A boring tale 27 - Hidden thoughts and feelings

The following morning, news about the punishment the Emperor handled down for Lord Su shocked the common masses. The commoners in the capital warily analyzed their options now that Lord Su is being confined in his home and Imperial Consort Su has fallen out of favor. It seems like the Lan house has started its ascent to the highest power.

With the Lord of the house being the second most powerful person in the kingdom, answering only to the Emperor with many people below him, and having the Goddess, Ling Xuan, who is about to enter the Imperial Harem as a high ranking consort as a god-daughter, it truly seems like the house of Lan is becoming more powerful than ever.

With the punishment of Lord Su, people started shifting their focus. Although there was already attention on Ling Xuan becoming Lan house's goddaughter and her marriage to the Emperor, now there is more attention focused on the lady and the House of Lan. Because holding a wedding for marrying in an Imperial Consort and not an Empress being held unprecedented, many people believe it is because the Emperor is extremely in love with Ling Xuan but the cunning and sly nobles who had lived in the midst of politics know that is not the case.

The most important thing to the Emperor is the support of his ministers. After losing the daughter of Lord Lan to a "disease" as people were told to believe, the Emperor had lost his left prime-minister's fraction. Some among the fraction decided to jump over to the right prime-minister's fraction and although they were welcomed but underneath the surface, they were despised. Those who betrayed Lord Lan knew they were being despised but they do not mind it. Being shameless is the way to survive the world of politics. So long as you get the benefits, what's a bit of losing face. When you have power, people will have to bow down to you even if they hate your guts.

There is also a group of people who are neutral as they waited and see how the situation would turn out. This group of people are the ones who benefited the most as they did not jump onto a sinking ship. They returned to support Lord Lan after Ling Xuan became Lord Lan's goddaughter. Lord Lan knew of their intentions but did not brush them off. On the surface, he was all smiles and laughter towards them when he threw a banquet to celebrate Ling Xuan becoming his goddaughter, but he was itching to curse at them throughout the entire time.

Now that the House of Lan is sending their goddaughter into the Palace, they regained their power and the support of their fractions. This made the House of Lan one of the most powerful houses in the capital and the Emperor would not give up this chance to take back the support of his left prime minister. His harem is lacking a spot for a high-ranking consort due to the unfortunate incident with the deceased Imperial Consort Lan and with Ling Xuan's noble family background, there is no one who is more suited for the position. Moreover, Ling Xuan has captured the hearts of the people. She is being referred to as the Goddess after her good deeds moved the people. By marrying their Goddess, the Emperor would also obtain the hearts of the people because Ling Xuan's good deeds would also become his good deeds because she is one of his people.

But at the same time, the Emperor does not wish to lose complete support from his right prime minister which is why the punishment was light considering the weight of the crime. This was the Emperor's way of giving the right prime minister some face and to not burn the bridge completely. The Emperor might be somewhat disappointed with Imperial Consort Su but the diligent act she had put up around him made him refuse to think any further since a scapegoat has volunteered himself. This way, things can end with the innocent Imperial Consort Su being forced by her power-hungry father to execute vicious plans to harm the people and push the blame to Ling Xuan. Both women are victims and all the Emperor has to do is punish her father and compensate Ling Xuan. This way, both sides are happy, and the Emperor does not have to tear down the beautiful painting drawn by Imperial Consort Su, the painting which he is so drawn to and wishes to continue gazing at.

The nobles analyzed their options and discussed with among their fractions. With the current situation, it almost seems impossible that Ling Xuan would not become Empress, and this made the right prime minister's fraction uneasy. The most uneasy person would be Imperial Consort Su.

Currently, she is pacing around in her inner chambers as she bit her nails nervously. Mumbling to herself incoherently, she walked in circles as she wrecked her brains for any sort of plans to get rid of her current situation. She knew the Emperor is starting to doubt her but so far, there has not been much damage done because her father took the blame for her. Luckily, the Emperor values her family so they got off lightly, but she has to make plans for her future.

Her gut feelings tell her that Ling Xuan is not a simple person. She always seems to come at the right timing and say things that incite the Emperor against her. Someone must be working for her, giving her all this information. Her cousin is Duke Fei and the Eighth Prince, and her aunt is Imperial Concubine Mother Ling, this means her opponent this time around is not going to be easy to get rid of, unlike someone else.

She needs to find a strong backing. Someone strong enough to go against even the Emperor. Imperial Consort Su suddenly thought of someone and broke into a smirk. There is indeed someone, but she has never shown her any favor. It was not as if Imperial Consort Su has not tried to curry favor from that person, but it has never worked. She does not know why the person dislikes her so much either, but she will have to try. This is her only chance of survival the moment Ling Xuan enters the Harem, even if Imperial Consort Su has to bet her life on this person, she will do it.