Chapter 545: Pig Teammate
Huichun saw Concubine Ling doubled over in pain, her flawless fair face now covered in a large red blotch. She immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and ran to the Imperial Hospital.
Emperor Jing'an held Concubine Ling by the waist and led her to the inner hall.
Mrs. Ling was terrified when she saw that Concubine Ling was seriously ill. She wanted to go over and check on Concubine Ling, but her hands and feet were shaking uncontrollably and she couldn't walk at all.
She ordered two palace maids to help her into the hall, but saw Concubine Ling lying on the bed, somewhat unconscious.
Madam Ling's legs went limp, and she fell to her knees. "Your Majesty, the Queen is so seriously ill, and I don't know what the situation is. Please send someone to summon Prince Yu to the palace."
The worry in Emperor Jing'an's eyes immediately disappeared when he heard Madam Ling's words.
Concubine Ling rarely meets her brothers and sisters-in-law from her natal family.
Now, when Prince Yu was about to go to his fiefdom, Concubine Ling asked for permission to meet her family for the first time.
This action made him suspect that Concubine Ling had some ulterior motive.
Therefore, he did not follow the palace rules and arrange for eunuchs to watch their meeting.
Instead, he planned to go to Yanxiang Palace in person when the time was right and catch them off guard.
When he arrived at Yanxiang Palace, Concubine Ling was very calm, but Mrs. Ling's abnormality still revealed some clues.
Concubine Ling and Madam Ling did have other plans.
As for their plan, it is not difficult to guess that it is closely related to Prince Yu.
As he expected, Mrs. Ling's words confirmed his guess.
What Emperor Jing'an didn't expect was that Concubine Ling would risk her own life to keep Prince Yu in the capital.
He suppressed the rage that was about to boil over in his heart and said with deep meaning, "Let the imperial physician take the imperial concubine's pulse first. If the condition is serious, then let Jing'er and his wife stay in the palace to take care of her."
"Your Majesty is right." Madam Ling's wish came true. She almost burst into laughter. She took a handkerchief and pretended to wipe away her tears, suppressing the smile on her face. "Your Majesty will surely be blessed by heaven. Nothing serious will happen to you."
Emperor Jing'an wanted to laugh when he saw Madam Ling succeed in her plan, but he didn't dare to laugh because he was there. He tried his best to control the expression on his face, which looked distorted and funny.
At this time, Huichun came with the imperial physician.
Mrs. Ling quickly moved aside and stood next to Xiudong. The two looked at each other, then moved away together and looked at Concubine Ling nervously.
The imperial physician hurriedly took Concubine Ling's pulse and then reported to Emperor Jing'an, "Your Majesty, the Empress has been harmed by the food she ate, which is why she is feeling unwell. I will give her a few pills, and she will be fine."
Huichun, who was standing by, heard this and suddenly looked at Xiudong.
Xiudong lowered her head and didn't dare to look at Huichun.
Upon learning that Concubine Ling was not seriously injured, Emperor Jing'an instructed Huichun and Xiudong, who were standing by his side, "Take good care of Concubine Ling and check everything she eats and uses. If anything happens to Concubine Ling again, you will be held accountable."
Huichun and Xiudong responded in unison: "As you command."
Emperor Jing'an pointed to the two eunuchs beside him and said, "You escort Madam Ling out of the palace."
After leaving these words, Emperor Jing'an left without stopping.
The eunuch responded quickly and urged Madam Ling to leave the palace.
After everyone left, Huichun fed Concubine Ling the pills and immediately went to the outer hall to check on the lotus seed and bird's nest soup, but found the bowl had been removed. She rushed into the inner hall, grabbed Xiudong, and demanded, "What did you feed the Empress?"
Xiudong flatly denied it: "I... I didn't give the queen anything to eat. I just... I went to the small kitchen to bring her a bowl of lotus seed and bird's nest soup. Madam Ling... Madam Ling also ate it. She... she's fine..."
"If it weren't for you, Her Majesty would have been perfectly fine, how could anything have happened to her?" Huichun sneered. "The bird's nest soup Her Majesty eats every day is made by the two of us ourselves, never by other palace servants. Just now, when the Emperor was about to arrive, you rushed to serve the lotus seed and bird's nest soup, leaving me to make tea. Was it all to put lilies in the soup?"
Xiudong's face turned pale.
"We are both children of the Ling family. We have been taught since childhood that our master is the head of the Ling family, not the servants." Huichun pushed Xiudong away fiercely, her eyes red. "But the queen has treated us well. She would warm even a stone. How dare you do such a treacherous thing? When the queen wakes up, you will accept your punishment."
Xiudong staggered and fell to the ground, crawling and kneeling on the ground, her lips trembling. She wanted to say something, but didn't know how to explain, so she could only wipe away her tears.
When she was dressing Madam Ling in the inner hall, Madam Ling stuffed a packet of powder into her hand, saying that it contained ground lily bulbs, and asked her to find a chance to put it in Madam Ling's bowl.
Concubine Ling's life is not in danger after eating the lily powder. She will just develop red spots on her face, which looks scary. If Concubine Ling falls ill, Prince Yu will definitely stay in the capital to save the Ling family.
Otherwise, not only would the entire Ling family be executed, but even Concubine Ling and Prince Yu would be in trouble.
Finally, Madam Ling took out the indentures of her father, mother, younger brother and sister from her sleeve, and the threat she expressed was obvious.
She weighed the options in her mind and finally added lily powder to Concubine Ling's lotus seed and bird's nest soup.
Not only for my mother, but also for Concubine Ling.
Half an hour later, Concubine Ling regained consciousness and looked coldly at Xiudong who was kneeling beside the bed.
Although she was unconscious before, she could hear the movements in the inner hall.
"You...you idiot."
Concubine Ling cursed angrily. Even if the Third Prince racked his brains to murder them, he acted in an orderly manner and they could always guess what he was thinking. They could take precautions in advance.
But a fool acts without any rules and is hard to guard against.
Concubine Ling was so angry that her chest ached. She ordered Huichun, "Hurry up and write to Jing'er. Tell him what's going on with the Ling family. Tell him not to listen to Madam Ling's words, and not to send anyone to the palace to inquire about the news. Put the overall situation first."
She had originally planned to secretly transfer Ling Zhongshi's shipping company to someone who worked for them, allowing the Ling family to take the blame for this crime. If the Third Prince's men came forward to investigate, she would definitely find a way to lead them back to the Third Prince.
This was also the reason why she had just told Emperor Jing'an that the Ling family had sold off their properties earlier and intended to resign and return to their ancestral home - to show Emperor Jing'an that they had no intention of competing for the position of crown prince.
But she never expected that Madam Ling would act on her own initiative, not only giving her lily powder, but also asking Emperor Jing'an to summon Prince Yu to the palace to attend to his illness, disrupting her plan.
Concubine Ling felt a pain in her stomach and coughed up blood.
Huichun and Xiudong turned pale with fear and cried out, "My Queen..."
Concubine Ling knew very well that she had not only eaten lily powder, but was also very likely poisoned.
Enduring the sharp pain in her stomach that felt like a knife churning, she grabbed Huichun's hand and instructed him word by word: "Remember to write to Jing'er. You must write to him. Also, don't tell Jing'er about my hemoptysis, and don't tell the emperor about it. Just say I'm fine."
Huichun nodded, tears streaming down her face. She kept telling herself not to panic or be afraid.
The master has already fallen. If she doesn't do anything, the queen and the prince will be really finished.
She suppressed her panic and immediately ordered the palace maids to call the imperial physician, and then sent someone to deliver a message to Prince Yu.
Xiudong watched Concubine Ling lying in bed in agony, her mouth covered in blood, the quilt stained red with blood. She regretted her actions deeply, tears streaming down her face as she pleaded, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
Concubine Ling didn't look at Xiudong, but at the tin box on the bedside. "Like master, like servant. I don't have a heart, so how can you have one? According to the rules of Yanxiang Palace, you will be punished."
The blood drained from Xiudong's face and he collapsed to the ground.
Concubine Ling felt severe pain in her internal organs. She reached out to grab the tin box, but she just couldn't reach it, just a little bit short.
She struggled to move upwards, and her fingers finally reached the tin box.
With a bang, the tin box fell to the ground.
A string of prayer beads was thrown out with a "snap", and the string that strung the beads broke. The prayer beads rolled to the ground, making a "tapping" sound, which struck Concubine Ling's heart again and again. She stared blankly at the prayer beads all over the ground.
In a trance, she seemed to hear someone say in her ear: "Yoyo, the silk thread for stringing the rosary beads was specially made by me using a special craft. It is very tough and can last for a hundred years. It means that my Yoyo will live a hundred years."
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On the other side, after leaving the palace, Madam Ling went to Prince Yu's Mansion.
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