CHAPTER 16. Was Picked on

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Translator: Flying Lines

Mu Xiyue’s song shocked the empress and Concubine Xia. Their eyes popped out and they both were struck dumb.

Concubine Xia was red-cheeked with rage. She had meant to let Mu Xiyue make a fool of herself. Unexpectedly, Mu Xiyue did such a great job! Choked with resentment, Concubine Xia thought, “Mu Xiyue, I didn’t know you were that good! I really underestimated you! But wait. I won’t let you go!”

Nu Jiaha was surprised, too. He applauded again and again, grinning. “Haw-haw. Great! What a surprise! Your Highness, you really impressed me! I’m so jealous that your nation has such a great girl like you.”

Seemed like he became a true admirer of Mu Xiyue.  

Thanks to the song, Mu Xiyue was an overnight success throughout the imperial palace. She became, as a result, celebrity of Nanjing Dynasty.

Before, everybody thought Mu Xiyue was a useless woman. They looked down on her and purposely made thing difficulties for her. To everyone’s surprise, however, Mu Xiyue could play pipa and sang songs so beautifully.

Not only local people in the imperial palace were shocked, but the envoys were also disgraced for their arrogance.

From then on, all had a completely new appraisal of Mu Xiyue, the wife of the eldest prince Yinfeng. Long Yinfeng, without doubt, had a growing affection for her.  

Sadly, but obviously, Concubine Xia helped Mu Xiyue, though she had planned to disgrace her.

The envoys admired Mu Xiyue from the bottom of their hearts. But others didn’t. In their eyes, Mu Xiyue was still a woman who cheated on her ex-husband, regardless of the talent she showed. They didn’t want Mu Xiyue to live a better life. So, they tried to embarrass her, whenever there was a chance.

Possibly under someone’s instigation, imperial maids, who served Mu Xiyue, often played tricks on her. Purgative in her dishes. Snakes under her quilt. Spiders in her bed. And even a darning needle on her pillow or something like that.

Funny, but no detail was too small to escape Mu Xiyue’s attention. Anyway, she was from the 21st century. On TV, she saw quite a lot of costume dramas where concubines intrigued against each other in the imperial palace. She was familiar with such tricks as women always used. So, she asked her personal maid to pay attention every day.  

In fact, such tricks were no big deal to Mu Xiyue, considering her rich experience. After all, she was a doctor, skilled at traditional Chinese and western medicine. She could easily detect the purgative. What was more, snakes or spiders could be excellent ingredients of local herbal remedies. She once used them to make medicine. So, she showed no sign of fear.

Every time she survived when was picked on.

So many guys failed to play tricks on Mu Xiyue, which made Long Yichen’s concubines more upset.

Concubine Liu, as one of them, was ready to frame Mu Xiyue up.

One day, she bought one of Mu Xiyue’s maid off by bribery and asked her to secretly put an expensive hairpin in Mu Xiyue’s drawer. Then, the show was to put on.

Concubine Liu rushed to visit the empress. As soon as she arrived, she knelt down and begged, “Mother, defend me!”

It was her son’s concubine, and the empress couldn’t ignore her. She had to ask, “What happened? Get up and tell me.”

“Mother, you must defend me! Mu Xiyue is a thief! She stole my hairpin. You gave the hairpin to me when I married Prince Yichen.” Concubine Liu cried and explained, “I cherished it so much that I didn’t often wear it. Unexpectedly, Mu Xiyue stole it from!”

“How dare you! Do you have any evidence? She’s Prince Yinfeng’s wife. Why did she steal anything from you?” asked the empress harshly, but sounded like she wasn’t angry at all.

“That’s true! Mu Xiyue’s maid told me!” explained Concubine Liu, “Trust me, Your Majesty! Even if you don’t care for me, you should care for Prince Yichen. If others know it, they’ll gossip about him.”

She looked like a weeping beauty, which made the empress moved.

The empress thought about it carefully and replied, “Okay. Since you’re sure about it, I’ll go with you and have a look.”

Honestly, the empress didn’t consider for Concubine Liu, but because she always hated Mu Xiyue. She thought, “If Concubine Liu tells the truth, it’ll be a chance to strike Mu Xiyue. If she doesn’t, I won’t take the blame anyway. People won’t talk behind my back. Instead, they will think I care for juniors and are willing to find out the truth for them.”

The empress could achieve two things at one stroke and sure, she would do it.

Mu Xiyue was sitting in her palace, lost in thought when there came the voice of a eunuch. “Here comes the empress!”

Mu Xiyue hurriedly stood up to welcome them.

Before she greeted the empress, Concubine Liu yelled, “Search her room!”, and that freaked her out.

It took a few minutes before Mu Xiyue realized what happened and asked, “Why do you think you can search my room?”

“I allowed her.” said the empress calmly.

Mu Xiyue was confused. She lowered her head and replied, “But I don’t understand, Your Majesty!”

“Concubine Liu told me she lost one of her hairpins and she thought you had it. I think people will gossip if they know. I must vindicate you! So, don’t stop me. You know I’m helping you.”

The empress sounded fair, but in fact, she meant evil.

Mu Xiyue had no reason to argue back. She had no choice, but to let them search. She looked serious while Concubine Liu gave a smug smile, waiting for the result with confidence.

“Your Majesty, we didn’t find Concubine Liu’s hairpin.” one maid reported.

Concubine Liu looked dim and she yelled, “No way! How was it possible? Did you search it carefully? Go search it again!”

“Don’t bother.” Mu Xiyue replied, “You can’t find it here. I just caught a maid who hid an expensive hairpin. I didn’t think it was hers, so I locked her up. Oh, I see. It’s yours. Concubine Liu, please check it carefully before you come next time. Don’t always take gossip seriously.”

She added in a humiliating tone, “And you made trouble for Her Majesty. Even I feel shame on you!”

Concubine Liu was trembling with rage and totally lost face.

In fact, Mu Xiyue’s personal maid noticed that that maid was putting something in Mu Xiyue’s drawer and told Mu Xiyue about it. The latter immediately realized that it was a trap of Concubine Liu. So, she turned Concubine Liu’s trick to her own use. Well, she kind of took revenge already.

Soon, Long Yichen heard of it.

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