The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 1, Pt 2 - Crossing

Wait a minute, the Emperor called her A Luo just now.  She wouldn't be the person she was reading about before...

Yuan Luo swallowed.  "Emperor, I just woke up and I can't remember clearly.  What year is it now?"

The Emperor was stunned for a moment.

The little eunuch next to her was very clever and immediately said, "Empress, today is the sixth day of November in the third year of Manifestation."

Manifestation! Yuan Luo smiled bitterly. Her previous hunch really had come true. She actually went into the book she had been reading!

She became the traitorous concubine Yuan Luo who had the same name and surname as her, but she died miserably! Yuan Luo shivered.

However, this was the third year of Manifestation, so it seems that there are still several years before she died.  Maybe there was still time to redeem herself.

Seeing that her face was blue and white, the imperial doctor was soon called in again to feel her pulse.

While her pulse was being examined, the hall was quiet.  Yuan Luo heard a dull and strange sound outside, which hadn't stopped since she woke up.

When the imperial doctor had finished his diagnosis and went to check the pulse table, she couldn't help asking, "What's the sound outside?"

The surrounding palace maids and eunuchs trembled and the Emperor said, "It's the palace servant who was serving you and let you fall into the pool. I let the Division of Punishment hit them with a board."

Yuan Luo was stunned. She got out of bed. The Emperor personally helped her out of the palace.

In the small square in front of the main hall, hundreds of palace people, men and women, were pressed on the ground being hit with boards. Many people were bleeding from their backs and legs. This should have been going on for a while.

With blood everywhere before her eyes, Yuan Luo turned around.  She had always had a problem with faintind due to the sight of blood.  She hurriedly said, "Emperor, this concubine has already awoken.  Please forgive these people."

"But these people have made mistakes and should be punished and killed. There are always new ones anyway," the young Emperor disagreed.

Fierce and cruel words came from that pure and delicate face. It was really... the tone of the Emperor's words, it was as if they were only a group of insects and not human life.

The evil ruling class...

Yuan Lou suddenly remembered something else.  There was an important bit of background in "Jing Lue Tian Xia", which was, the Emperor was a fool! That was why the government was so chaotic and the traitorous imperial concubine was in power. The Emperor was a stupid man, so he naturally was manipulated by the court officials.

Looking at the beautiful young man in front of her, Yuan Luo could hardly believe that he was a fool. She considered her words: "It's unlucky to kill. Since this concubine has woken up and is also blessed by the gods, why involve these palace people."

The Emperor turned his head slightly, seeming to be a little confused, but finally agreed. "A Luo has a point, so let them go."

Yuan Luo felt relieved. It seemed that the Emperor was not irretrievably brutal.

She began to tentatively ask a few questions. In her previous life, she had acquired some knowledge of psychology.  She started with the Emperor's daily diet and daily life, then gradually tested his IQ and temperment.  She quickly came to a conclusion.  Before her, the little Emperor Sikong Lin was really retarded. He was almost the level of a five or six year old child.

Bear children at this age are the most troublesome. They have obvious likes and dislikes and logic, but they have not yet empathized with the outside world. In other words, they have a certain understanding of the world and themselves, but the high-end feelings of compassion and empathy are far from enough.

A child with an IQ of only five or six years old sat in that supreme position. Thinking about that, Yuan Luo was full of despair for the future of this country. In history, Emperor Jin Hui, when he was a foolish Emperor, didn't the Rebellion of the Eight Kings happen?

Perhaps her expression of mourning was too obvious. The Emperor looked at her for a while and suddenly asked: "A Luo, are you still thinking about Shen Dong Liu?"

"Who is Shen Dong Liu?" Yuan Luo asked reflexively.

Not knowing if it was an illusion, the little Emperor smiled and said, "It's not an important person.  It's fine if you can't remember."

With that, the little emperor turned to urge the imperial doctor to boil the medicine quickly.

Then Yuan Luo saw how much this concubine was favored.  Unexpectedly, the Emperor personally brought the medicine bowl to her and helped her to drink it..

After confirming that Yuan Luo's body had not taken serious harm, the little Emperor left happily.

As soon as the little Emperor had left, Yuan Luo immediately called a close female official.

She was a round-faced girl named Si Xi, who was rather clever and well-behaved. Just before Yuan Luo had woken up, she served in front of the bed. She wasn't thrown outside to receive punishment like the rest. It was all due to the girl's good luck. A few days ago, because of the wind and cold, she had asked for leave and because she'd gotten sick, so she had only returned to work today.

"Tell me about what's going on in the palace."

Si Xi was no suspicions about Yuan Luo's command. The imperial physician had diagnosed that the imperial concubine's head was injured because she had fallen into the pool for too long, causing damage to her memory. She would need to rest well so she could get her memory back slowly.

"Don't worry, Empress, everything is peaceful in the palace. You have been in a coma for a full day and night and the Emperor has been here all day and night..."

After listening to Si Xi's brief report concerning the current situation in the palace, Yuan Luo's most urgent need was to know about the male lead. She turned the subject toward the topic of the previous dynasty. Si Xi replied readily: "Is the Empress meaning Gu Liang Yong, the rebellious minister?"

Suddenly Yuan Luo's heart shook hearing Gu Liang Yong mentioned.

"Don't worry, Empress. The old man was ambushed by Beirong troops in Northern Xinjiang. The news of the destruction of the whole army has spread all over the capital. A few days ago, discussions were already spreading about the Gu family's crimes.  Although it hasn't been decided yet, even if they don't execute the whole family and confiscate their property, they will at least demoted to untouchables," Si Xi said gleefully.

Then she lowered her voice: "By the time they are demoted to untouchables, Empress, it will be simple to knead them until they are flat and round."

Si Xi has long disliked Gu Liang Yong.

As a Zhenbei general, a second-rank military leader, and a senior member of the imperial court, he was known as a good border general, but unexpectedly he didn't want to win more battles.  Instead, he blocked the imperial court every day and, from time to time, he would advise the Emperor to distance himself from the concubine and perform his duties as a good minister.  He also tried to persuade the Empress several times, scolding her for causing trouble in the government and comparing her to Su Daji, which was rejected.  Is this the attitude you should have as a foreign minister?  Wasn't he just relying on his own hard work and meritorious deeds to hold onto military power?

Now that the border was overwhelmed, not only did he lose his life, but also implicated tens of thousands of elite soldiers at the border.  Enemy soldiers defeated the border cities and suddenly his reputation was discredited.  The Empress was finally able to release her resentment.

It's just... Si Xi quietly looked up at the Empress.  Gu Liang Yong's defeat was a bit strange.  Some people in the court suspected that military plans had been leaked in the north and they didn't know if the Empress somehow had a hand in that...

Of course, Yuan Luo, who read the original book, knew very well that Gu Liang Yong's defeat was the result of her secret manipulation.

Gu Liang Yong was an upright, straight-forward person, who was not involved with cliques and was loyal to the royal family.  Originally, Yuan Luo had wanted to take this person as her own and they would help each other.  Unexpectedly, he was not moved by her persuasion, but would instead repeatedly scold her.  This angered the original owner and she did not hesitate to resort to the trick of colluding with the enemy country to entrap him.

Gu Liang Yong was dead, so, "Gu's family is now..."

"The imperial court sent people to surround the Gu family. Now the Gu family is shut behind closed doors. Only two days ago, the little son of the Gu family went to the Qianqing palace and knelt in front of the hall. He begged the Emperor to give the Gu family another chance, to let him take the blame and go to battle to fight the enemy. His intention originally was to obtain a military order."

Si Xi whispered. Yuan Luo only felt very dark.

Heavens, this is when you let me cross over.  Why couldn't she have crossed over before his death?

She had also seen a lot of whitewashing in books.  The most important reason why the original villains are able to successfully wash themselves clean and embark on the peak of life was that they all return to the time before committing evil, they have time to discard the poison and medicine, tear up the love letter, stand up straight, and grasp the protagonist's golden thigh... But when she crossed over, the protagonist's family was already dead.

Yet how can she wash this?

Yuan Luo trembled and said: "Help this palace to stand and let's have a look at the Qianqing palace."