Qingyang Gongzhu told Heshou Xianzhu about Third Lord Qiao's involvement in the rebellion.
Heshou was really surprised when she heard this news. "Rebellion? How could it be possible?" How could San Shu be involved in the Crown Prince's rebellion plan when there was no such thing in her previous life?
Qingyang Gongzhu explained, "Your San Shu has already confessed. What we have to do now is found out how to remove ourselves cleanly so that your Father and Gege is not going to get implicated too."
Heshou Xianzhu gnashed her teeth and accused, "This is certainly the work of the Han family, right? This act by the Han family truly wants to quickly kill my Qiao family."
Qingyang Gongzhu always thought that Heshou was clever, but now she found out that this daughter of hers was too stupid. "After you made those people go to the Han family to commit murder and arson, the Han family and Qiao family naturally become mortal enemies." Since they were now enemies, it was natural to kill their enemy with their own hands. Who would still want to show mercy towards their enemy, right?
Heshou's face turned pale. She really didn't expect things to end up this serious. She hurriedly asked, "Mother, what should we do now?"
Qingyang Gongzhu was not in panic mode right now. She knew Heshou had helped the 9th Prince. If he came forward in this matter, it was not a problem to save their family. As for the rest of the Qiao family, she couldn't control it. "Did you really do that matter to the Han family? Tell me, why did you do it?"
Heshou tried to measure the gains and losses if she decided to tell the truth.
Qingyang Gongzhu was extremely furious, "Even by this time, you still don't want to say anything. Do you want your whole family to be killed by you before you're willing to say anything?"
Heshou couldn't say that Yuxi was the same as her. Since the Emperor praised her as auspicious, wouldn't it mean Yuxi was the same too? [+]
When Qingyang Gongzhu looked at Heshou looking like this, she remembered the rumours spreading outside. Thus she suddenly asked, "Is it because Han Yuchen will become the woman favoured by the 9th Prince that's why you want to kill her? There are ways to kill Han Yuchen, and yet, you have to use the stupidest way."
Heshou immediately shook her head and answered, "No." She was trying to get someone to kill Han Yuxi in the chaos while taking Han Yuchen's life along the way. This had nothing to do with the 9th Prince even in the slightest.
Qingyang Gongzhu asked suspiciously, "If it's not for that reason, then why did you do it? Today, you have to give me a clear explanation on this."
Heshou now realised that she had dug a hole just to bury herself in. Han Yuxi had always been quiet and hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. Even if she outwardly said that Han Yuxi was an evil spirit, others would only say that she just bit anyone at random. Hence, no one would believe her words without question.
Qingyang Gongzhu really wanted to slap Heshou again, but she would endure her anger for now and inquired, "You caused this matter, and only you can solve it. Have you met the 9th Prince in the past two days?"
Heshou knew what her mother meant. "Ninth Ge doesn't want to see me."
After a moment of silence, Qingyang Gongzhu asked, "What does the 9th Prince mean to you?" She knew Heshou's thoughts. If the 9th Prince could marry Heshou as his Zheng Fei, she would happily see it happen. So she never prevented Heshou from getting in touch with the 9th Prince.
In fact, Qingyang Gongzhu was aware that Heshou could hardly become the 9th Prince's Zheng Fei with the Qiao family's family background. Qingyang Gongzhu really thought that even if Heshou couldn't become the Zheng Fei of the 9th Prince, she could still become his Ce Fei. As long as she got along well with the 9th Prince, being his Ce Fei was no worse than being his Zheng Fei.
Hostility flashed in Heshou's eyes. "The 9th Prince said that he could accept me as his Ce Fei, but I refused." She was unwilling to be inferior in rank with Yu Xiyu.
With a cold expression, Qingyang Gongzhu asked, "Now, do you think you have a second way besides marrying the 9th Prince?" Seeing that He Shou didn't understand what she meant, she directly pointed out, "You're the Prince's lucky charm. Do you think the Imperial Family would let you marry down to someone else?" That was one of the reasons why Song Guifei would intercede for Heshou.
Heshou wanted to marry the 9th Prince, but she wanted to be Zheng Fei, not his Ce Fei.
When Qingyang Gongzhu looked at Heshou, she knew that Heshou still had extravagant hopes for the 9th Prince. "For you to be his Zheng Fei, no need for you to think anymore about it. If the 9th Prince had the heart, he would have mentioned it to the Emperor a long time ago, and he won't have to wait until now to do it." [+]
Heshou Xianzhu stated, "Mother, I don't want to be his Ce Fei." She was the daughter of a Gongzhu. How could she just be a concubine and unable to wear the bright red wedding dress for the rest of her life?
Qingyang Gongzhu looked at Heshou and said, "If you don't marry the 9th Prince, you can only be an oil lamp before the statue of Buddha for the rest of your life."
Heshou Xianzhu asked while feeling puzzled, "What does Mother mean by this? What do you mean by if I don't marry the 9th Prince, I can only spend my life as an oil lamp before the statue of Buddha?" After listening to Qingyang Gongzhu's explanation, she turned as white as a piece of paper, "Is there no other way for me to walk on?"
When Qingyang Gongzhu saw Heshou's appearance, her heart turned soft. "You can foresee, so your vitality will be so great. When you enter the 9th Prince's Mansion, not even the 9th Prince's Consort can hold you down. This is merely in name only. In the future, when the 9th Prince becomes the Emperor, you will at least become his Guifei.” Qingyang Gongzhu was a person who especially liked to spoil her children. Whether it was Heshou or Qiao Meng, she would always become docile and obedient to their whims. That was how Heshou had developed this domineering temperament. As for Qiao Meng, he had turned up as an indulgent person.
Heshou pursed her lips and remained silent.
Qingyang Gongzhu advised, "Heshou, if you don't want to spend your whole life being an oil lamp before the statue of Buddha, then you'll have to go easy on the 9th Prince."
Before Heshou Xianzhu could make her decision, there was a confession from Third Lord Qiao that Qingyang Gongzhu had helped to inquire about news and rope in connections for the late Crown Prince. The reason his smuggling business had the late Crown Prince's shares was also because of Qingyang Gongzhu, who had become the go-between person between them.
When Yuxi heard this news, she found it to be so unbelievable. "Dage, why would Third Lord Qiao implicate Qingyang Gongzhu too?" Qingyang Gongzhu was not a fool. How could she help the Crown Prince when she already knew that the Emperor hated the late Crown Prince and the late Empress? This was obviously a false accusation.
Han Jianming shook his head and replied, "I don't know what's going on. Someone has interfered with this matter. This person is trying to put the Qiao family to death and drag Qingyang Gongzhu along with it. Without Qingyang Gongzhu, Heshou Xianzhu will have no one to lean on." Although Qingyang Gongzhu was not the Emperor's blood sibling, she was still the Imperial Family Gongzhu. No one could touch her unless she plotted something serious like rebellion.
When Yuxi heard this, she immediately said, "Dage, do you think this matter could be the work of the Yu family?" With that kind of skill and ability, she couldn't think of anyone else except for the Yu family.
Han Jianming shook his head and replied, "If it were the Yu family who did it, we wouldn't be able to find out anything about it. However, if it was the work of the Yu family, it will only be beneficial for us." Once it involved plotting a rebellion, even if one could save one's own life, one would not be able to save one's own skin. This time it would be hard for Qingyang Gongzhu to get out of it.
It was only through this incident that Yuxi truly understood why Han Jianming said that the State Residence only had an attractive appearance. The Han family had gone to great lengths just to hurt the Qiao family. In contrast, the people of the Yu family, without even showing their faces, had sent the Qiao family into the eighteenth level of hell till they couldn't even free themselves. While incidentally dragged Qingyang Gongzhu into it as well. The two families' handiworks were simply not on the same level. "Dage, what should we do now?"
Han Jianming shook his head and said, "We can do nothing now. This plan will go wrong if we do anything. Let's just wait and see what's going to happen next." After saying that, he revealed a sneering look, "Hasn't Heshou Xianzhu opened her all-seeing mind? I like to see how she's going to save Qingyang Gongzhu and her Qiao family this time."
Yuxi thought for a moment and stated, " Heshou Xianzhu may really be able to save Qingyang Gongzhu and the Qiao family."
Han Jianming ridiculed, "Save? With her ability to foresee? If she has this ability, how can the Qiao family still fall into the risk of extermination?" Ever since the people from the Qiao family were put in prison, Heshou's so-called foresight was just like a joke to him.
Yuxi frowned as she said, "I am afraid that the 9th Prince will intervene." When she noticed Han Jianming's puzzled face, she explained, "Heshou Xianzhu was able to predict the time when the palace rebellion happened. So he certainly wouldn't hide it, and he will surely inform others about it. I've thought it over, and I feel that the 9th Prince is the most suitable candidate to be their saviour."
Han Jianming pondered for a moment before saying, "I'll have someone look into this matter." With a Prince involved, especially when it was the 9th Prince, who was most likely to inherit the throne, they had to be cautious.
At this time, the Gongzhu Mansion was shrouded in a layer of shadow. Qingyang Gongzhu looked at Heshou Xianzhu and said, "Tell me everything you can predict." At this point, what they should think about was how to save themselves.
Heshou Xianzhu turned pale as she asked, "Mother, what do you want me to tell you?"
Qingyang Gongzhu was too lazy to talk nonsense with Heshou at this point. "Tell me everything you know so that we still have a slim chance of survival as well. Otherwise, our whole family will have to die." The Emperor had always hated the Crown Prince and the Empress. No one who had anything to do with the Crown Prince would have a good end. And now, the Third Lord Qiao had lodged an accusation against her. If they didn't think of their way out and only rely on the 9th Prince, by then, it could be said that there was absolutely no way out for them.
Heshou was still unwilling to do so as she continued to ask, "Mother, is this all the Han family's work? How could they have so much power to do it?" The Han family gained power after Han Yuchen had become the Empress. Before that, the Han family was just a mere skeleton, so how could they have so much ability to force San Shu to frame her mother for her involvement in the rebellion matter as well.
Qingyang Gongzhu replied, "It's not the work of the Han family. They don't have such great skill. But now is not the time to pursue this matter. Just tell me everything that you can foresee."
When Qingyang Gongzhu saw that Heshou still wouldn't speak about it, she asked, "Do you want to see your mother imprisoned in the clan residence before you're willing to speak?"
Heshou breathed a sigh of relief after knowing the Han wasn't the culprit. At this point, she no longer concealed her secret, "Mother, I actually can’t foretell. I just had a dream, a dream that couldn't be more real."
Qingyang Gongzhu's face remained unchanged as she instructed, "Tell me everything you have dreamed of." In the past, she didn't interfere because she didn't think it was necessary. But now, she had to take care of it.
Heshou Xianzhu told Qingyang Gongzhu everything she had experienced in her last life, leaving nothing out. Even about the fact that she was killed by Meng Yao's concubine in the end.
Qingyang Gongzhu's face turned ugly after hearing her story. She didn't expect her daughter to dream about what would happen for the next nine years, and her dream was so close to reality. It was true that she had thought of giving Heshou to Meng Yao that day. However, when Meng Yao had an accident, she let it go. Nevertheless, she never thought that Meng Yao's accident was also Heshou's doing. This damned girl, there was nothing she wouldn't dare to do, huh.
Noob Translator's Musing
Heshou's rebirth made me feel that Heaven wanted to punish her for all the sins she had done to the innocent unborn children of Meng Yao's concubines in her previous life. She may manage to change her life to be completely different from her last life, but because of her stupidity, she will end up in the position she hates the most—as the 9th Prince's concubine.
One more thing, I think I might have to change all the Imperial Consort, Side Consort etc., to their pinyin terms. These terms nearly fried my brains when I tried to find their English terms.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi