Female Consort Chapter 79: Poisoning

In the end, the “settling of accounts” that Qiu Che mentioned never happened, because the next morning, Li Qingwu remembered what she had done the night before and refused to get out of bed, burying herself under the covers and refusing to move.

Qiu Che had been full of righteous anger, but after being worn down like this, her frustration faded away.

By the hour of the dragon, news had already reached the palace that a few individuals outside the city, using the excuse of missing their families, had returned early to the capital. The Crown Prince took the initiative to host a banquet in the palace to welcome them home.

When the imperial edicts, along with the Empress Dowager’s decree of promotion, arrived at the Princess’s residence, Qiu Che was in high spirits, carefully painting Li Qingwu’s eyebrows and combing her hair.

Wu Yiqi was promoted to a third-rank General of Pacification, and Qiu Che was appointed Minister of Rites, second rank.

The women soldiers were all awarded titles and ranks according to their military merits, just like the men, with no deviation or injustice.

It was clear that the Ministry of Rites was truly afraid of being caught making mistakes and reported again by Qiu Che, especially now that she had become their superior.

As the leader of the women’s army, Yu Yan was granted the title of General of Guarding Power, a subordinate third-rank position.

Although technically a rank lower than Wu Yiqi’s, she was the first woman ever to be awarded a military title. Since she had never held a position before, such a rank was ideal, high enough to reflect her achievements, yet not so prominent as to invite backlash.

Yu Ming couldn’t help but laugh as she said, “You wouldn’t believe it, Master. Just a few days ago, the court ministers were arguing non-stop about how to best reward the women’s army and you.”

“I heard from the Empress Dowager that His Highness the Crown Prince wasn’t exactly thrilled about giving you a promotion. But since His Majesty had already issued the order a year ago, they had no choice but to go through with it.”

Li Qingwu also smiled, turning instinctively to speak. “If we’re going strictly by merit, you should have been granted a first-rank general title.”

At just nineteen, she had led troops to drive back the Northern Xiongnu, an achievement not even Prince Zhao could easily claim.

Qiu Che gently tapped her shoulder, signaling her not to move her head. Li Qingwu obeyed and stayed still.

With a slight smile, Qiu Che tied her hair into a simple bun, clearly out of practice, and said in a calm tone, “You flatter me. Without Prince Zhao’s years of experience guiding me, I wouldn’t have managed so much. Besides, if he were twenty years younger, and not suffering from the injuries of his early campaigns, he might well have driven out the Northern Xiongnu himself.”

Li Qingwu sighed. “I was only praising you, I didn’t mean for you to take it so seriously.”

Qiu Che thought for a moment, then replied, “Alright.”

She didn’t care much about her promotion. Instead, she asked Yu Ming offhandedly, “When is the palace banquet?”

Yu Ming happened to catch sight of the faint, ambiguous red marks peeking out from Li Qingwu’s collar, and her ears flushed red. She quickly looked away and answered primly, “This evening, at the hour of the rooster.”

At the appointed time, the two changed into formal attire and arrived at the palace together.

Though they were still officially a couple, the law of the land did not recognize two women as a legitimate union.

Even without a formal divorce, Qiu Che’s identity shift, from man to woman, had already marked the end of their original marriage contract.

Over the past year, many had speculated privately about their relationship, though most assumed they hadn’t divorced simply because they were too busy with the war.

No one had much hope for Qiu Che at the start. She had cross-dressed and deceived the court, surely she’d fall from grace overnight.

Yet the Qiu family had been brought down by her own hands and sent to prison. She emerged unscathed, and within a year, rose another two ranks.

She had transformed into the sole high-ranking female official in the entire dynasty.

The only other was Yu Yan, newly appointed General.

Plenty of people began scheming behind the scenes, trying to send their sons to test the waters.

What if Qiu Che had poor taste and actually liked one of them? Even marrying into her household wouldn’t be a loss.

After all, she was still a woman. Eventually, she’d need to have children and retreat from the political stage. When that time came, with some manipulation, wouldn’t her husband be able to take her place?

Their schemes were all well and good, except for one thing: Qiu Che didn’t like men.

Some may have suspected it, but none dared believe it outright.

And all speculation ended the moment the two women walked into the palace banquet hand in hand.

After a year apart, Princess Pingyi was still as lively and spirited as ever. The moment she spotted them from afar, her eyes lit up. She jumped down from her seat and ran straight toward them.

“Big Sister! You haven’t visited Shushu in the palace for so long!” she exclaimed, and before Li Qingwu could respond, she turned to Qiu Che and chirped, “Sister-in-law! Mother and the others said you went off to war... is the war over now?”

Li Qingwu smiled and ruffled her hair. “It’s over.”

Behind her, Consort Xian also approached slowly.

She was no longer the overbearing figure she had been a year ago. Though her presence remained commanding, she now carried a heavy weariness that dulled her edge.

She gave a faint smile and called out, “...Minister Qiu, Your Highness.”

Her tone was far more cordial than before.

Qiu Che’s gaze dropped briefly to Consort Xian’s flat abdomen, then calmly looked away and nodded. “Let’s all sit before we talk.”

The night before Qiu Che set out on her campaign, news of Consort Xian’s pregnancy had spread through the palace.

But later, as Li Qingwu had told her, the child had been lost.

For reasons unknown, the pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Ever since then, Consort Xian had seemed increasingly detached and out of sorts.

But not long after, she returned to normal, though her spirit was noticeably weaker than before.

The group sat down one after another.

The vague sense of eyes watching them from all around seemed to lessen slightly.

Pingyi clung to Li Qingwu, and the two sisters chatted in low voices. Li Qingwu teased her until she burst into giggles.

All the while, Consort Xian, Xu, sat quietly to the side, watching them with soft eyes, a smile tugging gently at her lips, the sharpness in her expression subdued.

Before long, Wu Yiqi and the others arrived, followed by the Crown Prince and Empress Dowager. Save for the Emperor, who had claimed he was too ill to attend, nearly every important minister and court figure was present.

The Crown Prince took his seat just below the vacant dragon throne. After the eunuch read aloud the ceremonial praises for the victorious army, he gave a cold wave of his sleeve, expression blank, signaling the start of the banquet. “Make yourselves at home.”

As soon as those words were spoken, many people hesitated briefly before getting up to toast Qiu Che.

Qiu Che hadn’t wanted to drink at all, but she recalled how Yang Qiu had once scolded her for being too aloof and oblivious to social norms, leading her into a situation where enemies closed in on all sides.

She hesitated for a moment, then finally took a small, symbolic sip.

After a few more half-hearted sips, her face turned cold again, and she stopped accepting toasts.

The others could only retreat, awkward and disappointed.

They didn’t dare approach Qiu Che again, nor did they have the nerve to press Yu Yan, the general Qiu Che had personally brought, whose cold demeanor alone made her look hard to provoke. So they all turned to the crowd around Wu Yiqi instead.

As luck would have it, Wu Yiqi thrived on attention. He flashed her a grateful look and happily dove into the drinking games.

Li Qingwu, still smiling beside her, remarked, “You call that playing along with social niceties? What’s the difference between that and just ignoring them?”

Qiu Che replied, “Is that so?”

Then, casually added, “I don’t like drinking with strangers. Once I’m drunk, there’s no telling what might happen.”

Besides, Wu Yiqi could hold his liquor now. Even drunk, he wouldn’t let anything slip to the wrong people, so let him handle it.

Li Qingwu blinked.

She suddenly remembered a birthday in their past life, how she had rushed back to celebrate with Qiu Che.

Back then… had Qiu Che only stopped seeing her as a stranger because she was drunk? Or had she allowed herself to get drunk because she no longer saw her as a stranger?

Beneath the table, Qiu Che’s hand brushed her pinky, pulling her thoughts back.

“…What is it?”

Qiu Che leaned in slightly and asked in a low voice, “Do you think His Majesty is truly gravely ill?”

Li Qingwu pursed her lips, her expression somewhat odd. “I think… he is.”

“Oh?”

“There are things I didn’t have time to tell you.”

Li Qingwu scanned the surroundings without drawing attention, making sure no one could overhear them in the noise, then whispered, “His Majesty’s illness wasn’t entirely natural.”

Qiu Che narrowed her eyes slightly, gaze flicking over Li Qingwu’s face.

“There’s more I haven’t said,” Li Qingwu admitted, looking a little guilty. “But it’s not convenient to talk about it here.”

Qiu Che smiled. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Then let’s change the topic, don’t you think the Crown Prince is acting a little strange?”

Li Qingwu asked, “What do you mean?”

Qiu Che lowered her gaze, fingers tracing the rim of her cup, remembering the figure who had followed closely behind the Crown Prince earlier. She said softly, “...Never mind. Some things aren’t safe to say here either.”

The two shared a glance and couldn’t help but laugh.

From afar, the Crown Prince, who had been subtly watching them, frowned and took a sullen gulp of wine, clearly irritated.

After the banquet, to avoid being swarmed with attention, Qiu Che quietly pulled Li Qingwu away and slipped out of the palace unseen.

This winter seemed especially cold. As they walked, snow began to fall lightly.

They ducked beneath the eaves of a street-side shop to avoid the snow, exchanging a look. In the rush of passersby, they seemed unusually at ease.

They wore calm expressions, as if chatting casually, but the words that came out would have shocked anyone who overheard.

“Consort Xian’s miscarriage… wasn’t really an accident, was it?”

Li Qingwu gave the tiniest of nods and whispered, “Minister Yang helped look into it. It was the Crown Prince’s doing…”

Consort Xian had long been arrogant and domineering. The Crown Prince had once glared at her and said, “Today I may be down and out, but one day, you’ll fall just as far, and when you do, someone will return the favor.”

In the end, he had returned it, and with interest. The blow had been so vicious that Consort Xian’s body could no longer bear children.

For a consort with powerful family backing, poised to ascend to Empress, the loss of her ability to bear heirs was a devastating setback.

Qiu Che raised an eyebrow. “And what about what you said before, about the Emperor’s illness?”

She had long suspected something was off. Li’s illness had come far too suddenly. It was hard not to wonder if someone had intervened.

…After all, the Emperor had no shortage of enemies who would love nothing more than to see him dead.

In the palace, the crowd had made it hard to speak freely. Now that they were out in the open, the street was ironically the safer place for such a conversation.

Li Qingwu paused, then said with a strange look, “…It was me. I poisoned him.”