Volume 3 Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Made Empress Once Again
"Wan er, what's wrong?" Ye Hongyi's eyes filled with worry when he saw Yao Mowan tear up.
"Your Majesty wants to make Wan er empress? But Wan er's just a fool. Wan er's not worthy…" It felt like blades were cutting up her heart, but she had to act like she was moved to tears. It was just as difficult even though the emotions were completely different.
"If we say you're worthy, then you're worthy!" Ye Hongyi hugged Yao Mowan tightly as he said this firmly.
"Can Wan er really be like Eldest Sister? Wan er can wear such pretty clothes and live in that big Changle Palace?" Yao Mowan wiped at her tears. Her voice contained a strong sobbing tone as she spoke.
"Our silly Wan er, at that time we'll built you a resting palace even more luxurious than Changle Palace!" vowed Ye Hongyi.
"Wan er loves Your Majesty the most!" Yao Mowan smiled through her tears as she pressed herself into Ye Hongyi's arms, but her heart had become completely frozen. This particular night, Ye Hongyi was especially gentle in his seeking as if he wanted to use his body to communicate to her all his love and sincerity. However, all Yao Mowan felt was bone-piercing cold.
As the expedition date approached, Yao Mowan made a special trip to Pure Flowers Palace.
"What did you come for now?" Yao Suluan's clothes were disheveled and her hair was loose as she sat on the chaise lounge. She only glanced coldly at Yao Mowan before saying this in an irritated tone.
"You're already letting yourself go? This isn't the second older sister that Mowan knows!" A trace of pleasure arose in Yao Mowan's heart when she saw how defeated Yao Suluan looked.
"You've killed Hunchback Zhu?" Yao Suluan gave a cold humph as she looked towards Yao Mowan. After Yao Mowan left that day, she had tried to get in touch with Zhu Laosan, but was told that someone new was now in charge of the imperial palace's waste disposal.
"How's that possible? He's a witness that could be used against Second Older Sister, so how could Mowan bear to kill him? Mowan just found him a place to stay for the time being," replied Yao Mowan lightly as she slowly walked to the table to sit down in front of Yao Suluan.
"Yao Mowan, you won't be able to win against His Majesty, he's not as stupid as you think he is!" Yao Suluan looked at Yao Mowan coldly. After using these last couple days to calm down, she finally realized that Yao Mowan's goal had been revenge from the start. She had only ended up facing such utter defeat due to her carelessness.
"Of course His Majesty's intelligence is beyond doubt. He's so intelligent that he's sending Mowan with the esteemed prince as ambassadors to Loulan. He even promised that after this trip, he would name Mowan empress. Second Older Sister ah, the thing you've been trying your entire life to obtain had fallen so easily into Mowan's lap. Say, don't you think the Heavens are so unfair?" Yao Mowan's lips only curved slightly, but a smiling expression filled her eyes.
"Ye Hongyi, that fool! He actually wants to make you empress!?" Yao Suluan jumped to her feet as she glowered at Yao Mowan.
"That's right. That idiot thinks that Mowan likes the precious throne of the empress so much and even promised to build a resting palace even more luxurious than Changle Palace for Mowan. It's just a shame that he has no idea that Mowan has no interest in some empress position. What Mowan truly wants is his imperial throne." Yao Mowan's voice gradually turned colder and her eyes glinted with icy light.
"How could he make you empress… How could he!? He promised this consort that as long as Yao Moxin died, the throne of empress would be this consort's! Why? Why must he treat this consort this way!?" Yao Suluan clawed at the satin on the chaise lounge in crazed anger, her eyes bloodshot.
Yao Mowan took in Yao Suluan's crazed behavior coldly.
"Yao Suluan, this is your retribution. No one else can be blamed for this."
"Retribution? If one doesn't plan for themselves, the world will crush them! What was wrong with this consort making plans for her own future? It was Yao Moxin that was a fool. She was the one that insisted on showing off in front of His Majesty, that was why His Majesty could no longer tolerate her or that child. What had this consort done wrong? Why must His Majesty treat this consort this way? Why!?" Yao Suluan's eyes were so bloodshot they looked like they were about to split as she abruptly charged towards Yao Mowan.
"Eldest Sister wasn't a fool, she simply trusted in the wrong people. The one who's truly a fool is you, Second Older Sister. You should've known from the start. From the moment Ye Hongyi had you participate in the plot against Eldest Sister, he had been planning to kill you. After all, who would enjoy the feeling of someone else possessing a piece of information that could be used to blackmail them? Especially when he was the monarch of a nation?" said Yao Mowan coldly as she looked towards Yao Suluan in disdain.
"This consort didn't have a choice!" cried Yao Suluan in anguish.
"You had a choice! If you had told Eldest Sister about what you knew, everything would've been different!" said Yao Mowan coldly as she grabbed Yao Suluan's wrist hard.
"Pei! This consort would rather die than tell that wretch who was born of a mistress!" spat Yao Suluan, her face twisted sinisterly.
"Then Second Older Sister should just wait to die," said Yao Mowan calmly with a faint, unreadable smile.
"Give up on that! This consort won't be finished like this! There's no way!" Yao Suluan laughed manically as tears overflowed her eyes uncontrollably.
"Alright! Then Mowan will give Second Older Sister another chance. This trip to Loulan will take over a month, that's one month of time for you. Mowan is curious what tricks Second Older Sister still has up her sleeve to get out of this," said Yao Mowan coldly. Then she got up and left Pure Flowers Palace.
Once she walked out of the palace, she called for Yin Xue.
"Instruct Liu Sha to stay behind and monitor Yao Suluan from the shadows. Allow her to do as she wishes as long as she doesn't go too far," said Yao Mowan mildly.
"Master, this subordinate doesn't understand. Yao Suluan has already exhausted her abilities, so why are you still giving her hope?" asked Yin Xue in confusion.
"There will only be despair if there's hope. It doesn't suit Yao Suluan to be living so leisurely and the more fun Yao Suluan has causing trouble, the more uneasy Ye Hongyi will be. This consort really hopes that during this month that this consort isn't here, they'll create more interesting fireworks." Yao Mowan smiled brightly as cold light flickered in her eyes.
That night, when Huan Heng saw Yao Mowan, he immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed to greet her.
"Old General, what do you mean by this? Yin Xue, hurry and help the old general up," said Yao Mowan.
"This old man thanks Lady Jing Xin for your life-saving grace. This old man never thought that Lady Jing Xin had such ability and that your influence even extended to the inner palace. After this, His Majesty has decided to send Noble Consort Yao instead last minute. Who would've ever predicted this? However… The illness…" Huan Heng was extremely grateful, but also clearly a little worried.
"Don't worry, in ten days, the symptoms Consort Chen is inflicted with will naturally disappear." Yao Mowan naturally knew that Huan Heng had come to see her because he was worried about Huan Caier's health.
"That's wonderful! Wonderful!" Huan Heng nodded firmly and subconsciously sighed in relief. When Yao Mowan saw the sincere relief in Huan Heng's eyes, she couldn't help but sigh. Both men were fathers, but Huan Heng's love for his daughter was something that Yao Zhenting would never understand in this lifetime.
After everything was settled, Yao Mowan left the imperial city with Ye Junqing without any worries on her mind. For the sake of keeping this expedition secret, Ye Hongyi only sent his four personal bodyguards to go with Ye Junqing. They left the city at six in the morning without a sound. However, since Yao Mowan was coming along, the speed was naturally much slower.
There had been an autumn shower the night before, so the air now was very cool and refreshing. The faint clean scent of the soil made people feel refreshed and instinctively want to inhale more of the fresh air.
"Noble Consort Yao, we need to make haste with this trip, so please return to the carriage." Inside the forest, Yao Mowan had her arms stretched wide and her face was tilted towards the sky as she took big deep breathes with an expression of great enjoyment.
"Imperial Guard Qing Long, please show understanding. My master has been sitting in the carriage for many hours being jolted around. She finally has a chance to stretch her limbs a little, so please wait for a while longer." Ting Yue walked over to Qing Long and lowered her eyes as she said this in a humble manner.
"But…" Qing Long looked over at Yao Mowan with a troubled expression, then sighed and returned to stand by Ye Junqing's side.
__________Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
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