"Your Majesty... I really don't know!" Namuzhong stammered.

"Don't know?" Hailanzhu sneered. "Since you say it's a good medicine, then I'll brew it for you to drink."

Namuzhong looked up at Hailanzhu and found her to be quite unfamiliar, since she would never have spoken so harshly before.

"Your Majesty..."

Without waiting for Namuzhong to explain, Hailanzhu broke off another poinsettia flower branch and tried to stuff it into her mouth.

"No..." Namuzhong said quickly when he saw that Hailanzhu was serious, "Hailanzhu, I am a Noble Consort. Although I am only one rank lower than her, it is not up to you to treat me like this."

Hailanzhu, however, did not take it seriously. "So what? With the Emperor's favor towards me, would he really punish me for your sake?"

"You poisonous woman, you are a poisonous woman."

The more she cursed, the more Hailanzhu wanted to kill her. "Poisonous woman? You didn't bring these flowers, so how did you turn me into a poisonous woman? Namuzhong, your ability to distort the truth is getting better and better."

After speaking, she moved closer again and stuffed the bright red flower into Namuzhong's mouth.

"Are you all dead? Why aren't you helping me stop Hailanzhu!" Namuzhong shouted sternly.

Unfortunately, how could those eunuchs dare to disobey Hailanzhu? They could only lower their heads and stand aside, not daring to say a word.

"Haha!" Hailanzhu laughed loudly. "Blame it on your own for not treating your servants well. If you had truly been good to them, they would have risked their lives to stop you from eating it, even if the Empress wanted you to."

Seeing that the poisonous flower was about to be stuffed into her mouth, Namuzhong knew that Hailanzhu was serious this time, and cried out and struggled to break free, saying, "I... I didn't know it was a poisonous flower, I just thought that it was the only thing that had disfigured you."

Upon hearing this, Hailanzhu stopped what she was doing and looked at Namuzhong carefully; she didn't seem to be faking it.

"You just want to disfigure me?" Hailanzhu frowned. "But what difference does it make? I care most about my appearance. To disfigure me is to take my life."

Namuzhong kowtowed and begged for forgiveness, saying, "It's all my fault. I listened to Yan Zhaqiurong's nonsense and made this terrible mistake."

She remains the same, always blaming others for her mistakes. If she had no intention of harming others, how could she have been taken advantage of?

Hailanzhu would naturally not forgive someone who wanted to harm her, but in order to find the culprit, she had to spare her life for the time being.

"Yan Zha Qiurong? She's the most guileless person. Do you think I'd believe you?" Hailanzhu said deliberately.

“She’s guileless?” Namuzhong laughed upon hearing this. “Before this, I also thought she was a person without guile, which is why I believed her.”

It turns out that today, Namuzhong went to the Imperial Garden and immediately noticed that this flower was different from others. Just as she went up to admire it, Yanzha Qiurong stopped her, saying that this flower would ruin people's appearance.

Startled, she immediately withdrew her hand. Originally, she had not intended to use this object against Hailanzhu. It was Yan Zhaqiurong who suggested that Hailanzhu's appearance was as beautiful as this flower, so she had the idea of ​​disfiguring Hailanzhu.

Seeing Namuzhong come up with so many excuses, Hailanzhu couldn't help but sneer, "If you had no intention of harming me, why would you have fallen for her trick? Besides, maybe she just mistook a flower for a real one, causing you to misunderstand."

“A misunderstanding?” Namuzhong shook her head repeatedly. “It can’t be a misunderstanding. She must have put it there beforehand to lure me into a trap. It’s all too coincidental, so coincidental that it’s suspicious.”

“But you’ve already made your move, it’s too late. I don’t want to swallow this insult, I will kill you first and then inform the Emperor of this matter,” Hailanzhu said through gritted teeth.

"You...you want to act first and ask questions later?" Namuzhong's eyes widened in horror. "No...killing me won't do you any good."

“How could it be useless?” Hailanzhu raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Killing me will only make other concubines take advantage of me. This is… a temporary fix, not a permanent solution,” Namuzhong said in terror.

"So what do you think?"

"In my opinion, we should kill Yan Zhaqiurong first to eliminate any future troubles," Namuzhong said, her eyes filled with ruthlessness.

"Heh, can't I kill you first, and then slowly kill her?" Hailanzhu met Namuzhong's eyes, her gaze even more ruthless.

"You can't kill me, I still need to be a witness for this matter." Namuzhong only wanted to live now.

Hailanzhu remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.

Seeing that she was moved, Namuzhong continued, "As long as Your Highness releases me this time, I will obey your orders from now on and will never dare to have any disloyal thoughts again."

He thought to himself: This is terrible. How could I be so stupid as to provoke this shrew?

"Is that so?" Hailanzhu's expression remained serious.

Namuzhong nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice. "If I ever harbor any intention to harm you again in the future, may I be condemned to the eighteen hells after death, never to be reborn."

Hailanzhu smiled disdainfully, "I don't trust you."

"Then...then what can I do to make you believe me?" Namuzhong asked, tears welling in her eyes.

“It’s very simple. If you break your oath, not only will you go to the eighteenth level of hell, but any child you have in the future will not live to be a full month old.”

This oath was incredibly cruel, but Namuzhong was already intimidated by Hailanzhu. She nodded repeatedly, "Your Majesty, I know what to do."

Seeing Namuzhong's appearance, Hailanzhu stopped pressuring her and said, "Get up!"

"Yes...yes!" Namuzhong scrambled to her feet like a clown.

Hailanzhu glanced at the flower in her hand, put it back, and sneered, "If you want me to kill Yan Zhaqiurong, you'd better cooperate. If you dare to play any tricks, don't blame me for making this vow come true."

"Your Majesty, I understand." Namuzhong lowered her head, not daring to look up at Hailanzhu. Her usual arrogance vanished instantly in the face of this shock.

"Go down and tell the Emperor about this poinsettia matter properly," Hailanzhu said, waving her hand.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I shall take my leave." She couldn't wait to escape this terrible place and didn't want to stay a moment longer.

Seeing her disheveled figure, Hailanzhu's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness, but she quickly regained her gentle and dignified demeanor.

She sat back on the soft couch, stretched out her slender, jade-like fingers, and slowly and deliberately fiddled with the calligraphy on the table. The corners of her mouth were slightly raised, but her eyes carried a hint of coldness.

Soon, footsteps could be heard outside. She looked out the door and waited patiently.

"Your Majesty, everything has been taken care of." Qingluan said with a smile as soon as she entered the hall.

“That’s good. Let’s rest for a bit and make our move at midnight tomorrow!” Hailanzhu said calmly and composedly.

"Yes." Qingluan bowed and withdrew.

Hailanzhu put down the calligraphy in her hand, then got up and walked to the window. Gazing at the last rays of sunset on the horizon, she pursed her lips and smiled before turning to walk to the bed and lying down.

The next day arrived quickly. At midnight, she opened her eyes, put on her special clothes, and slowly walked out of Chengxi Palace.