She suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with sadness, which gradually turned into a wild and unrestrained laugh.
"This is all you've got in your life. You may hate it, but what can you do? Besides Ling'er, who else can you pass the throne to? Are you really going to hand over the empire you've worked so hard for half your life to someone else?" The Empress's eyes held no respect for the Emperor, only mockery.
"Get out! Get out of here!"
The eunuchs and palace maids who had retreated to the outside of the Hall of Mental Cultivation and waited quietly heard the emperor's roar, and they all fell silent in fear.
After a while, the Empress walked out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation with a dignified demeanor, calm and composed, though her neck and face were slightly flushed.
After walking for a while, the Empress suddenly coughed, covering her mouth. The maid behind her quickly stepped forward to support her: "Your Majesty, are you alright?"
The Empress patted her chest and exhaled a breath of stale air, saying, "It's alright. Keep an eye on things here lately. I want to see what tricks this old man can pull."
The maid behind him understood immediately: "Yes."
After a while, the maid seemed to remember something and said, "Your Highness, I have heard some things, but I don't know if I should say them."
"Speak," the Empress said, frowning.
"I heard that a few days ago when His Majesty went to the Imperial Garden, he happened to see someone trying to move the orchids from the Imperial Garden," the maid said.
The Empress was delighted to hear this: "Isn't that a good thing? Those orchids were planted by the Emperor to please that wretched woman. Now that she has fallen out of favor and has no chance of ever regaining her power, it's not surprising that he removed those orchids."
The maid frowned, observing the Empress's expression, and said, "But Your Majesty, the Emperor did not order those people to remove the orchids."
"What? What? Does His Majesty still have feelings for that vile woman?" the Empress said sternly.
The palace maid behind her was too frightened to speak. The Empress quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard them before leaning closer to the maid and saying, "It seems we have no choice but to eliminate her completely. I originally wanted to give her a way out, but it's just that Heaven and the Emperor have cut off her escape route."
Her eyes flashed with murderous intent, and she whispered something to the maid, who nodded respectfully.
Inside the Light Machinery Department, Jiang Yingxue sat on a tree stump, holding a medical book in her hand, but her gaze kept wandering, constantly turning the book slightly to look at Chang Lili and Zhang Ziqing by the long table.
It was she who suggested that she bring medical books so they could learn from them, but little did she know, she would end up hurting herself.
Chang Lili and Zhang Ziqing both told her to study medical books on the side, and the two of them researched together what materials could be used to replace flesh and tendons.
"Why should I?" she pouted, looking unhappy.
Zhou Lue, whose arm was still wrapped in bandages, walked over with a grin and said, "What's wrong, little aunt? I think you're doing great in this field. You can't compete with them in that area, so it would be great to switch to medicine. You're so kind-hearted, this is perfect for you!"
Jiang Yingxue was about to get angry, but upon hearing the last sentence, her anger subsided somewhat. In addition, Zhou Lue had recently been injured while saving her, so she naturally wanted to treat him better.
"What's it to you?" she said, rolling her eyes at him.
Zhou Lue still smiled and said, "I know what you're worried about. You're worried that the two of them, a man and a woman alone together, might develop feelings for each other over time."
As he spoke, his eyebrows danced with excitement, and Jiang Yingxue's face turned even redder, whether from anger or embarrassment, she didn't know. She shouted, "I already said it's none of your business, get out of here!"
"Don't be angry. I just wanted to tell you that you don't need to worry about this. Lili is my apprentice's wife. You saw it yourself. They are deeply in love. Zhang Ziqing is definitely yours. What are you worrying about?" Zhou Lue nudged Jiang Yingxue with his elbow and said with an ambiguous expression.
Jiang Yingxue's blush hadn't faded, and a book almost completely covered her face. She said in a muffled voice, "Go away, don't disturb me while I'm reading my medical book."
The two people sitting at the long table had a terrible headache.
Zhang Ziqing maintained his slightly furrowed brow as he retrieved a piece of every known and unknown material from the basement of the wooden house.
He and Chang Lili looked at them together, but found that none of the materials met the requirements.
It needs to be both tough and hard, but those things are either too brittle or too soft and easily broken, so they can't be used.
"Perhaps Meng Yuxiu needs to go outside and look for this material," Zhang Ziqing said, leaning on the long table with both hands, speaking with a maturity beyond his years.
Chang Lili was somewhat puzzled: "I always feel that it's not that simple." Looking at the mountain of materials on the table, she suddenly said, "Maybe we can combine these materials together."
"Merged together?" Zhang Ziqing looked at her in surprise. "You mean, combining the advantages of two materials?"
Chang Lili really wanted to snap her fingers at this moment, but she had never been able to learn it since she was a child, so she could only give up and said: "That's right, some materials are too brittle, some materials are not tough enough, and some materials are too soft. So we can combine them together in a certain amount to make up for their respective shortcomings."
Zhang Ziqing's brows, which had been furrowed for so many days, finally relaxed, and a faint smile even appeared on his lips: "Perhaps it's feasible."
Chang Lili's words reached the ears of the Holy Hall. He hiccuped and looked at Chang Lili. He saw that her eyes were shining brightly. No, when she said these words, her whole being was shining brightly. And her words were like a lightning bolt, clearing his mind, which had been in chaos for so many years.
A flood of memories rushed in, and he felt as if his brain was about to burst. He took another gulp of wine, closed his eyes again, and only then did his mind finally quiet down.
Consort Lan has only recently started to feel a bit better. In the past few days, she had been eating leftovers, but in the last few days she has been able to have decent meals. Even Eunuch Guangde came to visit her in person.
She finally got her revenge. After Eunuch Guangde appeared, the other eunuchs and palace maids no longer dared to humiliate her, nor did they dare to withhold the things they were given.
Those palace maids and eunuchs who had once humiliated her either dared not show up or now humbly fawned over her.
After the meal, she took a walk outside the palace gate. The palace was still dilapidated, but now that Consort Lan looked at it, she didn't think it was so bad.
Xiangyu brewed her some peony tea, and after she finished her walk and drank some, she went back to bed for a nap.
The surroundings were quiet, and Consort Lan was in a good mood. She quickly fell into a deep sleep, but in her sleep, a sharp sound came from her. She frowned, not wanting to pay attention to the sound, but the sound was so sharp that it grew louder and louder, and she had to pull herself back to her senses.
When she opened her eyes, she was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. She saw Xiangyu standing in front of her, but a sword had pierced her chest. She looked at her chest in disbelief.
Before Consort Lan could scream, the long sword was suddenly pulled from Xiangyu's chest, blood gushing out. Xiangyu fell to the ground, convulsing a few times, but her eyes remained fixed on Consort Lan, and she murmured, "Your Majesty...save me..."
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