Little Pink Starfish

That Woman Named Jiang Sujian

“Enough,” Emperor Xianzhong waved impatiently at Gu Xingnuo. “She’s not dead, that’s what matters. You take her to Huguo Temple.”

Gu Xingnuo accepted the decree with a bow and left the imperial study, leading two eunuchs who half-carried the barely-conscious Zhao Yingqin out of the palace.

Back in the imperial study, Emperor Xianzhong sat in silence for a while, then suddenly ordered, “Summon the supervisors of the Ministry of Justice.”

The chief and deputy eunuch overseers of the justice ministry arrived in haste.

“What did Consort Hua do at the Ministry of Justice?” the emperor asked bluntly.

The two eunuchs froze. The emperor had never concerned himself with prison affairs before.

“Did you not hear me?” the emperor slammed his desk, voice sharp.

The two eunuchs immediately dropped to their knees, trembling. One of them stammered,
“Y-Your Majesty, when Consort Hua entered the prison… we—we dared not follow.”

The emperor stared at him, eyes cold and unmoving.

This particular eunuch had secretly passed messages to Consort Hua. Realizing he’d been caught, he prostrated himself, forehead to the floor.

“Drag him out. Beat him to death,” Emperor Xianzhong said coldly.

“Y-Your Majesty?!” The eunuch thought he had misheard.

The guards hesitated for only a moment, then stepped forward and hauled him away.

“Your Majesty! I was wrongly accused! Spare me! Your Majesty—!”

His shrill pleas faded as he was dragged out. The other eunuch still kneeling before the emperor trembled like a leaf in the wind.

“What exactly did she do?” the emperor snapped.
You think I don’t know? You think I’m just some doddering fool of an emperor?

The remaining eunuch, seeing no way out, confessed the truth.
“Consort Hua visited the Zhao girl… and used some kind of liquid to destroy her face.”

“Humph!” Emperor Xianzhong slammed the desk again, his fury growing.

The eunuch clung to the floor, wishing the earth would just open and swallow him whole.

“When did consorts gain the right to enter the justice ministry’s prison?” the emperor barked.

“S-She’s in charge of palace affairs now, so… so I allowed her to go…”

“Oh, so now you have an excuse?” the emperor snapped again.

“N-no, Your Majesty! I—I was wrong! I deserve death!”

“Then go die,” the emperor declared. “You chose to serve her instead of me—I’ll help you keep your loyalty.”

The eunuch, briefly hopeful, raised his head—only to hear the next words:
“Beat him to death!”

Two more guards stepped in, dragging the second eunuch away.

The entire room fell into an icy silence. The guards and eunuchs who remained didn’t dare so much as breathe.

Emperor Xianzhong sat heavily on his throne, pain throbbing in his liver.
Zhao Consort was a fake. Now Hua Consort, whom he’d thought honest and forthright, turned out to be just as venomous.

He remembered Zhao Yingqin’s mangled face and felt a chill deep in his heart. The woman he once trusted had become a snake.

“Strip Consort Hua of the phoenix seal,” the emperor said coldly. “Confine her to Xiangyun Palace. The Crown Prince is not to visit her without reason.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” a eunuch replied, voice trembling.

“Everyone else, out!” Emperor Xianzhong roared.

The remaining attendants filed out wordlessly.

A moment later, the sound of furniture smashing came from inside the study. None of the nearby eunuchs or guards dared step in.

The emperor collapsed onto his seat, eyes damp. In this empty, oppressive hall, he whispered a name:
“Sujian…”

That name—Jiang Sujian, his Empress, his first wife, the mother of his son and daughter. She had borne him children, stayed by his side while he chased every pretty face in the harem… and died far too young.

Now, when he thought of her, his heart cracked open. Where could he go to find her again?

---

In Xiangyun Palace, Consort Hua watched in disbelief as her lady-in-waiting handed the phoenix seal to a eunuch.

Only then did she grasp what had happened.

“What are you doing?! I want to see the emperor!” she shrieked.

The eunuch flinched, almost dropping the seal.

“You can’t take that! That’s mine!” she screamed again.

The eunuch didn’t dare answer, clutching the seal tightly as he turned to leave.

“Stop!” she cried, shoving her attendants aside. “I demand an audience with His Majesty! What crime have I committed?!”

The eunuch hesitated.

She glared at him. “I said—what crime?!”

The eunuch replied cautiously,
“His Majesty has just ordered the execution of both prison overseers.”

“What?” she gasped, struck dumb.

“I must take my leave, Your Grace.” The eunuch couldn’t even bow, the seal in hand too valuable.

Consort Hua collapsed to the floor.

How many years had it been since Emperor Xianzhong meddled in harem matters? And now he had stripped her of authority over the palace?

Her attendants rushed to help her up.

“Get away!” she roared.

They backed off in silence.

Consort Hua’s face twisted in fury and disbelief.
It must’ve been Gu Xingnuo. Who else would dare? That man has no fear—

For the sake of Crown Prince Yu Ziyi, the Gu family was now beyond restraint. An “outer minister” dares to meddle in palace affairs?

Consort Hua clenched her fists.
Very well… Let’s see who laughs last.