Chapter 476 Bring the Concubine in
The next day, the other concubines in the palace came to pay their respects to Shen Qing. Concubine Zhou was naturally among them. Of course, concubines like Chu Linglong who had been under house arrest would not come, as she could not come out anyway.
Noble Lady Zhou was not noticeable among the group of concubines. Today, the other concubines basically came to flatter Shen Qing. The noble concubine was the only one favored in the harem. Anyone who wanted to live a good life naturally knew that they could not make enemies with Shen Qing. Now that they no longer had the idea of being favored and just wanted to live a good life, it was natural for them to flatter the noble concubine.
Concubine Zhou stayed there until the greeting was over. After that, she did not leave, but went to the Imperial Garden.
Zhaohua Palace was quite close in the Imperial Garden, so she found a position with a good view and could look into the distance to see if there were any other people coming.
Then she did nothing. She just sat there and stared in the direction of Zhaohua Palace. Caiping was not there today. She was alone when she came, and she was the only one sitting now. She just stared, intently.
The wait lasted from morning to afternoon.
Xuanyuan Ling was in a good mood today. After all, it had been so many days. The sky was clearing up and there was good news coming from below. Some people had started to get better. Although it still needed to be figured out, it also proved that the doctors already had an idea of how to treat this plague.
As long as there are cured people, there will naturally be more and more of them. At the same time, Shen Zhizhuo also said that the canal digging and drainage was successful. There is no problem with the emergency for the time being. We just have to wait for the disaster to pass, and then improve the specific water conditions. Xuanyuan Ling has been blocked for so many days, and he finally got good news. He was naturally in a good mood. At dusk, he finally went to Zhaohua Palace, thinking that he hadn't accompanied Shen Qing for meals for many days.
Concubine Zhou had been waiting for most of the day. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were dull.
At this moment, she had thought of many things in her mind. In fact, she was just thinking over and over again about what to do after meeting Xuanyuan Ling. At this moment, she saw Xuanyuan Ling's carriage heading towards Zhaohua Palace from afar. She suppressed her rapid heartbeat, took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards the gate of Zhaohua Palace.
Her eyes did not fall anywhere else. She quickly glanced at the servants who were serving Xuanyuan Ling. Except for Zhao Hai, the others were not that close. She slowly approached Xuanyuan Ling and saluted him from four steps away, looking very respectful.
Xuanyuan Ling hadn't paid attention to the concubines in the harem for a long time. He thought that Shen Qing would be happy to see him, so he didn't look closely at who it was. If they met, they met. She greeted him and he went to Zhaohua Palace. This was not a conflict. He just said, "Get up."
He was about to leave.
The servant guarding the gate of Zhaohua Palace was about to salute when he saw Xuanyuan Ling coming, but at this moment, he suddenly saw something and screamed.
At this moment, the dagger hidden in the sleeve of Concubine Zhou suddenly appeared. She moved quickly, without any hesitation, and went straight for Xuanyuan Ling. She was only a few steps away from Xuanyuan Ling. This action had been in Concubine Zhou's mind for too long. She had thought about it countless times while waiting. Her action was too fast, and it happened too suddenly. Zhao Hai was next to Xuanyuan Ling. His eyes widened suddenly, and he subconsciously blocked in front of Xuanyuan Ling.
Everything happened in a flash, and it was too late for Zhao Hai to block it. The dagger was already in front of him. Xuanyuan Ling blocked it instinctively. After all, he had learned martial arts, and even though he was unarmed now, there was no reason why he couldn't hold a woman. No one could have expected that Concubine Zhou would suddenly go crazy and attack, but Xuanyuan Ling blocked Concubine Zhou's dagger and was cut on the back of his hand. However, he also grabbed Concubine Zhou's wrist holding the dagger and twisted it with his skillful strength, and the dagger slipped out of his hand.
The dagger fell to the ground with a clang.
Zhao Hai failed to block the attack just now, and now he pounced on Concubine Zhou, while the other servants also rushed over, and Concubine Zhou was immediately pinned down.
Xuanyuan Ling glanced at the wound on the back of his hand. It was not deep.
"Call the imperial physician." Zhao Hai's eyes almost popped out of his head. Someone was already running to find the imperial physician. Everything just happened too fast, and no one expected Concubine Zhou to suddenly act like this. After Concubine Zhou was pinned down, all of them knelt on the ground: "This slave deserves death!"
The emperor was actually injured. This was really fatal. This was an assassination attempt! Zhao Hai had lived for most of his life. It was outrageous enough that Lady Qiao went after Shen Qing. Lady Zhou was even more outrageous. She actually assassinated the emperor! How dare she!
But when Concubine Zhou saw Xuanyuan Ling's injured hand, she smiled. She seemed to be confused at the moment, and her smile gave people goose bumps.
She could actually laugh at this time. Did she still think she could die peacefully? Hurting the emperor was a crime worthy of death! Apart from anything else, although Concubine Zhou's parents were gone, her entire clan had to be buried with them!
This commotion naturally alarmed Shen Qing. Shen Qing came out and saw the chaos outside. Concubine Zhou had been subdued. She quickly walked to Xuanyuan Ling and found that Xuanyuan Ling's hand was injured and there was a dagger on the ground: "How could this happen?"
Xuanyuan Ling said: "It's okay."
Chen Qing looked at the back of his hand. The wound was not deep, and the blood was red. It looked non-toxic, but he still said, "Let's clean the wound first." He wanted Xuanyuan Ling to go in.
But Concubine Zhou was still laughing over there. Her laughter made Shen Qing feel uneasy. At this moment, a servant came running in hurriedly. He had a white triangular scarf tied on his face. He didn't understand the situation, but he knew that he was here to report: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the palace maids in Concubine Zhou's palace were found to have contracted the plague. They are already terminally ill. The palace has been sealed off. Please give instructions, Your Majesty."
For the first time, there was obvious panic in Shen Qing's eyes.
The maids in Concubine Zhou's palace have been infected with the plague and are now seriously ill, but Concubine Zhou is okay?
Concubine Zhou was actually still conscious, otherwise how could she have acted just now? But she was in pain and uncomfortable and was being held down by someone, but she had stabbed Xuanyuan Ling, she knew she had stabbed him, she was so excited that she could only laugh, how could she not be excited, how could she not laugh? It actually worked, that was the emperor, she actually succeeded!
She couldn't get poison. What could she, a powerless noble, get in this palace?
In the case of not being exposed, she could not get anything. She was not like Concubine Qiao, who was instigated by the Queen at that time. Like Concubine Qiao, once Jinse noticed her thoughts, Jinse would naturally hand her a knife. It was not difficult for the Queen to get a poisoned knife, but she was different. She only had herself, and it was too difficult to wait for the right opportunity. How could her assassination kill the emperor? Look, even if she thought about it countless times in her heart, at such a close distance, her knife could only hurt him a little bit.
But now there is hope! Because the dagger is not covered with poison, but with her pus and blood after she was infected with the plague!
The first person to be infected in the palace was the eunuch in the pharmacy. Caiping, who was beside Concubine Zhou, had a private relationship with the eunuch named Xiao Dengzi, but eunuchs and palace maids were required to avoid any contact with each other, so it was impossible to do it openly, and therefore not many people knew about it.
Caiping was infected, and her symptoms were not that severe at the beginning. Concubine Zhou had become more and more withdrawn over the years. She had four palace maids and two eunuchs around her, but she only had Caiping to serve her personally. The other palace maids and eunuchs only helped. Caiping could not avoid contact with Concubine Zhou, or it could be said that she had the most contact with Concubine Zhou.
So, Concubine Zhou was the second person to be infected. In fact, there were other people in her palace who were infected afterwards. But since Concubine Zhou found out that she was infected, she felt like the sky was falling. She had to think in the worst possible way. If she was infected with the plague, she would die. She was going to die, but she hadn't done anything yet. She had been thinking about it for so long and had waited for so long for an opportunity.
Then she suddenly had an epiphany. Why not consider this an opportunity? This plague is contagious, and at present, no one knows what she is thinking, and no one is on guard against her. This is her last and best chance.
So even if other people in her palace also had symptoms, she suppressed it. The plague couldn't be cured, and if it got out, they would die. They would also be thrown out to die with other sick people. It would be better to bear it by themselves. Maybe they could get through it. After all, they were slaves and were afraid too.
Afterwards, she first came to Zhaohua Palace to pay her respects and then attempted assassination. In fact, she did not have much hope. But now she is a walking poison. She had stayed in Zhaohua Palace for a long time before and had been with other concubines for a long time. Maybe someone has been infected?
Among these concubines, there are many mothers of other princes and princesses. Will they infect their own children when they go back? No need to confirm. Just thinking about it, Concubine Zhou felt extremely happy. It was a godsend opportunity. Now she has stabbed Xuanyuan Ling. This is the happiest ending she has ever thought of. Concubine Zhou is not afraid at all. She just lies on the ground and laughs.
Xuanyuan Ling also reacted. He looked at the wound on the back of his hand, the dagger on the ground, and the still smiling Concubine Zhou. His expression changed, "Someone, bring the Concubine in!"
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