The Night Before Leaving the Palace, Reduced to the Tyrant's Plaything - Chapter 29

Wanyu’s expression changed instantly, and she looked at Qi Rang in terror.

She knew Qi Rang was not joking-he was truly capable of doing it.

He had always been someone who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

There was nothing he wouldn’t do.

Wanyu bent down in the snow, kowtowing to him again and again, begging him to show mercy.

But Qi Rang only stared at her coldly, refusing to utter a single word.

Wanyu steeled herself and gestured to him: “If my Mother dies, I will not go on living.”

Qi Rang’s brows furrowed, anger surging in his heart.

“I’ll wait for the day you come begging me!”

He threw down these words, turned, and left without looking back, not the slightest trace of reluctance-as if the man who had just shown a sudden moment of tenderness was not him at all.

As if he had never held that girl in his arms, nor given her a moment of warmth.

Wanyu knelt there, frozen, listening to the crunch of his boots on the snow. Each step seemed to trample on her dignity and hope, grinding them deep into the dirt.

Hu Jinzhong had been watching from a distance. When he saw His Majesty embrace Jiang Wanyu, he was so excited he almost wanted to roll around in the snow.

He thought his position as Chief Steward was within reach.

But in the next moment, the situation took a sharp turn.

The two who had been tightly embracing suddenly parted as if they were enemies-one knelt in the snow, the other walked away without a backward glance.

“Your Majesty…” Hu Jinzhong hurried after him. “Your Majesty, are you leaving already?”

“Why shouldn’t I leave?” Qi Rang kicked him to the ground. “This was all your terrible idea. Tomorrow morning, cut down that plum tree for me. I never want to see it again in my life!”

Hu Jinzhong fell to the ground, his heart sinking halfway.

Was it the plum tree His Majesty didn’t want to see, or was it that person?

If it was the person, what would become of his Chief Steward position?

Wanyu remained kneeling until Qi Rang’s footsteps faded completely, then finally got up and walked back.

When she returned to the small room, she found the door left open. Cold wind had filled the place, making it no different from an ice cellar.

But no matter how cold the room was, it couldn’t compare to the chill in her heart. She was truly afraid Qi Rang would harm her Mother.

Hu Jinzhong was right-since her Mother had been brought into the Marquis Mansion, she hadn’t had a single day of peace. The Marquise treated her as a thorn in her side, tormenting her in every possible way.

Wanyu had originally planned that after leaving the palace, she would take her Mother and escape far away with that person. Now that she hadn’t managed to leave, if she ended up implicating her Mother and getting her killed by Qi Rang, how could she go on living?

She bolted the door, crawled into bed in a daze, and cried as she thought: if there was truly no other way, she would pretend to submit to Qi Rang, kill him in bed, and then die with him.

But did she really want to give up her life for a tyrant?

Her Mother had endured so much in the Marquis Mansion just to wait for her to leave the palace and reunite.

If her Mother died, she couldn’t go on living.

If she died, her Mother wouldn’t survive either.

What should she do?

What could she do to make Qi Rang let her go?

Wanyu thought about it all night. Early the next morning, she heard someone had cut down the wild plum tree by the west wall.

Wanyu thought of Qi Rang’s fury the night before and guessed that it was most likely he who had ordered the tree cut down.

Was this a warning? If she didn’t know her place, would she be the next to be cut down?

Wanyu pondered silently. After breakfast, she began another day of work.

She had just sat down at the washbasin when Xiang Rui suddenly called her: “Jiang Wanyu, get up and come with me to the ironing room.”

Everyone looked over at Wanyu when they heard this.

In winter, the temperature was low. Once clothes were washed and hung up, they would freeze. The noble ladies’ garments were precious; after washing, they were dried in a special heated room, then ironed flat and folded neatly for the Palace Maids from each palace to collect.

Drying and ironing clothes both required charcoal fires and a special large room that was clean and warm. In the cold winter, this was a coveted job-one that required bribing the supervisor to get.

Wanyu was new, so by rights it shouldn’t have been her turn. Yet the supervisor, who had spoken harshly to her just yesterday, now took the initiative to assign her to the ironing room. Everyone found it strange.

Wanyu herself was puzzled, worried that Xiang Rui was up to something. She gestured to her, saying that drying and ironing clothes were delicate tasks she’d never done before, and she was afraid of ruining the masters’ garments. She asked Xiang Rui to assign someone else instead.
Xiang Rui glared: “When I tell you to go, just go. Why all this talk? Chun Xing, who’s in charge of ironing, is ill. The other girls have rough hands and might scratch the fabric. I remembered that you used to make the bed for His Majesty, and your hands are well cared for, so I asked you to fill in. And now you’re being picky!”

Wanyu stretched out her right hand to show her, indicating that she also had injuries on her hands.

Seeing Wanyu making every excuse, Xiang Rui grew furious and whipped her ruler at her again: “You’re getting out of line! No one in the whole Laundry Office dares talk back to me. You’ve only been here two days, and you want to climb over my head?”

The ruler came down hard and without warning, landing on Wanyu with sharp cracks, each blow stinging to the bone.

Wanyu gritted her teeth and endured, refusing to give in.

A Palace Maid nearby couldn’t bear to watch and stopped Xiang Rui, kindly persuading: “Jiang Wanyu, Gugu Xiang Rui thinks highly of you, that’s why she wants you to cover at the ironing room. If you don’t know how, just learn from the others there. Why provoke Gugu and make things unpleasant for everyone?”

Meishuang also came over to persuade her: “Sister, just go. It’s not worth being beaten over this.”

Wanyu, with no choice, could only follow Xiang Rui to the ironing room.

Xiang Rui, still in a bad mood, handed her to a Palace Maid who was ironing and told her to teach Wanyu the work. Once Wanyu learned, Xiang Rui brought her a pile of clothes to iron.

The ironing room was indeed much warmer than outside, but Wanyu still felt uneasy. In front of the Palace Maid, she carefully checked each garment to ensure there was no damage before accepting them.

After finishing the ironing, she again showed each piece to the Palace Maid for inspection, confirming that she hadn’t damaged any clothing.

The Palace Maid, seeing her so meticulous, couldn’t help but laugh: “You’re overly cautious! These all belong to Consort Shu. Who would dare use them to frame you? If Consort Shu was angered, no one here would escape. Just relax!”

Wanyu gestured that, being new here, it was always better to be careful.

Yet, even with all her caution, trouble still found her.

In the afternoon, two Palace Maids from Yongshou Palace came to collect the laundry and found that Consort Shu’s favorite robe had been scorched with a hole.

The two Palace Maids immediately caused a commotion in the Laundry Office, alarming everyone.

Wu Shuzhen and Lai Sanchun both arrived to ask what had happened.

Xiang Rui and the Palace Maid from the ironing room, as if having rehearsed it, both pushed the blame onto Wanyu.

Despite all her precautions, Wanyu couldn’t escape. No matter how she tried to explain, no one would testify for her. The Palace Maid who had taught her changed from her earlier friendliness to become the most aggressive accuser.

Wanyu understood in her heart that from beginning to end, this had all been part of their scheme.

As for who had instigated them-perhaps Qi Rang wanted to force her to submit, or perhaps the consorts of the harem, knowing she could not leave, wanted her dead to remove a future threat.

In any case, her life was being targeted; caution was of no use.

Lai Sanchun was a cautious man himself. These past two days he’d been patient and hadn’t touched Wanyu, fearing the Emperor might take her back after a change of heart.

He could throw his weight around in the Lateral Courts, but to harm a woman favored by the Emperor-ten heads wouldn’t be enough to save him.

This time, with Jiang Wanyu being falsely accused, he could watch and see whether the Emperor would intervene.

If His Majesty truly cared for this girl, he’d be unwilling to see Consort Shu punish her, and might use the opportunity to take her back to Qianqing Palace.

If she ended up back in the Lateral Courts, that would mean the Emperor didn’t care much, and Lai Sanchun could deal with her as he pleased.

Wu Shuzhen looked kind and benevolent, but was in fact cold-blooded and cared only for money. Having witnessed too much life and death in the Lateral Courts, to her, it made no difference who lived or died.

So she couldn’t be bothered to question further, simply instructed Xiang Rui to take Wanyu and follow the two Palace Maids from Yongshou Palace, awaiting Consort Shu’s judgment.

When Meishuang heard that Wanyu was to be taken to Yongshou Palace, she grabbed Wanyu’s hand and cried on the spot: “Sister, it’s my fault. If I’d known this would happen, I never should have urged you to go to the ironing room.”

But even if she hadn’t gone, they would have found another way. Wanyu indifferently patted Meishuang’s hand and went with Xiang Rui, following the two Palace Maids away.

Behind them, everyone in the Laundry Office watched her, wondering if she would ever return.

But then, the Lateral Courts was no good place either. Even if she came back, so what?

Someone as delicate as her, returning would only make her prey for Lai Sanchun. Compared to that, perhaps falling into Consort Shu’s hands meant at least dying with her chastity intact.