On the narrow palace corridor, a palace maid carrying a tray hurried along and bumped into Yun Chaoxi and her entourage at the corner of the palace wall.
Zhu'er reacted quickly and stood in front of Yun Chaoxi. The palace maid couldn't dodge in time, and her hand trembled, causing a large bowl of white fungus soup on the tray to spill onto the ground. The thick soup splashed everywhere, and Yun Chaoxi's skirt inevitably got some on it.
The accompanying eunuch, Liu, glared at her and exclaimed, "How dare you! This is the Imperial Concubine! Are your eyes on the back of your head? Are you in such a hurry to be reincarnated!"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am a servant of Consort Ding. I was in a hurry to deliver the white fungus soup back and did not notice that there was someone around the corner." The palace maid hurriedly knelt down to beg for forgiveness.
Seeing the yellow stains on the moon-white skirt, Zhu'er frowned and suggested, "Your Majesty, why don't we go back and change our clothes before going to Zichen Palace?"
Yun Chaoxi said, "Never mind, we're almost at the Zichen Palace, let's go there first. Go back and get a clean set of clothes."
The young palace maid was flustered. "Your Highness, why don't you go back and change your clothes first? If the Emperor sees this and blames me, I'll be punished..."
"Go to the Imperial Household Department to receive your punishment. Follow the rules, and I won't pursue the matter further," Yun Chaoxi said, turning to leave.
Consort Ding cursed the palace maid in the shadows for being useless, but remembering that Consort Xian had instructed her to hold off Yun Chaoxi, she had no choice but to step in herself.
She walked out gracefully and bowed to Yun Chaoxi, saying, "Greetings to the Imperial Concubine."
She then glanced at the kneeling palace maid behind her and said with slight surprise, "Xing'er, why are you kneeling here? Where is the white fungus soup I asked you to fetch?"
"Your Highness, please forgive me. I was in a hurry and accidentally spilled the white fungus soup, which also soiled Your Highness's dress."
Ding Zhaoyi pointed at her and cursed, "You're more trouble than you're worth."
She then apologized to Yun Chaoxi with a face full of remorse, "Is Your Highness alright? My maid was ignorant and offended Your Highness. I apologize to Your Highness on her behalf. I will punish her properly when we get back."
"How about it? This place is close to my palace. Why don't you come and sit with me? I felt an instant connection with you the moment I saw you!"
Yun Chaoxi felt that Consort Ding was being overly enthusiastic.
Something unusual must be going on, and Yun Chaoxi remained somewhat wary.
...
Inside the dimly lit Zichen Palace, Chu Xiao was drinking alone, with several empty wine jugs already laid out on the table. He went from drinking cup by cup to drinking entire jugs straight from the bottle, the alcohol taking effect and his expression becoming slightly dazed.
Chu Xiao forbade anyone from entering the palace, and none of the palace servants dared to go in and light the lamps.
Chu Xiao mocked himself, knowing that Yun Chaoxi had ulterior motives for approaching him, he had long been mentally prepared, so why was he still finding it hard to accept?
She was definitely doing this to get revenge on another man for getting close to him!
"Bring in the wine."
As soon as he finished speaking, the palace door opened, and a palace maid respectfully carried in two jugs of wine and placed them on the table.
Chu Xiao took a pot and drank directly from it.
The palace maid got up and walked to the palace door, gently closed the door, then returned to the table, knelt down beside Chu Xiao, and lowered her head slightly. From this angle, her face looked seven parts similar to Yun Chaoxi!
"emperor."
Chu Xiao lifted his eyelids to look over, his expression dazed.
The palace maid slightly raised her fox-like eyes, staring intently at Chu Xiao, and parted her red lips slightly, "Your Majesty, do I look good in my new makeup today?"
Chu Xiao lifted the palace maid's chin with one hand, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
"Similar in form, but not in spirit." With a swift movement, Chu Xiao's large hand slid down and gripped her neck. His face darkened as he questioned, "Who gave you the audacity to imitate her?"
"Ah!" Before the palace maid could speak, her neck was grabbed, and she suffocated, the veins on her neck bulging.
"Your Majesty... This servant is sent by the Imperial Concubine..." The palace maid said with difficulty, trembling as she unbuttoned her clothes, revealing a thin undergarment and snow-white skin underneath.
"Who did you say? Did the Imperial Concubine send you?!" Chu Xiao was furious! Besides anger, he also felt endless heartache and disappointment! The strength in his hand unconsciously lessened.
At the same time, Chu Xiao felt a surge of heat within his body, as if his blood was boiling, and his breathing became heavy.
He keenly sensed that there was something wrong with the wine he had just drunk.
"You dared to drug my drink!"
The palace maid shook her head frantically, "This was also... ordered by the Imperial Concubine! She said that after administering the medicine, the effect would be twice as good. This servant was just following... Her Highness's orders!"
The palace maid used one hand to pry away Chu Xiao's large hand that was gripping her neck, trying to breathe some fresh air, while the other hand struggled to unbutton her undergarments. "This servant looks alike to the Imperial Concubine. When the Imperial Concubine is unable to serve the Emperor, this servant may take her place. I will never compete with the Imperial Concubine for his favor. I beg Your Majesty's mercy."
"That's exactly what Her Majesty wanted!"
Chu Xiao couldn't believe it. This woman, Yun Chaoxi, wanted to find another woman to serve her after using him? Was she no longer even willing to pretend?!
Chu Xiao laughed angrily, "Fine! You want me to favor other women, is that it?"
Chu Xiao suddenly shook her off forcefully and turned around to look for something.
The palace maid fell to the ground, coughing violently several times, before crawling back towards Chu Xiao.
Chu Xiao finally found a decorative sword in the corner, drew it from the hilt, and turned around to slash several cuts on the face of the palace maid who was crawling over.
The sharp blade sliced across her fair face, leaving several deep, bone-revealing cuts, staining her face with blood.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Chu Xiao, panting heavily, said, "You think you're worthy? Get out!"
"Guards! Throw her out! Beat her to death with sticks!"
"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! It was all the Imperial Concubine who ordered me to do this!"
The palace servants outside the palace had already heard the commotion inside, but since the emperor hadn't given the order, they dared not rush in. Now that they heard the emperor call them, they pushed open the palace doors and dragged the disfigured woman out.
Yun Chaoxi exchanged a few words with Consort Ding, but felt that she was just making small talk and deliberately dragging her along, so she said a few words to dismiss her and then headed towards the Zichen Palace.
When they arrived outside the Zichen Palace, they saw two eunuchs dragging out a woman whose face was covered in blood.
Yun Chaoxi frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
"Your Majesty, this palace maid attempted to seduce the Emperor, but the Emperor slashed her face and now she is to be dragged away and beaten to death."
As Yun Chaoxi walked to the entrance of the Zichen Palace and pushed the door open, a wine cup was thrown at her, landing right at her feet.
"Get out!"
"Your Majesty, what's wrong?" Yun Chaoxi strode in.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Chu Xiao raised his eyes, his whites bloodshot, staring intently at Yun Chaoxi's beautiful face.
He quickly turned his head away and said coldly, "What are you doing here again?"
Yun Chaoxi felt bewildered and had a feeling of being targeted. What could make her so angry that she didn't want to see her anymore?
"Does Your Majesty no longer wish to see me?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
