Consort Xian’s face turned deathly pale in an instant. Her fingers gripped the armrests of her chair so tightly that her knuckles went white. She stood up abruptly, her voice trembling with a mix of panic and fury, "Su Mingyu! You are becoming more and more insolent! I do not wish to hear another word of your nonsense!"
As she turned to leave and the palace doors were opened, Su Mingyu caught sight of a maidservant who had been straining to listen at the door. Consort Xian ordered coldly, "Someone! Kill that gossiping parrot and feed it to the cats!"
Su Mingyu stood where she was, watching Consort Xian’s retreating back with a faint, mocking smile. She settled into the palace as if nothing had happened, but the very next morning, she stubbornly pestered Consort Xian to accompany her for a walk in the Imperial Garden. Consort Xian would have preferred to ignore her, but she could not withstand the relentless badgering and hoped only to get the excursion over with so she could drive Su Mingyu out of the palace.
Chapter 153