“Royal sister-in-law.” Xuan Yuan Chen withdrew his gaze and explained in a low voice, “Royal brother is busy with official duties and has no free time. The Imperial Concubine is indeed acting under orders. Please do not make things difficult for the Imperial Concubine.”
"What?" The Empress's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.
Linghu Ning breathed a sigh of relief; all her efforts in delivering the medicine three times had not been in vain.
Xuanyuan Chen turned and left.
Before leaving, he also took the guards at the door with him.
The Empress collapsed to the ground, her mind filled with nothing but following orders. Suddenly, she burst into laughter: "Haha, after all these years of marriage, I still can't withstand a single word from someone else! Your Majesty, you have failed me! You have failed the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion!"
Linghu Ning felt no sympathy for the heartbroken woman crying before her. She raised her chin slightly and said, "Let Her Majesty the Empress see the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei one last time."
The Empress turned around abruptly, staring at Linghu Ning with a vicious expression, unable to believe that Linghu Ning actually had such great power.
It wasn't until the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei was helped in by two palace maids that she arrived.
She finally gave up.
The old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei glared angrily at Linghu Ning and immediately cursed her as a vixen!
Linghu Ning looked at the old lady of the Zhenbei Marquis with both hatred and anger, and she slapped her hard across the face.
The force was so great that it knocked the old lady of the Zhenbei Marquis off her feet, causing her to fall to the ground with her face swollen high.
"How dare you!" The Empress was furious and stepped in front of the old lady. "Noble Consort, how dare you be so insolent before me! Quickly apologize to my mother!"
"The old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei insulted me, which is an act of insubordination. What is wrong with me teaching her a lesson?" Linghu Ning looked down at her, her eyes filled with a deep chill that was chilling.
The Empress was speechless.
After all, it was the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei who made the mistake first.
“I have a gold medal protecting me, so it can’t be considered insubordination,” the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei suddenly said.
Linghu Ning smiled and clapped her hands in approval: "So, the old lady intends to protect you with the gold medal?"
The old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei looked at the other party with a wary expression: "What do you mean by that?"
"I have been ordered to execute the Marquis of Zhenbei's family today and send Her Majesty the Empress on her way. It is out of my kindness that I have allowed you and your daughter to see each other one last time. Madam, please speak your mind." Linghu Ning sat down on a chair to the side, dignified and graceful.
This made the Empress and the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei look even more disheveled.
"How could this be? The Emperor was supported by the Marquis of Zhenbei's family to ascend the throne. How could he..." The old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei couldn't believe it: "The Emperor clearly promised me that he would never touch a hair on the head of the Marquis of Zhenbei's family."
Linghu Ning found it increasingly ironic as she listened.
The Empress did not respond to the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei for a long time. She waited for the old lady to calm down after making a scene before she spoke: "The Emperor is no longer the Emperor of the past. The Emperor listened to the slander of the wicked concubine and purged the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion."
Upon hearing this, the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei almost fainted: "No, impossible, I must go to see the Emperor in person."
A palace maid blocked the way at the door.
Linghu Ning clicked her tongue and said, "The old lady has enjoyed so much wealth and honor for so many years. Her eldest daughter is the empress, and she has two grandsons who are princes. The whole family is glorious. Yet she insists on tearing off the mask and bringing up the favors of the past. Don't blame me for not warning you. She has even torn off the last fig leaf of the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion."
"You!" The old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei gasped for breath, clutching the Empress's sleeve tightly. The Empress looked on in despair, her eyes fixed on Linghu Ning: "Your fate will not be any better than mine today. Sooner or later, the Emperor will despise you."
Linghu Ning shrugged, looking indifferent: "I am all alone. If I were to exchange my entire clan for you, it would be worth it. My father and brothers in heaven would be comforted, and it would be a fitting end for me to be the legitimate daughter of the Linghu family."
The Empress was furious, but she couldn't do anything about Linghu Ning.
At this moment, a palace maid whispered a few words in Linghu Ning's ear. Linghu Ning's expression changed slightly, and she said to the palace maid, "Go and report to the Emperor that the informant, Dai Mao, should be poisoned and rendered mute, and sent to the laundry department. He is at least a loyal servant, so don't kill him."
The young palace maid was taken aback, then nodded cleverly.
The word "hawksbill turtle" sent a chill down the Empress's spine. It was her personal maid who had left through the back door to deliver a message.
Unexpectedly, the Emperor informed the Consort!
The Empress coughed up blood and looked shakily at Linghu Ning, who smiled and said, "In such a vast palace, how could I have entered without His Majesty's order? How could the Fourth Prince have turned a blind eye? How could I have so easily brought up the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei? It was just His Majesty trying to appease me and comfort me so that I could resolve my inner turmoil and recuperate properly."
Linghu Ning looked at the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei: "Old lady, I'll ask you one last time, do you really want to use the death-exemption token to protect yourself?"
When the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei saw her daughter vomiting blood, she was extremely anxious. The Empress grabbed the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei and said, "Mother, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood. The Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion cannot be left without someone to clear its name."
The Empress was even more anxious, fearing that the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei might mistakenly take the gold medal for herself.
Only one person can retain the gold medal.
She would have preferred to keep the gold medal for herself.
After weighing the pros and cons, the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei sighed and handed the gold medal to the Empress: "I am old and will die sooner or later. I will leave this gold medal to the Second Prince. The entire Marquis of Zhenbei clan will protect the Second Prince!"
The Empress breathed a sigh of relief and handed the gold medal to her personal guard: "Give this gold medal to the Second Prince!"
Linghu Ning looked at the gleaming gold medal, engraved with the character "免" (meaning "exempt"), and smiled slightly: "Guards, escort these two on their way!"
Two palace maids brought two cups of wine and handed them to the two men.
The Empress took the cup, tilted her head back and drank it all down. Seeing this, the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei also drank the poisoned wine, and the two embraced each other.
Linghu Ning covered her mouth and smiled, then waved her hand to dismiss everyone. Seeing the black blood flowing from the corner of the Empress's mouth, her smile became even brighter.
"You, I curse you to a terrible death!" the Empress roared.
Linghu Ning shrugged: "I forgot to tell you, His Majesty set off for the border five days ago."
The Empress's eyes widened suddenly.
"Fool!" Linghu Ning cursed. Seeing the Empress lying on the ground with a face full of resentment, her smile grew even brighter. As she smiled, she burst into tears. Today, she had finally avenged her father and brothers.
The Empress and the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei collapsed and died before her eyes. Only then did Linghu Ning leave, but Xuanyuan Chen outside the palace gate did not.
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