Wan'er was in no hurry to punish her because she felt it was very difficult to leave the palace; otherwise, why would Jing'er have taken such a long detour to leave the palace?
"I don't have the ability to teach you," Wan'er mocked, then added, "Besides, do you even deserve to be taught by me?"
"This concubine dares not, this concubine...this concubine is unworthy!" Consort Zhang hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, begging for mercy.
In the past, she would have said, "Kill me or torture me, it's up to you." But these past two days, when she had nothing to do, she went to the Department of Punishments and found that the punishments there were simply worse than death.
Putting aside everything else, the torture of pulling out fingernails is actually the lightest one among them.
Wan'er snorted coldly, "I'm too lazy to waste words with you. I came to find you today to give you a taste of your own medicine."
"It was my fault, Your Majesty, please forgive me this time!"
"Spare you?" Wan'er sneered. "When you released the fragments, why didn't you want to spare me?"
"Yes, Your Highness was confused, but aren't you alright?"
Upon hearing this, Wan'er was even less willing to forgive her. She could see that the girl had no idea she was wrong, and that her so-called bowing down was just a way to save her dog's life.
Unable to contain herself any longer, she pointed to the snow-white maid beside her and said, "Qilan, bestow the bird's nest that has been prepared upon Consort Zhang!"
"No... I don't want to." Consort Zhang struggled like a madwoman.
But Wan'er couldn't tolerate her saying no. Under the pressure of the eunuchs, the bird's nest full of fragments was forced into her mouth.
She tried desperately to vomit, but nothing came out; she only felt a burning pain in her throat.
"I know I was wrong..." Consort Zhang cried and begged, her throat aching terribly with every word she spoke.
She was truly terrified. The Wan'er before her was not as gentle as she had imagined; on the contrary, she was like a demon from hell.
Wan'er snorted coldly, "This time it's fine. If you dare to hurt a single hair on my head again next time, I will make sure that the Imperial Prisoner's Office inflicts all eighty-one cruel punishments on you."
“Yes…” Consort Zhang lowered her head.
"Get out of here now!"
Upon hearing this, Consort Zhang felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She immediately got up and stumbled away.
Looking at that disheveled figure, Wan'er revealed a cold glint. She knew that Consort Zhang was a bully who preyed on the weak and feared the strong. If she didn't torment her severely this time, she would definitely hurt herself again next time.
...
One month later
With the position of Empress vacant, everyone except Wan'er was eyeing it covetously, waiting for an opportunity to replace her.
Jing'er's "death" was undoubtedly a happy thing for most people, because it gave their clansmen the hope of becoming empresses, thus enabling them to achieve great success.
So, even before Jing'er's body was cold, these ministers couldn't wait to submit a memorial to Fulin, urging him to select an empress.
Ironically, when Fulin said he wanted to make Wan'er empress, they vehemently opposed it.
These men were also selfish and self-serving, only wanting to bring honor to their own families, completely disregarding Fulin's true thoughts.
But this time, Fulin's attitude was unusually firm, and Dayuer did not object. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as Fulin was about to make Wan'er empress.
There was no other way. After all, Emperor Fulin was determined to kill anyone who dared to oppose him. They couldn't possibly risk the entire clan losing their heads for the sake of an empress.
Just when everyone thought Wan'er would become empress, they all began to go to Chengqian Palace to celebrate, but Wan'er refused to let them in.
Because Wan'er understood that she could not become empress, and that the celebration at this moment was all fake.
Sure enough, Wu Keshan arrived in the capital the next day, bringing with him his own granddaughter, who was also Jing'er's niece.
"Same old tricks, aunt and niece sharing one husband!" Wan'er mocked upon hearing Qi Lan's news.
"Your Majesty, rest assured, no matter how he pressures us, he cannot change His Majesty's mind," Qi Lan comforted him.
Wan'er shook her head. "You don't understand the affairs of the court. Many things cannot be decided by the emperor alone."
"What should we do then?" Qi Lan asked anxiously.
"Let nature take its course. Besides, I don't want to be empress," Wan'er said leisurely.
"Then why did you help..."
Before Qi Lan could finish speaking, thunder rumbled in the air, startling her so much that she forgot all about her question.
Looking at the overcast sky outside the window, Wan'er smiled and said, "I've been waiting for this day for a month."
"Your Majesty, you mean..." Qi Lan understood and immediately went to the storeroom to retrieve the wooden box from a month ago.
The wooden box contained a lightning rod, made entirely of silver, and its shape was very similar to that of a modern lightning rod.
Lightning rods achieve their lightning protection function by being plated with a layer of zinc, while Wan'er's magical artifact is made entirely of pure silver.
It's worth noting that silver's electrical conductivity is among the best in nature.
"Go quickly to Zhongcui Palace and find a nimble and reliable person to hang on the roof of Songdan's residence!" Wan'er instructed.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Qi Lan accepted the order and hurriedly went out to carry it out.
Before long, the sky seemed to grow even darker, and a torrential downpour began, pattering and pounding on the ground.
Wan'er paced anxiously back and forth in the palace until she saw Qi Lan return with an oil-paper umbrella, at which point she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your Majesty, it has been done as you instructed," Qi Lan said, placing the oil-paper umbrella outside the door.
"Okay." Wan'er nodded.
"Your Majesty, the lightning might not strike her directly. Why don't you rest first? If there is any news, someone will naturally inform you," Qi Lan said with concern, looking at Wan'er's haggard appearance.
"I will listen to you."
Pregnant women are indeed prone to fatigue. Wan'er silently prayed that she would not get pregnant again when she took on the next mission.
At the same time, I am moved by the greatness of every mother; she endured this pain for ten months.
Just as she was about to lie down on the bed to rest, a sudden clap of thunder rang out, and the entire palace shook slightly from the loud noise.
"Your Majesty, could she really have been struck by lightning?" Qi Lan asked, staring in the direction of Zhongcui Palace.
"Shall we go take a look?" Wan'er was wide awake because of the thunder.
"No!" Qi Lan quickly refused. "It's raining heavily right now, and the thunder hasn't stopped. Your Highness is pregnant. What if you slip and fall?"
Qi Lan's reminder made Wan'er realize that she really shouldn't be too hasty.
So as soon as the rain stopped, she took Qi Lan and hurried to Zhongcui Palace.
As soon as she arrived at the palace where Songdan was staying, she saw that the roof had been blown open.
Upon seeing this, she couldn't help but smile knowingly.
The reason no one noticed that Songdan had been struck by lightning was because the thunder was too close, and they themselves were afraid, so they closed the doors and windows tightly and naturally couldn't see anything.
Furthermore, Zhongcui Palace was the residence of some lower-ranking concubines, and was usually neglected. In addition, it was far from Fulin's residence, so the guards were too lazy to go there on weekdays.
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