It’s good that the Consort has thought things through. Otherwise, we would all be in an awkward position.
However, things are different now. If the Consort had agreed to cooperate with me back then, I would have obediently remained a nobody in the palace.
But you’ve delayed for so long; you owe me a reasonable explanation, don’t you?”
Lu Qingwan raised an eyebrow. “Oh, and what kind of explanation does the County Princess want?”
Lu Qingwan, like a composed fisherman patiently waiting for his prey, was slowly luring the imposter into her trap. The imposter, pitifully, actually believed that Lu Qingwan had suffered a setback in the court and needed the Wen family’s support, thus agreeing to her entry into the harem.
Smugly, she declared, “I know you are the Prince’s original wife, so I won’t drive you away.
However, I can only grant you the rank of consort at most. The position of Empress, that I will take.”
*Clatter*. The jade ruyi Lu Qingwan was playing with slipped from her hand and fell onto the floor, landing with a dull thud on the thick carpet.
Li Qing quickly scurried over to pick it up and handed it back to her. Lu Qingwan, covering her chin that had been bumped by the jade ruyi, looked up speechlessly. “Miss, how many dishes have you had to be this drunk?
If you had even a single peanut, you wouldn’t be saying such things.
While it is indeed evening, aren’t your dreams a bit too beautiful?”
The imposter’s smug face froze instantly. “What do you mean?
Don’t think I don’t know, the Prince has long been tired of you. He’s not even in the capital anymore.
It’s only you, relying on your position as the Prince’s main consort, who dares to be so ostentatious. If you have any sense of shame, you should request to leave the household, lest you be humiliated when the Prince establishes someone else as Empress!”
Tsk, Lu Qingwan tilted her head to look at Li Qing. “Regarding the Prince’s departure from the capital, is that what people are saying outside?”
Li Qing silently lowered his head. “Consort, perhaps you should see this.”
Li Qing seemed to have prepared for this. As soon as Lu Qingwan asked, he took out a slender bamboo tube from his robes. Lu Qingwan opened it and saw, “Isn’t that me? What does this rumor have to do with me?”
Li Qing’s face immediately fell. “Consort, you’ve mistaken yourself, which shows how much this person resembles you.
It’s no wonder such absurd rumors are spreading…”
Lu Qingwan was stunned. She took the portrait and examined it carefully. “She looks so much like me, who is this?”
It wasn’t her fault for misidentifying her, as the person in the portrait looked almost identical to her, with only minor differences in expression. Lu Qingwan herself and those close to her could still recognize her.
However, someone who didn’t know her well and only had a cursory acquaintance would definitely mistake her.
Li Qing quietly said, “A palace maid from the Imperial Wardrobe, who has been trying to get close to the Prince every day.
The night you first returned to the capital, you stayed overnight in the Shence Camp’s Imperial Prison, and she managed to sneak into the Hall of Mental Cultivation disguised as you.”
After speaking, fearing that Lu Qingwan might misunderstand Si Fengwu, Li Qing quickly added, “But Consort, I guarantee that this palace maid never even saw the Prince. As soon as she entered, she was carried out by the brothers of the Wufeng Hall.
After I reported this to the Prince, he originally intended to have her beaten to death, but her face was too suspicious. The Prince then confined her to the interrogation room and ordered me to investigate her background.”
Lu Qingwan remained calm, as if she hadn’t heard that someone was coveting her husband. “So, have you found out?”
Li Qing gave an awkward chuckle. “That maid, it seems, is the illegitimate daughter of Liu Hanyan and a rudder master from Hanxiao Hall.”
Liu Hanyan, under the guise of Lu Qingwan’s mother, had many illegitimate children, so it was no wonder these people dared not tell her.
Lu Qingwan, however, felt speechless. “So, she’s already been confined to the interrogation room, yet how could rumors spread about me being asked to leave the household after the Prince left the capital? What’s going on with these rumors?”
Li Qing nervously scratched his head. “Although the Prince personally ordered that palace maid to be confined to the interrogation room, from that day onwards, rumors circulated in the palace that the Consort was excessively jealous and could not tolerate anyone else around the Prince.
Even the matter of confining that palace maid was attributed to the Consort.
Therefore, after the Prince left the capital, it was widely rumored that the Prince and Consort had fallen out, and he left in disappointment…”
Lu Qingwan listened, her expression numb. “This is truly… outrageously unbelievable.”
She turned her expressionless face to the imposter. “So, you heard all this and concluded that the Prince was tired of me and that I would eventually be asked to leave the household?”
The imposter hadn’t expected that when she thought she finally had an opportunity, she would encounter such a misunderstanding.
For a moment, she felt a little guilty, but she still secretly convinced herself that rumors don’t arise out of thin air.
She stubbornly held her ground and arrogantly declared, “So what if it’s true?
You are also a learned person. Looking at ancient and modern times, and across all nations, who among those with status and position doesn’t have multiple wives and concubines?
Which main wife is like you, clinging to the master, and willing to be a barren hen herself, yet forces the Prince to have no heirs…”
Before she could finish speaking, the imposter cried out and knelt before Lu Qingwan.
Lu Qingwan looked at Li Qing, who was silently putting away his foot and pretending nothing had happened, with some speechlessness. “What are you doing?”
Li Qing looked innocently obedient. “The Prince has ordered that no one is allowed to disgrace the Consort regarding matters of progeny and concubines. If anyone violates this, no matter who they are, they will receive thirty slaps to the mouth, and an additional fifty strokes of the cane.”
The imposter’s outburst was interrupted, and Lu Qingwan was no longer interested in watching the show.
She looked coldly at the imposter. “You accuse me of being jealous, of being infertile, and you still want the position of Empress? Do you think that in this world, no one is more suited to be the mistress of the central palace than you?”
“Of course.”
The imposter raised her chin proudly, her eyes arrogant and unrestrained. “I am the legitimate eldest daughter of the Wen family, from a noble lineage. I was personally educated by my grandfather and grandmother since childhood. I am no less than a princess.
With what can you, a helpless orphan, contend with me?”
Lu Qingwan shook her head, looking at her with the eyes of someone who pities a fool. “I truly don’t know where you get the audacity to say such shameless things.
This face isn’t yours, after all. Use it sparingly, lest someone comes back to seek revenge.”
As she spoke, she turned back to the inner chamber. “Isn’t that right, County Princess Ru Ge?”
A graceful figure slowly emerged from behind the bright yellow curtain.
Lu Qingwan, with a look of anticipation, stared at the imposter. “The legitimate eldest daughter of the Wen family, from a noble lineage, who was meticulously tutored by Elder Wen and the old madam since childhood – I have one of those here too.
Surprised? Shocked?”
The imposter was stunned, but soon she screamed at the top of her lungs, “She’s fake!
Lu Qingwan, you found someone to impersonate me, the County Princess, just to prevent the Prince from keeping anyone by his side. You poisonous woman…”
She screamed with all her might, intending for more people in the palace to hear her words and pressure Lu Qingwan with public opinion.
Little did she know that Lu Qingwan feared public pressure the least. She decisively waved her hand. “Take her away and interrogate her thoroughly. If she refuses to cooperate, bring out all the torture instruments.”
The secret guards dragged the imposter away. Lu Qingwan then said to Wen Ruge, “You can go home now.”
Only then did Wen Ruge realize that Lu Qingwan had asked Li Qing to bring the imposter into the palace precisely to give Tan Ke a legitimate reason to return home.