The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 3, Pt 2 - Sending Propositions

Si Xi felt uncertain about her attitude, and whispered: "If the Empress feels angry, there’s no harm in teaching them a lesson.  When Hu Gui Ren secretly insulted you before, Empress said she uttered obscenities and should stop talking, so you ordered a female official to use a needle and thread to stitch her mouth closed. Sure enough, after that, everyone took the warning."

Using a needle and thread to sew one’s mouth closed… Yuan Luo was shocked and blurted out, "Then how do you eat and drink?"

Si Xi explained: "The Empress took pity on her and allow her to eat once every three days and then sewed her mouth again after eating. In that way, she won’t die from starvation, but she was afraid of the guilt and within a few days she committed suicide by hanging herself."

Yuan Luo felt a chill. This kind of personal torture method compared to a Gongdou story’s methods of a daily slap in the face or beating with a board was really malicious. Just now, the fear of the two little concubines was entirely justified.

Si Xi continued: "Both Dou Mei Ren and Liu Cai Ren were also born to poor families, so even if they’re killed, it doesn’t really matter."

Yuan Luo once again felt the imperial concubine’s arrogance. Wait a minute, someone born to a poor family could be killed and it wouldn’t matter, but what about aristocratic families?

"If someone comes from an aristocratic family, there is the Emperor, who is unlikely to allow the Empress to suffer any losses," Si Xi said cautiously.

This was a tactful statement. Yuan Luo nevertheless clearly understood that concubines from aristocratic families were not as easy to kill as one would wish. She would be required to employ really complicated and circuitous methods to get rid of such people. For example, abusing the maidservant around her, taking away their food and drink, mental humiliation, and so forth.

After that small disturbance, Yuan Luo was no longer in the mood for a walk and was preparing to return home, when suddenly she recalled another matter.

"Wait a minute, who is this Master Shen they were talking about?" Just now, the two concubines had been muttering among themselves, primarily complaining about her, but from the time she had woken up, she had heard this name from the Emperor as well.

Si Xi’s complexion changed instantly. Her eyes were distraught and her words were evasive: "Master Shen seemed to have been a musician in the palace before, uh, this maid servant is also not entirely certain."

This attitude is not so simple at first glance.

"Then why was he imprisoned?"

"This... maid servant heard..." Si Xi broke out into a cold sweat. She mumbled: "Master Shen Dong Liu is famous for his skill in playing the qin. The Empress appreciates talent, so she invited him to enter the palace. Last time, when the Empress fell into the water, it was precisely because she had listened to him playing a tune on the qin. Consequently, this made the Emperor angry and he ordered that person to be imprisoned in the Department of Punishment."

Yuan Luo asked a few more questions and from the tactful answers she quickly figured out the truth.

This Shen Dong Liu was well-known in the capital as a beautiful young master, who taught the qin in a music hall.  Apparently, he was born very well and the original owner had taken a fancy to him, that is, literally took a fancy. She tried to bring him into her own palace, using threats and coercion, however, Shen Dong Liu was also a man with backbone and he simply refused to yield.

Yuan Luo as a whole person was simply not good. What’s the situation? Originally, she thought she was a Su Da Ji[1] , yet how did she instead become a Jia Nanfeng[2] !

She held that person in the qin room and consulted about his qin skill continuously. They didn't come out for several hours, and what not. In the middle of the night, she said she couldn’t sleep because she had too much on her mind.  Suddenly, she summoned that person to join her in the palace hall to play the qin, and so on…...

Yuan Luo abruptly remembered that after she woke up, Sikong Lin also once asked her how to deal with Shen Dong Liu?

It turned out that it wasn’t a random question, but rather a proposition!

What did she answer at that time: Who is Shen Dong Liu?

Okay, full marks! Yuan Luo praised her own wit.

She couldn’t help asking: "The inside story of this… does the Emperor know?"

"Naturally, the Emperor…" Si Xi paused.

Yuan Luo's heart suddenly hung up.

"Not sure."

Yuan Luo: …Si Xi, can you not breathe so deeply when you speak!

Si Xi again whispered: "It was only after the Empress’ accident that the Emperor knew about Master Shen. Although the Emperor’s innate disposition is… very simple, however, with how intimate the Empress was with Master Shen, he also didn’t like it. Shen Dong Liu is now imprisoned, so the Empress can get rid of this person."

She chuckled inwardly. Apparently even a fool also had opinions on their cheating wife.

In other words, this young guy is screwed, right? Yuan Luo was upset for a while. Although she had never met this person, and also for the purpose of self-preservation, it was still better if Shen Dong Liu were dead, but words, light as a feather, could immediately determine someone’s life or death…...

Depressed, Yuan Luo returned to Zichen Palace.

A tall and thin, middle-aged man with a mustache was waiting outside the hall with an attendant. Seeing Yuan Luo returned, he knelt and saluted.

The female official beside her reported: "Empress, Tian Pan came over to ask if you were well and to check your pulse.  It has already been half an hour."

Yuan Luo nodded and imperial doctor Tian hurriedly led the apprentice into the hall.

When Yuan Luo sat down, he stepped forward, extended his finger, and reverently felt the pulse on the inner side of her wrist.
 
This Tian Pan was the highest deputy of Tai hospital and one of her cronies.  He was a smooth and evasive toady, who knew how to take advantage of situations, so she, the imperial concubine in power, had used him effectively.  Because of her, he also had murdered several objectionable imperial concubines.  Not only that, but his medical expertise was nevertheless truly capable and exquisite, so she was inclined to rely heavily on him.

She recalled that previously she had asked him to take care of Gu Yi, that youngster. Yuan Luo asked casually: "How are little General Gu’s injuries now?"

Tian Pan hurriedly replied: "In accordance with the Empress’ orders, everything is being handled appropriately. He was originally ice cold in body, so the cane was added again. His internal organs were injured to the point that he would live no more than two days. This official used the ancestral acupuncture method to open his pulse and remove the blood stasis. He is guaranteed to be able to live at least another ten days.

Yuan Luo listened and nodded her head repeatedly, but something about what he said felt wrong to her.

"The official put fire boiling powder on him and, combined with the fire moxibustion method, it will hurt into the bone marrow. These more than ten days are guaranteed to make his life worse than death.
This should let the Empress release her resentment."

Yuan Luo: ? ? ?

What’s this situation? "Did not this palace tell you to take proper care of him?"

Seeing Yuan Luo’s suddenly discolored countenance, Tian Pan promptly fell to his knees in fright.

"According to the Empress' instructions, this official has "taken good care of this person." Does the Empress feel that this is not enough to vent their anger?

Yuan Luo raised her head and glared at Si Xi again. This is how her personal maid conveyed the spirit of her instructions.
Si Xi fell to her knees with a plop. "Empress, previously you ordered this maid servant to permit the imperial doctor to take ‘good’ care of that boy."

Yuan Luo was so angry that she was speechless. She said to take good care of him. As it turned out, these people for her sake used this kind of method to ‘take care’ of someone.

"This palace said to take good care of him, meaning treat Gu Yi’s injuries, guarantee that he won’t die, and help him recover completely." Yuan Luo gritted her teeth as she said every word.

Everyone was dumbfounded. This was not in keeping with the master’s usual style.

Since Yuan Luo entered the palace, she had considered being a qualified concubine, but

Since Yuan Luo entered the palace, she had once wanted to be a qualified imperial concubine, but because she was excluded by the other imperial concubines, she soon ran wildly down a most sinister road. Daily actions were seeking revenge over a dirty look[3] and itching to be scolded for her style of killing their whole family.

Why would you suddenly think to spare Gu Yi's life?

Yuan Luo stood up impatiently, "Immediately go treat him... Forget it, this palace will go there in person!"

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TN:
[1] Su Da Ji was the favorite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang Dynasty. She is portrayed as a malevolent fox spirit in legends as well as novels and was infamously known as a vile woman who enjoyed torture.
[2] Jia Nanfeng was the Empress Consort of Emperor Hui of the Jin Dynasty . She is commonly seen as a villainous figure in Chinese history, as the person who provoked the War of the Eight Princes, leading to the Wu Hu rebellions and the Jin Dynasty's loss of northern and central China.
[3] ‘to seek revenge over a dirty look’ is an idiom meaning small-minded or vindictive