himself. “I do not know who can help me, so, I choose to look for your help. You can imagine how low my status is in my father’s mind.”

After he said this, he was regretted. Although he was in a bad situation, he was still the heir of Prince Regent. Yun Fenghuang was just a concubine. She did not deserve to listen to his complaints.

He was about to change the subject. At that time, Yun Fenghuang said, “Do you think your father attaches more importance to your brother now? But have you ever thought that it will be foolish for your father not to take advantage of the power of his wife’s family? Just as the saying goes, with the skin gone, to what can the hair attach itself? If something happens to Prince Regent, can you still be safe?”

Gongxiang Xiao smiled sarcastically and did not answer her question. He only said, “You don’t beat around the bush. Just tell me what you plan to do.”

How did he come to realize the truth?

Yun Fenghuang thought. She originally wanted to ramble to send him away…

After all, the truth that she had been making trouble with Wei Hengyan over and over again was simply for fun because she was not happy.

She had a bad temper. It would be good for her not to cause trouble to others. If some people took the initiative to provoke her, it would be impossible for her to take a step back.

As for the consequences of doing so…

She did not care about the consequences at all.

At present, she was questioned by Gongxiang Xiao. She used her quick wits and said, “The most striking thing in the palace is that Noble Consort Gui is pregnant, and outside the palace, Mr. Lingshan is probably your brother’s teacher… Ji’s Family does not get involved in these two things. Shizi, what will Queen Mother Ji and Her Highness do?”

“They are both like to meddle in these affairs.” Gongxiang Xiao said without thinking, “It’s just that in Ji’s Family, Duke Ye, Marquess Haixi, and Marquess Minyang are the real decision makers. What Queen Mother Ji and Her Highness discussed is not important.”

Duke Ye, namely Ji Zhen, was the younger brother of Empress Dowager and the father of Queen Mother Ji, while Marquess Haixi, namely Ji An, and Marquess Minyang, namely Ji He, were the brothers of Queen Mother Ji. Marquess Haixi was the father of Empress Ji.

Originally, it was the practice of this dynasty that the father of an empress should be conferred the title of Duke Cheng’en, and he received the same treatment as a duke. Ji’s Family had owned the title of Duke Cheng’en before. However, when the Emperor Shenzong got the throne, Ji’s Family made great contributions, and Emperor Shenzong changed the title of Duke Cheng’en to show gratitude and favor. After all, although Duke Cheng’en received treatment comparable to that of a duke, they knew only by the title that this title was brought by nepotism.

Then Emperor Shenzong changed the title to Duke Ye. The title to Duke Ye was not only a legitimate duke. More importantly, it proved that the title was earned by the men in Ji’s Family, rather than by sending their daughters to the palace.

It was said that when Emperor Xiaozong was on the throne, Ji’s Family had kept reminding him of the origin of their title to make Emperor Xiaozong awkward—“Your father Emperor Shenzong said that my family had great contributions to yours! This was what your father said. Now you wanted to undermine our power and wanted to withdraw the title. You were going to kick down the ladder. You did not respect the former emperor! You…”

Well, Emperor Shenzong would have been regretted so much for giving the title of duke to Ji’s Family…

After a pause, Yun Fenghuang said, “Queen Mother Ji and Her Highness were both like to meddle in these affairs, so, the Imperial Harem will surely be affected by these two things I have mentioned before. I think that we should not involve in the event of the pregnancy of Noble Consort Gui because it draws attention and Empress Dowager now pays more attention to her.”

“As for Mr. Lingshan…”

“If you do not feel sorry for that your family will lose a capable assistant, I do have some ideas.”

“…Can you directly tell Queen Mother Ji and Her Highness?” Gongxiang Xiao hesitated. Gongxiang Zhen was younger and lovelier than him. He also had a mother whose father was a marquess. Wei Changkong was going to be his teacher. For Gongxiang Xiao, a Shizi who was the eldest legitimate son was great pressure.

Out of his instinct to protect his own interests, he hoped that that thing would not happen.

However, considering what Yun Fenghuang said just now, he relented because concerning to his father’s difficult situation, his father would come to a bad end if they failed to win over more allies.

After all, Prince Regent was his father, and before his mother died of illness, his father had been always cherishing him.

In fact, after remarrying Ms. Lu, although his father was not as affectionate as before, he never treated him unfairly and gave Gongxiang Xiao everything he should have.

Otherwise, Ms. Lu would not always take care of his stepson kindly on the surface and no one could find fault with her…

“It is probably because my father has only two sons, and scarcity is the most important thing.” Gongxiang Xiao thought with a self-mocking smile. He did not dare to think that actually his father was partial to himself.

He pondered for a moment. Instead of giving a direct answer, he asked, “You have been restless enough. Now you are going to intervene in the affairs of the Imperial Court. Why are you sure that Queen Mother Ji and Her Highness will do nothing?”

If it were really a good idea, Queen Mother Ji and the Empress would have used it.

After the event, they would also kill Yun Fenghuang soon.

After all, if she was just a concubine who paid attention to the Imperial Harem, they might want to accept her as a tool. But Yun Fenghuang, who was young and had a low social status and grade, unexpectedly dared to try to get involved in the Imperial Court… If Yun Fenghuang were Empress Dowager, she would kill this kind of concubine.

Of course, when Gongxiang Xiao asked, he was definitely not worried about the safety of Yun Fenghuang. He just felt that she was tough. How could she take the initiative to put herself in danger? She might have other plans.

“How can I not know the taboo of the imperial family? A concubine is not allowed to get involved in the imperial court.” Yun Fenghuang talked with him for a long time. Finally, she found an excuse. She chuckled and said, “I am in Hu Zhu Palace. It is my duty to care about my hostess Consort Yue. I am a concubine of His Majesty. It is also my duty to serve and care about His Majesty.”

Gongxiang Xiao was in a blank. He finally got what she meant and asked, “Do you want to let His Majesty get involved in?”

Yun Fenghuang nodded slightly and said slowly, “To Ji’s Family, although Prince Regent or General-in-chief of the Cavalry is difficult to deal with, in the final analysis, what they are most worried about is that His Majesty will take actions!”

This was because although Emperor Chunjia was a figurehead, at least he was the emperor who ascended the throne after being adopted by Emperor Xiaozong and he was a symbol of legitimacy!

As long as Ji’s Family continued to control Emperor Chunjia, they could also rightfully call on all people to save the Emperor when Prince Regent or General-in-chief of the Cavalry rose in rebellion.

But if Emperor Chunjia got out of their control…

Then they would become traitors and villains. They would be killed and their clan would be disappeared. What’s worse, they would be indelibly marked as rebels and traitors.

Therefore, Yun Fenghuang did not need any substantial evidence to convince Queen Mother Ji and the Empress to cast doubt on Emperor Chunjia and his supporters.

After all, this was also what Ji’s Family was most worried about. They hoped that it would be a false alarm. They could not fail under any circumstances!

It could be regarded as a coincidence that Noble Consort Gui was pregnant. But if they believed that Emperor Chunjia and his supporters also took part in the event of Mr. Lingshan, they would be astonished for that Emperor Chunjia had been taking actions during the past eight years… Ji’s Family would not squabble with Emperor Chunjia openly and rashly before they got to the bottom of Emperor Chunjia. They would beat about the bush and carefully observe him in order to beat him at once!

So to them, Yun Fenghuang who was living in Hu Zhu Palace and did not get along well with Consort Yue was the best candidate to know something about Emperor Chunjia.

As long as Queen Mother Ji and the Empress recognized this point, how could they demote and ground her?

Perhaps they would give her another promotion in order to avoid that they failed to control Consort Yue in critical situations, so they could get the truth from Yun Fenghuang.

…Sure enough, people would be cleverer under pressure.

Yun Fenghuang pondered. She was just trying to make up a story to send Gongxiang Xiao away. But now she thought her idea was great!

Anyway, if Emperor Chunjia and his supporters won, she definitely would have a bad end. She did not need to care whether Emperor Chunjia and his supporters suffered wrongful treatment or not. The best defense was offense.

Besides, standing on the bones of an enemy to gain a promotion or something else really made her feel happy.

Gongxiang Xiao’s expression was complicated, and he listened to her cheerful outlook silently. He did not hold back and sighed, “His Majesty and Consort Yue meet you and how pathetic they are!”

“Maybe it’s because there were too many people who had died in Hu Zhu Palace before.” Yun Fenghuang thought for a while when she heard this and said earnestly, “Well, these two people have done quite a lot of bad things.”

Of course, it was Consort Yue who killed these people, but Emperor Chunjia should also be responsible for those people because Consort Yue was winked at and shielded by him. For the first time when he knew that Consort Yue killed someone, he could say that he did not expect it. After that, he still kept quiet. He did not reprimand and stop Consort Yue. Moreover, he did not forbid her to trample people like mud and ashes.

If he had done so, those concubines and maids of Hu Zhu Palace would not have continued to die suddenly.

Emperor Chunjia was a good lover and he cherished Consort Yue very much. Even if he knew what she did was wrong, he could not bear to blame his childhood sweetheart.

The lives of those concubines who were strangers to him and had no great backgrounds were not as important as Consort Yue who was upset for being jealous.

Yun Fenghuang also had the fiancé of a childhood sweetheart and could understand his bias.

But…

Although she understood him, they were condemned to be rivals.

Facing Gongxiang Xiao’s meaningful eyes, she shrugged and said, “So they deserve to meet me.”

Gongxiang Xiao was speechless.

He thought of his stepmother Ms. Lu again.

“…It will be better for me to choose my wife among girls from common families. The daughters of big clans are terrible.” Gongxiang Xiao thought.

When they had finished their discussion, Gongxiang Xiao was going to leave. While Yun Fenghuang stopped him and asked with a frown, “Where is my maid?”

“My subordinates took her away…” Gongxiang Xiao was still thinking about Yun Fenghuang’s words just now, and said absently, “She should have died at the moment. You think of an excuse to explain her death. It should not be difficult for you.”

Yun Fenghuang was gloomy, “You can quietly enter the imperial palace. When your subordinates took Xin Qing away, I did not even notice it. It is clear that it is not difficult for you to lead Xin Qing off or make her fainted quietly. Why did you kill her?”

“It is right.” Gongxiang Xiao admitted. However, he said softly, “If not, how can I give you a lesson?”

Yun Fenghuang looked at him for a long time. She sighed. Being sad for a while, she said, “Our discussion went well just now. Now you killed my only maid… Do you think it hurts the harmony of us?”

Gongxiang Xiao sniffed, “Harmony?”

He did not want to argue with Yun Fenghuang. More importantly, he would not win when arguing with her. He waved his hand and left, “I hope you can succeed. If you should not take any actions before sunset tomorrow, I would not let you off!”

“…Am I not ruthless enough?” Yun Fenghuang reflected shock, “Why does he think that it will scare me?”

“It seems that I have been too self-disciplined and not high-profile lately.”

“How about making trouble to make my life more wonderful?” Yun Fenghuang thought.

Yun Fenghuang looked around and found no one. She turned and went to Yan Fu Palace directly…