The Empress had said that in sadly. She was a daughter of the Ding General Manor. No matter what happened to Ling Rui’er, it would involve her. If the Empress did not bother herself with this, others would say that she was cold-hearted. As such, she had to speak with the Emperor about this no matter what.

Furthermore, she had mentioned that she was a mother first and then an aunt. She had expressed clearly that she was first a part of the royal family, and then a member of the Ding General Manor. Given her understanding of the Emperor, he would definitely be moved by this.

The Empress’s eyes reddened when she spoke of what upset her. Tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes.

Perhaps it was because the Empress was speaking the truth. Emperor Zongwen leaned forward slightly and the way he looked at the Empress softened. He reached out to caress the Empress. Then, he said gently, “Subordinate Mo has already brought the matter up to me. Ling Rui’er is really a vicious woman. The women from your Ding General Manor have always been gracious and virtuous. What happened to Ling Rui’er? We don’t have to wait for Number One to come back. Demote Ling Rui’er to a Second Consort and rank her after the daughter from the Mo family.”

Emperor Zongwen was calm and his voice was not soft. However, it sounded like a resounding boom to the Empress. Demoting Ling Rui’er to become a Second Consort? And she was to rank after Mo Yarui? This was a slap in the Ding General Manor’s face. When the Empress thought of how there had not been a Second Consort among the daughters of the Ding General Manor in many years, she turned beet red.

There was a heavy weight on her chest and she felt embarrassed and ashamed!

She had thought that the Emperor might make Feng Yuxuan divorce Ling Rui’er. It was a fact that Ling Rui’er had made a grave mistake against the royal bloodline. However, the Emperor had been too kind. He was just going to let Ling Rui’er off like this. Yet, the Empress thought that this ending was more embarrassing than Ling Rui’er being divorced.

The Ding General Manor was proud that they only had legitimate children. They had never had any concubine-born children who were lowly in status. What did the Emperor mean by this?

“Ling Rui’er is right outside. Empress, take her back and teach her. Be strict with her. Have her stay in your palace these few days lest she should cause trouble in the manor while Number One is not around.” The Emperor did not wait for the Empress to raise her objections. He waved his hand and then lowered his head to read his files once more.

The Empress curtsied helplessly when she saw that the Emperor had made his decision. She was a little zoned out when she left and almost tripped at the high threshold at the entrance.

After leaving the imperial study, the maids and eunuchs waiting outside hurried over to help the Empress. The Empress stood there and calmed herself down. She looked up at the sun. It was burning hot. However, she felt icy cold all over. A freezing coldness rose from her heart and she felt as if she were freezing. She could not help but shudder.

The Empress’s personal maid realized that the Empress was behaving oddly, and she asked with concern, “Your Majesty, you…”

“I am fine. I am just tired. Let’s rest for a while.” The Empress said lightly.

The Empress stood at the door and only regained her color after a long while. She led the palace maids and eunuchs from the imperial study and walked down the stairs. She nodded at Ling Rui’er and a palace maid went up to help Ling Rui’er up.

Ling Rui’er felt as if her knees were going to break. She was itchy and in pain. She could not see what her face was like but she knew that there were long lines of red marks on her arms scratched by herself. Furthermore, these marks swelled up due to the sunlight. There were little red bumps on these marks as well and Ling Rui’er was very worried.

Ling Rui’er was delighted when she heard the Empress ordering her to get up and follow them. She thought that the matter had passed and she stood up with the help of a palace maid. She even felt that the palace maid was a little slow in helping her, so she kicked at the maid’s shin viciously. The maid was taken off guard. She screamed and then rolled down from the stairs and almost tripped the Empress who was in front of her.

The Empress stood by the side as if she had not seen any of this. She did not stop to ask questions but instead, she left with her servants without even looking back.

Mo Xuetong had not even arrived at her manor after leaving the Puguang Temple when she received a message from Feng Yuran. She was to enter the palace immediately. Mo Xuetong instantly understood what Feng Yuran was up to. She did not hesitate and instructed for the horse carriage to head to the palace.

After entering the palace, she led Mo Lan through the palace gates and went straight to the Emperor’s imperial study. She had not yet arrived at the entrance of the study when she saw the Empress heading in her direction. She hurriedly went to the side and bowed her head respectfully.

The Empress had her eyes closed and was resting on her palanquin. Her personal maid had seen Mo Xuetong standing there from a distance and whispered in the Empress’s ears. The Empress opened her eyes slightly and looked through the curtains of the palanquin at Mo Xuetong. She saw that Mo Xuetong was behaving respectfully. As such, she closed her eyes and gestured for the palanquin to continue forward without stopping.

She was not in the mood to make small talk with anyone at all!

The palanquin moved by slowly. Mo Xuetong lifted her head then and just as she was about to continue inward, she heard a mocking peal of laughter. “Consort Xuan is really respectful to my aunt, the Empress. It is a pity that my aunt is very busy and did not see your performance.”

Mo Xuetong looked up to see a disheveled person. Mo Lan did not recognize who the person was for her face was scratched up rather badly. The woman looked like a leper as her makeup had melted to reveal patches of red rash. Where the woman had sweated, there were also multi-colored patches of makeup. Mo Lan was startled and took a few steps forward to stand in front of Mo Xuetong. She yelled angrily. “Who are you? How dare you enter the palace looking like this?”

Ling Rui’er was gearing up for a fight when she saw Mo Xuetong and had completely forgotten how disheveled she looked. When Mo Lan asked her that question, she realized immediately how she looked and was ashamed and angry. She pushed away the palace maid helping her and raised her hand to slap Mo Lan. She yelled angrily. “You useless servant. How dare you speak to me like that?”

Mo Xuetong recognized Ling Rui’er then. She pulled Mo Lan back, avoiding Ling Rui’er’s hand. Mo Xuetong raised her eyebrows and said coldly, “Consort Chu doesn’t have to help me teach my maid a lesson. We are in the palace to meet His Majesty. Consort Chu should clean up a little.”

Then, she intentionally glanced at Ling Rui’er’s clothes with a shocked expression. Mo Xuetong then pulled Mo Lan back with her, looking as if she had seen a ghost. There was a startled expression on her little face as she pointed at Ling Rui’er. She was so frightened that she could not form a complete sentence. “Consort Chu, your, your face… what happened to your face?”

“My face?” Ling Rui’er had been too pleased earlier and then had assaulted a maid, pushing her off a high platform. She had felt slightly better after seeing the maid lie motionlessly at the end of the steps and being carted away by a few eunuchs. Then, the palace maid helping her after that had been very careful and did not even dare to say anything. As such, she did not remember the rash on her face.

When she saw Mo Xuetong’s expression, she raised her hand to touch her face subconsciously. She could feel the marks on her face and immediately screamed. “My face, my face…”

Then, she could not be bothered with Mo Xuetong any longer. She ran quickly after the Empress’s palanquin and yelled frightenedly. “Your Majesty, Aunty, Your Majesty. My face, my face…”

The palanquin moved slowly on a major path in the palace and did not stop because of Ling Rui’er’s frightened yells. Instead, two palace nannies came forward and blocked Ling Rui’er. They said coldly, “If Consort Chu still does not shut up, the Empress will send you to the Empress Dowager’s Cining Palace and let the Empress Dowager teach you how to behave yourself.”

They were in the Emperor’s residence and not even the Empress dared to yell and scream. Consort Chu really did not know the rules. If other consorts were to find out, it would bring great shame to the Empress. Ever since King Yan’s fall, the Empress had not been having a good time in the palace. The two nannies truly did not like Ling Rui’er who thought too highly of herself. She did not know to be considerate of the Empress’s status. As such, the two nannies were not nice to Ling Rui’er at all.

When Ling Rui’er heard that she would be sent to the Empress Dowager’s Cining Palace, she did not dare to scream anymore. The only thing she could think of was her face. Tears welled up in her eyes and she immediately pleaded. “Nannies, does my aunt have any good medicine to treat sunburns? I… My face is sunburnt.”

How was she going to vie for Feng Yuxuan’s affections if her face was disfigured?

“We have to go to the Empress’s palace to find out. Consort Chu, please follow us!” The two nannies followed behind Ling Rui’er and continued walking forward with her. They were afraid that she would cause more trouble. This Third Miss of the Ling family was not as outrageous before. Why did she become even more arrogant after her marriage?

She was just the consort of a King. Even if she were the Empress, she would still have to follow the rules!

Mo Xuetong watched on quietly as Ling Rui’er chased after the Empress’s palanquin like a madwoman. She saw two nannies with cold expressions on their faces climbing down from the Empress’s palanquin and blocking Ling Rui’er. Then, Mo Xuetong stopped watching them. There was a hint of a smile on the corners of her lips as Mo Xuetong continued walking into the palace with the help of Mo Lan. She still had things to deal with. Her younger sister was in trouble. If she was distracted by other random matters, others would grow suspicious of her.

There were always many people watching in secret in the palace.

They were very near to the imperial study. Mo Xuetong saw the imperial study after a short walk. Mo Xuetong had come to the palace this time without being called for. Fortunately, Feng Yuran had always entered the palace like this manner and had brought her to greet Emperor Zongwen a few times. So she had entered the palace without following the rules before. As such, it was not too overboard for her to do so this time.

However, because she had not been summoned this time, she could not let the eunuchs outside report her visitation like what they would do if it had been Feng Yuran. As such, she did not let anyone announce her arrival. Instead, she knelt outside the palace, following protocol, and waited for Emperor Zongwen’s summons. Mo Lan also hurriedly knelt by Mo Xuetong’s side with her head bowed.

It was already evening and the sun was setting. It was not as hot as before but the floor was still burning. A wave of hot air rushed up as Mo Xuetong knelt down, blurring her sight. She almost fainted but Mo Lan quickly held her upright. Mo Xuetong paused for a moment before breathing out a long and slow breath.

Mo Xuetong had only just knelt down when they heard the voice of a little eunuch running down from the palace. He stood in front of Mo Xuetong, panting, and waving the edict in his hands. His voice was sharp and loud. “His Majesty has summoned Consort Xuan in.”

“Yes, I will obey His Majesty’s summons.” Mo Xuetong kowtowed and replied. Then, she stood up with the help of Mo Lan and followed the eunuch into the palace.

Liu Xi went up to welcome Mo Xuetong with a smile at the entrance of the imperial study. He said politely, “Please come in, Consort Xuan.”

“Many thanks, Eunuch Liu.” Mo Xuetong said gently and gave the eunuch a small smile.

“Why are you thanking me? King Xuan came to tell His Majesty that you are not well and you cannot kneel for too long. I would be in the wrong if you fainted.” Liu Xi said with a smile that reached his eyes.