Li Qinghe lowered her eyes. "This Palace is merely making a guess."
Lin Yue was, after all, Li Xuanyue’s person. Li Qinghe would never offer him her complete trust, so she kept her tone deliberately ambiguous:
"After all... my sister has always been quite good to this Palace on most days."
"If she truly did this, this Palace has nothing to complain about, for I owe much of where I stand today to her."
"Three years ago, if she had not suddenly suggested to the Phoenix Emperor that this Palace and the Imperial Father Consort be moved out of Taihe Palace—"
"Perhaps we would have perished in Taihe Palace long ago."
"Such a great debt of gratitude... even if she asked me to die for her, this Palace would be willing."
Hearing these heartfelt words from Li Qinghe, Lin Yue felt a surge of indignation.
"How can the Second Princess think such a thing?"
He certainly did not see it that way. "The only reason you and the Noble Consort were in Taihe Palace in the first place was due to the Empress Consort’s machinations, was it not?"
"The First Princess is simply setting things right, granting you and the Noble Consort your innocence and dignity. This is only as it should be."
"How can the Second Princess be so defeatist?"
In Lin Yue’s eyes, the current Empress Consort was a venomous creature. Only someone as blinded by infatuation as the Phoenix Emperor could perceive him as virtuous, magnanimous, and understanding.
"Rest assured, Second Princess. Lin Yue will certainly persuade the First Princess to plead with the Phoenix Emperor on your behalf, so that your confinement may be lifted."
Lin Yue’s indignant stance was exactly what Li Qinghe had hoped for.
*Li Xuanyue, you care for Lin Yue more than anyone else. I wonder how you will feel when you are hurt by the person you hold most dear.*
Once Ruyue saw Consort Lin exit Chaoren Hall and disappear from sight, she turned to Li Qinghe and asked with hesitant confusion:
"Second Princess, do you really think this Consort Lin can succeed?"
It was not that she doubted Consort Lin’s abilities, but they both knew exactly how grave this matter was. Unless the First Princess were a fool, there was no way she would run to the Phoenix Emperor to plead for Li Qinghe’s sake based on a few words from Consort Lin.
Li Qinghe lowered her gaze and waved a hand dismissively. "Who cares?"
She did not care about the result.
"Let him try. It just so happens that this Palace is curious to see what choice my dear sister will make."
She wanted to see if everything was exactly as she had suspected. She had already braced herself against her.
*
Inside Fenghe Hall, Li Xuanyue had just returned from seeing off the envoys with her five consorts and bidding farewell to Li Feng. No sooner had she stepped inside than her maid, Yinxin, walked in from outside.
"First Princess, Consort Lin is here."
Yinxin stood by Li Xuanyue’s side and whispered the report.
Li Xuanyue paused. She had been so busy that she hadn't yet found the time to cause him trouble. She had not expected him to deliver himself to her doorstep.
She glanced at the five consorts by her side. "Sit, all of you."
The five consorts exchanged glances, unsure of what she intended to do with this Consort Lin. However, based on everything the Princess had done last night and this morning, they already understood that this First Princess, rumored to be afflicted by madness, was perhaps not as impulsive or lacking in strategy as the rumors claimed.
Following her instruction, the five consorts all took their seats on the wooden chairs nearby.
Before long, Lin Yue walked in from outside, head held high.
"Lin Yue greets the First Princess."
As soon as he entered the hall, Lin Yue performed a deep bow to Li Xuanyue. In the past, Li Xuanyue would have surely stepped forward at once to personally help him up. But this time, she did not.
A maid beside her poured a cup of hot tea and placed it in her hands. Li Xuanyue took the tea, blew on it gently, and took a sip, appearing as though she had not even noticed the presence of Consort Lin in the hall.
This reaction made Lin Yue feel a strange prickle in his heart; he frowned, displeased. Just as he was about to speak, Li Xuanyue interrupted him.
She set the hot tea down on the table beside her with unhurried grace and looked up at Lin Yue.
"Consort Lin, you arrive in such a rush. Is there an emergency?"
Her tone, neither heavy nor light, echoed through Fenghe Hall as her cold, black eyes fixed firmly upon Lin Yue. She had not forgotten that in her previous life, this Consort Lin had been the right-hand man to her "dear" sister. If he hadn't personally run to Xihe Hall to tell the Imperial Father Consort that she had been thrown into Taihe Palace by the Empress Consort, how could the Imperial Father Consort have chosen to sacrifice his own life to preserve hers?
Lin Yue felt a chill run down his spine under Li Xuanyue’s gaze. From the moment he entered the hall until he finished his bow, he was certain he had not committed a single impropriety. What was the meaning of this look?
"I have heard that the Phoenix Emperor has issued a decree for the Second Princess to remain in confinement at Chaoren Hall for three months."
Thinking of Li Qinghe still confined in Chaoren Hall, Lin Yue pushed his unease to the back of his mind.
"I wonder if the First Princess might, for the sake of your sisterly ties, plead with the Phoenix Emperor to pardon the Second Princess and lift her confinement?"
Li Xuanyue raised her beautiful eyebrows slightly. "In what capacity does Consort Lin make this request to this Palace?"
What if she refused? What would he do then?
Lin Yue’s face stiffened. He had never expected that the usually forthright and reasonable Li Xuanyue would ask him such a biting question in front of so many people. Or was it that his long-standing resistance had finally stirred her displeasure and anger? Was she using this method to remind him and force him to admit he was "her" person, all to grab his attention?
Li Xuanyue did not care what Lin Yue was thinking; she continued:
"Consort Lin, have you forgotten your own status? You are this Palace’s consort."
"Is every Tom, Dick, and Harry worthy of your intercession? Are you truly so fickle?"
Lin Yue’s body went rigid.
"My sister is currently perfectly fine in Chaoren Hall. If she wants to come out, she will send her own maid to tell me. What is this about you coming here? Can you represent her? Or perhaps you feel that she is your wife, and this Palace is an outsider?"
"Is that why you can't help but crawl over to her side?"
Li Xuanyue’s words were as harsh as they could possibly be, showing no regard for even a shred of Lin Yue’s feelings. In her previous life, she had believed she treated this Consort Lin well. She had given him her heart and soul, and yet, in the end? He had colluded with Li Qinghe and climbed into her bed.
Now that she had returned to this life, she would certainly no longer believe a word this Consort Lin said.
Lin Yue’s face turned deathly pale as he fell to his knees.
"First Princess, please forgive me. That is not what I meant..."
Lin Yue had been so worried about Li Qinghe’s situation that he had forgotten his own status and rushed over to plead for her. Had he taken a moment to calm down and think, he never would have been so impulsive. He would have certainly found a different way to persuade Li Xuanyue to go before Li Feng and speak for Li Qinghe.