As soon as Lin Feilu fell asleep after drinking the medicine, Emperor Lin walked outside and listened to Peng Man who cautiously relayed his findings,”Your Majesty, I found the corpse of the palace maid in a well not far from the Yinshuang Palace. She was thrown into the well after she died. The back of her legs were smashed, probably due to being tortured to death from the beatings with a rod.”
Although Emperor Lin had long predicted so, he still felt a chill after hearing this new information.
Consort Mei had always been gentle and kind in his eyes and heart. She was tender and shy, unable to utter even a single word of harshness towards her servants. Hence, he did not expect her to have commuted such a cruel act.
He didn’t know how the palace maid offended the Consort, but it must have been bad according to the state of circumstances she was in.
He thought, if the Little Fifth Princess woke up and heard about this, she would most definitely cry. Emperor Lin was feeling frustrated as he asked, “How did Consort Mei explain herself?”
Peng Man said, “The Consort Mei exclaimed that she was framed, saying that this matter has nothing to do with her, wanting Your Majesty to order a thorough investigation.”
Emperor Lin was so angry that he smashed the inkstone down onto the table, “What do I still need to investigate?! Should the bloody traces from the stall in the courtyard ‘be made’ invisible to me?!”
But even if she was faced with death, she was not going to confess. With only the Little Fifth Princess as a witness, if he really wanted to convict her, there was an actual lack of concrete evidence. What’s more, Consort Mei’s father was currently helping him manage the flood in the Southern River. If he knew that his daughter was being convicted according to the code of murder, his weak heart would probably not be able to take it.
After all, Emperor Lin was still an emperor who paid attention to his reputation in national affairs. After his fit of anger, he calmed down and said in a low voice, “Pass this decree on. Consort Mei is not morally worthy of her title. From now on, she will be removed from the title of Consort and demoted to an Imperial Concubine. She will be grounded for three months to reflect on her actions!”
Peng Man left with the decree.
And when the decree was passed on, the entire harem was shocked.
Consort Mei had been favoured for many years. Despite losing favour not long ago, His Majesty had also rewarded her with a heap of gifts on her birthday. So even though a small facial disfigurement occurred in the middle of their walk in the Royal Flower Garden after he accompanied her for lunch, shouldn’t he be sympathetic with her devastated outcome? And yet, why did he not console her, but demoted her rank instead?
Just because she became ugly, her status was downgraded?
His Majesty is too ruthless! QAQ
(T/N: QAQ is kind of like an expression. The two Q’s resemble teary eyes and the capital ‘A’ looks like an opened mouth)
It wasn’t until the next day that rumours gradually floated. It was said that Consort Mei was convicted because she killed a palace lady from the Fifth Princess’s palace and even injured said princess who went to ask for her maidservant.
It turned out that His Majesty still pitied her and did sympathise with her. Had this matter been done by any other, a demotion in rank would be way too merciful.
Everyone in the harem had different thoughts and opinions, but they all understood one fact.
Consort Mei was not a gentle and kind person in the slightest. After all, no one in this harem was any ‘cleaner’ than the other.
Some people were happy and some were worried about the demotion of Consort Mei into Imperial Concubine Mei.