Upon hearing this, Consort Zhen calmly gazed at Song Xizhi before replying, "The person His Majesty is meeting at this moment must be of paramount importance; and the words he speaks at this moment must also be of paramount importance."
She lowered her eyes slightly, concealing any emotion in them: "Since Your Majesty doesn't want me to know, then it's not something I should know."
As Consort Zhen spoke, she patted Song Xizhi's hand with a smile: "We are not husband and wife, but ruler and subject. I am just one of the three thousand beauties in His Majesty's harem. I am already grateful to be able to sit here at this moment."
Song Xizhi nodded in agreement upon hearing Consort Zhen's words.
She knew in her heart that Consort Zhen was right, and she was also very clear about her own position, but for some reason, Song Xizhi suddenly felt a pang of bitterness.
Yes, when Emperor Guangqi presented that prescription, no one was certain that the antidote was foolproof.
This medicine is so dangerous that if even the slightest accident occurs, what His Majesty needs to say now will be his last words.
But at this moment, he chose to call He Jingyan in.
Song Xizhi pondered in silence. Consort Zhen spoke to her, and she answered only half-heartedly.
Consort Zhen seemed to realize that Song Xizhi was distracted, so she stopped talking after that.
Soon, the medicine that Song Xizhi had ordered to be decocted arrived. It was personally prepared by Zhenpin's trusted nanny in a great hurry.
Song Xizhi took the scalding hot medicine pot from the nanny's hand, smelled it carefully to make sure there was no problem, and then put the medicine into a white porcelain bowl before taking it to the inner hall.
She stood silently at the threshold for a moment, then reached out and gently knocked on the wooden door frame.
Two crisp knocks rang out, and before the third knock could even finish, Song Xizhi heard a series of hurried footsteps.
When she looked up, she saw He Jingyan reaching out to the square table on the soft couch, walking out step by step, each step seemingly extremely difficult.
When he leaned against the door frame with one hand and slightly raised his eyes to meet Song Xizhi's gaze, Song Xizhi saw his utterly dejected appearance.
The veins on his neck bulged, and his scarlet eyes held a hint of moisture.
Song Xizhi pursed her lips, a strange bittersweet feeling welling up inside her again, when she heard He Jingyan's low voice whisper in her ear:
"No breathing or pulse...and a strange fragrance emanates from her body. Go and see her, go and see her quickly."
Song Xizhi slowly raised his hand and squeezed He Jingyan's taut wrist, then handed him the medicine in his other hand.
"Go and give him the medicine. He'll definitely feel better after drinking it."
He Jingyan paused, his unfocused gaze seemingly carrying a hint of bewilderment.
Song Xizhi simply handed the medicine for the injury forward again, and this time he didn't say anything more.
He Jingyan took the medicine with his large hands and walked back towards the bed.
Song Xizhi stood at the threshold, watching his heavy steps, and felt that every step he took forward was like a knife twisting in his heart.
Consort Zhen stood beside Song Xizhi, her heart filled with worry, and hurriedly wanted to follow him inside.
But before she could reach the bedside, she heard a commotion coming from outside the palace.
Immediately afterwards, a young palace maid rushed in, panicked, and reported: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"
Upon hearing the commotion, Consort Zhen ran out of the inner palace, completely blocking the maid's view.
"Didn't I tell all of you to stand guard at the palace gate? How did you manage to enter without permission?"
It was rare for the usually amiable Consort Zhen to lose her temper like this, and the little palace maid was already extremely anxious:
"Consort Liang has arrived, and she's leading her entourage straight in."
Upon hearing this, Consort Zhen stopped abruptly. She exchanged a glance with Song Xizhi, and then hurriedly tried to run outside.
"Judge Song, I'm keeping watch outside. You stay by the bedside and make sure no one breaks in."
Consort Zhen, supported by a young palace maid, stepped out of the palace gate and saw flames filling the sky, feeling the tense and oppressive atmosphere.
Consort Liang was dressed in a simple palace outfit, with a cloak draped over her shoulders and her hair simply tied up. Compared to her usual appearance, she seemed less aggressive.
But the entourage behind her was quite impressive, with a large group of eunuchs and guards, the eunuchs carrying torches.
She led Princess Jingyue, whose cheeks were swollen and whose eyes were red from crying, as if she wanted to break into the palace, but she was stopped by the eunuchs and guards in Consort Zhen's palace.
When Consort Zhen saw this scene, she scolded the guards in her palace and hurriedly walked up to Consort Liang. Before she could soften her tone and say a few words, she saw Consort Liang raise her hand high.
With a crisp "smack," Consort Zhen could only feel the numbness and swelling on her cheek, and she was almost knocked to the side by the blow.
Consort Zhen was, after all, a princess and the birth mother of Prince Xiu, yet she was slapped in the face in front of all the servants.
This caused the atmosphere at the scene to freeze instantly.
Consort Liang merely sneered, "Weren't you supposed to be dying? You look perfectly fine to me now!"
Consort Zhen took a deep breath, covered her cheek, and her voice remained calm: "I wonder what Consort Liang meant by coming to my palace late at night and slapping me again?"
Seeing that Consort Zhen was behaving abnormally today, even talking back, Consort Liang became even angrier.
"Don't feel resentful. This slap is my reward to you. Let me tell you, just because you were in such a good mood at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet today doesn't mean you can act recklessly. A lowly servant is still a lowly servant."
After she finished speaking, she still raised her hand high, wanting to slap Consort Zhen again, but this time Consort Zhen directly reached out and grabbed her hand.
Consort Zhen was quite strong, which prevented Consort Liang's slap from landing for a long time.
After a brief standoff, Consort Liang abruptly withdrew her hand.
She stared intently at Consort Zhen, then spoke to the eunuchs and guards behind her:
“Princess Jingyue discovered that thieves had broken into the palace gates at night and tried to stop them, but was injured by Consort Zhen and the thieves. I have brought you here to apprehend the thieves.”
"Guards, search the palace! Do not let anything suspicious escape!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
