Chapter 201 Repaying the Empress's Kindness
"If Your Majesty thinks the imperial physician is right, then just pretend I didn't say anything."
If those who want to be saved don't save themselves, then there's nothing anyone can do.
Seeing that Jiang Wan Ning was about to leave, the Empress couldn't help but ask, "Can I trust you?"
"What benefit would I gain from harming Your Majesty?"
Jiang Wan Ning had her back to Empress Song Zhu Yi.
The Empress's originally straight back seemed to have its support removed, and she suddenly stomped down, bending over and leaning back.
"Is there any cure for my health condition?"
“As long as Your Majesty is willing, there is a cure,” Jiang Wanning said.
The Empress closed her eyes and calmed herself for a while before slowly saying, "It's not that I haven't had my doubts."
"But they are my closest people, why?"
Jiang Wan Ning turned around and took two steps toward the Empress. "Does Your Majesty know that Young Master Xuan is none other than Miss Song herself?"
"Not only that, she also got along very well with Princess Ping'an, the daughter of the Grand Princess, under the identity of Young Master Xuan."
"Now, Princess Ping'an is determined to never marry any powerful or wealthy man for the sake of Young Master Xuan, and only wants to follow Young Master Xuan to wander the world."
"If I am not mistaken, this was done intentionally by Miss Song."
"As for Miss Song's purpose, that depends on whether Her Majesty the Empress wants to know."
From the moment Jiang Wan Ning opened her mouth, the shock in the Empress's eyes never faded.
“Ranran…no, impossible,” the Empress shook her head gently. “How could it be Ranran? She used to be the closest to me.”
The more the Empress spoke, the less confident she became. Recalling the past, it seemed that everything was because of her younger sister's appearance that things she had originally decided to change.
If Jiang Wan Ning doesn't turn back today, her purpose for leaving the palace will change because of Ran Ran.
It was her...it really was her who had been secretly obstructing things all along.
“What I’m saying isn’t unfounded. I’ve sent people to investigate, and without exception, all the imperial physicians who have examined Your Majesty’s pulse are students of Prime Minister Song.”
The current head of the Song family is Song Fu, who is also the Empress's grandfather and, like Grand Tutor Zhou, a founding father.
Song Fu was still in the court, while Grand Tutor Zhou had already left the court.
“My grandfather always cared only about the honor and disgrace of the Song family. In his eyes, we younger generations were just there to consolidate the family’s position.”
"Otherwise... I wouldn't have entered the palace to become the Empress."
“I originally thought that my grandfather wanted to send my sister to the palace to replace me because I had not brought any benefits to the family by taking the position of empress.”
"But Ranran, she..."
The Empress suddenly looked at Jiang Wan Ning, who was staring intently at her, and asked, "Could there be some misunderstanding? Ran Ran is just a fourteen-year-old child."
She knew that her grandfather planned to send Ranran to the palace when she turned fifteen, and that day was not far off.
"How did Your Majesty learn that Prime Minister Song wanted to send Miss Song into the palace?" Jiang Wan Ning asked.
The Empress shook her head. "Grandfather didn't tell me; Ranran revealed it intentionally or unintentionally each time she entered the palace."
"I know that after so many years without conceiving, my grandfather will surely arrange for another woman from the clan to enter the palace, but I do not wish it to be Ranran."
"Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. She is so innocent and cheerful. I don't want her to be trapped like me, like a caged canary."
"I only wish for her freedom."
"I have also written to my grandfather and father, but their replies all told me to take care of the family."
The more the empress spoke, the more dejected she became.
In the Song family, only Ranran could make her feel a little bit of family affection.
“Your Majesty may not know this yet,” Jiang Wanning said, “This Miss Song, besides being good at ventriloquism, also knows how to imitate human handwriting.”
The Empress suddenly looked up. "You mean, all of this was done by Ranran?"
"No, that's impossible. I recognize her handwriting, and I've never heard her say that she could forge handwriting."
"Your Highness doesn't know, or perhaps Miss Song simply doesn't want to tell you."
Jiang Wan Ning said calmly, "If Your Majesty were so inclined, you could simply send someone to investigate these matters and find out."
Jiang Wan Ning knew it would be difficult to convince the Empress to believe her simply because she listened to her.
"Today, I will administer the antidote to Your Majesty. We can decide what to do next once Your Majesty has investigated the matter thoroughly."
Judging from the Empress's attitude today, her and Pei Yanchuan's guesses were correct.
It was all because of Song Zhuran's interference.
As for those imperial physicians, it's likely that Song Zhuran forged the old Prime Minister Song's handwriting to make them treat the Empress this way.
After being reminded by Jiang Wan Ning, the Empress recalled the past and had no choice but to listen to what Jiang Wan Ning said.
"Thank you for your hard work, Princess Langya." The Empress extended her wrist.
Jiang Wan Ning went out and instructed the servants in the courtyard to fetch her medicine box before saying, "It's all what I should do."
"The Prince's poison has been cured. The Empress once advised the Emperor not to worry. As for my mother-in-law, I consider this my way of repaying her kindness."
Given Xiao Yu's personality, the fact that he hasn't taken any action since he knows Pei Yanchuan is better must mean someone has answered his questions.
And the Duchess of England, all these years she has been secretly taken care of by the Queen.
"You know all this?" A hint of surprise flashed in the Empress's eyes.
She hadn't told anyone about these things.
Jiang Wanning smiled and said, "Anything you do will always leave a trace."
"I am just a little more observant than others, and I think I know Your Majesty fairly well, so I guessed it."
The Empress was overwhelmed with mixed feelings, never expecting that her act of kindness had saved her life.
Jiang Wan Ning took the Empress's pulse again and administered acupuncture, saying, "Your Majesty must have too many eyes watching you."
"I have specially prepared the medicine into pills. Your Majesty only needs to take them on time. The poison will be administered slowly, and your body will naturally need to be recuperated gradually."
"This is one course of medicine. Once Your Majesty has finished taking it, I will find a way to enter the palace to examine Your Majesty's pulse again."
"As for the medicine prepared by the Imperial Hospital, Your Majesty is best advised not to drink it. If you really can't avoid it, drinking a little won't hurt."
"The toxicity in that prescription is not high. As long as you don't drink it for a long time, there won't be any major problems."
The person who administered the poison was very careful and cautious, usually only looking at the prescription, and no one would suspect that the dosage was problematic.
The problem is that the Queen drank this medicine year after year.
The Empress nodded. "Then may I still..."
The Empress paused again before asking further questions.
"Does Your Majesty want to ask about offspring?" Jiang Wan Ning said. "There won't be any in the next six months to a year, and it's best if there aren't any."
"However, once Your Majesty has recovered, the child will naturally come."
One year... This result wasn't bad for the Queen, but it wasn't good either.
If she doesn't have a child within a year, can she still sit comfortably in her position as empress? If an empress is deposed, what good can the outcome be?
Now, some people in the court have begun to impeach others because they have not had an heir.
However, His Majesty still had some concern and kept it under control. Of course, this was also due to his grandfather's influence in the court and the fact that His Majesty was too preoccupied with the instability of his throne to worry about other matters.
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