The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 2, Pt 2 - Rumors

Yuan Luo felt that she couldn't wrap her mind around what was said, so she quickly got out of bed and went out the door.

She saw the boy being dragged to the front of the hall by two guards preparing to bow his head to thank her.

She chuckled inwardly.  The court etiquette was so abnormal. The master punished you and, as a subordinate, you have to kowtow when the punishment is over and thank the master for teaching you.

But this process was obviously not going well. It's not that Gu Yi was resisting. In fact, the young man's face was pale and his eyes were blank. Compared with his embarrassed but murderous eyes in front of the Qianqing Palace, Gu Yi's current state was obviously not far from death!

The two guards were also trying to get the half-dead boy into a kneeling position.

Yuan Luo's eyebrows twitched when she saw what they were doing and she decisively ordered: "What you're doing is unnecessary. First, find a place to settle him, then find a doctor to come and have a look at him." No one should die like this.

With the imperial concubine's order, the two guards quickly dragged the person away.

Yuan Luo could not feel at ease and specifically ordered Si Xi to go to the imperial doctor who was a close friend and have him take good care of the boy.

After a busy meal, she sat by the bed and smiled bitterly. She didn't know whether her decision at that time was right or wrong. She knew from the original book that Gu Yi was a man with clear gratitude and resentments. If he has grudges, he will settle them to the end. If he has obligations, he will definitely repay them.

For those who have both kindness and revenge, they usually repay kindness first and then revenge. Well, this is also a weakness worth exploiting...

Putting Gu Yi’s affairs aside for the time being, Yuan Luo went to the study and carefully recalled the plot of the original book.

Because the setting of the original story was placed all on the borders, the imperial court was only occasionally mentioned in news which was received from the capital.  The news was about nothing more than the treacherous imperial concubine, who relied on her love and made her own Heaven and earth out of the once prosperous Dynasty, which declined day by day making people unable to make a living.

Thinking of the original owner’s life experiences as the imperial concubine still made Yuan Luo sigh.

This matter should have begun from the previous generation of Emperors.  The Tianyu Dynasty had been established for decades.  The previous Emperor, Xianning, was called wise and powerful.  During his reign, he reduced the need for enforced labor and built a water conservancy, which was a time of great peace and prosperity for the country, but this peace did not extend to the selection of his heir.  Emperor Xianning originally wanted his eldest son as the Crown Prince, but after the Prince entered the court, his political views were at odds with Emperor Xianning. Emperor Xianning was a staunch Reformer.  He wanted to limit the power of the aristocratic families and promote the poor children and common people, sparing no effort to open the imperial examinations and reform the government.  However, the Prince was close with the wealthy, aristocratic families and was a firm Conservative.

With the estrangement between father and eldest son, Emperor Xianning had the idea of changing the Crown Prince and wanted to establish his beloved Third Prince as the Crown Prince and carry out his cause for Great Reform.

The Crown Prince became aware of the news in advance, so he was naturally unwilling to sit back and wait for death. So three years ago, a bloody palace change took place in the capital. With support of the powerful, aristocratic families and nobles, the Crown Prince led an army against the palace to kill the Third Prince who was competing with him for the throne and several innocent attendants were also not spared. Afterward, he was defeated by reinforcements urgently recruited by Emperor Xianning. In great turmoil, the capital became a Xiuluo field where the two armies fought and the entire imperial city was stained red by the blood of the palace people.

In the end, the Crown Prince also died in the rebellion.  Emperor Xianning, who was already in poor health, was terrified when he heard the grievous news. Unable to handle the shock, his life was in imminent danger and he soon passed away.

For a while, the entire imperial court panicked and the princes under the knees of Emperor Xianning all rushed to the street.

The Sikong clan of the Tianyu imperial family originally had very few heirs. Someone must inherit the throne.

Fortunately, Emperor Xianning also had a younger brother who was granted the East China Sea kingdom and became a vassal in the southeast.  More than ten years ago, that East Sea King died prematurely of an illness, but he left a noble son, Sikong Yan, who now inherits the throne of the East Sea King.
Without a direct descendant prince to ascend the throne, a nephew may be possible.

The aristocratic families immediately dispatched a large brigade of men and horses to meet the new emperor in the fief of the East China Sea King.

When a throne falls from the sky, the king of the East China Sea will naturally not refuse.

However, when the king of the East China Sea arrived in the capital he was dumbfounded.

The throne had been inherited!

The Fifth Prince of Emperor Xianning inherited the throne. It was at that time that the officials remembered that Emperor Xianning still had a surviving prince.

The life experience of the Fifth Prince, Sikong Lin, was also quite special.

He was the prince born to imperial concubine De. This imperial concubine was born with a prominent birthmark and had a beautiful appearance. She was originally very popular in Emperor Xianning's harem.  Soon after entering the palace, she became pregnant with a male heir, but it is a pity that things like that are unpredictable.  During her pregnancy, Concubine De's family was involved in the rebellion of the king of Changsha and the family was ransacked and annihilated.  After hearing this news, Concubine De's fetus became unstable and she gave birth to the Fifth Prince early.

Originally, as he was concerned about the reputation of the Fifth Prince, the Emperor did not implicate Concubine De because of the actions of her family.  Who knew that the Fifth Prince would be unable to speak until he was almost two years old. After close examination by the imperial physician, unexpectedly the young Prince was diagnosed to be a fool.

At that time, Emperor Xianning became angry. It must be Concubine De’s luck to give birth to this kind of imbecility. Remembering the rebellion of Concubine De’s family, he simply sent the mother and son out of the palace and ordered the concubine to pray in front of the Buddha, repenting her mistakes.

Ever since, the pitiful Concubine De and her son have stayed in that lonely mountain temple. After staying in the temple for more than ten years, the harem and court completely forgot about the existence of the mother and son.

Life in the mountain temple was extremely difficult. Inside the Buddhist temple, there were many people who wore red and white hats. The Concubine De and her son were denounced for their crimes, making their lives exceedingly unendurable.

During some of the most difficult times, Concubine De had to personally go to the rear courtyard and till the soil so she could plant some vegetables and fruits to fill their stomachs. Sikong Lin, a foolish son, grew up in such a harsh environment.

And he became acquainted with Yuan Luo during this childhood.

Yuan Luo was the daughter of a hunter who lived at the foot of the mountain. Although she was born in a poor family, she was blessed with a beautiful appearance. She also followed her father and brother up the mountain to hunt and developed good martial arts. Seeing Concubine De and son, Sikong Lin, living in the Buddhist temple, she took pity on them and often sent prey to help them. It was only at that time that Concubine De and son could eat some meat.

Who would have imagined that one day things would look up.  Concubine De and son, who originally thought that they were going to suffer in the Buddhist temple for a lifetime, would unexpectedly be required to return to the palace one day. Yuan Luo also ascended to Heaven with the poultry and dogs[1] and was taken to the court by Sikong Lin. If not for the opposition of the court, Sikong Lin wished to make Yuan Luo his imperial consort.

From this story, it could also clearly be seen that Yuan Luo was considered lucky.  She went from a commoner to an imperial concubine.

But after Yuan Luo entered the palace, her days were not happy.  She was born into a hunter’s family and was incompatible living in the palace. She knew nothing about the four arts, songs or poetry and she was incapable of integrating into the popular entertainment of the harem, namely, music, feasting, flower appreciation, and painting.
In that era, there were clear distinctions between aristocratic families and poor families. The selection and appointment of officials was based on the nine-rank Zhongzheng system.[2] Aristocratic children had official positions bestowed on them at birth, while those born of poor and humble origins endured a lifetime of hardship unable to reach higher than the sixth or seventh grade rank. In particular, high officials above the third grade couldn’t even allow poor children to get involved.

The situation in the harem was exactly the same. Most of the high-level concubines were from aristocratic families, while poor women could only become low-level nobles, beauties, talents, and so on. Who would have thought that the so-called poor family at least had a way to become noble and Yuan Luo, even though born of a hunter’s family, was far from being regarded as poor.

So with this background, Sikong Lin conferred the title of imperial concubine on her and she naturally became the target of the imperial concubines in the harem.  Simply, she needed to be ousted. Seemingly, she had been in a coma and fallen ill for several days, yet not a single dignified concubine from the harem had bothered to visit her by this point.

She thought about the Gongdou dramas she had seen in the past. Ruyi had Hai Lan[3], Zhen Huan had Mei Zhuang[3], and even Wei Ying Luo had her white moonlight[4]. Yuan Luo was an imperial concubine and unexpectedly she didn’t even have a plastic flower sisterhood[5]. It’s no wonder Yuan Luo, a young girl, became a psychopath, ending up as a treacherous imperial concubine who was truly gone forever.

Yuan Luo lamented the importance of psychological education during the rebellious period.

Luckily, she had crossed over and could take care of things. As a modern woman who was born in New China and grew up under the red flag, her physical and mental health had developed well. Naturally, the first priority was to whitewash the concubine and mold her new life into a warm and virtuous imperial concubine.

How to start? Yuan Luo was deep in thought and really wanted to send out a post to ask.

"Empress, what are you looking for?" Si Xi asked carefully.  She had gone out to visit the imperial garden and saw the Empress doing a strange action for the fourth time.

"Oh, nothing," Yuan Luo responded as she dropped her hand from her waist with a calm expression.

Not like she could help it, but in times of crisis, she invariably would look for her cell phone in her pocket.

Alas, old habits are hard to change!

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TN:
[1] "poultry and dogs rise to Heaven" is an idiom meaning to ride on someone else’s success
[2] The nine-rank Zhongzheng system was an important system for selecting officials used in the Wei, Jin, Southern, and Northern Dynasties.
[3] Refers to "Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace," a 2018 Chinese drama
[4] Refers to "Story of Yanxi Palace," a 2018 Chinese drama
[5] slang: women who claim to be best friends but actually do not act in the best interest of each other