After Consort Zhang had gone far away, the other concubines began to gossip about her faults.
"What 'feeling unwell'? It's obviously an act!"
"That's just the kind of person she is; she never takes anyone seriously."
"It's one thing for someone from the Imperial Laundry to have such a lowly status, but to have such a foul temper is another matter."
"Your Majesty, you must punish her severely!"
...
The incessant chattering made Wan'er frown.
At the same time, Jing'er was no exception. If it were before, she would have told them to shut up long ago, but thinking that today might be her last day in the palace, she held back.
Jing'er sneered, "Why didn't you say anything when she was here, but now you're talking about it after she left? Talking about people behind their backs shows that your character isn't very good either."
Her words exposed everyone's hypocrisy, immediately causing them to feel embarrassed and dare not speak further.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward, and the air fell silent. Tong Fei, who was standing to the side, broke the silence, "It's almost noon, and lunch is probably on its way. It's just simple food, so I hope my sisters won't find it offensive."
"Your Highness, you are too kind. The dishes at Jingren Palace are all beautifully presented, delicious, and fragrant. Even His Majesty praised them highly..."
"Yes, we are fortunate to be able to enjoy these delicious dishes today thanks to Xuan Ye, our little lucky star."
"..."
The people who were talking were the same ones who had just been talking behind Consort Zhang's back, but now they were saying flattering things instead of bad things.
Wan'er didn't care. After all, she had seen too many opportunists and was already numb to it. Jing'er, on the other hand, rolled her eyes several times when she heard these flattering words.
Just as the crowd was bustling with gossip, one person secretly slipped away, unnoticed by anyone except Jing'er and Wan'er.
The two women exchanged a quick glance, understanding each other perfectly, and neither made a sound as the man left.
At noon, meals from Jingren Palace were delivered one after another.
At Consort Tong's signal, the palace maids beside everyone began to serve their mistresses meals.
Without any system notification, Wan'er dared to touch the dishes in front of her, thinking to herself: What's going on? Did Consort Zhang have a change of heart and not touch them?
But just as she finished thinking, the system's voice rang out, revealing that someone had put a piece the thickness of a fingernail into her pregnancy-preserving medicine.
That makes sense; the only correct approach is to put the fragments into the pregnancy-preserving medication.
First, the herbal decoction is pitch black, making it impossible to see anything inside with the naked eye.
Secondly, all the dishes here are the same, and it's not necessarily a coincidence that a dish with fragments would be placed in front of Wan'er.
"It seems I underestimated your kindness," Wan'er mocked in a voice only she could hear, then looked at Jing'er, indicating that there was something wrong with the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine.
Jing'er understood and nodded to Wan'er.
So she said, "The Imperial Noble Consort is such a spoilsport; on such a fine day, she is drinking medicine."
Wan'er pretended to ignore her and kept blowing on the medicine in front of her, afraid of burning herself.
"Are you mute? I'm talking to you!" Jing'er said sternly.
Wan'er replied, "Your Majesty, this is a medicine to prevent miscarriage. The imperial physician instructed that it must be drunk while it's hot."
"Heh... a medicine to prevent miscarriage." Jing'er sneered. "A blessed person can give birth to a dragon child smoothly even without drinking any tonics or other supplements. An unblessed person can do so in vain no matter how many rare medicinal herbs they consume."
Her sarcastic remarks made Wan'er forcefully put down the medicine bowl in her hand. Because she didn't put it down steadily, the bowl tilted to the other side, and the medicine was left all over the table.
Wan'er looked at Jing'er with teary eyes, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by this? Am I the unlucky person you speak of?"
Jing'er smiled and said, "I didn't name anyone, so why are you so sensitive and trying to apply these things to yourself?"
"You..." Wan'er was so angry that tears streamed down her face, and she looked very pitiful.
During their bickering, not a single concubine dared to step forward to offer advice, fearing that they too would suffer the consequences.
Suddenly, Qi Lan shouted, "What is this?"
After he finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to where Qi Lan was pointing.
It turns out that after the herbal decoction was drained, there was a layer of sediment at the bottom of the bowl, which is not normally found in pregnancy-preserving medicines.
At Wan'er's prompting, Qi Lan dipped a little into her palm and placed it there. With just a light poke, blood began to appear in her palm. She exclaimed, "It's a fragment! Someone is trying to harm the Imperial Noble Consort!"
Upon hearing this, all the concubines present gasped in shock. No one had expected that there would be a fragment in the pregnancy-preserving medicine!
If Wan'er really takes this pregnancy-preserving medicine, her esophagus will probably be scratched. Although she won't die, she will be in great pain.
Jing'er slowly walked over, carefully examined the shards at the bottom of the bowl, and said, "It must have been deliberately placed here. Someone, come and investigate for me. See who would be so bold."
As the Empress, she naturally handled these matters, and the concubines did not suspect anything.
"Yes!" Upon hearing the order, the eunuchs outside the hall quickly responded and left.
Jing'er looked at Wan'er and said, "I told you to do more good deeds and not to be arrogant because of your favor. Now look what's happened. Someone is going to kill you." She paused and then said, "If I had known this would happen, I would never have said those things to you so that you could have escaped this calamity."
Wan'er ignored her words, keeping her head down and staring at the medicine bowl in silence.
"Hmph!" Seeing this, Jing'er felt very bored and sat back down in her seat.
The reason they argued so vehemently was simply to put on a show for one of the people present, so that she would lower her guard.
The eunuchs were quite efficient; in no time, they brought Consort Zhang over.
"Your Majesty, after our thorough investigation, only Consort Zhang was found to have been near the Imperial Noble Consort's medicinal meals," a eunuch said, kneeling on the ground. Sweat beaded on his forehead, clearly indicating his exhaustion.
"Alright, you may leave. I will now properly interrogate Consort Zhang." Jing'er stood up, looking down at the person forced to kneel on the ground.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The eunuch bowed and withdrew.
Jing'er raised an eyebrow slightly. "Consort Zhang, what is your explanation?"
Consort Zhang replied calmly and confidently, "I am innocent." She looked just like an innocent person, full of righteous indignation.
"Whether you are wronged or not, you know better than anyone else." Jing'er sneered, "You have always been narrow-minded. You must be holding a grudge because the Imperial Noble Consort described you as a geranium, so you wanted to cut her esophagus with the shards."
"Your Majesty, this is a false accusation. I merely wanted to smell what the medicinal cuisine tasted like," Consort Zhang argued firmly.
Even Jing'er was completely impressed by his stubbornness, and for a moment she still didn't know how to respond to his words.
At this moment, Wan'er suddenly let out a sneer.
Consort Zhang was quite displeased upon hearing this, and asked with a frown, "What are you laughing at?"
Wan'er's lips curled up slightly, "Do you think we're three-year-old children, that we can be fooled by you like this?"
She had clearly found some clues.
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