The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 8, Pt 1 - East China Sea King

Returning to the main hall, Yuan Luo crawled back into bed wanting to make up for lost sleep. When she woke up, she discovered that the day was already bright.

The treatment of the favored imperial concubine was good and no one cared about how long she slept in the Qianqing Palace hall. She lazily rose from the bed. Si Xi and several maid arrived to help her dress in a neat and orderly fashion.

Liu Xiu Chun entered and asked for instructions: "Is Empress returning to Zichen Palace to dine, or is she waiting here for the Emperor to conclude government affairs and have a meal together."

"The Emperor is dealing with government affairs?" Yuan Luo asked.

"Yes, East China Sea king and Prime Minister Wei are both in the front hall reporting matters to the Emperor."

Hearing East China Sea king’s name, Yuan Luo’s instantly became lively. This was her future number one enemy which would have to be handled. Just before she left the sleeping hall, she remembered another matter and asked: "Which of you is Yu Fang?"

Surprised, Liu Xiu Chun turned his head and beckoned. A fleshy ball came rolling in from outside the palace hall, laid on his stomach respectfully, and said: "The slave Yu Fang pays respect to the Empress."

Yuan Luo recognized the actor who performed with the theatrical troupe last evening. He was dressed in the clothing of a court eunuch, but his figure was only that of a small child. His face full of fat made him look like a dumpling, which was extraordinarily funny.

It was this clown who had made the suggestion to Sikong Lin that it would be fun to watch the imperial bodyguards fight to the death.

Yuan Luo’s complexion darkened: "This palace did not sleep well this past evening. It was all because the scenes we watch beforehand were much too noisy. What blame do you deserve?"

Yu Fang’s funny face stared at her blankly. The Empress Concubine had singled him out, but he thought it was so that he could receive a reward for his successful performance. He didn’t expect his actions would be denounced as a crime.

He had a smooth and sly temperament. Immediately he huddled into a ball and kowtowed repeatedly: "Empress, please forgive me. This slave will go back and immediately regulate the theatre troupe, so that the Empress will be sure to be satisfied next time."

"Next time," Yuan Luo sneered. "Presenting the order of the palace, this rubbish shall not wait up Qianqing Palace in the future."

This person was naturally cunning and charming and he came up with that kind of vicious plan, but she knew he was only a chess piece that someone had put into Qianqing Palace to deliberately instigate Sikong Lin to lose the hearts of his people. She was also disinclined to do a comprehensive investigation, so instead she simply and rudely wanted to remove the bad seedlings.

Yu Fang was shocked and he repeatedly kowtowed to humbly beg forgiveness.

Liu Xiu Chun could not help, but approach Yuan Luo. He whispered: "This sinful slave is rather nimble  and the Emperor is extremely fond of him. If he is nowhere to be found, it is very likely that it will be mentioned."

Yuan Luo became even more fed up with him and immediately said: "Then evict them from the palace as soon as may be. The Emperor will naturally have an explanation from this palace."

Liu Xiu Chun saw that Yuan Luo had already made up her mind and he dared not say more. In the eyes of a chief servant such as himself, Yu Fang was merely an amusement. There were many of his kind in the palace.

Immediately an imperial guard stepped forward, gagged Yu Fang, and dragged him out.

After solving that brief interlude, Yuan Luo entered the front hall.

On the throne in the front hall, Sikong Lin was sitting there, bored to death. Standing in the spacious front hall were twenty or thirty people, mostly old men with gray beards, arguing.

This is neither the first nor second time that the imperial concubine has interfered with politics and the people of Qianqing Palace are not surprised at her presence. The old men watched her enter the front hall and only raised an eyelid without having much to say on the matter.

Sikong Lin saw Yuan Luo enter and beckoned to her excitedly. Patting the seat beside him, he motioned for Yuan Luo to come and sit down.

Looking at the black looks from several of the old officials, Yuan Luo’s eyelids twitched. Instead of walking to Sikong Lin and sit beside him on the throne, she followed Liu Xiu Chun, who cleverly moved an embroidered seat next to the throne and she sat down on it.

Leaning over the throne’s carved dragon and coiled phoenix armrest, Sikong Lin rubbed against her side.  He giggled softly: "A Luo, did you see that, that old man's beard got knotted in the end..."

Before he had finished speaking, the next official raised his voice: "Your Majesty, this Gu family, how should be handle the remnants?"

Sikong Lin jumped in fright, raised his head, and stammered: "What does this prime minister mean?"

This was Prime Minister Wei, the official currently in power. Yuan Luo raised her head and looked at Prime Minister Wei. He was the head of the Wei family, the primary, aristocratic family, and was also the father of Empress Wei. In his fifties, he was born with kind brows and pleasant eyes. He had an immortal bearing worthy of being the man in power of the top aristocratic family.

Originally, he was the one who pledged his allegiance to the East China Sea king and he personally greeted him with troops. As a result, he was one step behind at a key moment and the remnant party left behind by the Emperor took the lead.

Although they didn’t have meritorious deeds to establish support, the Wei clan was still strong in the court and the rich and powerful, aristocratic families were headed by them.  At present, since Sikong Lin had still not taken firm control of governmental affairs, the major affairs of the court were controlled by their veterans. So the crafty and willfully, treacherous imperial concubine, Yuan Luo, did everything she possibly could to get a piece of the pie from them.

Yuan Luo’s gaze moved to the young man standing next to him, who had a long body. He ought to be the East China Sea king, Sikong Yan. His genetics were very good. His neatly trimmed eyebrows outlined handsome eyes and there was a natural elegance to his bearing. He wore the hereditary prince’s dark blue embroidered, silver dragon-patterned robe on his body, making the whole person more noble than the enthroned Sikong Lin. In theory, this person should be a more appropriate candidate for the throne than the demented Sikong Lin. But considering one’s own property and life, Yuan Luo absolutely cannot allow him to take that seat of honor.

Moreover, after reading the original book, she knew that compared to Sikong Lin, this high-ranking leader would have countless more buried and concealed crises in the future.

When her attention had returned to the court meeting, she heard an official say: "The Gu family crimes can’t be pardoned and the guilt of the remnants should also be discussed."

Yuan Luo took a breath and sighed. Speaking of it, Gu Liang Yong had also been pathetic enough. During his adolescence, Emperor Xianning had promoted the Han party. His meritorious deeds were magnificent and he was given the highest official position he could hold. He, unwilling to pass his responsibilities onto others, naturally did his best to become a leader. He was regarded as a thorn in the eye by East China Sea king and Prime Minister Wei, so Yuan Luo vigorously tried to entice him. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a hard-headed man, who disapproved of Yuan Luo’s many outrages under the favor of Sikong Lin and wished for the monarch's side to abolish this treacherous concubine with the laws and discipline of the imperial court. The two sides became enemies.

This kind of haughty yet genuine official’s final fate was that everyone shouted and struck out at him, his family was ruined, and there was no one to speak for him.

"Since Ai Qing said they should be killed, then kill them." Sikong Lin had an indifferent expression.  He had no interest in the affairs of the government and instead wanted to play.

"Not so fast," Yuan Luo said abruptly.

The Gu family's charges had all been settled and now several of Gu Liang Yong’s confidants and generals of the 4th and 5th rank were being discussed in the court. She remembered that these people were all experienced soldiers, so it was better to preserve their lives.

East China Sea king frowned and glanced at Yuan Luo on the embroidered seat.

Si Konglin heard Yuan Luo speak and immediately nodded: "The imperial concubine is right, so just let it go." There was a big difference between close and distant relatives and A Luo's words were naturally more reasonable than those annoying old men.