Chapter 2 Rebirth: Stay Away from His Majesty and Live Well!
She picked up the food box again and followed the Imperial Kitchen staff into the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Some officials and their wives arrived early and had already gathered in twos and threes. The emperor and empress dowager had not yet arrived, so the hall was quite lively.
Su Panyue appeared to be keeping her head down respectfully, but in reality, she was using the corner of her eye to survey the magnificent hall.
At the very head of the table was a magnificent dragon throne. Su Panyue wondered how much such a large dragon throne must be worth, while also worrying that it might be uncomfortable to sit on since there wasn't even a cushion on it.
The sound of two noble ladies chatting nearby drifted over:
A young girl, her face full of spring fever, said, "I've heard that His Majesty is a man of great talent and bearing. I wonder if he will take this opportunity to choose a concubine."
The other looked terrified: "Haven't you heard? The late emperor was... such a ruthless person, I don't want to go to the palace."
Su Panyue was listening to the gossip with great interest when suddenly a eunuch's shrill voice came from inside.
"The Emperor has arrived! The Empress Dowager has arrived!"
Everyone present knelt down and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty! Greetings, Empress Dowager!"
Su Panyue also knelt down in the crowd, secretly looking up at the emperor.
The emperor at the head of the table wore a black and gold dragon robe embroidered with dark patterns. He walked steadily, exuding an air of grandeur. With his sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, he truly deserved the title of a dragon in bearing and a phoenix in appearance.
Su Panyue continued to move her gaze upwards, and met a pair of eyes as cold as an icy pool. The moment their eyes met, the emperor's eyes narrowed slightly, startling Su Panyue into immediately lowering her head.
Having finally been reborn, she certainly didn't want to die again.
Fortunately, His Majesty the Emperor did not seem to take the matter to heart. After sitting down on the dragon throne, he gave a look and a eunuch stepped forward to read out the imperial edict conferring the title of Empress Dowager.
The emperor had been on the throne for over a month, but the empress dowager had yet to hold the investiture ceremony. Su Panyue, having spent a long time in the palace in her previous life, had heard some rumors.
His Majesty's birth mother passed away early, and the late Emperor was heartbroken. He immediately named His Majesty the Crown Prince and took him to the Empress's palace to raise him. The specifics of their mother-son relationship remain unknown.
As the imperial edict was read aloud, the courtiers shouted "Long live the Emperor!" and the banquet officially began.
While the nobles ate, lowly palace maids like Su Panyue could only stand aside and wait for orders. Fortunately, the atmosphere in the hall was oppressive, and no one ate properly, let alone made things difficult for the servants.
Therefore, the commotion from the Duke of Anguo's mansion was particularly noticeable. Su Panyue knew this family; she had done her homework before coming to Daqi and was very familiar with the intricate relationships among the various royal relatives.
The Duke of Anguo, who was chatting and laughing at this moment, was the Empress Dowager's younger brother. He used to abuse his status as the emperor's brother-in-law and acted arrogantly. In the end, he even obtained the title of Duke and often bullied others by taking advantage of his power.
"How is the Duke of Anguo doing these days?" the emperor at the head of the table suddenly asked, and the hall immediately fell silent.
Su Panyue also took the opportunity to look up and sighed once again that royal blood was indeed good; not only was the appearance outstanding, but the voice was also so sexy.
The Duke of Anguo, who was called out, bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, I am in good health. Thank you for your concern."
The king on the dragon throne slowly curled his lips, his deep eyes coldly sweeping over him, making Su Panyue feel a chill down her spine, and Duke Anguo felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
"There's a score that needs to be settled," the emperor said calmly.
The young eunuch immediately stepped forward and began to pronounce judgment on the Duke of Anguo's acts of bullying the people and seducing women in recent years, listing a total of eighteen crimes, the last of which was that he had defiled the harem.
Everyone knows that the new emperor has just ascended the throne and the harem is still empty, so it can only be the harem of the late emperor.
Su Panyue immediately perked up her gossipy ears and looked curiously at Duke Anguo, missing the fleeting, intriguing glance from the person at the head of the table.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent! As the emperor's brother-in-law, I have always been dutiful and law-abiding. How could I have done such a thing? There must be a villain trying to sow discord between us, Your Majesty!" Duke Anguo said, tears streaming down his face, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
The young emperor on the dragon throne showed no emotion on his face, only coldly watching Duke Anguo put on a show of deep affection between uncle and nephew, and gently tapping the armrest with a finger with distinct knuckles.
Immediately, two eunuchs came up. One read out the irrefutable evidence of the crimes one by one, while the other carried a tray with a cup of wine on it.
After the incriminating evidence was read aloud, the Duke of Anguo seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, his whole body slumped down, and he began to kneel down and beg for mercy.
Su Panyue craned her neck to see if there was anything strange about the wine, when she suddenly heard the Empress Dowager, who was sitting to the right of the Emperor, say: "Your Majesty, he is, after all, your uncle."
"Heh, since that's the case, then I'll grant you a complete corpse." The emperor didn't glance at the Empress Dowager once, only coldly looking down at the Duke of Anguo kneeling below.
The eunuch serving the wine handed the cup to Duke Anguo, but the Duke naturally refused to accept it and kept begging for mercy, saying things like, "What happened back then was my fault."
But soon two eunuchs grabbed him, pried open his mouth, and poured a bowl of wine down his throat.
In a short while, the Duke of Anguo's obese body collapsed to the ground, convulsed twice, and died with blood flowing from his seven orifices. The blood pooled in the ground, frightening the officials and women present into silence.
The Empress Dowager gasped in shock upon seeing her brother's miserable state, and fainted from anger.
"Send the Empress Dowager back to rest," the Emperor said coldly.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a palace maid in the corner fainted, the sound of which was particularly clear in the silent hall.
Su Panyue, who had just witnessed the bloody scene, collapsed to the ground before she could even feel fear because of her fear of blood.
When Aunt Cui, who was standing next to her, saw the emperor's gaze coming over, she didn't bother to help Su Panyue up and knelt down to beg for forgiveness: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, this girl is too timid."
The emperor glanced indifferently at the pale pink figure lying on the ground. It was the girl who had been staring at him intently earlier, and she didn't seem timid at all.
However, he seemed to be in a good mood today, and waved his hand, no longer bothering to argue.
Aunt Cui immediately helped Su Panyue up and quietly slipped out.
Half an hour later, Su Panyue slowly woke up and saw the top of her wooden bed when she opened her eyes.
Turning her head, she saw Aunt Cui sitting by the bed. She blinked, remembering that she had just been watching the lively scene at the Empress Dowager's banquet. How did she end up lying in her own maid's room?
Could it be that he was reborn again?
Su Panyue grabbed Aunt Cui's sleeve, wanting to ask but not knowing how to start. Aunt Cui misunderstood her as being worried.
He patted her hand and said, "Were you frightened? Luckily, His Majesty didn't punish you for your disrespect in front of the emperor. You've escaped with your life."
"Aunt Cui, what happened?" Su Panyue asked, still feeling dizzy.
"You don't remember? Did you damage your brain?" Aunt Cui muttered to herself, but still told her what had happened. "You were so frightened that you fainted, so I brought you back."
Frightened to the point of fainting? Su Panyue was stunned as she recalled the tragic state of the Duke of Anguo. It was indeed frightening, but was she really that cowardly?
Seeing her like this, Aunt Cui simply gave her a half-day off so she could rest and come back to work the next day.
Su Panyue lay alone in her familiar palace maid's room, and couldn't help but sigh. Too many things had happened today.
Putting aside how unbelievable the matter of rebirth is, what happened at the banquet today is shocking enough. His Majesty actually ordered the death of his uncle during the Empress Dowager's investiture ceremony.
Although he wasn't his uncle, the gruesome manner of his death was still quite horrifying.
Speaking of death, Su Panyue couldn't help but shrink her neck, feeling that she must have been quite miserable to be strangled to death in her past life.
Most importantly, she didn't even know who the masked man in black was, how he could be so bold as to easily enter and leave the emperor's bedchamber, subconsciously ignoring the fact that she herself had also sneaked in.
After pondering without success, Su Panyue finally came to the only conclusion she could reach: stay away from His Majesty and live a good life!
After figuring this out, Su Panyue rewarded herself with a nap to soothe the heavy burden she had carried that day.
I didn't expect that when I woke up it was already dark.
The room was pitch black. Somewhat puzzled, she got up to light the candlestick on the table and glanced at the empty bed on the other side.
The living quarters for low-ranking palace maids like her were shared by two people. Her roommate was Cui Cui from the laundry department, who usually didn't get along with Su Panyue and would often make sarcastic remarks about her hiding away in the imperial kitchen.
The food served in the Imperial Kitchen was better, and since most of the nobles in the palace didn't care much about food, it was indeed much better than that in the Laundry Department. Therefore, Su Panyue usually let it go in one ear and out the other, too lazy to argue with her.
At this time, Cui Cui should have already returned.
Su Panyue felt strange, but she was a little hungry, so she went to the Imperial Kitchen as if she knew the way well.
The Imperial Kitchen is staffed around the clock, always ready with the food that the dignitaries might request.
When Su Panyue arrived, she was surprised to see Aunt Cui. Usually, it was the junior palace maids and eunuchs who kept watch at night, and Aunt Cui, who was in charge of the affairs, did not have to keep watch at night.
Su Panyue stepped forward and asked, "Auntie, what happened? Why are you still here?"
"In the Empress Dowager's palace, they said the Laundry Bureau was incompetent and executed several palace maids and eunuchs. I'm worried that our Imperial Kitchen will be next," Aunt Cui whispered to her.
Thinking of Cui Cui who hadn't returned yet, Su Panyue gasped and immediately lost her appetite, sitting down with Aunt Cui.
Feeling extremely indignant, the Empress Dowager was clearly taking her anger out on the servants because of what happened today. The servants' lives were truly worthless. In her previous life, she thought that after she died, she would probably just be wrapped in a straw mat and thrown into a mass grave.
Fortunately, nothing happened in the Imperial Kitchen tonight; it's a peaceful night.
Su Panyue breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the empty bed next door and sighed again, "Being a palace maid is fine, as long as I'm alive!"
Days passed by without incident, and Su Panyue, beautiful and sweet-talking, thrived in the Imperial Kitchen, living a very comfortable life.
But when you're too relaxed, your boss won't let you off easy!
Su Panyue was stopped on her way home from her duty. Upon closer inspection, she recognized Sun Shi, the very guard who had placed her in the palace. The two had entered the palace around the same time, with him arriving a year earlier than her, and he had already risen to the rank of imperial guard.
"Guard Sun, it's been a long time! How have you been?" Su Panyue greeted him with a smile.
"Why don't you try at all?" Sun Shi asked her directly, without any politeness.
Su Panyue looked confused: "I'm just a palace maid who cooks and does odd jobs, how can I possibly work hard?"
When she first came, they promised to make her a concubine, but in the end she was just a palace maid. They even asked her why she didn't work hard. Su Panyue got angry just thinking about it, so she simply stopped giving him a friendly look.
Even a cold-faced beauty is still a beauty, but unfortunately Sun Shizhen was as still as a stone, saying with a serious face: "You are in the Imperial Kitchen, where you can access His Majesty's food."
"You don't mean you want me to poison him, do you? Impossible!" Su Panyue immediately refused. "The emperor's food is tested with silver needles and served by palace servants. It's impossible to poison him."
“No…” Sun Shi looked at her speechlessly and explained, “It’s a kind of Gu pill. It’s not poisonous and won’t be detected. You just need to find a way to get His Majesty to eat it.”
Su Panyue pointed a slender finger at herself: "Me?"
Sun Shi nodded and, without saying a word, handed her a porcelain bottle.
Despite her reluctance, Su Panyue couldn't resist her curiosity and opened the bottle, where she saw two small balls, one red and one green.
"Are you sure this is a Gu pill? What is this thing used for?" Su Panyue had never seen a Gu pill before and thought it was something powerful.
"These are Mandarin Duck Gu Pills. When both are taken into the body at the same time, they will generate Gu worms that devour the body. You must make sure that His Majesty ingests both of them," Sun Shi instructed.
"What if I don't have a chance to make a move?" Su Panyue asked tentatively.
Seemingly seeing through her little scheme, Sun Shi said without any mercy, "I'll give you a week. Once this is done, I won't come looking for you again."
Su Panyue thought about it and decided that it was worth risking her life for freedom! So she accepted the porcelain bottle: "Leave it to me!"
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