Outside the palace gates, beneath the city walls, those kneeling included members of the royal family, powerful courtiers, renowned noble families, scholars, street vendors… Tang Guo’s gaze swept over them one by one, and to her surprise, she even noticed a group of brightly dressed women. They were led by a middle-aged woman, heavily adorned and covered in makeup, kneeling quietly in a small corner.
She couldn’t help but laugh, and that smile of hers, as radiant as a delicate flower, almost stole the souls of many scholars below.
The scholars quickly snapped out of their daze, their faces flushing red with embarrassment and fury as they glared angrily at the woman on the city wall.
“So you’re the Imperial Concubine who has brought chaos to the harem?” A bold scholar stood up, furiously pointing at Tang Guo and cursed, “How can there be such a shameless and immoral woman in this world? How do you even have the face to keep living? If you had any sense of honor, you’d jump from the city wall right now to preserve some dignity for General Tang. Your current actions completely tarnish his loyalty and devotion!”
“Your very existence is an insult to the entire Tang clan!”
“Yes, Your Highness the Imperial Concubine, please take your own life and spare the Tang family from further disgrace!”
“The Tang family has no such person, and General Tang would never have a woman like you!”
“As a fellow woman, I truly feel ashamed of you.” This was spoken by a richly dressed woman of presumably high status. She looked at Tang Guo with an expression full of contempt, as if her very existence was a disgrace to all women, someone who should not exist among them. Her words drew widespread approval from the crowd.
Tang Guo calmly watched these people, their faces twisted in anger as they hurled shameless insults. While she didn’t care, Xuanyuan Mie was finding it hard to hold back. If she hadn’t stopped him, he would have jumped down right then and there to kill a few of them.
Behind her, Concubine Meng De, Concubine Yin Shu, and the others had turned pale. A chill ran through their hearts and their eyes turned reds as they listened to the unbearable words being hurled at her. Some concubines standing further back quietly wiped their faces.
They insulted the Imperial Concubine, but did they even know who was truly responsible for all this?
It was the very emperor they revered, the one they had placed on the highest pedestal.
They watched as Tang Guo stood at the forefront, enduring the vile words without any change in expression. Her lips even seemed to curl slightly into a faint smile. This only made the concubines feel more unsettled.
If they were in her position, they would have already jumped off the wall in shame, giving the crowd exactly what they wanted.
But the Imperial Concubine was different. She stood there like a queen high above, gazing down at all beings. In that moment, they felt that while she was undeniably delicate, she was also incredibly powerful.
Half an hour passed. The insults continued for the entire duration, but suddenly, they noticed the supposed “evil enchantress” standing on the city wall smiling at them, completely unfazed by their words.
“This woman’s shamelessness has reached such extremes, we have truly witnessed it firsthand.”
Tang Guo couldn’t hold back a sneer when she heard this. “That’s because your perspective is too narrow. There’s still much about this palace that you haven’t seen. You little people, open your dog eyes wide and take a good look.”
“Whatever insults you throw at me today, I really couldn’t care less,” Tang Guo said with a smile. “The sun is already high in the sky. I advise you to go back to your lives, get to work, do your duties. You’re not me. You don’t have endless wealth or limitless resources. If you don’t work for a day, how will your families, your elderly and children, survive?”
“As for the scholars among you, instead of standing here cursing at me, wouldn’t it be better to read a few more books and broaden your horizons? Listening to the nonsense you spout makes me worry for your futures. A scholar behaving like a shrew, standing here yelling insults. Well, I have certainly seen it all now.”
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