Chapter 10
A hint of amusement crossed Sheng Yanhuan’s eyes. “You may leave.”
“Yes.”
Only after the consorts had left did Chunwan quietly come over.
“Your Highness, what’s the matter?”
As her personal maid, Chunwan naturally knew her well.
Her mistress wasn’t usually so overbearing. Even back at the Sheng residence, she had only been spoiled enough to develop a bit of a temper.
[Host, preparations are underway in the imperial garden for the Regent’s consort selection.]
Sheng Yanhuan pressed her fingers to her brow, feeling a headache coming on.
“It’s nothing. Let’s take a walk in the imperial garden.”
In her previous life, the Regent’s consort selection had taken place around this time, too. She’d heard that the Empress Dowager had personally overseen it, carefully selecting five women. In the end, she never learned whether any of them had been chosen.
Sheng Yanhuan’s task was to bear the Regent’s child, so she couldn’t let another woman get in the way.
As soon as she entered the imperial garden, she heard the clear, melodious chatter of young women.
“I heard from my father that the Regent doesn’t have a single woman at Yanmen Pass, not even a maid. I wonder if that’s true.”
“My father is a garrison commander at Yanmen Pass. He has reliable information that it’s because the Prince was afflicted with cold poison when he was young and is unable to father children...”
“Really?”
“Of course. My father told me to make sure he doesn’t choose me. I even darkened my face on purpose today.”
“No wonder. Then I can’t let him choose me, either. The Empress is pregnant now, and who knows how many years he’ll remain Regent? If I married him, wouldn’t I be condemned to an empty bed...”
Sheng Yanhuan narrowed her eyes. She knew Qi Mohan was infertile, but was it really connected to poison?
“Young ladies from respectable families, yet you dare discuss such vile matters. I don’t think you need to remain in the palace.”
A figure in red palace robes appeared from behind the palace wall. The girls were so terrified they nearly lost their souls, and immediately dropped to their knees, kowtowing.
“Your Highness, I’m still young and spoke out of turn... Please forgive me.”
“Please forgive us, Your Highness...”
The garden filled with cries and pleas. The noise made Sheng Yanhuan’s temples throb, and her expression grew ever more sullen.
Seeing her like this, the women soon stopped shouting. They pressed their foreheads to the ground and didn’t dare move.
The air seemed to freeze, the silence growing oppressive.
[Host, Qi Mohan is here.]
Sheng Yanhuan raised an eyebrow, and a cold smile suddenly bloomed on her lips.
“The Regent already has his hands full managing state affairs. You refuse to marry him, yet still gossip about him. Since you don’t wish to marry him, then never set foot in the palace again. Guards, escort them out.”
“Your Highness, Your Highness, we truly know we were wrong.”
“Your Highness—”
No matter how they cried out, they were dragged from the palace one by one.
The women the Empress Dowager had chosen for the Regent were from humble households, whom she needn’t fear offending. She wouldn’t dare choose a daughter from a great house as his principal consort.
Besides, that damned Emperor had already brought plenty of women into the palace.
The legitimate daughters of nearly all the highest-ranking officials had been selected by the Emperor. How could any be left for him?
“Your Highness.”
Suddenly, a man’s icy voice sounded behind her.
Sheng Yanhuan blinked, then turned with a smile.
“Your Highness, forgive me. I sent all your prospective consorts back home.”
Qi Mohan’s gaze fell on the corner of her lips. For some reason, the gloom that had gathered in his heart seemed to lift a little.
“I didn’t expect Your Highness to defend me.”
Sheng Yanhuan smiled with her lips pressed together. “I simply can’t stand hearing people slander you. You’ve been stationed at Yanmen Pass for years, holding back the Xiongnu. You’re strong and healthy—how could you have been poisoned? They must be talking nonsense.”
Qi Mohan’s gaze rested on her face, but he didn’t reply.
Sheng Yanhuan watched him, a hint of amusement in her eyes.
“You may all leave.”
“Yes.”
The man’s face was as flawless as white jade, and his lips were a vivid red, giving him an utterly bewitching appearance.
Now that the murderous aura around him had faded, he was truly quite handsome.
“Could it be true?” Sheng Yanhuan took a step toward him, and the distance between them suddenly narrowed.
The faint fragrance on the woman drifted into his nose, and his body once again began to grow inexplicably warm.
Qi Mohan furrowed his brows and took a step back.
In an instant, the distance between them widened again, returning to a polite space.
“If there’s nothing else, Your Highness should go back and get some rest.”
With that, he turned and walked away. After a few steps, he suddenly looked back, his voice a little stiff.
“You don’t need to concern yourself with such trivial matters in the future.”
Sheng Yanhuan’s gaze fell on his flushed earlobes, and the corner of her lips lifted.
“I still have to report this to the Empress Dowager, so I can’t go back yet...”
Qi Mohan’s eyes suddenly turned cold.
“I’ll go speak to her.”
“Shall we go together?”
Sheng Yanhuan’s brows arched as she walked over to his side, shoulder to shoulder with him.
One wore red, the other black. Standing together, they looked exceptionally well-matched.
“You...” Qi Mohan sensed that this wasn’t quite proper, but he couldn’t understand what she was trying to do.
“Are you wondering what my purpose is?”
Sheng Yanhuan tilted her head to look at him, her eyes shining brightly.