85. Consort Qi is no longer in the game.
Consort Xian pursed her lips: "And what about you? When you poisoned His Majesty and ordered someone to push Princess Fukang into the water, did your hands tremble?"
"I didn't!" Qi Xunyuan suddenly looked up, her eyes bloodshot. "It was all that vile maid's doing, what does it have to do with me?!"
“You may not admit it, but that doesn’t matter,” Consort Xian lowered her eyes, not wanting to argue with her, “because His Majesty doesn’t care.”
"What do you mean by not caring? What do you mean?..." Qi Xunyuan suddenly fell silent.
She seemed to finally realize something, and a hint of fear flashed in her eyes.
No wonder the guards have been so tight lately, no wonder Consort Xian suddenly appeared before her...
The little dumpling hiding behind the screen didn't quite understand what they were saying, but she could sense the tense atmosphere inside the hall.
You could also feel the little princess's hand suddenly tighten.
The little princess's lips moved silently: "Mother is afraid..."
Sure enough, Consort Xian turned around and picked up a wine cup, her hands trembling even more violently: "You should drink it... His Majesty has already issued an ultimatum..."
"You're lying!" Qi Xunyuan suddenly shrieked, knocking over her wine cup. "My father and brothers are high-ranking officials in the court, His Majesty wouldn't..."
"Lord Qi confessed his crimes and committed suicide in his residence last night," Consort Xian interrupted softly, bending down to pick up her wine cup and refill it. "As for the young prince... His Majesty is raising him personally, are you still not at ease?"
"My father is dead?!" Qi Xunyuan's face turned deathly pale instantly, her lips trembling.
She finally understood.
At that time, Wei Xiuming did not punish her directly, not because he was letting her go due to a lack of evidence, but because he wanted to eliminate her and the entire Qi family from the root of the problem.
She's finished!
Her wicked scheme backfired and cost her her life.
She should have known!
Qi Xunyuan's face was deathly pale. Even the most insane person would suddenly sober up under the threat of death. She suddenly knelt down with a thud: "Sister... Sister, I know I was wrong..."
She clutched at the Empress's skirt, tears streaming down her face, "For the sake of the many years we've served His Majesty together..."
The Consort Xian's hand holding the wine cup trembled more and more violently, and she subconsciously turned around to look at the palace servants in the hall.
In the dimly lit hall, apart from Qi Xunyuan's wailing and the sound of wine sloshing around as she trembled, there was not a sound at all.
Those faces hidden in the shadows just stared at her expressionlessly.
The guards surrounding them had already drawn their long swords.
Consort Xian's heart pounded. She turned around and muttered to herself, "My Chaoyun is only five years old. She can't be without a mother..."
She looked down at Qi Xunyuan: "Just think of it as doing it for your own child. Jiayou can't have a mother like you. It will be a stain on his life. Just think of it as doing it for him..."
"I don't care about him!" Qi Xunyuan screamed incoherently. "Didn't I give birth to him so that I could gain status through my son? He's a useless piece of trash who can't be used by me, and now I have to die for him? Why?! As long as I can live, what does it matter if he dies in my place?!"
Consort Xian looked at her in disbelief. She loved her daughter dearly and couldn't understand why she could say such a thing. But she also realized that the little prince was not that important to Qi Xunyuan, and was just a tool.
She paused for a moment, then slowly said, "It's not that I'm asking you to sacrifice yourself for Jiayou, but that what you did deserves to die."
"Why should I die instead of him?! Ugh!—"
The little princess suddenly turned around and hugged Jin Lanyue tightly.
The little boy's head was pressed against her shoulder, so he couldn't see anything.
But she didn't struggle; instead, she stretched out her arms and hugged the little princess tightly.
The two children hugged each other, feeling the warmth emanating from each other and resisting their fear.
"Ugh... gulp..."
Qi Xunyuan's struggles gradually weakened.
The little princess grabbed the little dumpling and ran outside. The two little girls ran around in a panic and knocked over a vase at a corner.
"Who?!" Consort Xian's exclamation came from inside the palace.
The invisibility potion's effects wore off at that very moment.
The little princess made a quick decision, pulling the little dumpling into a broken hole in the wall. The two of them crawled out covered in dust and dirt, and then ran all the way.
They finally arrived at a deserted place, where the two of them stopped, exhausted.
"Little Moon... Little Moon, are you alright?" The little princess's voice trembled uncontrollably, but she still managed to pat the little dumpling's back. "Don't be afraid... I... I'm here..."
[Task Completed]
[You've finally devised a plan to eliminate Qi Xunyuan, this major threat.]
This is a major milestone on your path to revenge!
[Reward Received: Body Strengthening Pill]
The little dumpling then realized that it had been trembling the whole time, and its teeth were chattering.
She tried to say something, but only let out whimpering like a small animal.
The little princess hugged her tightly, gently rocking her as her mother had comforted her when she was little: "It's alright... Mother was protecting us..."
Tears streamed down her face, but she still tried to comfort the little girl: "That bad woman...she has harmed so many people..."
The little dumpling hugged her too: "Qi, it seems... Consort Qi is dead..."
She was terrified; although she had never seen it with her own eyes, this was the first time she had faced death up close.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have brought you here..." The little princess herself was quite frightened.
“It’s alright, it’s not the little princess’s fault,” the little dumpling shook her head, “it’s Yue’er who wants to stay with the little princess.”
She thought how scared the little princess would be if she weren't there.
Thankfully, she came with the little princess, so they could hug each other and wouldn't be so scared.
"Little Moon, you're so kind..."
-
After a while, the two little ones, whose emotions had gradually calmed down, held hands and quietly slipped back to the Consort Xian's palace.
Only a few palace lanterns were lit inside the hall. Consort Xian sat alone by the window, her handkerchief already soaked with tears.
"Mother..." The little princess stood at the door, her voice soft.
Consort Xian suddenly looked up, tears glistening in her eyes in the candlelight.
She practically stumbled over and hugged her daughter tightly: "Chaoyun! My Chaoyun..."
The little dumpling stood aside, watching the little princess being held tightly in the arms of the Imperial Concubine.
Consort Xian's tears fell into the little princess's hair, and the little princess nestled in her arms: "Chaoyun... Mother will never leave you... I will always love you the most..."
The little princess clutched her mother's clothes tightly with her tiny hands, sobbing as she said, "Your subject... I love Mother the most too..."
The little dumpling blinked and suddenly felt a lump in its throat.
She misses her mother.
Her mother would hold her like this too.
Sometimes when she couldn't sleep, her mother would hold her in her arms and pat her back gently.
She could fall asleep peacefully as soon as she smelled her mother's scent.
She misses her mother so much... She wants to be hugged by her mother too.
But Mother isn't here.
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