I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 520 Cave Heaven Paradise
“Not only that.” Consort Chun tightened her fingers, tearing off a section of the slender leaf, which made Qingyi’s eyelids twitch.

The master usually cherishes this orchid the most and takes care of it personally. He feels heartbroken if he finds even a single wormhole on the leaf. Today, however, he cruelly tore off most of it.

She carefully picked it up, but then heard Consort Chun order, "Throw it away along with the flowerpot."

Qingyi looked up in surprise: "Your Majesty?"

After cherishing you for so long, are you really going to just throw it all away like that?

"What is not yours will never stay." Consort Chun glanced at the flowers on the windowsill one last time, then turned and left, her blue shawl fluttering lightly, like drifting clouds in the sky.

In the sweltering heat of July, at the Emperor's suggestion, the Empress Dowager planned to take Princess Huirong to the Summer Palace for two months, returning when the autumn air was crisp and clear. The eldest princess, accompanied by the young prince and the eldest prince, went with her.

After waking from his afternoon nap, the emperor went to the Wenhua Hall. Chu Liuzheng, who had spent the morning reviewing the memorials of greeting, refused to accompany the emperor. After seeing the emperor off, he ordered someone to move a rattan chair to the shade of a tree, where melons and fruits chilled with well water were placed nearby, within easy reach.

Two palace maids stood behind the ice basin, fanning the rattan chair and sending a gentle breeze towards it.

Chen Xing brought over the latest novels, and Chu Liuzheng casually picked one up to flip through. He had only read two pages when a palace maid came to report that Consort Zhu was requesting an audience.

She raised an eyebrow in surprise.

[Why is the beauty, who is only just recovered from her illness, not resting properly at Qiushui Zhai, but instead running to Yangxin Hall?]

She closed the storybook and looked up into the distance.

A woman in a green dress stood under a parasol, her figure slender as a willow, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.

Wow, how did you get so thin, Zhu Meiren?

"His Majesty is in the Wenhua Hall." She turned her gaze away and was about to continue reading the storybook when she heard a palace maid say, "The one who requests an audience with Consort Zhu is you, young lady."

What do you want to see me for?

Chu Liuzheng frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and then ordered a palace maid to invite the person over.

"Greetings, young lady." Approaching her, the beautiful lady bowed respectfully, her head bowed low.

Chu Liuzheng: ?

Why are you being so respectful to me when I have no rank or status? Even the beautiful Lady Zhu didn't treat me like this before.

She couldn't lie still any longer, so she got up and ordered someone to bring a stool for Consort Zhu to sit on.

It was hot, so she casually grabbed a brocade fan from beside the fruit plate and fanned herself. Looking at the much thinner beauty, she asked, "What brings you here?"

Her gaze swept quickly over the exquisite embroidery on the round fan. Zhu Meiren lowered her eyelashes and said softly, "I wish to see His Majesty. Please help me, young lady."

Chu Liuzheng: ? ? ?

Am I some kind of ladder to meet a tyrant?

"His Majesty is in the Wenhua Hall. You can go and request an audience." No need to go through me; I'm not the emperor's gatekeeper!
"I have already gone, but His Majesty is busy with state affairs and has no time to see me." Consort Zhu slightly raised her eyes. "I thought that telling you would be much the same, Miss, I..."

"I dare not accept such praise, my beauty," Chu Liuzheng quickly interrupted her. "How could we possibly fathom the Emperor's will?"

What do you mean you're telling me it's the same? It's completely different! Who dares to be a tyrant?!

“Miss, you misunderstand,” Zhu Meiren explained. “I was seriously ill a few days ago. Although I’m better now, I still feel weak and tired. I guess I haven’t been able to get rid of the root of the illness.”

“I asked the imperial physician, who said that my illness requires rest and recuperation, which could take anywhere from one or two months to three or five years. So I thought I would ask to go to Muxu Palace to recuperate.”

Chu Liuzheng was taken aback and looked up to examine the beauty in front of him.

Muxu Palace was a temporary palace built on Danfeng Mountain by the founding emperor of the Great Sheng Dynasty. It has a natural hot spring, and it is said that those who are chronically ill and weak can replenish their vital energy by soaking in it often.

After several generations, Muxu Palace gradually became a place to house childless imperial concubines and provide them with a place for quiet contemplation. Many meditation rooms were added inside, and two imperial concubines still live there today.

Although it was indeed a good place to recuperate, and much better than the austere Jianping Palace, it still couldn't compare to the treatment in the imperial palace. None of the concubines who went there ever returned.

How is Consort Zhu's statement any different from requesting to be banished to the Cold Palace? Chu Liuzheng asked, "Have you... thought it through?"

May the beautiful lady nod gently.

Seeing this, Chu Liuzheng thought for a moment and ordered Chen Xing to make a trip and take her to the Wenhua Hall.

"Thank you." Zhu Meiren stood up, curtsied to Chu Liuzheng, and then turned to leave with Chen Xing.

Watching her receding figure, Chu Liuzheng pursed his lips slightly.

[The first one was actually Consort Zhu; she was clearly terrified by the tyrant.]

She reopened the storybook, but found it hard to continue reading. So she simply tossed it aside, lay down on the wicker chair, and swayed with it, watching the trees, the sky, and the clouds.

Sigh, those carefree days are numbered.

Before long, Chenxing returned, bringing with him a message: the Emperor had granted Consort Zhu permission to go to Muxu Palace to recuperate.

The next day, Consort Zhu left, as lightly as a breeze, yet she stirred up ripples in the seemingly calm waters of the harem.

Two days later, Consort Du came to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to request an audience, saying that she had contracted a cough and wanted to go to the Palace of Absorption to recuperate.

If this person went to Muxu Palace, wouldn't they build a harem?

With mixed feelings, Chu Liuzheng ordered someone to take her to the Wenhua Hall to see the emperor.

The emperor granted permission.

Three days later, Consort Wang and Consort Pan arrived together, requesting an audience with Chu Liuzheng.

Chu Liuzheng, who was eating melon seeds in a side hall of the Wenhua Hall: "..."

The main hall is right next door, do these two really need to go through a roundabout way to achieve their goal?
She's really not the gatekeeper!

After sipping tea to cleanse her palate, she ordered someone to invite the two talented ladies in. Upon hearing their names, she discovered that one had a headache and the other a backache, and both wanted to go to Muxu Palace to recuperate. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Muxu Palace was some kind of paradise.

After the emperor finished meeting with his ministers, Chu Liuzheng simply took them to see the emperor himself, intending to have a discussion with him about whether they could meet directly from now on.

Xiao Jingfan readily agreed to the request from Consort Wang and Consort Chu, and even handed over the Empress's Phoenix Seal to Chu Liuzheng, giving her full authority over the affairs of the inner palace.

That means that in the future, if any concubines request to resign, they won't need to go through him; he can arrange it directly.

Chu Liuzheng, who inexplicably found himself with a new job: "..."

One by one, within a month, only three concubines remained in the entire harem: Consort Chun, Noble Lady Dou, and Consort Xie.

Sending them back and forth would be a waste of manpower and resources, so Chu Liuzheng simply packed everything up, arranged carpooling, and made sure there were plenty of guards to escort them along the way. He also sent someone to notify Muxu Palace in advance to clean up the place and send all the necessary allowances to each person.

Gradually, the once quiet Muxu Palace became a place where several mahjong tables could be set up.

Such obvious movements could not be concealed from the previous dynasty, and Xiao Jingfan did not intend to hide them either. As a result, a flood of remonstrances almost buried him, and even an imperial censor delivered a passionate speech at the court assembly, his spittle flying for miles.

Unfortunately, the emperor was stubborn and wouldn't listen.

Many officials hoped that the Grand Tutor would step forward, but the Grand Tutor acted as if he knew nothing about it, taking a month of sick leave and not attending court at all.

The emperor left the palace and personally visited the Grand Tutor's residence, where he played a game of chess with the Grand Tutor before leaving. From then on, the Grand Tutor's residence closed its doors to visitors, refusing to see anyone.

The following evening, Consort Chun sent Qingyi to Wenhua Hall to invite the Emperor to have dinner at Maohua Palace, and the Emperor agreed.

Thus, Chu Liuzheng himself became the one having dinner in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Eating alone is never as lively as eating with someone. She was about to ask Chenxing and Siyue to sit down and eat as well, but when she turned her head, she saw the two of them exchanging glances.

(End of this chapter)