Upon seeing Song Xibai enter, everyone in the hall bowed and paid their respects.
Song Xibai waved his hand and called for them to get up.
"No need for formalities. How is Consort Shen doing?"
Consort Shen's personal maid wiped her eyes and said, "Her Majesty is in the inner room, and Consort Shu is watching over her."
Song Xibai then led Wei Hong towards the inner room.
Consort Shu sat on the edge of the bed, holding Consort Shen's hand in one hand, her face full of sorrow.
Song Xibai's heart skipped a beat.
Am I too late?
She walked quickly to the bedside and saw Consort Shen's chest rising and falling slightly, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your Highness."
She took the initiative to bow and greet the Dowager Consort.
Consort Shu turned her head, her eyes red-rimmed.
"You've arrived? Perfect timing, come and see Consort Shen one last time!"
As she spoke, she turned to the side, giving them some space.
Taking advantage of the situation, Song Xibai sat down next to Consort Shen and touched her other hand. While carefully sensing it, she pretended to be puzzled and asked.
"How did he suddenly become so seriously ill?"
Consort Shu sighed, "It's all because of Fanghua... Originally, Sister Shen's illness was caused by Fanghua. She had just gotten a little better these past two days, and seeing that the weather was nice today, she went out for a walk to clear her head, but unexpectedly, she heard that Fanghua had an accident. Suddenly, she was so angry that she fainted. After being carried back, she was in a daze and not fully conscious."
"What did the imperial physician say?"
"What else can I say? It's just to tell her to relax. It's an old saying. If she could really relax, she wouldn't have gotten sick from being so angry in the first place."
The Empress Dowager looked listless.
Song Xibai then asked, "Which imperial physician has arrived? Where is he?"
"After inspecting it, they said there was no way to save it and left. Humph! Those opportunistic bastards! They just don't care about us now that we're powerless, and they're just going through the motions!"
Consort Shu was furious and slammed her fist on the bed.
In just a short while, Song Xibai had roughly figured out Consort Shen's pulse.
Indeed, he was overcome with anger and frustration, and the fire in his heart burned through his internal organs.
But to say it's beyond saving... isn't that serious.
If you take good care of yourself, you can easily live for another 10 or 20 years.
However, this illness requires time and effort to treat properly, and it takes a lot of work.
Whether it was due to his own lack of skill or someone's instructions, the imperial physician simply left like that, utterly unworthy of being a doctor!
Song Xibai took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and gave Wei Hong a wink.
Wei Hong stepped forward and reached out to help Consort Shu.
"Your Highness, you've worked hard. Why don't you sit outside and rest? Our Lady is here!"
Consort Shu was in a bad mood and had lost her usual imposing manner. She weakly waved to her maid and helped her out.
Song Xibai took out a needle case from her waist.
She hadn't used the needle case for a long time, but due to a long-standing habit, she always carried it with her, so she no longer needed to go back to Changqing Palace to retrieve it.
She gave a signal, calling for Consort Shen's personal maid to come forward and help her remove her mistress's upper garment.
Then, Song Xibai held her breath and began to insert the needles.
One needle after another was inserted into Consort Shen's body, her movements as steady as ever, without the slightest hesitation or doubt.
After a long while, Consort Shen on the bed slowly opened her eyes.
She winced in pain and groaned softly a few times, then heard a familiar voice.
"Consort Shen, please bear with it."
Just as she was about to ask, she suddenly felt a piercing pain in her chest.
She was in so much pain that she was covered in sweat, her face contorted in agony, and she instinctively clenched her teeth.
The sound rang out again.
"Quickly stuff something into her mouth so she doesn't bite her tongue!"
Suddenly, a hand reached out and stuffed a rolled-up handkerchief into her mouth.
Consort Shen made two whimpering sounds, but failed to protest successfully. Suddenly, all her strength seemed to dissipate.
"Phew...that's enough."
The handkerchief was removed from her mouth, and Consort Shen smacked her eyes a few times until her vision cleared, allowing her to see the person in front of her.
"Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine?"
She was very surprised.
"Your Majesty, you're awake!"
Consort Shen heard the voice of her palace maid, her voice trembling with joyful tears.
She turned her head and saw a palace maid wiping her face with her sleeve. It was hard to tell whether the water on her face was sweat or tears, but her sleeve was soaked.
Consort Shen opened her mouth and asked with difficulty.
What's wrong with me?
When she opened her mouth, she was shocked to realize how hoarse and unpleasant her voice was.
Song Xibai smiled at her: "It's alright, the most dangerous time has passed, and you're fine now, but you still need to take good care of yourself. You'll need to take herbal medicine for a while."
Consort Shen nodded subconsciously, then belatedly recalled what had happened before she fainted, and her face turned even uglier.
"Fanghua... Fanghua, she..."
Song Xibai patted the back of her hand to comfort her.
“I’m also from Zuo Niang’s family, so I understand how you feel. But Princess Fanghua has grown up and has her own ideas. What can we do if she doesn’t want to listen to us? Is it worth risking your own life for her?”
Consort Shen was taken aback by these words.
She instinctively wanted to retort, saying that Fanghua was her only child!
But when he thought of Fanghua's chilling personality, he couldn't bring himself to say the words.
Song Xibai glanced at the door and continued speaking.
“Princess Fanghua is His Majesty’s sister after all, so he can’t just ignore her. But before that, she needs to be taught a lesson so she knows what’s what and won’t do anything even worse in the future. That’s why she’s been confined to the Empress Dowager’s Renshou Palace.”
Consort Shin slowly regained her composure.
"Thank you for your help, Your Majesty and the Imperial Concubine."
"What's the trouble? Anyway, don't worry about Fanghua. The most important thing is to take good care of your health."
Song Xibai paused here, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"Don't forget about Princess Lanhua! She's been coming to keep you company every day these days, which shows how filial she is."
These words, once spoken, filled Consort Shen with sorrow and helplessness.
His own biological daughter was so cold-blooded and ruthless, while the fourth princess, who was not his biological daughter, was much more filial to him.
Is this God's punishment for me?
She closed her eyes, sighed deeply, and stopped thinking about it.
"I understand, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."
Song Xibai carefully put away her needle case, instructed the palace maid to take good care of Consort Shen, and then got up and left the inner room.
She had just stepped outside when she saw the Fourth Princess running over in a panic.
"How is Consort Shen? Is she alright?"
Song Xibai pulled her back.
“Your mother, Consort Shen, needs to rest. Go in later! Come here and tell me, besides you, who else has come over these past few days? Which gossipy person deliberately brought up the matter of the eldest princess in front of Consort Shen?”
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