Chapter 227: Other Means
"You bunch of dogs and slaves, get out of here!"
A woman's angry roar was heard outside the palace. The empress dowager's face changed instantly and she turned her head to look at Fuqing.
Fuqing understood, but before she could get outside the palace, the door of Shouqing Palace was pushed open.
Concubine Liang rushed in, her sinister gaze fixed on Yan Mo, and she whispered, "Xiao Qi, come here quickly!"
Yan Mo was startled and hurriedly moved, trotting behind her mother.
"How dare you!" The Queen Mother couldn't help but yell, her face extremely grim. "Liang Fei, what do you think this place is? How can you barge in so recklessly? You're acting like a lunatic, making a scene in public. This is not how a concubine should behave. Do you still have eyes for me, the Queen Mother?"
Concubine Liang protected her daughter behind her and whispered, "I had just finished tidying up the flowers and plants in the yard when I heard that the Queen Mother summoned Xiao Qi to ask questions. Xiao Qi is still a child, and even if she has something to say, she is not good at speaking. Why don't you ask me, Queen Mother?"
Concubine Liang is the only daughter of the Zheng family. She has four older brothers. She was spoiled since childhood and has always had a hot temper. It is common for her to be unreasonable. She was given the title of Liang to remind her to be quiet at all times.
But since the emperor fell ill, she had somehow become cautious and stopped competing for anything. Now she broke into Shouqing Palace alone, as if she had turned back into the impetuous eldest daughter of the Zheng family.
"Zheng Pei'er!" The Queen Mother slammed the table and stood up, her face cold and imposing. "Do you know where you are?"
"It's just Shouqing Palace. I'm not blind yet." Concubine Liang held her head high with an arrogant look. "It's so late, and the Queen Mother went to the trouble to call Xiao Qi here. What's her plan? Don't think I don't know."
"You're so bold." The Queen Mother stared at her, her eyes filled with sarcasm. "In the harem, only you, Zheng Pei'er, dare to speak to me like that."
"If it were in the past, I would definitely not dare." Concubine Liang curled her lips coldly, meeting her gaze without yielding an inch. "But things are different now. I only have Xiaoqi, her only child, and she's not even come of age yet, yet the Empress Dowager is thinking of using her to buy peace between the two countries. How can I, as a mother, watch her leave the place where she grew up and marry off to such a barbaric land?"
"Ridiculous!" The Queen Mother's face was gloomy. She stared at her eyebrows, curious about where her courage came from. "Yan Mo is a princess of a country. This is her responsibility!"
"Responsibility?" Concubine Liang scoffed and spoke lazily, "I don't understand what responsibility is. I only know that if the emperor were here, he would definitely not agree to send his daughter, who hasn't even reached the age of marriage yet, to marry a foreign prince."
"The Emperor is recuperating from illness. All matters at court must be handled by me." The Queen Mother's face turned cold and she spoke in a low voice, "Xiao Qi must marry even if she doesn't want to."
"Is the Emperor truly ill?" Concubine Liang glared at her, her tone calm, as if she were determined to fight to the death. "Queen Dowager, please don't deceive yourself. I know exactly where the Emperor is and whether he is ill or not!"
The Queen Mother was stunned and didn't react for a moment.
Concubine Liang took her daughter in her arms and took a few steps back, a look of caution on her face. "I don't want to break up with the Queen Mother, but if the Queen Mother insists on having Xiao Qi, don't blame me for being careless with my words."
No wonder.
No wonder she dared to break into Shouqing Palace alone, no wonder she dared to yell at me, no wonder...
The corners of the Queen Mother's mouth kept twitching, and even her right eyelid twitched a few times. "Zheng Pei'er, I really underestimated you. You actually reached into Shouqing Palace."
"I don't care what methods you used or what you know, but if you think you can control me with just a few secrets, you're still a little naive."
The Queen Mother slowly sat down, a sneer curling her lips. "Come here, Concubine Liang has committed insubordination. She will be arrested and taken back to Yunyi Palace. She will be confined to her room for a year and must sit in formal attire for at least two hours every day. Fuqing, you will be there to monitor her daily."
After she finished speaking, Concubine Liang's face changed drastically, and she said loudly, "If the Queen Mother is determined to let Xiao Qi marry, don't blame me for going all out with you!"
The Queen Mother snorted and laughed, "You want to fight me to the death, but what about the Zheng family?"
Just a few words froze Concubine Liang's struggling movements.
"The Emperor has gone to recuperate where he should be. Who in the harem can protect you?" The Queen Mother played with the ring on her finger and smiled. "Fool, do you want to sacrifice the entire Zheng family for a daughter?"
Concubine Liang turned her head woodenly and looked at her daughter standing behind her in a daze.
Yan Mo's face turned pale instantly. She carefully pulled her sleeve and called out softly, "Mother..."
The word "mother" sounded like the whimper of a kitten.
Yan Mo lowered her head, tears welling up in her eyes, each drop hitting Concubine Liang's heart.
-
Zhao family
Faint moonlight streamed into the room through the narrow window. The girl on the bed frowned slightly, as if disturbed by the moonlight. She turned over and fell into a deep sleep again.
[Host, something terrible is happening! ]
Suddenly, a crackling sound of electricity rang in his mind. Su Cheng trembled all over and turned over to sit up. The noise woke up Qing Shuang, who was on duty tonight.
"Miss?" Qing Shuang, sleepy-eyed, stood up from the cotton mattress and asked in a low voice, "Did you have a nightmare?"
"No..." Su Cheng laughed dryly, pulled the quilt over her chest, and said softly, "I just had a nightmare. It's none of your business. Go sleep on the beauty bed. The cotton pad is small and thin. Be careful not to catch a cold."
This was the first time she asked the maid to keep watch at night to prevent Princess Qin from doing anything bad again.
Qing Shuang shook her head and said calmly, "This cushion is very good. I can't sleep too comfortably when I'm on night watch. I'm afraid I won't be able to wake up at the critical moment."
Seeing her determination, Su Cheng could no longer persuade her and could only nod in agreement, "Put another layer on top, don't let the cold hurt your legs and feet."
Qing Shuang smiled knowingly, "Yes."
After she retreated behind the screen, Su Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. He calmed his mind and asked in his heart, "System, what happened?"
Emperor Daqi was poisoned by Concubine Zhe, and he's been coughing non-stop. He's already seen blood tonight, and he probably won't live more than a few days.
"What!" Su Cheng covered her mouth tightly, afraid of screaming, and cursed in her heart, "You useless general, why didn't you wait until he died before telling me! What's the point of telling me now? How can I enter the palace without being summoned?"
[Host, don't worry. We can actually use some other methods.]
Su Cheng was stunned for a moment, not knowing what the method the system was talking about.
-
Changgyeonggung Palace
“Cough cough… cough… cough cough…”
The man curled up on the bed, and every cough seemed to require all his strength. He held a handkerchief tightly in his hand, with the word "pure" embroidered on the corner.
It was embroidered for him by Rongqing herself, and he always wears it.
Unfortunately, the handkerchief he cherished so much was stained with the dirty blood he coughed up, and he no longer had the strength to move.
"Sprinkle—"
Suddenly, there was a slight noise in the room. The emperor froze for a moment, thinking he was hallucinating.
"Sprinkle—"
It's not an auditory hallucination.
What is that?
The emperor struggled to stand up, endured the itch in his throat, and turned to look at the source of the sound.
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