Chapter 9 | Consort Hua

It had been more than three months since Qi Mingyue was injured at the Royal School. He took the decoction prescribed by the royal doctor every day and supplemented with blood-replenishing meals, the wound on his forehead was no longer visible.

Qi Xutian felt that it was good. He was allowed to go to the Royal School to study, but he was only allowed to live in the Xuantian Palace and sleep in his arms every night. He refused to let him go back. The ministers protested that a prince should not live in the Emperor's palace. At this time, his wound had already healed and there was no reason to continue staying.

Unexpectedly, Qi Xutian countered by saying that he felt guilty because he neglected to treat the Second Prince and injured him. This reason blocked the mouth of the group of ministers, Qi Mingyue and the Emperor continue to live in the Xuantian Palace. But why was the Eldest Prince who was also ignored by His Majesty, did not have such an honour? Everyone knew that he didn't dare to come under His Majesty's sight.

His Majesty's love for His Second Highness was obvious to everyone in the palace. Even the peculiarly favoured Consort Hua had suffered because of him.

That day, it was Qi Mingyue's first day back to the Royal School after his injury. Lin Murong had changed his attitude towards him a lot. Although he did not show any obvious preference, he did not dare to make trouble for him anymore. Qi Musheng still sat in his original seat and when he saw Qi Mingyue coming in, his eyes were a little weird and dodgy.

Besides this, everything was the same as usual. It was still that timid appearance. The fellow classmates behind Qi Mingyue became particularly eager towards him which was a bother.

After finishing school, Qi Mingyue left the Royal School and strolled leisurely all the way to Xuantian Palace. Passing through the Royal Garden on the way, he happened to meet a gorgeously dressed woman. She was drinking tea in the garden.

The round table was filled with various delicate desserts and fruits.

She was wearing a bright peach-red dress along with light-silver silk, with rosy pink lips and a beautiful face - she looked lovely. Her appearance wasn't inferior to the flowers blooming in the garden. There were dozens of maids and guards surrounding her. Looking at this scene, she must be a favoured concubine in the palace.

"Bold servant, when you saw Consort Hua, you didn't come to pay your respects. What are you doing standing there?"

Hearing the maid beside the woman question harshly, Qi Mingyue looked down at the jade-coloured robe on his body, which was of exquisite texture and complicated in style. He didn't know where it looked like he was a slave. How could he avoid it? With a slight smile on his face, he walked towards them, "I have seen Consort Hua." Since she intended to teach him, why would he clarify his identity and let her hope fail?

When Consort Hua saw him, she knew who he was. There was a flash of elation in her eyes, "Where are you from? You are walking around here and didn't come here to greet this concubine. It seems like no one disciplined you before and you ended up losing your manners." Concealing her pride, she spoke coldly, "Bi Lian, teach him some rules for this concubine."

The maid, Bi Lian, had already received the order. Before the consort even finished, she had already walked over to do as told.

Qi Mingyue didn't expect that she was playing this kind of play. He had been looking forward to it in vain this entire time. At this moment, the maid raised her hand high. He stood there without changing his face. "Don't kill her."

Consort Hua didn't understand what he meant. Suddenly, a black shadow flashed and Bi Lian screamed as she was thrown on the fake stone and fainted.

Qi Mingyue put away the smile on his face and slowly approached Consort Hua. Her face was pale and her hands were shaking. She pointed at him and yelled at the bodyguard, "Why are you standing there doing nothing?! Take that offending beast down for me!"

Those guards were very well-behaved. They recognized that this child was the Emperor's favourite Second Prince. Because they hurt him, Concubine Lin and Princess Ninglu had been punished. Therefore, all of them stood still and looked frightened.

Seeing this scene, Consort Hua grew even angrier. She wanted to be proud in the harem. An Ruolan fought against her everywhere, when people saw her, they weren't respectful. Her son was the Eldest Prince. According to the ancestral system, he was the most likely to become the Crown Prince. How could he be robbed by Qi Mingyue and already live in Xuantian Palace? Why did His Majesty he spoil him? Last time, she heard ShengEr say that he saw him with His Majesty in the Imperial Study. Why did His Majesty love him so much? At such a young age, he knew how to please His Majesty and made him not care who was the alien star.

Today, she wanted to see if this child could get anything cheaply under her, Jing Fenghua. She wanted to do and see for herself how favoured he was.

Q Xutian got a report from the Shadow Guard, threw the ministers he had previously been having a meeting with aside, and rushed over to the Imperial Garden. Previously, he arrived at the Royal School late and MingEr got hurt. When he reached the garden this time, he happened to see her raising her hand...

"Jing Fenghua..." Qi Xutian called out her name and approached unhurriedly. He held her thin wrist just before Consort Hua took action and smiled while looking at her, "I remember telling you that after entering the palace, you must remember your identity."

The smile on his face and the calmness in his eyes did not show any signs of anger. Despite the uneasiness in her heart, Consort Hua responded unconsciously with a smile, "Yes, Your Majesty did say that before. I remember."

"Very well, now that you remember, what were you going to do just now?" Gently, he let go of her wrist, "What were you going to do to my child?"

Consort Hua was sure, the Emperor was angry. She quickly explained, "Oh, it turns out that he is His Second Highness. This concubine just took a nap in the garden and saw this child coming in blindly and heedlessly, and was scared. He didn't say his identity, this concubine thought he did not know proper etiquette, so I ordered Bi Lian to teach him some rules, but didn't expect..." She turned to look at the maid lying on the ground with lingering fear, "The maid who this concubine called, Bi Lian, she..."

"Enough," Qi Xutian smiled at her. "I know it."

"Your Majesty..." She knew he liked the prince but wouldn't blame herself for this, so she just passed the matter, and leaned against him with a smile. She began to complain coquettishly, "Your Majesty, the Second Prince seems highly intelligent and pleasant, no wonder you liked him, but it is a pity that he was spoiled by Your Majesty. When he saw this concubine, he was so rude. ShengEr would never be so rude."

"Have you finished speaking?" Qi Xutian listened to her and smiled without a word. After she finished speaking, he spoke. "Since you've finished speaking, he can do it."

"Do it? What do you mean?" Consort Hua didn't understand.

"It seems that Fenghua's memory is not good. I said earlier that you must remember what I said in the past and you forgot it in the blink of an eye. Even if you have forgotten, I will remind you." His figure flashed and he dragged Consort Hua into his arms. With his arms around her back, he leaned against her ear and whispered, "I reminded you, don't forget that year's words." By the end of his words, his voice turned icy. Then everyone saw his ten fingers dance gracefully as if he was playing some musical instrument, they touched and twirled lightly on Consort Hua. Consort Hua trembled with the touch of his fingertips. It looked like the two of them were dancing together. However, the screams of Consort Hua let everyone know clearly what kind of pain she was suffering at the moment.

The shrill screams gradually stopped and then her body slowly slipped and fell. Her face was pale and haggard, and her original flower-like charm was gone. Her painful and distorted face was covered with sweat and she twitched gently on the ground.

Seeing this scene, the ministers who came from the main hall we frightened and couldn't help but feel chills run down their spine.

They knew that when His Majesty was demoted from the palace in the early years, he used to travel through the Jianghu and had excellent skills. His martial arts were brutal. Unexpectedly, he dealt such a heavy hand on her despite favouring her so much. Their eyes swept towards the Second Prince standing on the side. It seemed that this matter also started from His Royal Highness. As rumours said, His Royal Highness was so favoured to an unparalleled degree, it was even worse than what they had heard.

Qi Xutian did not care about the expressions on the faces of the ministers. Standing next to Consort Hua, he looked down at the woman lying near his feet, "I said that when you enter the palace, you would no longer be Jing Fenghua, the leader of Fenghua Palace in Jianghu. You can only be Consort Hua! You cannot use martial arts unless you are in danger! You have failed to live up to my trust and wanted to use the "You Feng Lai Yi", the sixteen phoenix hairpins carried by you all the time, to deal with MingEr! You used it to deal with a five-year-old child! You can't look down on him! Or are you afraid that you will not lose your head after many years?!"

Without any pity, he put his foot on her body and listened to the sound of breaking bones. She suddenly woke up with her arms in pain and gave out a painful gasp. Qi Xutian then nodded with a smile of satisfaction, "I almost forgot that although your martial arts was abolished, your hidden weapons can be used with strength. You don't need to spend much effort to practice again, it would be too much trouble." Qi Mingyue, who was standing aside and watching this good show, was hugged by him in his arms. He said, "Look, MingEr, she wanted to hurt you. I didn't want her life. Didn't I spoil her too much?"

Qi Mingyue was now used to his amazing actions from time to time. This time, he didn't even feel helpless. He hooked his arm around Qi Xutian's neck, "Since you don't want her to die, it's time to call a doctor to have a look, otherwise, Father Emperor might lose a consort."

"Thanks for MingEr's reminder." he looked around, "What about Liu Yi?"

Chief Liu came out of nowhere, "Yes."

"Go and ask the royal doctor to treat Consort Hua. Don't let her have a problem, understand?"

"This one understands." Chief Liu knew that His Majesty meant that he could neither let anyone find her strangeness nor leave any gaps for others to take advantage of. The origin of Consort Hua was special. Some people know that she was in the palace, but they don't know what would happen in the future.

Qi Xutian embraced Qi Mingyue, kissed his tender face, and said to the surrounding courtiers, "What are all the ministers gathered here to do? Although the flowers of the Imperial Garden are blooming at just the right time, you don't need to come here to enjoy the flowers together. Or do you wish to talk to the harem concubines and reminisce about the past?"

As soon as this remark came out, the ministers were too busy to intervene with the matters of the harem. Moreover, Consort Hua acted arrogantly because of the favour she received. Of course, no one would ask for forgiveness for her.

"Since you dare not, what are you doing standing here? I will go back with you." Holding Qi Mingyue, he returned to the Hall of Deliberations.

The crowd returned with their unpredictable Emperor, looked at the Second Prince sitting in the arms of His Majesty, and looked at each other.

"Isn't there something to discuss? Why don't you say it now?" Qi Xutian let Qi Mingyue lie in his arms. He watched Qi Mingyue look at the ministers with a bored expression on his little face, then simply closed his eyes and lay in his embrace. Qi Xutian could not help but smile, making the people standing below dumbfounded when they saw it. They had never seen such a gentle and indulgent expression on His Majesty's face before and forgot what they wanted to report.

"If you have nothing to say, I will go back." he gently lifted Qi Mingyue in his arms and added another sentence casually, "By the way, I remember that after three months, it will be MingEr's birthday. All the ministers must come together. MingEr's birthday party can't be too shabby; the livelier it is, the better."

When the ministers came back to their senses, the Emperor on the throne was already gone.

In Xuantian Palace, Qi Mingyue sat aside dissatisfied, "Doesn't Father Emperor feel that it's troublesome? Why do you need to have a birthday feast which has not been held in previous years? It's not necessary this year, either."

"MingEr doesn't like it?"

Qi Mingyue scoffed and ridiculed, "I don't like the idea of a banquet. All the singing and dancing is too noisy and there are also too many people, which is difficult to handle. Does Father Emperor think that my life is too peaceful and wants to show me something entertaining?"

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