Chapter 184 – The Concubine’s Counterattack: The Most Favored Empress – Tang Tang Wins People’s Hearts (14)
Bai Tang quickly finished off the steamed bun in his hand. Before long, he clutched his stomach and cried out, “Ow—my stomach hurts, I need to go to the toilet!”
Saying that, he ran out.
Naturally, the others noticed, but who would bother to stop him?
The people working in the imperial kitchen didn’t recognize Bai Tang, and going to the latrine was a normal bodily need.
The others—whether forced or loyal to Prince Zhuang—couldn’t be bothered. Some were only concerned with saving their own skins; others thought, So what if it’s true or not? It’s already done—the poison has been administered. Even if he’s trying to report it, it’s too late.
That’s why, if you want a rebellion to succeed, you can’t have brainless subordinates.
Prince Zhuang’s rebellion failed, largely thanks to his group of pig-brained followers.
After leaving the imperial kitchen, Bai Tang wandered around and somehow ended up in the Imperial Garden.
He knew the route from the Imperial Garden to the inner palace well. Given the current tense situation, the place should have been heavily guarded—but strangely, not a single patrolling Imperial Guard could be seen.
Could it be that something had happened to A Dai?
Once that thought took root, Bai Tang couldn’t walk leisurely anymore.
He hurried toward Chengan Hall, only to find it empty—Luo Dai wasn’t there. Not even a single familiar face from Luo Dai’s close circle could be seen. Instead, all he saw were strangers.
What did that mean? It meant Chengan Hall had already been secretly purged. There were no loyal people left there.
Bai Tang hid off to the side, watching palace servants go in and out, whispering to each other, seemingly searching for something.
“Host! Host…”
At some point, the husky came running over with the jade pendant in its mouth. Under the moonlight, it managed to avoid being noticed by the palace people.
“Qiu’er? Xiao A? Did you find A Dai?” Bai Tang asked anxiously.
The husky shook its head, indicating it hadn’t seen him.
“Host, Luo Dai isn’t in the palace,” Xiao A dropped a bombshell.
“What?” Bai Tang was stunned. If Luo Dai isn’t in the palace, where could he be? Has he been captured?
No—that couldn’t be. If A-Dai had been captured, there’d be no need to go through with the poisoning.
“Please don’t worry, Host. Although I can’t detect Luo Dai’s exact location, I can confirm that he is currently safe,” Xiao A said. “He is the Child of Fate in this world. Until a new Child of Fate appears, he will not die. And the next one won’t appear for at least another fifty years.”
According to Xiao A, that meant Luo Dai was in no immediate danger.
“Host, I suggest going to the inner palace to save people.”
Xiao A was referring to the concubines—those young women who had been granted titles but never received any favor.
Bai Tang thought of them, their faces flashing before his eyes one by one. Though he didn’t like them, they had never harmed him either. Still, they were part of A Dai’s harem…
In the end, Bai Tang’s kindness overcame his petty jealousy. He recalled what that middle-aged man in the imperial kitchen had said: the people in the inner palace had all been poisoned. Wouldn’t that mean they were like fish in a barrel?
Thinking of so many innocent lives lost because of Luo Dai, Bai Tang felt it was his responsibility to save them.
So, Bai Tang snuck back into the inner palace. Fortunately, the number of concubines this year was small—only about eleven or twelve.
Ma Aoshan had been colluding with Prince Zhuang from inside. Her plan was to help him break into the palace, then betray and kill him afterward. Once that was done, the entire empire would be hers.
She had gathered the poisoned concubines and locked them up in the Palace of Cherished Elegance (Chuxiu Palace).
That saved Bai Tang a lot of effort—at least he didn’t have to run from palace to palace to rescue them.
To absorb more fate energy, Xiao A gritted his teeth and used what he had stored to redeem a special benefit: he turned Bai Tang into a small squirrel.
The little squirrel squeaked as it scampered up to the rafters of the palace, hiding up there while watching Ma Aoshan humiliate the other women.
Slap! Slap! Slap! One slap after another—Ma Aoshan was venting all the resentment she had once endured at the hands of the concubines.
“You didn’t expect this, did you? That you’d have a day like today?” she sneered. “I told you to be careful not to fall into my hands…”
Ma Aoshan was arrogant—extremely arrogant. But for now, she had good reason to be.
“Pah! Noble Consort Ma, you colluded with outsiders to usurp the throne. Aren’t you afraid the Emperor will have your entire clan executed?” one woman shouted.
She was the daughter of a military officer, straightforward and unafraid to speak bluntly. With one sentence, she cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Normally, anyone planning a rebellion would consider the consequences. But Ma Aoshan wasn’t originally from this dynasty. The idea of exterminating nine generations was something she’d only heard of in passing. Besides, it’s only the losers who suffer such fates. She was clearly the victor—who would be the one doing the exterminating still remained to be seen.
“How is Prince Zhuang considered an outsider? He was the late emperor’s brother—he’s royal blood. And I, I contributed to the rise of the new dragon! Are you talking about punishing nine generations… or are you talking about yourself?” Ma Aoshan sneered.
She wasn’t fazed by their insults. After all, that was all they had—their words. In fact, the more they cursed her, the worse they would suffer.
“Wretch!”
“Ma, you vile woman, may you die a miserable death!”
“Oh? Someone’s already reacting to the poison,” Ma Aoshan tutted. “Look at you all—what elegance do you have left as imperial concubines?” She drew a dagger and slashed the faces of the two who had cursed her the loudest. “Fight poison with poison, pain with pain. Does it feel better now? Is your stomach not hurting anymore?”
Ma Aoshan had long since become twisted. Without Xiao A’s help, she would have been walking on eggshells in the palace. Despite being the highest-ranking consort, she had been mocked and bullied by everyone.
But not anymore. That time was over. Once everything in the palace was settled, she would head to the royal retreat and send Bai Tang down to accompany them all—so the brothers and sisters of the harem could be one big happy family.
“Your Grace…” a palace maid whispered something into Ma Aoshan’s ear.
Ma Aoshan frowned and cursed, “Useless.” She ordered them to keep a close watch on the women inside and left the room.
The maids didn’t want to stay inside with the poisoned concubines, who were now incontinent and reeking. Disgusted, they shut the doors and stood guard outside.
The concubines were no longer the picture of beauty—faces turning blue and purple, some already unconscious.
From above, the little squirrel leapt down, flattening midair like a pancake as it landed.
Consort Hua—the one who had talked back to Ma Aoshan and gotten her face slashed—had trained in martial arts and had slightly higher resistance to poison. She was still conscious.
She reached out and caught whatever had fallen. Looking closely, it was a small, fluffy squirrel.
In normal times, she might’ve found it amusing and played with it. But now, she wasn’t even sure she’d survive.
She gently put the squirrel down and said, “You should run away while you still can.”
To her surprise, the squirrel suddenly transformed. With a flash of white light, it turned from a palm-sized rodent into a young man—the very consort who had been exiled to the royal retreat.
Xiao A, ever the responsible system, had pulled down a curtain to shield Bai Tang’s body the moment the transformation began.
“It’s me~” the boy’s voice was soft and sweet, his cheeks flushed—either from embarrassment or from running.
Being naked in front of so many girls… so, so embarrassing.
“Y-Your Majesty, what’s happened to you?”
“Your Majesty, save me…”
“Ah, it’s really the Consort…”
It was Consort Hua who recovered her composure first. She turned and shouted at the panicking women, “Quiet! Do you want that vile woman to come back?!”
“Y-Your Majesty, how can you be a…” A squirrel?
Consort Hua had many questions too, but she didn’t dare say them out loud.
No wonder the Emperor was so infatuated with His Consort. So it turns out he wasn’t human—he was a spirit. And now Bai Tang had appeared here… Could he have come to save them?
Consort Hua looked at Bai Tang with hope, and he nodded. “I’m here to rescue you. Don’t make a sound. Let me get dressed first, then I’ll detoxify you.”
It wasn’t just Consort Hua—everyone looked toward Bai Tang behind the screen with eyes full of hope. No one wanted to die. If they could survive, who would choose death?
Their earlier defiance in front of Ma Aoshan had come from loyalty to the nation and duty to their families, and above all, from a deep disdain for Ma Aoshan.
It was true—those selected to enter the palace all had strong character. The only exception was Ma Aoshan, who had relied on the golden halo of a transmigrated heroine. Unfortunately for her, she had met Bai Tang—who was also a transmigrator, and he had a cheat of his own.
Bai Tang quickly got dressed and exchanged some of his personal fortune with Xiao A, ensuring that Xiao A not only got back what it spent, but made a profit.
Xiao A beamed at its now half-full luck meter, already daydreaming about the day it could take physical form and live a life of its own without needing to bind to a host.
Bai Tang distributed the antidote—exactly one pill per person.
Once the concubines took the antidote, the pain in their stomachs faded almost instantly, and even the discoloration on their faces vanished.
Produced by the system, it was no ordinary cure. Not even the most legendary physician in this world could create an antidote with such fast results.
“I, your humble consort, thank His Majesty for saving my life. From this day on, my life belongs to you,” Consort Hua declared as she knelt in loyalty.
The other concubines looked at each other in surprise. One by one… they all knelt down, pledging their loyalty to the Royal Consort and promising never to reveal his secret.
Bai Tang felt embarrassed to take credit, but since he couldn’t explain the existence of the system, he had no choice but to awkwardly accept their pledge.
“Let’s go quickly. There’s a back way—I know how to get out.”
Bai Tang didn’t need Xiao A’s help; he could navigate the palace on his own, as if it were his own home, casually wandering through it.
“Good. Once we’re out, Ma Aoshan won’t have us as hostages, and our families will no longer be used by Prince Zhuang as leverage.”
Their families were all loyalist supporters of the Emperor—Luo Dai’s faction—with no ties to Prince Zhuang. The only reason Ma Aoshan hadn’t killed them outright was because she was wary of the powerful families behind them. That was also why Luo Dai didn’t care much for them—but they liked him, so Luo Dai showed their families some respect and allowed them to stay in the palace.
Just as they left, the front doors of the palace hall swung open.
A man and a woman entered. When they saw the place was completely empty, Prince Zhuang immediately turned and slapped Ma Aoshan so hard she began bleeding and could barely stand.
“Where are they?!”
“The people… they…” Ma Aoshan was stunned. Just moments ago, they had all been there—how could they have vanished?
“Prince Zhuang, let me explain—just now…” Ma Aoshan abandoned all pride and clung to Prince Zhuang’s leg, trying to explain.
“Useless woman. Can’t even watch a few people.” Prince Zhuang gave her a merciless kick, slamming her into a nearby pillar. He swept his sleeve angrily and strode off. Ma Aoshan, lying on the floor coughing blood, could still hear his retreating voice: “Capture them alive. If you can’t, kill them. And the one inside—deal with her.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ma Aoshan’s eyes turned vicious. You want to kill me? If it weren’t for me, you’d never have gotten into the palace.
Before Prince Zhuang’s men could return, Ma Aoshan clutched her aching chest and staggered to her feet.
This was the Palace of Embroidered Elegance—Chuxiu Palace—where she had once stayed. She knew the way.
Prince Zhuang, you’ve pushed me too far.
Author’s Note:
Back when Bai Tang hadn’t arrived yet, this group of girls had already been selected as court ladies and sent to the palace to learn palace etiquette. By the time Tang Tang arrived, they had more or less finished their training. They couldn’t just be dismissed after that. Unless a girl was rejected in the first round, everyone knew that if a future imperial consort was driven out of the palace, it would destroy her reputation. So I arranged for them to remain in the palace, mainly to push the plot forward. They won’t become obstacles to Tang Tang or the male lead—I swear~ ❤️