Unlimited Save System for Palace Intrigue

Chapter 567: Hard Times At this moment, Princess Wanrou—the very subject of Lin Wanxian’s complaints—was enduring a life in the Cold Palace that was truly worse than death. Princess Wanrou had originally thought that her previous period of house arrest had been a living hell, but she never imagined that things would become even more grueling now. In her eyes, the Cold Palace had merely been a bit more secluded, with dilapidated rooms, poor food, and fewer attendants—but she never imagined it would be this bad. How could there be such a dilapidated place within the imperial palace? The garden was overgrown with weeds, the rooms were covered in cobwebs, and the bed creaked with every movement. The quilt reeked of mold and was in tatters—this was no place for a human being to live. If it were merely a matter of poor living conditions, she might have been able to endure it—after all, her circumstances were different now. She would grit her teeth and tough it out; once the State of Qin rescued her, she would no longer have to endure such a miserable existence. But this wasn’t just about the living conditions. Seeing such a place had already shattered her spirit, yet this was only the beginning. The living conditions alone had already made her feel life was not worth living, but when mealtime came, she realized things could get even worse. This food wasn’t fit for human consumption—not even a dog would eat it. It was nothing but plain rice, and it was rotten. How could anyone possibly stomach it? If this continued, she would starve to death here long before the State of Qin could rescue her. Moreover, being confined to this cold palace was not merely a matter of being locked away. The palace maids and servants made her life miserable; not only was she denied any personal attendants, but she was also forced to do menial labor. As a princess of the State of Qin, when had she ever done such menial labor? If she refused, she would be beaten—just thinking about it brought tears of bitterness to her eyes. She hadn’t eaten in two days and had no strength left in her body; how could she possibly stand up to those palace maids? In just a few days, she had grown noticeably gaunt; she had lost a full size. If this continued, she feared she would die here before any rescue from the State of Qin could arrive. This time, she had truly miscalculated, and she regretted it deeply. If only she hadn’t acted so impulsively. Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets now; even if she regretted it, there was no way for her to leave the cold palace. Her only hope now was that the Qin court would intercede on her behalf and restore her to her former status. But Qin was so far away; it would take at least a month for word to reach her. Was she really supposed to endure this torment for an entire month? She had only been here a few days, and already she felt as if she had lost ten years of her life. If it were a month, she truly didn’t know if she could hold on. And a month was merely the minimum; if things moved more slowly, it could easily stretch to several months. Not to mention, as a princess, her standing in Qin wasn’t particularly high. Would Qin really risk offending Great Wei for her sake? What if the Qin Kingdom abandoned her and left her to fend for herself? Was she destined to spend the rest of her life in this cold palace, bullied and tormented? If that were the case, it would have been better to have been killed from the start—at least that would have been a clean end. Princess Wanrou’s current hardships weren’t actually the worst; the concubines who had come to the Cold Palace before her had endured far harsher lives. However, Princess Wan’s status was indeed somewhat different—even the Empress Dowager didn’t dare to kill her outright. Consequently, the palace maids and servants exercised great restraint in their treatment of her; otherwise, Princess Wan would likely have felt that life was worse than death. Of course, in that case, Consort Wan would likely not merely feel that life was worse than death—she would actually be dead. Princess Wan is now in despair, for all the palace maids and servants around her have been purged; she has not a single person left to relay messages. She has no idea whether the Qin Kingdom has learned of her plight or sent anyone to rescue her. Was she truly destined to be tortured and wasted away in this cold palace? This was not the life she had envisioned. After several days of torment, Consort Wan longed for the past. Had she not attempted to harm the Ninth Prince, she would still be the high-and-mighty Consort Wan, able to act with arrogance and tyranny in the harem, with no one daring to cross her. Alas, one misstep led to another; her current plight was the result of her own self-destructive actions. That night, Consort Wan hid alone in her room, weeping. Yet she knew that crying now was of no use. Even so, her tears would not stop. As a princess of the Qin Kingdom, she had never before suffered such profound humiliation, despite the countless struggles within the harem. Although she had indeed orchestrated the plot against the Ninth Prince and deserved her punishment, she still felt intense anger when the consequences fell upon her. The more she was tormented, the more her anger grew. Given the chance, she would certainly eliminate those who had bullied her. In truth, Princess Wanrou had once harbored the faint hope that the Emperor would save her. Yet she never imagined that, in the face of the Empress Dowager’s punishment, the Emperor would remain silent, showing not the slightest concern for her life or death. She realized that her standing in the Emperor’s heart was apparently not as significant as she had believed. The Emperor didn’t even care about Qin’s reaction—if Qin were to come pleading for mercy, would she truly be released? Although she was deeply worried, she could only choose to think positively; otherwise, the despair would be too overwhelming. Although the maids and servants in Princess Wanrou’s quarters had all been purged, she still had some people working for her in secret. Not all of them had been rounded up and killed; only the maids and servants in her quarters had been executed. Thus, these people managed to pass the news to the State of Qin, and Qin soon learned of Princess Wanrou’s current situation. Princess Wanrou’s actions would undoubtedly create a rift between Qin and Wei, yet he could not simply abandon her. After all, she was a princess of Qin; if he simply allowed the State of Wei to punish her, where would Qin’s dignity stand? Moreover, with Princess Wanrou present, should she happen to bear a son or daughter in the future, the ties between Qin and Wei would grow even closer—and those ties could not be severed so easily. After all, the Ninth Prince had safely weathered this crisis. Therefore, it seemed there was still room for discussion with the Emperor of Qin. Thanks to a palace maid who had relayed the news in advance, by the time the Great Wei Emperor’s letter arrived, the Emperor of Qin already knew how to respond. Although the State of Qin had no intention of abandoning Princess Wanrou, just as she had suspected, Qin’s reinforcements would not arrive so quickly. Consequently, Princess Wanrou would likely have to endure a period of hardship. This was an unavoidable reality; after all, in ancient times, travel took a long time, and it would take time for the Qin envoys to arrive.