Eunuch Yu was locked outside the palace, but he knew that Concubine Rong was now guilty and the emperor had handed over the matter to the empress. It was not convenient for him to meddle in other people's business. He stood on tiptoe to take a look at the situation inside through the window sill, then turned around and left the ancestral temple.
"Someone, come here and wake this bitch up!" Sitting on the armchair brought by the palace maids, the queen looked at the embarrassed Rong Rong with a sneer and spoke softly.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The palace maid lowered her head slightly, snatched the wooden bucket from the eunuch's hand and walked towards Rong Rong. She poured a bucket of ice-cold water on Rong Rong's face.
No matter how deep Rong Rong's sleep was, a bucket of water pouring down would wake her up.
"Cough cough cough..." Rong Rong accidentally inhaled a lot of cold water and started coughing violently. She covered her lips with one hand and supported herself on the ground with the other hand and slowly sat up. She saw that the hall was brightly lit with candles and was surrounded by eunuchs and palace maids. The queen was sitting not far away, staring at her with a half-smile in her eyes.
"Noble Concubine Rong, please accept the order." The Queen admired Noble Concubine Rong's disheveled appearance and felt extremely relieved, but she spoke in a stern voice.
Rong Rong was splashed with water. Even though it was summer, the mountain air was chilly at night, and she could still be seen shivering slightly. Hearing the Queen's voice, Rong Rong stood up weakly and then raised her eyes. Her eyes, now regaining their rationality, were filled with astonishing insight, which made the Queen's heart tremble.
"Noble Concubine Rong, why don't you come and pay your respects to the Empress now that you have met her?" The maidservant beside the Empress saw Rong Rong standing alone in front of the tablet and immediately shouted, without a trace of respect in her words.
Rong Rong stared at the Queen not far away with cold eyes, and found that all the people standing in the ancestral temple were the Queen's confidants. Rong Rong already knew what was going on.
The Queen saw Rong Rong staring straight at her. Her cold eyes made her heart tighten. Her hands holding the imperial edict tightened slightly. She took a step forward and said with a hint of arrogance, "Rong Rong, accept the edict."
Hearing the Queen's cry, Rong Rong turned her gaze slightly to the imperial edict in her hand, then to the large pool of blood on the ground that had not yet dried. A trace of sarcasm flashed in her eyes. She walked forward with a sneer and said arrogantly, "Your Highness, I greet the Queen."
As she spoke, Rong Rong lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands and knelt down in front of the Queen with great grace. Although she was in a dishevel at the moment, her natural majesty frightened the palace ladies, who felt that this Imperial Concubine Rong was truly dignified and noble.
The Queen hated to see Rong Rong like this. She was clearly defeated by her, yet she still put on an expression of defiance. Especially now, even though Rong Rong was soaked, her hair was messy and stuck to her cheeks, and her clothes were already tattered, she still couldn't hide her natural beauty, which made the Queen hate her even more.
Before Concubine Rong could speak, the Queen handed the imperial edict to Xiao Luzi beside her and asked him to read it out.
"The Emperor, in compliance with the decree of Heaven, declares: Imperial Concubine Rong is lacking in moral character and has violated palace rules, and is therefore sentenced to death!" With just three adjectives, Imperial Concubine Rong was completely disapproved of and was ruthlessly executed.
Rong Rong's already pale face instantly turned gray, a flash of shock flashed across her eyes. She turned her gaze to the smug queen, forced herself to calm down, and asked, "I don't understand. What did I do wrong? Why would the emperor order my death?"
"Rong Rong, choose one of the following: white silk, poisoned wine, or a dagger!" The Queen admired the sadness that was suppressed in Concubine Rong's eyes, and her mood suddenly improved. She waved her hand and asked the palace maid behind her to bring three things and let Concubine Rong choose.
"I don't accept it. I want to see the emperor. I was framed." But Concubine Rong ignored the queen's words and spoke on her own. When she said the last sentence, Concubine Rong's clear eyes instantly shot towards the queen, with a hint of meaning.
"I never thought that Concubine Rong, who is so indifferent to other people's affairs, would be afraid when she was about to die. Although you have the beauty of a fairy, you don't think about what this ancestral temple is. How can you be so presumptuous? If you dare to have a secret meeting and commit adultery with a man in the ancestral temple, it would not be an exaggeration even if the Rong family is destroyed. When death is imminent, you still want to quibble. Aren't you afraid that I will report to the emperor and say that you are disobeying the order? If you want to drag the entire Rong family to perish with you, you can try it!" The queen mocked Concubine Rong for a while and did not miss any opportunity to attack Concubine Rong.
Rong Rong had always taken life and death very lightly, otherwise she would not have decided to bite her tongue to commit suicide in Puguo Temple. But when she heard the Queen talking about the Rong family, Rong Rong's eyes changed instantly, and the shock just now turned into worry. She tried to stand up with her hands on the ground, but a palace maid was already standing behind her, forcing her to kneel on the ground.
"Empress, you abuse your power for personal gain and dare to use private punishment on me. The emperor will not forgive you. Since you keep saying that I had a secret meeting with a man, why don't you let me go to see the emperor and explain the matter clearly? Are you feeling guilty?" The Empress has many people and powerful forces, but Rong Rong is alone. The only one who can intimidate the Empress at this time is Emperor Yugan. Rong Rong wants to save herself, so naturally she has to use Emperor Yugan as a shield.
'Snap.'
However, after hearing what Concubine Rong said, the Queen suddenly rushed forward and slapped Rong Rong in the face, causing her face to tilt to the right and blood to flow from the corner of her mouth.
"I am the empress, and I hold the life and death of the concubines in the harem in my hands. You are just a noble concubine, yet you dare to shout at me? Are you tired of living? If the emperor had not seen you and that adulterer with his own eyes, why would he order your death? Do you really think that your pretty face can deceive everyone?" The queen was not in a hurry to let Rong Rong die immediately. Seeing Rong Rong, who always prided herself on being noble, kneeling at her feet, the queen felt a surge of pleasure in her heart.
The queen pulled Concubine Rong's cloud-like hair with her left hand, forcing her to look up at her. Seeing that Concubine Rong's usually delicate face was now covered with red, white and black, a smug look instantly appeared in her eyes. She raised her right hand high and fanned Rong Rong's face without mercy.
'Pah pah pah...' The sound of palms touching skin echoed in the silent ancestral temple.
As the queen's palm fell, Rong Rong's face quickly became red and swollen, and her delicate skin was faintly oozing blood.
Rong Rong, however, was a stubborn person. Even though she knew that she could not escape death today, she still refused to beg for mercy. She looked into the distance with a cold and arrogant look, allowing the queen to vent her selfish desires.
The queen took a cup of tea and stopped panting. The palace maid beside her immediately stepped forward to support her so that the queen could catch her breath.
But how could the Queen miss such a good opportunity? She raised her foot and kicked Rong Rong in the heart.
Rong Rong's body could not withstand such force. She fell backwards and fell heavily to the ground, spitting out blood.
"Hahaha, Rongrong, you probably never thought that you would end up like this, right?" Seeing Rongrong's flushed face, the Queen laughed heartily. She took the bottle of poison from the tray and gently spun it in her hand. "This palace wanted to give you a quick death. Unfortunately, you are too ungrateful and even dared to go against me. In that case, I don't need to pity you too much. This is a secret poison made in the palace. Drinking it will cause bleeding from all seven orifices. Even the most beautiful face will be feared by others. This poison will cause you pain for a full hour, and let you taste the pain and discomfort. Come, give Rongrong the poison."
Before Rongrong could speak, the Queen's maids stepped forward, pressing down on her body and forcing her to kneel on the ground. The eldest maid tightly grasped Rongrong's jaw with one hand, forcing her to open her tightly clenched mouth and pouring all the poison in her hand into her mouth...
"Don't worry, I will send you to hell. If you are lucky enough not to die, you will have the white silk and the dagger to choose from." Holding Xiao Luzi's hand, the queen slowly sat down, looking at the embarrassed Rong Rong with a smile in her eyes.
"You put drugs in the food." Rong Rong only said this.
It was the Queen who suggested locking her up in the ancestral temple, and Emperor Yugan then followed the Queen's wishes and locked himself up.
This was just a trap, and the one who set it up was the Queen.
First, she put drugs in her food and secretly let the man into the ancestral temple to pretend to have a tryst with her. If she hadn't spoken out to save herself, she would have been killed by now. And the result of speaking out was that Emperor Yugan would have sentenced her to death.
The queen probably promised the man some benefits, so that he would commit suicide if he was discovered by the imperial guards, so that there would be no evidence. She herself would probably be charged with the crime of inciting chaos in the harem for the rest of her life, and there would be no chance for her to turn things around.
"So what? You won't live long anyway. Knowing too much will only add to the resentment in your heart. It's not easy to be reincarnated as a human when you have too much anger. Instead of wasting your energy thinking about these things, you might as well think about what kind of family you want to be reborn into." The queen admired her well-maintained hands. As her mood improved, she smiled more often and answered Rong Rong's words in a disjointed manner.
"Empress, I have never had any grudge against you, yet you framed me like this. Aren't you afraid that Princess Yao will suffer retribution?" Rong Rong struggled to stand up, but the palace maids holding her down were all doing rough work, and their hands were very strong. Before Concubine Rong could straighten up, several palace maids had pressed down on her shoulders, pulled her arms back, and pressed her head down, making her face the ground.
"Retribution? Rongrong, look at your current behavior, this is your retribution. I am only doing justice for the heaven. How dare you commit adultery in the harem? Don't you even look at how many heads you have? However, you will not be a lonely ghost. I believe that on the way to the underworld, your wild man will be waiting for you, and then you two can live together in the underworld." The queen kept slandering Concubine Rong. Even the palace maids who originally did not believe that Concubine Rong would have an affair, now gradually began to believe it all.
Everyone was incredulous that the usually arrogant and aloof Concubine Rong could be so utterly intolerant of loneliness. Furthermore, the Emperor's kindness to Concubine Rong was witnessed by the entire harem. To reassure Concubine Rong, the Emperor even granted her permission to go to Puguo Temple to pray for Old Lady Chen. Little did they know that Concubine Rong would resort to such shameless acts, relying on the Emperor's favor.
For a moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Concubine Rong's face. There was contempt and disdain in everyone's eyes, and they wished they could eat this shameless woman alive.
"Hahaha... Queen, you will get what you deserve." How could Rong Rong not know the Queen's intention in repeating this? However, everyone in the ancestral temple belonged to the Queen, so even if she shouted at the top of her lungs, it would not reach Emperor Yugan's ears.
Concubine Rong laughed out of anger, and a desperate and sad smile appeared on her beautiful face, which made the Queen envious, but also made the Queen lose the intention of teasing Rong Rong.
The Queen stood up and pointed at the arrogant and laughing Concubine Rong with one hand, angrily saying, "Beat her until she shuts up."
A group of palace maids immediately stepped forward, waving their arms and kicking their legs, attacking Concubine Rong directly...
"Puff..." Blood spurted out of her mouth again, Rongrong's face wrinkled in pain, blood slowly seeped out of her seven orifices and slowly flowed down along her delicate skin.
The palace maids who had just rushed forward immediately dispersed. The senior palace maid stepped forward and saw that Concubine Rong had fallen to the ground, curled up, with her face pale and blue. She must have been poisoned.
"Empress, I'm afraid she's dying." After kicking Concubine Rong on the ground hard, the palace maid turned around and reported to the Empress.
"Really? She's dying so soon?" The Queen walked forward doubtfully, and saw that Rong Rong's face was covered in blood, and even blood was flowing out of her ears. Her once beautiful face had become horrible and scary. Even the Queen was startled. She patted her chest and quickly stepped back, no longer looking at Rong Rong, who was neither human nor ghost.
"Hmph, if you had known this would happen, you wouldn't have done it. This is the consequence of not following the palace rules." Although Concubine Rong was in great pain, the Queen didn't have an ounce of sympathy in her heart. Instead, she was sarcastic and completely indifferent.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Rong has died!" At this time, a little palace maid saw that Concubine Rong had stopped twitching. She went forward to take a look and found that she had died. She was so scared that she covered her mouth and let out a low cry.
"Why are you yelling? It's just that someone died. What's the big deal?" The queen was furious. Why were there so many small fry around her who would get startled at the slightest thing?
"Xiao Luzi, take your men to wrap her in a straw mat and throw her into the mass grave." The queen instructed Xiao Luzi beside her in a cold voice.
Then, she glanced anxiously at Rong Rong, who lay dead on the ground. She bravely stepped forward and kicked Concubine Rong hard in the abdomen. Then, she stepped on her body and said with a sinister smile, "Rong Rong, I have done my best for you. I even had someone send you to the underworld on a straw mat."
As she spoke, the Queen suddenly increased the strength of her foot, vigorously rubbing the dirt on Rong Rong's embroidered shoes on her abdomen. "Remember to be ugly in your next life, otherwise I will kill you just the same."
After she finished speaking, the queen retracted her foot and led the palace ladies out of the ancestral temple.
Xiao Luzi sent the queen away and called two young eunuchs. The three of them casually wrapped Rong Rong in a straw mat and carried her to the mass grave together. They threw the straw mat onto the mass grave strewn with corpses...
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－－
After a dark period, there is another village with bright flowers...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com