Chapter 287: Secrets of Consort Wan

Yin Su sighed and finally said, “I did manage to find out some things about Consort Wan, but the things they said… everyone’s so mad, it’s hard to make any sense of it.”

“You just give me the general story, that’s enough,” Yue Mingxuan replied.

He understood that information gathered from a group of lunatics would naturally be difficult to organize.

But at least such intelligence was absolutely real; there was no need to filter out unnecessary details.

The more insane a person was, the more likely they were to speak the truth.

Yue Mingxuan knew this very well.

Otherwise, he would never have agreed to let Yin Su go to a place like the Cold Palace.

He then leaned against Shang Qinghua and listened carefully as Yin Su began to relay the information she had gathered from the Cold Palace.

“All the concubines in the Cold Palace are indeed mad,” Yin Su began, “and some of them had seen Consort Wan before they lost their minds. Everyone says that Consort Wan rarely left her chambers, yet the Emperor adored her very much. But when she first entered the palace, the Emperor would go to her chambers every day, only to be turned away each and every day.”

“Turned away every day?” Yue Mingxuan was stunned.

Wow… you can actually do that?

Usually, if a concubine knew the Emperor would be visiting her that night, she would dress and prepare meticulously.

But Consort Wan? Not only did she refuse to prepare, she actually turned the Emperor away?

What a personality! He liked it!

Yue Mingxuan couldn’t help but admire her audacity.

How many women in history would have the guts of Consort Wan?

When the Emperor declares he’s going to visit, that’s the greatest honor.

To forcefully drive him away?

Few concubines would dare to do that.

But Consort Wan… she had real courage.

Then again, perhaps it was also a strategy.

What woman in the palace could escape the Emperor’s attention?

For someone like Consort Wan, with a slightly rebellious nature, perhaps this very behavior only made the Emperor pay more attention to her.

Yue Mingxuan didn’t know exactly what Consort Wan had been thinking back then, but at the very least, he could make two guesses.

Either she ignored the Emperor deliberately so she could focus on practicing her martial arts or she intentionally provoked the Emperor to increase his interest in her.

Either way, the fact that she had the courage to drive the Emperor out of his own chambers was impressive.

Yue Mingxuan felt a surge of admiration for Consort Wan.

A woman with such a strong personality was rare in this era.

He had heard that Consort Wan came from the Miao territories; coming from such a place, perhaps she also knew a little of the arts of witchcraft or sorcery, who could say for sure?

Thinking of the arts of witchcraft, Yue Mingxuan couldn’t help but recall that woman from the Wu family back then and the snake eggs of longing that she had given birth to.

Could there really be some connection between all these events?

“What happened after that?”

“This situation lasted for about a month. Eventually, the Empress Dowager could no longer tolerate it and asked Consort Wan to go to the back garden for a private conversation. It was only that night that the Emperor finally entered Consort Wan’s chambers,” Yin Su reported.

Sure enough, you still can’t win against the grandmother!

Yue Mingxuan’s mind replayed various dramas from his previous life.

Although, honestly, he hadn’t really watched that many dramas.

After all, as a military medic, he rarely had the leisure to indulge in such entertainment.

What filled his memories instead was the hot-blooded life of trekking through tropical rainforests alongside the army.

That life had been so exhilarating!

At the very least, compared to this oppressive palace, he preferred that life in the field.

That was why he had always wanted to escape this place.

If he were to spend his whole life here, he would inevitably go mad.

“Afterwards, Consort Wan didn’t show much unusual behavior. She simply avoided going out, and everyone thought she enjoyed solitude. But there was one incident, some palace attendant, for reasons unknown, suddenly barged into her chambers. At that moment, Consort Wan hid something behind her back, then, in a frenzy, struck the palace attendant with a single palm, sending them flying out. From that point on, Consort Wan herself went mad.”

So, it really was being interrupted during cultivation that caused her to become like this!

Shang Qinghua nodded while thinking that in the future, Yue Mingxuan must never be disturbed during practice.

“What happened to that palace attendant?”

“They were later dismissed from the palace. I heard that Consort Wan’s palm was extremely powerful. Although the attendant didn’t die, they nearly lost half their life.”

Yue Mingxuan nodded, so Consort Wan had indeed perished from a breakdown during cultivation.

But he felt these events were not the end.

The inscriptions in her tomb must have been carved by Consort Wan herself, other than her, he couldn’t imagine who else could have done it.

If it was truly Consort Wan, then it meant she was still alive while cultivating in her tomb.

And if she was alive, why would she be practicing in a tomb?

There had to be some secret here.

Something he hadn’t noticed.

No matter how hard he tried, Yue Mingxuan could not figure it out.

“Consort Wan’s coffin was probably empty from the start,” Shang Qinghua suddenly interjected as he tightening his hold around Yue Mingxuan. “The palace attendants said her coffin was very light. I suspect it was empty.”

“An empty ceremonial coffin!” Yue Mingxuan exclaimed.

If it wasn’t an empty coffin, the weight couldn’t have been so light.

But if Consort Wan was still alive, why would she need an empty coffin?

“That’s right. Consort Wan behaved in extremely strange ways. When she supposedly died, there were sometimes ’clattering’ sounds coming from the coffin,” Yin Su added suddenly, as if recalling something important.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep