Chapter 371 Torturing the Dowager Consort (Third Update)

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you are calling this servant?"

Eunuch Wei carried a basin of water from outside the door. He had just gone to the small kitchen in the nunnery to have someone prepare hot water for His Majesty. Having served the emperor for so many years, he knew that the emperor would be waking up around this time.

Even if he didn't wake up himself, he still had to wake the emperor, otherwise what? There was an early morning court session.

"His Majesty?"

When Eunuch Wei entered the room, he suddenly sensed that the atmosphere was a bit strange. He looked at the Emperor and then at Consort Jing.

Well……

Was it just his imagination?

Why do they seem to have had something bad happen between them? His Majesty's face was icy cold, and Consort Jing's expression was also not good.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"

Eunuch Wei lowered his voice and carefully carried the hot water over.

The emperor covered his forehead; he was still feeling dizzy, as if someone had forcibly stuffed a wad of cotton into his head.

Eunuch Wei mustered his courage and glanced at Consort Jing again, but Consort Jing just stared at the Emperor without saying a word, as if she was shocked by his appearance. Eunuch Wei thought to himself, "Is His Majesty having a terrible headache? He's even frightened the Consort Jing."

Eunuch Wei knelt down, placed the hot water on the floor beside him, and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, do you have a headache? This servant will go and summon the imperial physician."

The emperor lowered his hand from his forehead: "No need, it's time for the morning court session."

The emperor's unfamiliar tone startled Wei Gonggong. He glanced at Consort Jing without showing any emotion. This morning... was really strange.

After washing up, the emperor returned to Huaqing Palace, changed into his dragon robe, and went to court.

Granny Cai was released; it was an order from the Emperor last night, so no one stopped her.

She stumbled out of the torture chamber of Huaqing Palace, and upon seeing the emperor, her heart leaped with joy. She bowed respectfully and said, "This servant greets Your Majesty..."

The emperor walked past her expressionlessly.

Granny Cai was taken aback.

Since His Majesty released her, it means he trusts the Empress Dowager. Why then is he treating her so coldly?

Granny Cai hurriedly dragged her injured body back to the nunnery.

Consort Jing sat quietly in her meditation room. On the small table beside her were two bottles, one black and one white, both upside down, with pills spilling from their mouths.

"Oh dear! How did this medicine spill! We paid so much for it! We can't buy any more!" Granny Cai didn't even bother to greet them and rushed over to put the pills back into their respective bottles.

She pretended to glance to the side and suddenly noticed that Consort Jing looked dazed. Recalling His Majesty's indifference towards her this morning, her heart skipped a beat: "Your Highness! Could it be... that His Majesty has discovered it?"

Consort Jing did not speak, but clenched her fists and closed her eyes.

Granny Cai knew her mistress all too well, and her face paled even more: "Didn't notice... then it is... then it is..."

What is it?

Was the medication ineffective, or was the wrong medication simply administered?

Either way, the consequences would be terrible.

That incident back then almost caused him to break ties with the Empress. It was only with great difficulty that he gradually forgot all the bad things he had done to the Empress through medication, and reconciled with her. If he remembered... if he remembered!

"Eunuch Wei."

After the court session, the emperor, sitting in his sedan chair, suddenly spoke, "Have I forgotten something?"

"Ah?" Eunuch Wei asked the emperor as he walked beside the sedan chair, "Which matter is Your Majesty referring to?"

"If I remembered, would I still be asking you?" the emperor said irritably.

"Ah..." Well, I don't know what you're asking either.

The emperor frowned, pressed his brow, and pinched his temples, feeling as if he had forgotten something important, but suddenly couldn't remember it.

"Your Majesty, are you still going to the nunnery?" Eunuch Wei asked.

"What would I do at the nunnery?" the emperor asked rhetorically.

This stumped Eunuch Wei. "Don't you have any idea what you're going to the nunnery for?"

The emperor remembered that he had visited Consort Jing yesterday.

He asked curiously, "Isn't Consort Jing in a nunnery outside the palace? I remember the Empress Dowager banished her from the palace back then, how come she's back?"

Eunuch Wei was so shocked he couldn't speak: "Your Majesty...did you drink last night?"

"What's wrong?" the emperor asked, frowning.

Eunuch Wei said, "Are you still drunk? Have you forgotten that you were the one who brought the Imperial Concubine back to the palace?"

The emperor looked bewildered: "I brought her back to the palace?"

Eunuch Wei nodded: "Yes, the Imperial Concubine fell in the nunnery and was seriously injured. After you visited her, you were worried about her safety, so you brought her back to Huaqing Palace and had a small nunnery built for her in the palace so that she could be accompanied by the ancient Buddha and the dim lamp in the palace."

"Is that so..." The emperor tried hard to recall, but his head throbbed whenever he thought about it. It seemed that he had some fragmented memories. Eunuch Wei was not lying.

What he didn't understand was why he was doing this, because it was against the rules.

Although Consort Jing was his mother...

Yes, it was his mother.

His mother, who raised him.

It's only right that he be filial to her.

That's right.

The emperor's head ached again.

He suddenly felt that Consort Jing wasn't so good after all. She...she...she what?

Yes, she punished him and Ning An!

In the dead of winter, just because he and Ning An sneaked out to pick a few pomelos, he was punished by his mother, Consort Jing, and made to kneel in the freezing snow.

But that day was Empress Dowager Zhuang's birthday, and he and Ning An only went to the Cold Palace to deliver a packet of silver charcoal and a few pomelos to her.

She punished them so severely that Ning'an fell ill.

"She punished me and Ning'an," the emperor suddenly said.

"Hmm?" Eunuch Wei was taken aback.

The Emperor said, "On such a snowy day, Ning'an and I were merely delivering some things to the Empress, and she made us kneel all night as punishment..."

At this point, the emperor sighed, "She's so afraid of us getting close to the empress."

Eunuch Wei was completely dumbfounded.

This empress must be Empress Dowager Zhuang in her youth.

He had heard His Majesty mention this matter, but His Majesty had not originally said so.

"In this freezing weather, she actually tricked Ning'an into delivering something to her, causing Ning'an to be punished by her mother upon her return and even fall seriously ill! This vicious woman can't stand seeing anyone else have a good day!"

These are His Majesty's exact words.

How come things have changed now?

Your Majesty, what has triggered this?

The emperor suddenly realized that his headache had subsided. He turned to look at Eunuch Wei beside him and asked, "What did you just say?"

"N-nothing." Eunuch Wei felt that His Majesty had probably been stimulated by something and had become strange. He would have to ask the little divine doctor later if His Majesty was sick or possessed by an evil spirit.

Just as Eunuch Wei was pondering when to leave the palace to visit Gu Jiao, Gu Jiao unexpectedly entered the palace on her own.

When Eunuch Wei ran into Gu Jiao in the Imperial Garden, his eyes lit up: "Miss Gu!"

"Eunuch Wei," Gu Jiao greeted him.

Eunuch Wei chuckled, "What brings you to the palace? Are you here to visit His Majesty?"

Gu Jiao said, "I came to see my great-aunt."

"Ah..." Eunuch Wei smiled awkwardly but politely. How could he forget that His Majesty always suspected that Empress Dowager Zhuang had offended the little divine doctor?

Seeing that he seemed hesitant to speak, Gu Jiao asked, "What's wrong, Eunuch Wei? Is there something you need?"

Eunuch Wei looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "This...this servant doesn't know how to say it, it's just that His Majesty...he...he's a little..."

"Eunuch Wei."

Not far away, the unhurried voice of Consort Jing suddenly came.

Eunuch Wei was startled and quickly turned around, bowing respectfully, "Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine."

Granny Cai was recuperating in the nunnery after being injured, and the little nun named Huian was by the side of Consort Jing.

Consort Jing led her over, looked at the two of them, and said with a smile, "Miss Gu has also entered the palace. I was just about to visit His Majesty. Would Miss Gu like to come along?"

“Okay, let’s go together,” Gu Jiao said.

Eunuch Wei widened his eyes. Uh...didn't you say you were coming to see the Empress Dowager?

Consort Jing's eyelashes trembled, as if she hadn't expected Gu Jiao to agree so readily. She stood there stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then let's go together."

Gu Jiao and Consort Jing went to Huaqing Palace together.

The little nun was very excited, looking around curiously.

Gu Jiao was unaware of Consort Jing's specific actions. She and Eunuch Wei had barely exchanged a few words when Consort Jing arrived. Gu Jiao followed along to see what Consort Jing was planning.

She really just wanted to take a look and didn't intend to do anything, but there are always unexpected things in this world.

As he stepped across the threshold of the small garden, Eunuch Wei suddenly slipped and accidentally bumped into Gu Jiao.

Because it was Eunuch Wei, Gu Jiao didn't dodge, otherwise he would have fallen.

The emperor, who had just finished reviewing the memorials and came out of his study, saw Eunuch Wei, who was beside Consort Jing, suddenly bump into Gu Jiao, giving her a solid knock.

Although she didn't cry out in pain, the emperor could tell that she had been hit quite hard.

The emperor's face darkened instantly: "Mother, why did you push Eunuch Wei?"

Consort Jing, who hadn't moved a single finger: "...!!"

There will be frequent updates, but please save up some drafts. Please be patient, everyone. Mwah!

(End of this chapter)