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墨書 Inktalez
I quietly investigated my father's case using my position, despite the few clues and significant obstacles. I never gave up, knowing that patience and timing were essential.
Yan Yu came to see me, worry evident in her eyes. "Wei Lan, you've become the master now, but I feel like you're more exhausted than before."
I smiled faintly. "It's just the way things are. How about you? Are you doing well at the Supreme Wardrobe Bureau?"
Yan Yu nodded. "It's fine. After what happened last time, no one dares to provoke me easily. But... that Consort Shu summoned me a few days ago, rewarded me with many gifts, and said she appreciated my skills."
My heart sank. "What did she say to you?"
"Nothing special, just some casual conversation," Yan Yu replied uneasily. "Wei Lan, should I have refused her gifts?"
"Just accept them," I mused. "But remember to keep your distance from her. Her kindness is anything but genuine."
I reminded Yan Yu as much for her sake as for my own. Consort Shu's silence was merely the calm before the storm.
Sure enough, the peaceful days didn't last long. The catalyst was the queen's deteriorating health; confined to her sickbed, she struggled to fulfill her duties in managing the harem. The emperor issued an edict appointing Consort Shu as the temporary head.
With power in her hands, her first target was naturally me.
She began summoning me frequently, nitpicking my mistakes under various pretexts. One day she criticized a prescription I had written for a certain concubine as being too cooling; the next day she claimed that the accounts of the Supreme Pharmacy were unclear. I knew she was deliberately looking for faults, but I could only respond cautiously, trying not to give her any leverage.
One day, she summoned me to her Yi Kun Palace and dismissed everyone else. Suddenly, she asked, "Concubine Shen, I've heard that your family was implicated before you entered the palace?"
My heart tightened, but my expression remained calm. "Yes. My father served as Grand Imperial Physician but was implicated due to the Witchcraft Case."
"The Witchcraft Case..." Consort Shu looked at me with amusement. "That was a serious crime of treason. For a Daughter of a Traitor like you to gain His Majesty's favor is quite fortunate."
"I am merely a servant," I replied nervously. "His Majesty is wise and values talent over background."
"Is that so?" Consort Shu sneered. "But I've heard that your father's case has many peculiarities. Tell me, if His Majesty were to learn that his favored Concubine Lan's father might have been involved in treasonous acts, what do you think he would think?"
Cold sweat instantly drenched my back. She had indeed found out! She was threatening me!
I forced myself to remain composed. "Your Highness, my father was wronged; heaven and earth can bear witness to that. I believe His Majesty will make his own judgment."
"Judgment?" Consort Shu stood up and approached me, lowering her voice with a chilling venom akin to a snake's hiss. "Shen Wei Lan, don't play dumb in front of me. I know what you want. If you can remain obedient and stop coveting things that don't belong to you, perhaps I can help you see your father's case... finally get vindicated one day. Otherwise..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but the threat in her gaze was unmistakable.
This was a blatant transaction: my future compliance in exchange for my father's innocence.
My heart struggled fiercely within me. My father's wrongful conviction was my greatest obsession. If I could clear his name...
No! I couldn't agree! I knew exactly what kind of person Consort Shu was. Her words were utterly untrustworthy! She only wanted to exploit my vulnerability to control me and use me as a pawn to solidify her position. Once I lost my value to her, she would not hesitate to push me and my family back into the abyss!
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