Chapter 217 The Deep Palace...Cannibalism
Lihe Palace.
The charcoal fire inside the warm pavilion was burning brightly, dispelling the chill of early winter.
Shui Xian was holding Yong Ning and feeding him egg custard that she had prepared herself. Yong Ning was a very cheerful child and was very focused on eating. Even though it was the same soft egg custard, the little guy seemed to enjoy it so much that he held the spoon that Shui Xian handed him and giggled.
Looking at her adorable daughter, Narcissus felt completely content.
A warm smile involuntarily appeared on her face, but this faint smile faded slightly when she saw Tinglu quickly lift the curtain and enter.
Tinglu is usually lively, but she rarely appears so flustered.
Shui Xian handed the steamed egg custard to the wet nurse beside her, and asked the wet nurse and the nanny to take Yongning away. Once only Tinglu and she were left in the inner room, Shui Xian said softly:
"What happened?"
"Your Majesty, something has happened to Consort Lin!"
Tinglu spoke very quickly. Although she was not very old, she had already sorted out everything from her chaotic thoughts on the way here.
"As Your Highness instructed, I've been keeping watch, and I'm only now reporting back. The palace room has been eerily silent for a long time. The people on watch dared not enter, so I risked sneaking in to investigate, and the result..."
Recalling what she had just seen, Tinglu's face turned pale.
"We just happened to find Consort Lin hanging herself! I've rescued her, but she's unconscious and in bad shape! I've already summoned Physician Pei!"
Narcissus's pupils contracted slightly, and she made a decisive order: "Prepare the sedan chair!"
Before she left, she summoned Yinzhu and gave her a few instructions. Then she asked Shuer to go to the Qianqing Palace to inform Emperor Zhaoheng. Only then did she sit in the prepared sedan chair and walk into the dark, inky night of the inner palace with Tinglu.
The palace was extremely remote, lurking in the darkness like a sleeping behemoth. When viewed at night, it gave one the illusion that this behemoth might suddenly awaken, open its mouthful of fangs, and devour everything.
Shui Xian knew that Consort Wan had driven Lin out, and now that Consort Lin had become a criminal in Emperor Zhaoheng's eyes, she could only let Consort Wan arrange for Consort Lin to live in a remote palace.
The only thing she did was to privately instruct the Imperial Household Department not to fawn over the powerful and bully the weak, and to use this opportunity to humiliate Consort Lin.
Unexpectedly...
Narcissus pressed her forehead, feeling a throbbing sensation in her temples.
A wave of self-reproach washed over her for a moment, but she also felt that Lin Yingying was scheming against her. If she helped her, it would be a disguised betrayal of people like Tuoba and Wen Jingfeng who were kind to her.
Amidst these mixed emotions, Narcissus's palanquin had just stopped outside the palace gates.
As soon as they stopped, Narcissus heard faint sounds of commotion coming from inside.
She strode in. The peeling paint on the palace door was wide open, and a sense of despair, mixed with the smell of blood and decay, rushed out.
The hall was dimly lit, and Xiao Duo's small, thin body still lay in the same spot, covered with a white cloth that had been found from somewhere. The bloodstains beneath her had dried and darkened, outlining a heartbreaking silhouette.
On the other side, after being rescued, Lin was placed on a couch, with a shocking deep purple ligature mark on her neck.
Her face was pale and her eyes were closed. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of her chest, she would have looked almost like a dead person.
Tinglu was kneeling on the ground, checking on her condition, while Pei Jichuan was directing the palace maids who had been temporarily assigned to help her.
In just half a day, one died and the other fell into a coma.
A person who was alive and well one moment may be separated from the world by death the next.
The cruelty of the palace was on full display at this moment.
Narcissus took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her heart and the sorrow of feeling sorry for her fellow creatures.
She is now an Imperial Noble Consort, wielding great power to assist in managing the six palaces, and is the sole pillar of support here.
Narcissus's gaze swept across the entire room. Forcing herself to remain calm and deliberately ignoring her turbulent emotions, she methodically gave the instructions:
"Tinglu, you did a great job."
She first affirmed Tinglu's actions, then immediately ordered, "Go to the Imperial Hospital immediately and summon some female physicians to assist Physician Pei in treating Consort Lin. Be quick!"
"You lot," she said, looking at the few rough eunuchs who had been summoned, "carefully move Xiaoduo's body to a side room, find a good coffin, and properly bury her."
Despite trying to remain calm, Narcissus couldn't help but let her gaze linger on Xiao Duo's frail body for a moment.
She sighed, "I will petition the Emperor to give her a proper burial and provide substantial compensation to her family."
Looking at the white cloth, she sighed in her heart. This girl, in the end, fulfilled her sincere loyalty in the most tragic way.
Immediately afterwards, Shui Xian coldly said to the chief eunuch in charge of patrolling the area who arrived later, "Before Consort Lin wakes up, send more people to keep a close watch on her. If anything happens to her again, I will hold you responsible!"
“Furthermore,” Shui Xian’s gaze finally fell on the spot where Xiao Duo had died, her tone grave, “thoroughly investigate the cause of Xiao Duo’s death. Question the palace servants who may have heard the commotion nearby, carefully examine the scene, and make sure to confirm whether it was an accidental collision or… arson.”
Although she had already deduced from Tinglu's previous report and the situation on the ground that it was an accident, the procedures had to be completed.
This is not only an explanation to the deceased, but also a way to silence public opinion and prevent further complications.
With a well-organized plan, the chaotic scene was brought under control in an instant.
Everyone accepted the order and got to work.
After finishing all the work, when I returned to Lihe Palace, the sky was already showing a faint hint of dawn.
Narcissus removed her cloak, which was stained with night dew and chill, and her face showed obvious signs of fatigue.
The maid, Shu'er, had already prepared hot water and clean nightgowns. While helping her wash up, she couldn't help but mutter under her breath, filled with confusion and resentment:
"Your Majesty, why do you go to so much trouble for that Consort Lin?"
Shu'er said indignantly, "She brought this upon herself. She was malicious and wanted to frame the Empress, so this is her retribution! It's just a pity for that girl Xiao Duo. Her loyalty was wasted... Sigh, I really can't understand how someone like Consort Lin could be worth Xiao Duo sacrificing her life for? It's just incomprehensible!"
Shuixian sat in front of her dressing table, looking at her slightly pale face in the mirror, and did not rebuke Shuer for her words.
She remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
“Shu’er, look at Consort Lin. Before entering the palace, she was probably just an ordinary lady from an official family. She probably longed for a peaceful and quiet life.”
Her gaze seemed to pierce through the mirror, seeing into a much deeper place.
"It's this deep palace... that devours people."
She uttered those words softly, yet they carried immense weight.
"Here, there are too many things that are beyond our control, too many things that we cannot control. Power, favor, family expectations, the scheming of others... are like man-eating beasts, dragging people into them."
"Little by little, it wears away people's innocence, distorts their nature, and amplifies their greed and fear. Consort Lin is not the first person to be swallowed up by this deep palace, and she will certainly not be the last."
After handling Xiao Duo's funeral arrangements and Lin Daying's related matters, Shui Xian felt neither joy nor sorrow, only endless grief.
"If she is so mad and lost today, who knows if others won't one day, under different temptations and oppressions, walk a similar or even more despicable path?"
Shu'er looked at Shui Xian with a mixture of understanding and confusion, but she felt that the Empress's expression was unusually different at this moment. The thing in her eyes made her dare not and did not want to complain easily anymore.
With Shu'er's help, Shui Xian changed her clothes, then got up and walked to the window, pushing it open a crack.
The crisp morning air rushed in, carrying the chill of winter.
She looked out the window at the gradually brightening sky and the endless palaces and buildings stretching as far as the eye could see.
At that moment, her heart became more resolute, but also heavier.
She must survive in this cannibalistic harem, and thrive, rising to a higher position.
This is not just about hatred from a past life, but also about peace in this life and protecting the children under my care.
From this day forward, an even heavier responsibility has been added...
She needed to grasp enough power, not only for self-preservation, but also to have the ability to protect those "true selves" who had not yet been completely swallowed up by this deep palace, to minimize unnecessary sacrifices like Xiaoduo's, and to fight for a glimmer of hope for herself and those around her in this dark rule.
Power is not only a weapon, but also a hope.
This path was destined to be full of thorns, but she had seen the direction clearly, and... she was determined to go forward.
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