Chapter 212 The Villain Dies from Talking Too Much
That afternoon, the Hall of Mental Cultivation convened all the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy for a consultation. The Hall of Mental Cultivation, which had been quiet all day, suddenly became lively. Not only imperial physicians and Taoist priests came and went, but also monks from the Hall of Precious Flowers and Tibetan lamas.
The sounds of chanting and rituals, mixed with the smells of medicine, fragrance, and burning, filled the air, all pointing to one thing: the Emperor's illness was likely serious, otherwise he wouldn't be so desperate to seek treatment.
Upon receiving this news, everyone kept a close eye on the Hall of Mental Cultivation. As night fell, people dressed in various colors emerged one by one, but still no good news came.
It seems this is a really big deal.
Hongzhao sat with his back to his father's bedside. He didn't look at the group of sobbing women standing below, wiping away their tears, but only frowned in annoyance. Now he understood why his father always frowned when talking about the harem; the wrinkles between his brows were all because of these chattering, noisy concubines.
The reason they were standing there crying was because the Empress found it strange and frightening to see a group of people kneeling in the room, genuinely or insincerely wiping away tears, so she exempted them from kneeling.
Lu Jiaying, holding a handkerchief, stepped forward with concern and gently placed her hand on Hongzhao's shoulder, softly advising, "Hongzhao, you've been working hard for two days. Go and rest. Your father has your mother here, and there are these ladies serving you. Everything will be alright."
Seeing that he still didn't want to get up, Lü Jiaying sighed and leaned closer to persuade him again in a soft voice, "Mother knows you're worried, but the Emperor is your father, and also the Emperor of these people in the palace. They should at least be allowed to go up and see him, and say a few words to him."
Although the voice was soft, it still reached the ears of everyone present without missing a beat. Jinxi stood silently to the side, observing everyone's expressions. Some were panicked and frightened, some were anxious and helpless, some were sad and upset, and there was one person who was secretly clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.
As if finally persuaded, Hongzhao hesitated for a long time before standing up, bowing his head with little energy, and then walked out of the inner palace.
The Empress finally breathed a sigh of relief—"Xiao Dezi, Jinxi, go and serve her quickly. She hasn't slept for two days; how can her body take it?"
She clapped her hands, looking troubled, and paced back and forth in front of the crowd. As if annoyed by their presence, she waved her hand dismissively—"Alright, alright, with so many people, it's too crowded. Leave one here, the rest go back to their palaces and wait. I'll send someone to fetch them later..."
When it came to deciding who to keep, she hesitated, waving her finger in the crowd, unsure of who to choose.
"Your Majesty." An Lingrong noticed her predicament and took a small step forward, glancing at Consort Meng, who had not raised her head at all. "In my humble opinion, when His Majesty is lucid, whoever he likes to talk to should stay. Perhaps listening to their voices will wake him up."
Lu Jiaying rubbed her temples wearily and nodded – “Well, then so be it, Consort Meng. You’ve had a hard night. I’ll have someone come and relieve you tomorrow morning.”
Consort Meng hadn't expected this task to fall to her, and her gaze was somewhat blank—"Your Majesty, rest assured, this is my honor, how can you say it's a hardship?"
As the gong sounded at midnight, and since the person chosen to attend to the sick had been selected, there was no need for others to linger. A group of beautiful women scattered back to their palaces to the sound of the gong and the night watchman's drum.
Meng Jingxian stood a meter away from the bed, her gaze not on the unconscious emperor lying on the bed, but on the flickering candle beside her. With no one else present, and even Su Peisheng having left the inner hall, she naturally didn't need to pretend to wipe away her tears with a handkerchief.
"Your Majesty..." Her voice was gentle and melodious, quite pleasant to listen to, but a long sigh at this moment made the tone sound distorted, adding a touch of sorrow.
"There is no one else around, only you and me. I would like to have a heart-to-heart talk with you."
Are there really only two people?
Hongzhao and Xia Ji looked at each other in the secret door.
This hidden door was usually used by Xia Yi, the Blood Droplet, as a hiding place, and also served as an additional layer of protection for the Emperor's safety. However, now there was also Hongzhao inside.
"System, ready. Activate Ama's hearing. Use the False Death Pill as soon as she finishes speaking. It will take effect immediately."
Hongzhao had already planned it out. Even if Meng Jingxian stubbornly refused to tell him, he had a way to coax her into revealing everything. However, he believed even more in a certain law—the villain dies from talking too much.
As expected, he was not disappointed.
Yinzhen was jolted awake by a feeling of weightlessness as he plummeted from a great height. His body jerked reflexively, but he found that no matter how hard he tried, he could not control his body, and his consciousness was enveloped by a thick fog.
He had experienced this situation once a few years ago, but that time he had no symptoms other than not being able to control his body. This time it was completely different. His abdominal cavity and stomach tube were churning and screaming with pain, and the sounds in his ears were like being separated by a layer of water, sometimes near and sometimes far, intermittent.
At first, only scattered fragments could be caught, and it was vaguely discernible as a female voice. It was only as I gradually adjusted to the sound that it became clearer.
"Prince Guo is your own brother. It's not enough that you're so heartless as to lock him up in the Imperial Clan Court; you also have to break both his legs!"
Meng Jingxian had been building up to this point for quite some time, and now she was so emotional that her voice was trembling. She didn't even notice that the Emperor, who was just a step away, was breathing heavily.
“I can understand why the prince is so upright and unrestrained. He doesn’t want to be tied down by worldly affairs or participate in court struggles. Those accusations are just trumped-up charges.”
"Your Majesty, I have been by your side for more than half a year, and I can be considered your bedmate. There are some things that only your bedmate knows. I know that Your Majesty is fickle and ungrateful. Otherwise, you would not have driven the Zhen family out of the palace, and Your Highness would not have encountered this complicated situation."
"Your Majesty, I know all too well that you have always been stubborn and self-willed. You even treated such a good person as the Prince so cruelly. Do you know how difficult his life is now that he has injured his leg and is living in the Imperial Clan Court? Did you ask for Lan Yi's wishes before you forcibly made her a concubine? It's one thing to take her as a concubine, but you even sent her to guard the imperial mausoleum. She has long been in love with the Prince, so it's no wonder that she passed this poison to me through various channels."
Her voice grew more and more resolute as she spoke, until she almost lost control of her volume at the end—"No matter how difficult it is, I am not afraid for the sake of the Prince."
"Look, haven't I done it now?"
Hearing these words was worse than not hearing them at all. Yinzhen felt his heart pounding violently, as if it were about to burst through something. He wanted to shout angrily, to yell. But physical limitations made it impossible for him to move his body or speak, let alone swallow the saliva in his mouth.
"You wicked woman... I will kill you..."
My hearing slowly faded again, but the loss was not gentle. It was a sharp pain, like dozens of silver needles piercing my eardrums at the same time, and my subsequent perception of the world began to blur.
He felt an invisible hand suddenly clench and tighten on his heart, the intense pain making it almost impossible for him to breathe. It felt like an instant, yet also like years had passed, and then all the pain disappeared.
With it, his last bit of strength vanished, and he felt his body shudder violently. But all that was visible was that his hand, which had been resting on his abdomen, slipped down slightly.
It turns out that when a person is about to die, there really is a seemingly long but actually fleeting montage.
It's just a pity that he had already thought of a name for Hongzhao's future child, but hadn't had a chance to say a word to him yet.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
