Lu Zhu did not dare to delay and endured the discomfort. After changing her clothes, she headed towards the Zichen Palace.
The Zichen Palace was very quiet. Xiao Dezi led people all the way to the East Warm Pavilion and then retreated.
Luzhu kept rubbing her hands, with a sense of unease in her heart. There were spices burning in the hall. She didn't know whether it was because of her nervousness and fear, or because the spices had the effect of invigorating her spirits.
My originally groggy head became clearer.
But time passed little by little, until night fell, and palace maids came in one after another to light the lamps, but there was still no sign of Zhao Yuancheng.
Her heartbeats were getting louder and louder. Lu Zhu grabbed a palace maid who was holding the lamp and asked, "Excuse me, sister, does the emperor have time to see me?"
The little palace maid shook her head at Luzhu and turned away.
Two hours later, Luzhu looked at the clock and saw that it was already past midnight. The palace door was opened again, but this time it was Xiao Dezi who came.
"I'm sorry, Miss Luzhu, the emperor really doesn't have time to see you, you should go back first."
Luzhu was stunned. The more the emperor acted like this, the more scared she became.
After coming out of Zichen Palace, her legs went weak and she fell to the ground along the wall. It took her a long time to stand up again.
At this time, Zizhu was waiting anxiously at the gate of Yanxue Palace.
Seeing someone stumbling towards her not far away, she immediately went up to them and asked anxiously, "Sister, what took you so long?"
Physical torture is nothing, mental torture is the most deadly.
Supported by her sisters, Luzhu fainted instantly. Zizhu hurriedly shouted, "Help, help!"
In the second half of the night, Lu Zhu's body became hot again, and she kept talking nonsense: "Imperial Concubine, Imperial Concubine... Little Prince..."
Rou Zhaoyi stood beside Luzhu's bed, looking down at her condescendingly, with a coldness in her eyes that Zizhu couldn't understand. "When did she come back last night?"
"It's past midnight. After Luzhu returned, she has a high fever again and has started talking nonsense! Your Majesty, do you want to ask the imperial physician to come and see her?"
Consort Rou sneered, "Now that all the imperial physicians are stationed at Huayang Palace, where else can we find them?"
Zizhu said worriedly, "If this continues, Sister Luzhu might not live long, Madam..."
Before she could finish her words, she heard Concubine Rou ask, "Did she tell you why the Emperor wanted to see her?"
Zizhu pondered, "I asked, and my sister said she hasn't even seen the Emperor, Your Majesty..."
As she was speaking, she heard Concubine Rou say coldly, "It seems like I can't stay here!"
Zizhu did not hear clearly this unclear sentence.
But a few days later, people from the Shanggong Bureau came to Yanxue Palace and said that Luzhu had contracted tuberculosis and was not suitable to stay in the palace anymore, and she wanted to be sent out immediately.
Zizhu knew that Luzhu was just suffering from a common cold, and she cried and shouted, refusing to let the people from the Shanggong Bureau take her away.
The head steward was quite annoyed by the noise and scolded Zizhu: "Miss, Luzhu's illness is very serious. You let her stay in Yanxue Palace, have you ever thought about your master?"
Seeing that her words were unsuccessful, Zizhu could only rush to the bedroom to beg Rou Zhaoyi for help. However, Rou Zhaoyi replied calmly, "This is the palace rule, and I cannot disobey it."
"Empress!"
Zizhu was stunned. She knew that once a sick palace maid was sent out of the palace, she would surely die. She didn't understand why her master could be so indifferent.
"Your Majesty, please save Sister Luzhu. Once she is sent out of the palace, she will only be waiting for death. Please, for the sake of her service to you, please save her!"
Zizhu kowtowed desperately, as if trying to awaken her master's sympathy.
But no matter how much she cried, there was no trace of tenderness on Rou Zhaoyi's face. She continued to say coldly, "Enough. Every family has its own rules, and every palace has its own regulations. There are so many masters in this palace. If a prince or princess is killed because of Lu Zhu, our lives combined wouldn't be enough to kill them. Go down. If you beg again, you will go with Lu Zhu!"
There was a look of dead despair on Zizhu's face. When she came out of the bedroom, the people from the Shanggong Bureau were about to carry Luzhu out.
She rushed forward, tightly grasped Luzhu's hand, and sobbed, "Sister, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I have begged the Queen, but the Queen just won't agree..."
"Okay girl, let go quickly, we all have things to do and we can't afford to delay!"
As he spoke, the person in charge brushed Zizhu's hand away. Zizhu fell to the ground. When she looked up, she saw the glittering eyes of Luzhu...
The people from the Shanggong Bureau carried Lu Zhu and were originally going to send her directly out of the palace, but after leaving Yanxue Palace, the group went straight to Zichen Palace.
Zhu Yu lowered his eyes to glance at the unconscious person on the stretcher, then casually took out a purse from his sleeve and handed it to the steward.
"Well done."
The manager took the purse and said flatteringly, "Thank you for the reward, eunuch..."
"No one saw you on the way here?"
"Don't worry, I specifically found a secluded place to walk to. I even circled around several times. No one will know!"
"That's good. Remember, keep your mouth shut. If you dare to leak even a single word, watch out for your head."
The steward agreed repeatedly.
Zhu Yu waved his hand, and the eunuchs immediately carried Lu Zhu to a side hall.
When Luzhu woke up again, she found herself in an unfamiliar environment, but everything in front of her made her feel extremely familiar.
"woke up?"
A male voice behind her startled Luzhu. She blinked and saw it was Zhu Yu. She was so frightened that she immediately threw off the quilt and knelt on the ground, trembling, "Zhu, Eunuch Zhu!"
"You still recognize our family, it seems your brain is not broken!"
"Eunuch Zhu, where is this?"
"This is the side hall of the Purple Palace. Now that you're awake, hurry up and clean up. The Emperor is waiting to see you!"
Lu Zhu was a little overwhelmed. She remembered that the people from the Shanggong Bureau clearly wanted to send her out of the palace. She had already prepared herself to die, but why was she in the Zichen Palace now?
Thinking of this, Zizhu's words came to my mind again: "I begged the queen, but she didn't agree..."
She knew that Zizhu wanted to ask Rou Zhaoyi to keep her, and she also understood why Rou Zhaoyi suddenly became so indifferent.
Being summoned by the emperor for questioning for no reason would make anyone with a guilty conscience feel uneasy.
Presumably, Concubine Rou was also afraid that she would reveal secrets that should not be revealed, so she couldn't wait to have the people from the Shanggong Bureau send her out of the palace to die.
But she didn't expect that while the mantis was stalking the cicada, the oriole was behind it.
This was the emperor's plan.
Lu Zhu took a deep breath, her eyes showing determination: "Please lead the way, eunuch. I also want to see the emperor."
Zhu Yu smiled with satisfaction, "It's good that you've figured it out. Please go in, young lady."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com