494: Chapter 494 Unrequited Love

The moon hung high over the branches in the Peacock Palace.

The palace was adorned with exotic decorations designed to soothe Consort De's homesickness.

In the courtyard, tropical peacocks and parrots were kept, all brought to her by Emperor Hong.

However, at this moment, the one drinking with Consort De in the palace was the new monarch, Li Chenghao.

The room was filled with the scent of special incense from the Great Peacock Kingdom, and they were drinking fruit wine brewed by Consort De herself.

After a few cups of wine, Li Chenghao gazed at the beautiful woman before him, his eyes growing increasingly fervent.

When the Empress first told him that Consort De had been released and favored again, Li Chenghao had been quite repulsed.

After all, she was First Prince Li Chengqi's birth mother, and for many years, she had made life difficult for him and the Empress.

Taking advantage of Emperor Hong's departure for the Northern Border, the mother and son had planned to come to the Peacock Palace to humiliate Consort De.

It was during that visit that Li Chenghao saw this woman again after many years.

With just one glance, Li Chenghao realized he couldn't bring himself to hurt her at all!

Though she was also a woman over fifty, no matter how hard the other concubines in the harem tried to maintain themselves, they already showed signs of aging.

But Consort De had firm skin and an elegant aura like an orchid; she looked to be thirty at most, full of charm and as ripe as a honey peach.

With such beauty, it was no wonder Emperor Hong couldn't restrain himself!

That day in the Peacock Palace, Li Chenghao didn't even know what he was thinking; he just heard the Empress talking but didn't process a single word.

Upon returning to the Eastern Palace, Consort De's image remained fixed in Li Chenghao's mind.

Subsequently, under the pretext of apologizing to Consort De, Li Chenghao visited the Peacock Palace again.

Consort De was lukewarm toward his apology, but the trace of desolation on her face made Li Chenghao's heart ache with pity.

Now she was just a mother who had lost her son and posed no threat to him; why continue to torment her?

In a moment of passion, Li Chenghao ignored the rules of the harem and frequently visited the Peacock Palace to console Consort De.

Until recently, after Li Chenghao ascended the throne, the other concubines were either sent to guard Emperor Hong's tomb or to the Cold Palace to live out their days.

Only Consort De received special treatment, allowed to remain in the Peacock Palace with her full allowance.

Given such great kindness, Consort De naturally had to show her gratitude for the imperial grace...

"Yalan, I am weary..."

Li Chenghao now addressed Consort De directly by her given name.

"Your Majesty, you have stayed at the Peacock Palace for several nights now. On the Empress's side..."

"Ignore her! I am the Emperor; I sleep wherever I wish!"

"This servant will attend to your rest then..."

Consort De stood up, approached Li Chenghao, and placed a hand on the back of his neck...

In a moment, Li Chenghao drifted off to sleep.

The gentle smile on Consort De's face vanished, and her gaze gradually turned cold.

"Xiao Chengzi."

"This servant is here."

A fair-skinned eunuch walked in.

"I leave him to you."

Xiao Chengzi showed a look of excitement. "Yes, Your Ladyship."

One hour later.

Xiao Chengzi walked out of the Peacock Palace with a glowing face.

Consort De went to the bedside, opened a small jade bottle, and waved it in front of Li Chenghao's nose.

After a while, Li Chenghao's eyes cleared. Looking at the shapely figure of Consort De by the bed, he looked completely satisfied.

"You little glutton, if it weren't for me, an ordinary man really wouldn't be able to handle you."

Consort De smiled shyly: "Your Majesty is joking. It's clearly because Your Majesty is too powerful that this servant is exhausted."

Li Chenghao didn't say much more before his lips turned pale from overexertion, and he fell straight back to sleep.

A look of disgust crossed Consort De's face as she rose and went into the study of the Peacock Palace.

She personally lit a lamp and placed it on a windowsill facing the southeast.

Before long, a palace maid arrived in the study.

"Greetings, Princess."

"Have Prince of Wu and Prince of Donghai given their replies yet?"

Consort De gazed at the moonlight outside the window and asked with a face as cold as frost.

The ones she spoke of were indeed Prince of Wu and Prince of Donghai.

"They haven't given an answer yet. They seem to want to wait a bit longer to see if there's a turn of events," the maid replied.

"A turn of events? I think they're waiting for death."

Consort De sneered: "This time the Khitan and Qing Kings Army acted together with such meticulous planning beforehand, yet they couldn't crush the Zhenbei Army. It's clear that Lin Xiao's position today is by no means due to luck."

"Originally, Lin Xiao came from humble beginnings and received great favor from the Li family, so he didn't dare to easily seize power."

"But now Xiao Qingxuan has stepped forward, and the Heirloom Seal of the Realm has fallen into his hands. He no longer has any restraints."

"At this stage, for Prince of Donghai and Prince of Wu to still refuse to cooperate with me is truly the height of stupidity."

The maid was also puzzled: "Indeed, I don't understand it either. Now that the North is newly stabilized, many officials only give the Prince of Zhenbei lip service; there are still opportunities to be seized."

"Once the Prince of Zhenbei has complete control of the North, with strong soldiers and sturdy horses next year, the army will march south. The various princes likely won't last three months."

"Ultimately, these men are just cowardly. They won't commit until they see guaranteed results..."

Consort De took a deep breath: "Fine, send some of those items from the Xuanji Sect to Prince of Donghai to give him some reassurance."

"Yes, Princess!"

The maid nodded and then added: "By the way, regarding the Great Peacock Kingdom, King A-Lai has gained the upper hand with the assistance of the Black Dragon Cavalry."

"Heh... that cousin of mine is truly a waste. Even if the Black Dragon Cavalry are elites, they only have three thousand men at most now, and he still couldn't stop them."

"I wasted my time back then working with Crown Prince Xiao Shian to help him drive A-Lai away. I didn't expect... once Crown Prince Xiao Shian died, A-Lai would return."

Consort De pondered for a moment: "It might be for the best that A-Lai returned. He can gain Lin Xiao's support and will surely bring the Sixteen Foreign Nations to defect to him."

The maid frowned: "Does Your Highness think King A-Lai has the strength to make all sixteen nations lean toward the Prince of Zhenbei?"

"Don't forget, over the years, whether it was the Great Gan or Prince of Wu, because they lacked money, they bled the sixteen nations dry, wishing they could swallow these small countries whole."

"The sixteen nations were so desperate for Western Shu not to fall precisely because they understood that once Western Shu fell, they would be next."

"Lin Xiao is different. While he certainly has designs on the sixteen nations, he has his own ways of generating wealth and cares deeply about his reputation among the people, so the sixteen nations will certainly be happy to defect."

Consort De said mockingly: "This is a good thing. Once that fellow Prince of Wu has no Sixteen Foreign Nations to bleed dry, he'll have no choice but to join us in dealing with Lin Xiao with everything he's got."

At this point, Consort De turned back with a complex look in her eyes: "How has An Ya been lately?"

The maid smiled: "The little princess is busy managing the Moon Worship Cult's intelligence network and has emerged from her grief."

"We passed some of your information to her, so she knows you are safe and sound after leaving the Cold Palace."

A flash of tenderness appeared in Consort De's eyes. "That is enough. The less she knows, the safer she will be."

"Crown Prince Xiao Shian is dead, yet An Ya survived. This proves my choice back then was correct; I should have kept it from her."

"Then again, I actually quite liked my days in the Cold Palace. It was quiet, and I didn't have to deal with those boring women in the harem."

Consort De said somewhat wearily: "I only blame that Li Sihong. At his age, he still had such unrequited affection and insisted on bringing me out of the Cold Palace."

"He went to the Northern Border to find death, which was convenient for him, but now I have to deal with this idiot Li Chenghao."

"If it weren't for his status having some utility, I really would have no interest in playing games with a fool."