Luck Reliant Beauty – CH 076

Chapter 76: The Empress’s Fear

Meanwhile, in the Emperor’s palace.

For a full two weeks, the Empress had locked herself in her courtyard, not venturing out an inch.

She had never been so angry nor so afraid!

Empress Wu had become the current empress three years ago. Because both the Empress Dowager and the Consort were from the Wu family, the eldest daughter of the Wu family wielded immense influence among the young ladies of Shu Capital!

How terrifying was this power? Back then, all the young ladies of Shu Capital depended on her for survival. Two families’ innocent daughters, having offended her, were collectively ostracized by the entire Shu Capital after Empress Wu spoke of it. Unable to endure this treatment, their families were forced to exile them from Shu Capital. Later, both young ladies chose to hang themselves! The cause was nothing more than a few words exchanged between one and Empress Wu over a single point of view and the other winning the heart of the man Empress Wu admired at the time.

After those two young ladies, the noblewomen of Shu Capital trembled with fear at the sight of Empress Wu. Later, after she became Empress, a single, casual remark could ruin a woman’s future.

So, Empress Wu had truly lived a life of arrogance!

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Now, Empress Wu sat blankly by the window for half a month, searching daily for the cause of everything, for the reason why she and her family had fallen into such dire straits.

She simply couldn’t understand how the Wu family, the most powerful family outside of the Emperor’s clan, could suddenly become so wretched overnight.

How did it all happen? Yes, it started when she summoned that country bumpkin Jiang Mi to the palace. That Jiang Mi, with her wretched mother and her own humble origins, was nothing but a piece of trash in her eyes… not even worthy of being called a servant. After all, all the servants around her were those who had caught her eye.

That country bumpkin entered the palace. Yes, she actually didn’t want to offer up the fragrance recipe. This infuriated her. She thought to herself, “These past few years, I’ve become increasingly benevolent as Empress. First, there was Zheng Wen, and now this Jiang Mi—one after another, they dare to defy me!”

She was truly enraged. However, she restrained herself. She ordered a palace maid to take the country bumpkin out to sober her up. What happened next? Well, later, the eldest son of the Cui Clan of Boling arrived, and he immediately took Jiang Mi away. The words, implied and unspoken, insulted her, the current Empress!

Empress Wu was furious. She longed for the days when those so-called powerful clans of the Five Noble Houses and Seven Surnames were absent from Shu.

Fueled by this anger, she decided to teach that country bumpkin a lesson. So she summoned Li Fu.

After the incident, Li Fu reported to her. He said he intended to throw the country bumpkin into that “leper colony.” She was infuriated. Could such a filthy place be used to punish that country bumpkin? Empress Wu cursed Li Fu as a pig brain. He couldn’t even throw someone in the right place! There were brothels to throw her into; why choose that leper colony!

And then… what did Li Fu’s men say? Yes, they said… They carried the unconscious Jiang Mi to the leper colony but were frightened by ghost fires on the way and threw her into a ravine… Then, Li Fu and her little sister happened to encounter Jiang Mi, who had escaped and returned…

Thinking it over, Empress Wu couldn’t see any clear connection between Jiang Mi’s supposed good luck in this whole affair. It was all just that Li Fu and her little sister were two idiots who couldn’t handle things properly. Li Fu couldn’t even choose the right people to do things; this grown man actually got scared by ghost fires. Her little sister was even more foolish. If she was going to frame that country bumpkin, why was she running around with that bastard child who seemed to have a sow’s maniac?

The Empress, lost in thought, couldn’t help but whisper to her nanny, who looked back with concern, “Ma, why am I so afraid?”

The Empress murmured, “This shouldn’t be. I’ve killed countless people, and I’ve never believed in retribution. Why am I so afraid this time?”

Not far away, a palace maid of about twenty-three or twenty-four, overhearing this, lowered her head and thought, “Because you’ve done so many frightening things, now it’s just karmic retribution coming!”

When the Empress asked the nanny again, the nanny whispered, “Your Imperial Highness, perhaps you’re afraid that the Cui Clan of Boling’s Zi Xuan will retaliate?”

The Empress shook her head, stammering, “I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s… I only know I’m so scared right now, but why am I so scared?”

This not-so-bright Empress Wu clearly didn’t understand… She hadn’t realized that her fear stemmed from the fact that the powerful figures whose relatives had been saved by Jiang Mi had actually believed Jiang Mi’s words and considered her maternal family, the Wu clan, as the true culprits in the kidnapping!

Empress Wu also didn’t know that her fear was even more profound because, in the eyes of the powerful figures and the Five Noble Houses and Seven Surnames led by the Cui Clan of Boling, the Emperor could see their disdain for the Wu clan… Empress Wu had never won the Emperor’s favor to begin with… Now that her family was unstable and she was disliked by everyone, the Emperor naturally considered replacing her with a woman more capable of ruling the country.

…

Not only was Empress Wu afraid, but Lady Li Wu, now banished to the ancestral hall for life and condemned to eternal mourning, was also trembling with fear!

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In just half a month, Lady Li Wu had become unrecognizable. Her once arrogant eyes, which had treated human life with contempt, were now filled with despair and disbelief. Like the Empress, she reflected on the events of half a month ago day after day, unable to believe that she had actually lost!

Like Empress Wu, Lady Li Wu wasn’t particularly intelligent. While Empress Wu was greedy, Lady Li Wu was ruthless. Yes, she was ruthless, not insidious, because Lady Li Wu didn’t have the intelligence to plot. She simply enjoyed seeing people’s expressions of fear and despair and was used to being vengeful! She was truly vengeful; if anyone dared to glare at her, she would absolutely kill their entire family!

Lady Li Wu just couldn’t understand how someone as glamorous, successful, and high-ranking as her had fallen to this state of being neither alive nor dead. She truly couldn’t understand…

…

Jiang Mi followed Cui Zi Xuan out of the mansion.

Because she dared not resist Cui Zi Xuan, Jiang Mi not only didn’t take a carriage this time but also didn’t wear a hat. She walked hand in hand with Cui Zi Xuan, happily strolling down the wide, bustling streets of Shu Capital… Of course, the word ‘happily’ described how Jiang Mi appeared to others.

Held tightly by Cui Zi Xuan’s hand, Jiang Mi walked slowly down the street, unaware that on the opposite side of the street, Fan Yuxiu and several other young ladies were staring blankly at her and Cui Zi Xuan’s tightly intertwined figures, rubbing their eyes frantically.