Tang Xia saw Chu Tiankuo’s bright yellow imperial robe, and so did Lengmei.

They gave a meaningful smile at each other. Tang Xia lowered her voice and said curtly, “You’re enjoying your little triumph, right? Now the hero is here. Do you dare to have a competition with me?”

“What competition?” said Lengmei as she saw Chu Tiankuo approaching, her heart stirring and her mouth gaping.

“Frame-up. Let’s see whose side he’s going to take.” Tang Xia darted a provoking look at Lengmei, flew at her and then feigned falling back, tumbling helplessly to the ground. “Ah! Lengmei, why did you push me?”

“You!” Lengmei’s eyes bulged and she gaped at Tang Xia unbelievingly, who was sitting on the ground with a grieved and puzzled face.

“I knew you were going to frame me like this, right?” said Tang Xia speechlessly with lip movements alone as she raised her head and gave a bright smile.

“Your Grace, Your Grace, how are you?” Lyuyou got past her initial fluster, cooperatively flung herself to Tang Xia, cried at her vigorously and then raised her head to question Lengmei sternly, “Your Grace, even though you are carrying His Majesty’s baby, you can’t defy seniority and treat the queen like this!”

“How dare you! Which eye of yours saw I pushed her? That’s a pack of lies!” exclaimed Lengmei as she saw Chu Tiankuo approaching with his face increasingly graver. She shouted as loudly as possible to be more loudly than Lyuyou.

“I saw with my both eyes. Our queen was so kind and treated you like a sister. She walked over to give you a hand for fear that you might get tired since you are pregnant, yet you didn’t accept her kindness and rudely pushed her away. She’s now sitting on the ground, and you’re still denying your crime?”

Lyuyou started to shed tears in big drops. She hugged Tang Xia’s arm and said in extreme sorrow, “Your Grace, it’s all my fault. I failed to protect you. You are so kind and always treat someone like a sister, but she returned your kindness with ingratitude and mercilessly pushed you to the ground. And now, you sprained your back and couldn’t even stand up.”

Tang Xia tried hard to hold back the urge to laugh but failed. She buried her face in Lyuyou’s arms. Lyuyou was really exaggerating. Tang Xia fell down at her own will. How could she sprain her back? She sat down slowly to cushion the impact. It was by no means as serious as Lyuyou’s narration.

“How dare you smear me even in daylight! You outnumber me and I’m the weak side before you to defend myself. But do you think His Majesty could overlook what happened?” Lengmei sprinted over, knelt down before Chu Tiankuo, her knees hitting the ground with a thump, and said, “Your Majesty! You must have seen what happened clearly. It was their plot to frame me!”

“They framed you? I saw it clearly. How can my eyes deceive me?” Chu Tiankuo’s face was so grave that it could shed drops of water. He loosened his robe from Lengmei’s grasp and ran to Tang Xia’s side.

“How are you? Are you hurt?” asked Chu Tiankuo hastily as he turned Tang Xia’s face to him, his own face full of worries.

Tang Xia was pulled out, but she wasn’t cheeky enough to tell more untrue stories no matter how hard she encouraged herself inwardly. At last, she gave up all options but to lower her head and close her eyes, and her face was covered in greater blushes.

“Fine, fine, whatever comes for me; that’s it.” Thought Tang Xia as she closed her eyes like an ostrich.

“Your Majesty! You finally came! You take a good look at our queen. Does she look anything near unharmed? She fell to the ground so heavily. That bumping sound alone made my heart stop!” said Lyuyou as she cried in an exaggerating way, shedding tears and getting choked by sobs at intervals.

“Please look carefully at her, Your Majesty! Our queen’s face is turning redder out of pain! And her back. She has been sitting still for such a long time. She must have sprained her back!” Lyuyou bit her lower lip hard and wailed with heartbreaking grief.

Tang Xia listened to Lyuyou’s exaggeration in embarrassment. She felt more and more ashamed, and her faculties turned more acute. Chu Tiankuo’s eyes on her were as bright as two searchlights of several hundred megawatts and fixated her on the ground.

“I’m finished. All my tricks were exposed to him. He must be laughing at me inwardly now. Arrgh! Lyuyou, you fool! Why do you have to mention my face? If I were painful, my face should turn pale! How can it be getting redder?”

Tang Xia closed her eyes vehemently and gave Lyuyou a thorough scolding in her brains.

“Oh? Is it?” Chu Tiankuo’s face was shrouded in grief. He extended his trembling hands at Tang Xia and dared not touch her, as if she was a doll made of china that broke easily with a slight touch.

His voice was grave, but Tang Xia recognized a trace of teasing and amusement amongst the gravity…

“Certainly, Your Majesty! Our queen suffered great pain, and you must hold the justice for her!” Lyuyou knelt down on the ground quickly and made several loud kowtows relentlessly.

“Nonsense! Do you think we were born yesterday? You think we are fools at your disposal?” said Lengmei as she bit her silver teeth to pieces out of fury. She stood up abruptly, turned over and walked to Tang Xia like a wind.

“Look at her ruddy cheeks! She’s not suffering any pain at all! In my opinion, she’s not hurt or anything, but wild with joy at the success of her plot!”

“What YOU said is nonsense! You pushed her to the ground, and we all saw that. Now instead of saying an apology, you are making all sorts of excuses. How can a woman as vile as you are live in this world!” Lyuyou got up to her feet at one stroke and stared at Lengmei vigorously and unyieldingly.

“What did you say?” Lengmei’s chest heaved intensely as she exploded with rage, “Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you speak to me like this!”

“Your Majesty, you saw it yourself. This maid was bold enough to offend me in your face. Now you know how bad they treated me behind your back! Please distinguish the truth from lies and hold justice for me. You should punish this maid for restoring my reputation!” said Lengmei as she looked at Chu Tiankuo in a grievance, her eyes on the verge of shedding tears.

“That’s not true! You can’t let her deceive you, Your Majesty!” explained Lyuyou hastily, only to be interrupted by Chu Tiankuo.

“Impertinence! You’re only a maid after all. Who taught you to speak to an imperial concubine like that?”

“I…”

“I don’t want to hear your explanation. I recognize your exploit to protect your mistress, and I will pardon your misbehavior this time,” Chu Tiankuo picked up Tang Xia, held her in his arms and continued, “It was despicable of you, Concubine Lengmei, to be impertinent to the queen, but considering your pregnancy, I pardon you too this time. However, if you ever commit that again, you will be locked in the cold palace and not allowed to step out of the palace all your life!”

Lengmei was shivering with fury at her total fiasco. She had no choice but to hold her anger and accepted Chu Tiankuo’s criticism under his daunting pressure.

With cold eyes, Lengmei watched Chu Tiankuo leaving with Tang Xia in his arms, and she almost tore the fine silk in her hands into pieces. She narrowed her eyes and thought, “I miscalculated Tang Xia’s ability. She snatched the initiative this time and dropped me in unjust treatment. Well, well, this was but a small interruption, and one step closer to my plan.”

Lengmei walked slowly to her chamber and shut the door as soon as she arrived. She called her trusted maid and said, “Did you see everything that happened there just now”?

“Yes, Your Grace. I was plucking flowers there with a bunch of little maids and saw the queen’s frame-up of you from beginning to end.” said the maid as she smiled proudly and walked over to pound Lengmei’s shoulders lightly.

“Good. How did they react?”

“They were indignant at your unjust suffering and wanted to step up to testify in your favor, but I stopped them. Don’t worry, Your Grace. Before they left, they told me they would never let your grievance go unavenged.”

“Hahaha, well done. You take some silver knobs and buy them some drinks and rouge. Keep a close eye on this matter, and make sure to make it a big story.”

“Don’t worry, Your Grace. I know what I’m doing.”

In the meantime at another place in the palace, Chu Tiankuo gently placed Tang Xia on the bed and made her lie on her stomach. He then massaged her on her waist considerately.

“Don’t. I’m fine. I’m fine. You go back to continue your own business.” Tang Xia blushed with shyness, pressed down Chu Tiankuo’s hand and buried her face inside the quilt.

“No! A sprained back is a big problem. Let me give you a massage to avoid possible sequela.” said Chu Tiankuo as he moved his hands all over Tang Xia’s back with an ulterior motive, his eyes growing darker.

“Keep your dirty hand away!” Tang Xia turned over and sat up abruptly, her face redder than the sunset glow.

“Um? Be careful with your words, my queen. Whose hand are you describing as a dirty hand?” said Chu Tiankuo as he looked at Tang Xia aggressively, acting as if he was about to pounce on her.

“The one that bullies me, whoever it is! You said you would give me a massage. Why did you stroke all over my back?” said Tang Xia as she bit her lips, her big eyes glistened with watery luster.

“Tut! You silly girl of little life experience! Healing such an injury is not child’s play in your eyes. There is so much specialized knowledge that you don’t know about.” Chu Tiankuo pounced over abruptly and pushed her down onto the bed. They faced each other closely, eyes to eyes, nose to nose.

“Well? I took your side completely this time. You won’t get jealous this time, will you?”

“Hmmpf! I… I couldn’t care less about you!”

Both of them burst into laughter on the bed. While outside the chamber, the story that Chu Tiankuo took Tang Xia’s side in the imperial garden was spread out in the palace within a short time by some people intentionally.

Opinions were exchanged and gossip spread. People all believed Tang Xia won the favor of the emperor again. Some were envious, and some made witty remarks.

And all of a sudden, Lengmei adopted a high profile. She was not only active in public, but even invited a theatrical troupe to perform in the imperial garden and made it known to all.

“Tell them to put up a play of Huangmei.”