Chapter 276 The Reverse Scale
Shen Qingci walked in slowly, her face covered with frost as she looked at the palace servants on the ground who were already trembling like leaves in fear!
"Fine! Very well!" She trembled with rage, pointing at their noses and shouting angrily, "I never knew that there were such ignorant fools as you in this palace!"
"His Majesty..." Her voice trembled with a perfectly timed sob and grief, "He injured his legs for the sake of this Great Zhou Dynasty and to protect the millions of people!"
"Now that things have finally started to improve, you...you servants who receive the Emperor's boundless grace and eat the royal stipends not only have no gratitude, but you even dare to criticize the Emperor behind his back! Spreading rumors about His Majesty's faults?"
As she spoke, she could no longer restrain herself and suddenly stepped forward, grabbing the collar of the leading palace maid!
She yanked the palace maid up from the ground, her clear phoenix eyes filled with terrifying killing intent!
"You were the one who said it just now," her voice was icy and chilling, like a death warrant from the deepest hell, "Your Majesty... were you just putting on a brave face, pretending?"
The palace maid was so terrified by her appearance that she was already incoherent: "Your Majesty...Your Majesty, spare me! This servant...this servant will never dare to do it again! We servants were just...we were just gossiping because we overheard others talking!"
"Hearing people gossip?" Shen Qingci seemed not to have heard her pleas at all. She slowly, slowly approached her, her bloodshot eyes filled with madness and determination!
"Believe it or not," her voice was light and airy, yet every word was like a knife, "I will now make you... never be able to speak again?"
She tightened her grip on the maid's neck, and as she looked at the maid's face, which was flushed red from suffocation, a cruel smile slowly curved her lips.
“Tell me,” her voice was like a ghostly whisper, “who did you hear these rumors from? Who… is spreading these rumors behind my back?”
"This servant...this servant really doesn't know!" The palace maid was already terrified, tears and snot streaming down her face, her voice filled with fear. "It's just...it's just something the old ladies in the Palace Attendants' Bureau were talking about...they told such a vivid story that we...we believed them..."
Shen Qingci smiled after hearing this.
She slowly released her grip.
The palace maid instantly collapsed to the ground, panting heavily like a dead dog!
Shen Qingci looked down at them, her voice filled with endless mockery and disdain: "I thought it was something grand. Turns out... they're just some lowly clowns."
She looked at them with an undisguised warning and murderous intent in her eyes.
"Regarding what happened today," her voice was icy cold, "I... can temporarily set aside my grievances with you."
“But,” she suddenly changed her tone, “if I were to hear this again, who would dare to show the slightest disrespect to His Majesty behind his back…”
"Then don't blame me," her eyes filled with murderous intent, "for being ruthless and taking your dog lives!"
Having said that, she didn't even glance at the palace servants on the ground who were already terrified and had wet themselves, and turned away resolutely.
Once her figure had completely disappeared at the end of the palace road, two figures dressed in official robes slowly emerged from the shadows under the tall sycamore tree not far away.
One of them looked in the direction Shen Qingci had left, stroked his beard, and said thoughtfully, "This new empress... usually seems calm, collected, and meticulous. I never expected that she would get so angry over a few idle words from the palace servants."
“It seems,” his voice was full of understanding, “that those palace servants have hit a nerve with her.”
"If it weren't for the fact that the new emperor had just ascended the throne and she had just become empress, with countless eyes watching and it not being appropriate to commit murder, I'm afraid those palace servants would have been exposed."
He sighed: "His Majesty's leg ailment... I'm afraid it's not as optimistic as it seems. That day, His Majesty probably did use some extreme measures to seize the throne."
The other person, however, never uttered a word from beginning to end.
He simply stared silently in the direction where Shen Qingci had disappeared, his unfathomable eyes gleaming with a complex and indescribable light that no one could understand.
He slowly, very slowly, curled the corners of his lips into a smile, his voice filled with endless interest.
"Let's go." He looked at his companion beside him, who was still analyzing things in a self-righteous manner, and said in a calm voice, "Today's show... can be considered over."
"It's time... to go back."
Once back in the carriage, isolated from all outside prying eyes, the anger on Shen Qingci's face vanished instantly, replaced by a deep calm.
Wanqing followed and offered her a cup of warm ginseng tea, but her clear eyes were filled with confusion and worry.
“Miss,” she asked cautiously, lowering her voice, “you… why did you personally take action just now?”
"Those gossipy servants, I'll deal with them. I'm quite strong when I hit people, I'll make sure they learn their lesson."
As she spoke, she looked worriedly at Shen Qingci's still flat stomach, "Your body is not as strong as it used to be. It's not worth getting so angry over such a filthy person and ruining the pregnancy."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingci smiled.
She took the teacup, gently blew away the foam, and a knowing smile flashed in her clear phoenix eyes.
Wanqing had been by her side since childhood, and they were like sisters. Naturally, her seemingly out-of-control performance just now could not escape her eyes.
These words, ostensibly out of concern, were actually... a test.
Shen Qingci put down her teacup and said calmly, "That whole thing just now was just someone secretly orchestrating it."
"It was for the purpose of testing."
"Test my reaction, and then deduce... Your Majesty's true situation from my reaction."
Wanqing's brows furrowed instantly.
Shen Qingci's voice was as cold as ice as she continued, "His Majesty's leg ailment is, in their eyes, the biggest handle they can use to control him."
"They believe that as long as His Majesty's leg is not healed, he... will not be able to sit securely on the dragon throne."
“So,” a mocking smile played on her lips, “that’s why I deliberately put on that show for them.”
Wanqing's eyes lit up instantly!
She suddenly realized: "Miss! You did it on purpose! You deliberately acted like you'd been hit where it hurt and were furious, all to... mislead them!"
"Let them believe that His Majesty's leg is not fully healed! Let them believe that this is His Majesty's weakness, his Achilles' heel!"
“That’s right.” Shen Qingci nodded, a cold calculation flashing in her eyes. “Only when they feel that they have a ‘handle’ on us will they lower their guard and… reveal their true trump cards one by one.”
“I’d like to see,” she said, her voice filled with endless sarcasm, “what other underhanded tricks they will pull next.”
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