The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and shadows of flowers and branches were swaying everywhere.
Perhaps something happened to the two princesses during the day, and the body of the Fourteenth Princess had not yet been buried. The quiet palace seemed like a sleeping beast, inexplicably scary.
The lights in Chunhua Palace were still bright.
Concubine Ning sat on the bed, feeling depressed and angry as she thought about what happened during the day.
This is truly an unprovoked disaster!
"Your Majesty, it's time to go to bed." The palace maid stepped forward and advised.
Concubine Ning frowned: "Why sleep? I'm already angry enough. How can I sleep?"
It is a great shame and humiliation to fall asleep and be interrogated like a criminal the next day.
The more Concubine Ning thought about it, the more annoyed she became. She slapped the bedpost and said, "Go get me a plate of roast chicken!"
The maid's eyes widened: "Madam——"
Eating grilled chicken so late?
Concubine Ning glared at the maid and said angrily, "Why, I can't even eat a roast chicken?"
What's wrong with eating something when she can't sleep? She usually doesn't dare to eat because she's afraid of getting fat. Now she thinks that every day she lives in this palace is a blessing. Once she gets through this, she can eat whatever she wants and never be picky again.
After being scolded, the palace maid dared not say anything more and hurried to the small kitchen to get the roast chicken.
Emperor Jingming was resting in Kunning Palace, waiting for news.
A eunuch in formal attire came hurriedly, looking a little strange.
"How is it, is Concubine Ning asleep?" asked Emperor Jingming.
Between Concubine Ning and Concubine Xian, he thought about it and chose Concubine Ning.
Concubine Ning is in good health, so let her go first.
If Concubine Xian came first, given her physical condition, if she got hurt innocently, I would feel bad about it.
The eunuch lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, Concubine Ning has not yet fallen asleep."
When Emperor Jingming heard this, he was furious and muttered, "What time is it? Why aren't you sleeping yet?"
After muttering something, he asked the eunuch, "What is Concubine Ning doing?"
The eunuch resisted the urge to twitch his lips, lowered his eyes and replied, "Empress Ning is eating roast chicken."
At that moment, Emperor Jingming was a little confused and couldn't help but look at the empress.
The queen looked indifferent.
The emperor was so surprised. What's wrong with Concubine Ning eating a roast chicken?
After staying in the harem for a long time, these lonely and bored women often develop amazing habits.
Concubine Ning eating roast chicken is simply not worth mentioning.
The empress's calmness made Emperor Jingming even more confused: Has he always had some misunderstandings about his concubines?
"What about Concubine Xian?" Emperor Jingming calmed down and asked through gritted teeth.
"The lights in Concubine Xian's bedroom have been turned off."
Emperor Jingming breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally there is a normal one.
After a moment's silence, Emperor Jingming ordered, "Then let's go to Concubine Xian first."
It's not that I can't go to Concubine Ning's place, but when I think about Concubine Ning eating roast chicken and Fourteen suddenly showing up, the effect seems to be greatly reduced.
Concubine Ning is the daughter of a general. What if she panics and throws a roasted chicken at Fourteen?
Fourteen is already pitiful enough, he cannot suffer this kind of punishment any more.
In comparison, the sleeping Concubine Xian is more suitable.
In Yuquan Palace, all the lights were turned off, but Concubine Xian did not fall asleep.
As soon as I closed my eyes, I saw the Fourteenth Princess’s miserable pale face, and her eyes suddenly opening and closing. How could I fall asleep?
She tossed and turned on the bed like a pancake, and could only see the vague outlines of the furniture through the sky-blue gauze curtains. She felt her heart swell and her back chilled.
What she saw during the day undoubtedly cast a shadow over her heart.
Knock, knock, knock—the faint sound of knocking on the door reached Concubine Xian’s ears.
Concubine Xian suddenly sat up and asked, "Who?"
The maidservant who was resting at her feet got up, her eyes half asleep, "My lady, why are you up?"
"Did you hear that knock on the door?"
"Knock on the door? I didn't hear it." The maid looked at the door blankly, and saw that Concubine Xian's face turned pale. She put on her shoes and said, "I'll go and see--"
"No need!" Concubine Xian said and lay down.
She must have heard it wrongly. If she made any noise and the emperor heard it, she would be proven guilty.
Boom boom boom——
This time, the knock on the door suddenly became clearer.
If the previous faint knocking sound seemed to come from the door outside, this time the knocking sound came from the door of the house, behind the door with embroidered gauze curtains.
Concubine Xian was lying on the bed, her underwear soaked with cold sweat.
The maid jumped up, looking a little panicked: "My lady, I heard it too."
That shouldn't be the case. There was a palace guard on duty outside the house. If someone really knocked on the door, why didn't they respond?
If the person knocking on the door was a palace maid, she would have spoken out and explained the reason.
Anyone who disturbs the sleeping empress will be punished.
Knock, knock, knock - the knocking on the door became more urgent, showing the urgency of the person knocking.
"My lady, shall I go and take a look?"
Concubine Xian nodded with trembling lips.
If the knocking on the door continues, she will definitely collapse, so it would be better to let the palace maid go and see what is going on.
The maid rolled up the bed curtains, lit the lamp, and walked towards the door, comforting Concubine Xian: "Perhaps a wild cat from one of the palaces escaped."
She said this to encourage herself.
The Fourteenth Princess' affair had spread throughout the harem, and their queen was caught up in it...
The palace maid came to the door, took a deep breath and opened the door, but she disappeared into the darkness before she could even scream. Only the wind from the main room rushed in, blowing the curtains back and forth.
Concubine Xian sat alone on the bed, her body stiff as she stared at the door.
After a moment, she woke up as if from a dream and hurriedly called out the palace maid's name.
No one responded, but strange footsteps were heard.
It was strange because the footsteps were not light at all, as if they were dragging on the ground.
Concubine Xian looked towards the door uncontrollably.
A pale face slowly emerged in the darkness, with purple and blue lips.
At that moment, all the blood in Concubine Xian's body froze and she was completely unable to move. She could only watch as Princess Fourteen, who had been lying stiffly on the bed during the day, approached her little by little.
After an unknown amount of time, Concubine Xian finally regained her voice and screamed, "Don't come over here—"
After hearing this, the Fourteenth Princess actually stopped and stared at Concubine Xian with her eyes opened again.
A resentful voice rang out: "Why did you kill me, Madam?"
Concubine Xian was so frightened that she couldn't help but say, "I didn't, don't look for me!"
"No?" The Fourteenth Princess, with a pale face and a sneer on her lips, suddenly took a step closer.
A gust of wind blew in, the candlelight on the table flickered a few times and suddenly went out, and Concubine Xian's eyes were suddenly filled with darkness.
In the darkness, she seemed to be able to feel the coldness emanating from the other person, as well as the unique smell of the dead.
"If you hadn't ordered Eunuch Deng to harm Thirteenth Sister, I wouldn't have died in vain to save Thirteenth Sister...Give me back my life——"
The Concubine, whose vision had already adapted to the darkness, looked at the pair of cold and stiff hands reaching out to her. The string of reason was completely broken, and she rolled and crawled towards the door.
"Don't come over. You saved Princess Fuqing voluntarily. You can't blame me—"