"Your Majesty hasn't changed your clothes yet. Please change them; you must be tired." Shu Chengfeng was still wearing the same clothes he wore this morning to go see the play.
"Yes, prepare a meal for me," Shu Chengfeng said.
It was late afternoon.
"Didn't Your Majesty eat lunch either?" Yan Nangui asked.
"Am I as heartless as you?" Shu Chengfeng rolled his eyes at her.
Yan Nangui was too lazy to pay attention to him anymore; all this anger wasn't caused by her.
So he ordered someone to prepare a meal and to help Shu Chengfeng change his clothes. Since he came often, his clothes were naturally available here.
It was unusual for Shu Chengfeng not to ask her a single question about this matter.
He ate the meal in silence and then slumped in the outer room.
Yan Nangui washed the grapes; these were rare early summer grapes, small in size but very sweet.
Shu Chengfeng chatted with her casually while eating grapes.
Meanwhile, inside the Firefly Pavilion, Ye Xiaoyi looked at Yun Ji in horror.
"What's this?"
"This is the medicine bestowed by His Majesty. Please, Xiaoyi, drink it," Yunji said.
"No, what kind of medicine is this? Why do I have to drink medicine?" Although Ye Xiaoyi didn't know what it was, she still took a few steps back in fear.
It's obvious it won't be a good thing.
"I did nothing. I didn't do anything today. Your Majesty didn't even investigate..."
“Xiao Yi, His Majesty’s decree cannot be disobeyed by anyone. Whether today’s events are related to you or not will naturally be investigated in detail. But this medicine is His Majesty’s order. Does Xiao Yi intend to defy the decree?” Yun Ji asked.
"Tell me what this is... I... I don't want to die..." Ye Xiaoyi was so scared that tears came out of her eyes.
“Xiaoyi, you’re overthinking it. This isn’t poison,” Yunji said.
If it's not poison, then what is it? Ye Xiaoyi refused to drink it: "No, I am the Empress Dowager's niece, how dare you! How dare you all? I want to see the Empress Dowager!"
"Let's do it." Yun Ji waved his hand.
He simply accepted the assignment; what happened afterward was none of his business.
Even though someone had already gone to invite the Empress Dowager, it was too late.
Two eunuchs held her down, while one pried open her mouth and poured a bowl of medicine down her throat.
Yunji held it firmly, not spilling a single drop.
Ye Xiaoyi desperately wanted to vomit.
“If you vomit a bowl, we’ll just give you a bowl. There’s no need for that.” Yun Ji pointed to the pot behind them. There was a pot prepared there.
Ye Xiaoyi dared not vomit anymore, but just sat on the ground crying, "How could Your Majesty treat me like this... how could you..."
Yun Ji waited, and after about half an hour, the Empress Dowager finally arrived.
But Ye Xiaoyi was already experiencing abdominal pain.
To be honest, there is no effective drug that can sterilize a woman.
The only option is to avoid pregnancy.
Even taking too much contraceptive medication is not good.
These so-called sterilization drugs essentially destroy a woman's reproductive system.
Someone like Jin Lingyi is truly an exceptional case.
When the Empress Dowager arrived, Ye Xiaoyi had already bled.
Yun and others took advantage of the chaos to retreat.
By the time the imperial physician arrived, Ye Xiaoyi had already fainted from the pain.
After taking her pulse, the Empress Dowager asked anxiously, "How is it?"
"Your Majesty, Consort Ye...I'm afraid she won't be able to have children in the future."
The Empress Dowager's hands went limp: "How could this be..."
Even after being helped back to Ruining Palace, the Empress Dowager was still in a daze.
So much happened that day.
"And the Emperor? What does he want from me? He turns a blind eye to my grievances, so he's convinced that I did it?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. There must be someone causing trouble here. It's more important to catch this person first," said Granny Fei.
"The Emperor doesn't trust me! He's my own son, yet he doesn't trust me at all!" The Empress Dowager was furious. "If even my own son doesn't trust me, who else can I expect to trust me? If my eldest son were still alive, he would never do this. Never."
"The Emperor, he is still a descendant of the Shu family. He is truly ruthless. He ruined Ye Xiaoyi just like that..."
"Your Highness, you mustn't say that, you mustn't say that!" Aunt Fei hurriedly stopped her.
"And there's the Imperial Concubine, Her Highness is perfectly fine. Besides, there's also the Eighth Miss, we can bring her in too," Granny Fei reassured her.
"Enough. Sending a few more in would be useless." The Empress Dowager took a deep breath: "I knew he was cold, but I didn't expect him to treat me like this."
The Empress Dowager was heartbroken, and so was the Emperor.
Ultimately, it all boils down to years of grudges; neither side really trusts the other.
After nightfall, Shu Chengfeng seemed to have stopped being angry.
Or perhaps, it was suppressed.
He even had the mood to write a short essay with Yan Nangui.
He wrote 20,000 words at a time.
On the second day, several people were missing from the morning greetings.
Yan Nangui looked around and asked, "Why isn't Ye Xiaoyi here either?"
Everyone glanced at her, thinking that she had served the emperor the previous night, and it was possible that some people didn't know.
Consort Mu said, "Sister Yan doesn't know yet, but Consort Ye drank the medicine His Majesty gave her yesterday, and she's been suffering from severe abdominal pain ever since. She can't get up right now."
"Could it be her?" Yan Nangui asked, puzzled.
Consort Mu shook her head: "His Majesty hasn't said yet, but... never mind, I don't know either."
Yan Nangui nodded, which meant that the Empress Dowager was probably involved.
Tsk, Ye Xiaoyi was drugged before she even had a chance to properly serve the emperor?
Is she sterilized?
Tsk.
Two new employees have already failed within just a few days of joining, each one more ruthless than the last.
Consort Ye looked terrible today. She was the most anxious one, even though she knew nothing about it, she was inexplicably nervous.
She didn't like Ye Xiaoyi, but she was just as worried when Ye Xiaoyi got into trouble.
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