Chapter 142 Chapter 142
[Chapter 142]
The little princess was held in Ji Zhaoyi's arms, but she was still frightened by the scene because of her young age.
She cried and ran into Ji Zhaoyi's arms. A hint of hatred appeared in Ji Zhaoyi's eyes, but it quickly disappeared when facing the little princess. His eyes turned into panic in an instant, but he still calmed himself, stroked the little princess's head tenderly, and kept bringing the little princess into his arms.
Shen Chongyi looked at the fallen Lady Zhang. Her lips trembled at first. Her extremely thin body took a step back. The knife in her hand fell on the stone bricks, but the surroundings were in chaos and the sound was drowned out.
The eunuch held Shen Chongyi down, and the now thin and weak Shen Chongyi was unable to break free from the eunuch's strong arms.
His eyes first fell on Concubine Zhang. In the darkness of the night, Concubine Zhang's palace skirt was stained with blood. Liu Jin crawled to Concubine Zhang's side crying.
"It's all your fault, it's all your fault! You evil woman!"
After saying this, Shen Chongyi seemed to have realized something, tears welled up in her eyes, and she looked at the little princess:
"Xin'er...Xin'er, it's mother, Xin'er, do you still remember mother? Can you come to mother's place?"
Ruan Yun was instructing the palace servants to send Concubine Zhang back to the Qingyi Palace, and to send someone to invite the Emperor and the Empress. When she was heading towards Ji Zhaoyi, she heard Shen Chongyi's crying.
Turning sideways, Ruan Jun ordered in a cold voice: "Shut her mouth!"
Shen Chongyi wanted to speak again, but only a sobbing sound came out.
Ruan Jun walked quickly to Ji Zhaoyi's side, and when he squatted down, his eyes met Ji Zhaoyi's. He was slightly stunned and quickly asked, "Is there anything wrong?"
Ji Zhaoyi closed his eyes, shook his head and said, "I'm fine, it's just that Xin'er was frightened."
In this situation, it would be best to return to the palace, but this time such a big thing happened, it was the cold winter moon, the palace servants had not yet cleaned up the fallen snow on the palace road, and the blood from Concubine Zhang who had just been stabbed fell on the snow like blooming petals.
Ruan Yun held Ji Zhaoyi's trembling hand, and said calmly, "I'm afraid you still have to take the little princess to the Qingyi Palace first. I'll take care of the rest."
Shen Chongyi tightened her arms around the little princess, lowered her eyes and buried her face in the little princess's body. She let out a long sigh, her hands trembling violently.
Ruan Yun glanced at the concubines and saw that most of them were in a state of panic. She said, "Today's incident was an accident. The Emperor and the Empress will find out what happened soon. I don't want rumors to spread in the harem tomorrow."
The concubines bowed and watched Ruan Yun sit on the ceremonial throne.
Concubine Zhou's eyelashes trembled with fear, and she didn't dare to look at the place where Concubine Zhang fell. "How could this happen? Wasn't Shen Chongyi locked up? How did she get out?"
Lady Su, who usually liked to quarrel with Concubine Zhou, was speechless at this moment. She kept touching her chest with her hand and was unable to speak for a long time.
A smile flashed across Defei's eyes, and she looked at the pool of blood on the ground with her eyes slightly raised.
Unable to withstand a single blow, his subordinates were defeated.
…
Tilt Palace
Palace maids came in and out, and a copper basin filled with blood was brought out.
When Ruan Yun and other concubines arrived, the Emperor and the Empress had not yet arrived.
There was no sound in the inner hall, which made people feel extremely uneasy.
The sound of the palace maid sobbing softly told everyone what was happening to Concubine Zhang.
Ji Zhaoyi brought the little princess into the palace. The little princess refused to come down from Ji Zhaoyi's arms, so Ruan Yun immediately ordered someone to bring a stool to Ji Zhaoyi.
There was no need for the two to say much. Just by looking at each other just now, they understood what the current situation was.
The man was released by Concubine Zhang, presumably with the intention of letting Shen Chongyi stab Ji Zhaoyi. Unfortunately, Concubine Zhang did not expect that Ji Zhaoyi had seen through her actions, and no one saw clearly the push that Ji Zhaoyi just made.
Ruan Yun felt extremely uncomfortable with the smell of blood at the tip of her nose, and her nose twitched and her eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
When Yan Shiyu stepped into the main hall, the servants outside knelt on the ground.
Ruan Yun clutched the handkerchief tightly, tears welling up in her almond-shaped eyes, and bowed to the emperor, "It's all my fault."
Without saying much, he just took all the blame on himself.
Yan Shiyu exuded a chill. He went over to hold Ruan Yun's arm and said in a deep and reassuring voice, "It has nothing to do with you."
Ruan Jun couldn't stop looking towards the inner hall, and her eyelashes were trembling.
Yan Shiyu took Ruan Yun's hand and sat aside, and ordered someone to bring a hand warmer to Ruan Yun.
Ji Zhaoyi knelt before the emperor and apologized, saying, "I am incompetent and failed to take good care of the little princess. I also let Concubine Zhang take the blame for the little princess. It is my fault."
Yan Shiyu just turned the white jade ring in his hand and asked in a sharp voice: "Where is the poisonous woman?"
The Queen just sat aside and watched quietly, her eyes unconsciously looking towards the inner hall, but her expression was much more relaxed than before, and she did not feel the slightest bit sad for Concubine Zhang's current situation.
Wei Maoyuan immediately ordered someone to bring Shen Chongyi in. Her once lively eyes were now as dull as a pool of water. Shen Chongyi only began to struggle when she saw the little princess.
The Queen said softly, "The little princess is still young, and seeing such a scene is bound to be frightened. How about Your Majesty, let Ji Zhaoyi take the little princess to the side hall?"
Yan Shiyu nodded in agreement to the Queen's words, and Ji Zhaoyi also left with the little princess.
Seeing this, Shen Chongyi could not help but want to go towards the little princess, but the strong eunuch behind her held down Ji Zhaoyi, making her unable to move.
Wei Maoyuan personally tore off the cloth stuffed in Shen Chongyi's mouth, and Shen Chongyi immediately said: "That is my child, Your Majesty! That is my child, why did you give her to someone else!"
As she spoke, she was about to break free from the eunuch's shackles, but after not leaving the palace for a long time, Shen Chongyi no longer had the strength to do so.
Yan Shiyu ignored Shen Chongyi's crazy words and just asked, "How did you get out?"
Shen Chongyi's face was grim as she was pressed to the ground. Her fingernails were broken because she resisted too violently. "How did I get out? I don't know, but someone wanted me to get out."
She turned her head and looked at the inner hall again, thinking about who was lying inside, and laughed out loud, "It doesn't matter how I got out of Yuechun Palace. The vicious woman inside had her own reasons for death! She caused the separation of Xin'er and me. She forced me to do it! She deserves to die!"
The Queen frowned slightly and asked, "Why do you say that? Do you know anything?"
Shen Chongyi was stunned at first, then looked at the empress and stood up shakily. The eunuch wanted to continue holding Shen Chongyi down, but Wei Maoyuan saw the emperor's expression and raised his hand to stop the eunuch.
Shen Chongyi stood staggeringly, laughing until tears came out of her eyes, "I know, of course I know, I know everything! Ji Zhaoyi's lost child, using Xin'er to frame that bitch Ruan Yun, wasn't it all the work of that bitch inside?"
After saying this, Shen Chongyi's eyes instantly fell on the queen, "And you, Her Majesty."
But Shen Chongyi didn't continue talking after that. Yan Shiyu's eyebrows were cold and he lost his laziness. "Take her away and get the truth out of her."
Shen Chongyi wanted to rush towards the pillar after hearing this, but the guards behind her were faster and stopped her in time.
Removing Shen Chongyi's jaw prevented her from committing suicide, but the pain she is feeling now is nothing to her.
The queen coughed and said hoarsely, "From what Shen Chongyi said, it seems that the person who let her out was Concubine Zhang?"
Yan Shiyu closed his dark eyes and kept tapping his finger bones on the table without saying a word.
Ruan Yun stood up upon seeing this, and stood in front of the emperor with a pitiful look, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably, "At first, Shen Chongyi was heading for Ji Zhaoyi, and it seemed that Concubine Zhang discovered something was wrong, and in order to protect the little princess beside Ji Zhaoyi, she blocked the knife for Ji Zhaoyi and the little princess. I didn't see anything else clearly."
Yan Shiyu heard her trembling voice, his eyes suddenly opened, and his tone was completely different from the coldness just now, "I know, I scared you."
The concubines were all stunned when they saw this, and Concubine Su even bit her lower lip with her lips, cursing secretly in her heart.
Concubine Ying was not close to Ji Zhaoyi, and even though she had seen the scene of Concubine Zhang's blood spilling all over the street, everyone had seen it. So why did the emperor comfort Concubine Ying?
When the concubines saw the emperor using his fingertips to wipe away the tears on Concubine Ying's face, they were truly pissed off.
The Queen sighed and said, "Shen Chongyi has been imprisoned for too long, and must have been quite traumatized. She said that Concubine Zhang released her. I'm afraid Concubine Zhang wanted to use her injury to gain the Emperor's sympathy. But I'm not sure what Concubine Zhang thinks of Ji Zhaoyi. I'm afraid it's not that simple."
Concubine De, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "It seems that the Emperor has not seen Concubine Zhang since she was reinstated. It is not uncommon for Concubine Zhang to be upset for a while."
In just a few words, it was said that Concubine Zhang did it deliberately for the little princess.
Ruan Jun raised her eyes slightly. Concubine De was really good at using tricks. Not only did she make all the actions of Concubine Zhang come to naught, but now Concubine Zhang was lying on the bed. Not only did she not have any credit, but it was her own sin that was committed.
Sure enough, when Yan Shiyu heard this, his brows tightened.
Ruan Yun pressed her fingertips into her palm and said, "Shen Chongyi used to be good friends with Lady Zhang. I think it's not groundless for Shen Chongyi to say that. But now Lady Zhang is unconscious. I think we should wait until Lady Zhang wakes up to see if her confession matches Shen Chongyi's."
Shen Chongyi has been following Concubine Zhang's side since she moved to Qian Mansion. If the Empress had lost her child in the past, Concubine Zhang and Concubine De were involved, Shen Chongyi must have vaguely known the inside story.
I just hope Miss Zhang wakes up and tells us the truth about what happened back then.
After all, Lady Bi Zhang was a vengeful person with such a fierce temper. How could she tolerate Concubine De pushing her into the water?
It was so quiet in the inner hall that you could hear a pin drop, and the charcoal basin was burning brightly, making crackling sounds.
None of the concubines said a word. This matter did not concern them. Everyone present had suffered from Concubine Zhang's anger before, and now that it had become like this overnight, they all felt as if the bad air was being expelled.
In this palace, there has never been any sisterly love, only intrigue and deception.
The imperial physician came out from the inner hall in a hurry, and the empress hurriedly asked, "How is Lady Zhang?"
The doctor knelt down and said, "I am incompetent. The wound is too deep and has damaged Lady Zhang's body. Now I can use wild ginseng to keep Lady Zhang alive, but... there is not much time left."
After hearing this, Ruan Jun looked at the emperor first.
Concubine Zhang has been with the Emperor for many years and they have a childhood friendship. The Emperor must be feeling very bad about what has happened to him now.
Yan Shiyu listened to the imperial physician's words, his dark eyes deep and unfathomable.
Liu Jin ran out of the inner hall crying, kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, my young mistress wants to see you. I beg Your Majesty to let you in to see my young mistress."
There was no sound in the inner hall. It was probably because Lady Zhang was too weak to speak.
The emperor stood up, and the concubines and the palace maids beside them also stood up.
When Ruan Jun was about to bow, Yan Shiyu's eyes fell on her, "You go in too."
Liu Jin clenched her hands suddenly. She wanted to say something but was afraid of angering the emperor.
Ruan Yun seemed not to have heard the emperor's words. Yan Shiyu flicked his sleeves and said, "The queen should go in too."
The queen was not surprised after hearing this. She said softly, "I am not feeling well. I am afraid that seeing blood would make things worse. Is it okay for Concubine Ying to accompany His Majesty?"
Yan Shiyu nodded and strode towards the inner hall.
Ruan Yun looked at the Queen with her almond-shaped eyes. The Queen smiled gently at Ruan Yun and said softly when Ruan Yun passed by her: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Ruan Jun nodded and walked past the Queen. He took a deep breath and then stepped into the inner hall.
Concubine Zhang was lying on the bed with a pale face. When she saw the emperor and Ruan Jun come in one after another, her eyes froze and she looked a little aggrieved.
Extending her hand towards the emperor, Concubine Zhang said in a hoarse voice, "Rongrong is dying and can no longer accompany the emperor."
Yan Shiyu lowered his dark eyes and looked at Lady Zhang's trembling hand, but finally he held it.
A smile immediately appeared on Lady Zhang's face. She wanted to speak but she kept coughing, with blood flowing from the corners of her lips.
She didn't care much and used to pay great attention to her appearance, but at this moment, she just wanted to stay with the emperor for a while longer.
"I still remember that when the emperor was seven years old, you went to the palace with my father. I looked at the emperor and couldn't help wanting to talk to him. Even though my father said there was a difference between the emperor and his subjects, Rongrong still wanted to talk to the emperor."
"At that time, Rongrong had already decided that she would marry the emperor in the future."
Concubine Zhang smiled bitterly, "Rongrong really loves you. I did this just to make the emperor look at me more."
The smell of blood spread in the inner hall. Ruan Yun looked at Concubine Zhang calmly, thinking that Concubine Zhang must have already known the speculation outside.
Lady Zhang wanted to sit up, but Yan Shiyu placed his big hand on her shoulder and said calmly, "I don't blame you."
Concubine Zhang smiled at first, but soon it fell back, "The emperor's eyes cannot deceive Rongrong."
She insisted and finished telling the whole story, "Rongrong really wants to have a child with the emperor, even if it's a princess, it doesn't matter if she looks like you or Rongrong. It's a pity that Rongrong can't have another child in this life. I just want the emperor to believe me. I don't really want to harm the little princess. I just love you too much."
"I have done too many wrong things in the past, but I really love Your Majesty. In the next life, would Your Majesty be willing to be your wife?"
Lady Zhang looked at Yan Shiyu with an anxious look, straightened her body slightly, and weakly tugged at his sleeves with both hands, hoping to see a bit of sincerity in his eyes.
Ruan Jun watched from the side and sighed a little, but when she thought about how many wrong things Concubine Zhang had done, she hated and sighed for her.
Yan Shiyu just held Lady Zhang's hand in vain and spoke.
His dark eyes looked deeply at Lady Zhang, tears rolled down her cheeks and she coughed desperately, "When I first entered the palace, the emperor also looked at me like this."
Lady Zhang smiled, the blood stains from her lips getting darker. Her beautiful eyes looked at Ruan Yun, then back to the emperor. "I can't stand it any longer. Even if the emperor doesn't want to be married to Rongrong in the next life, I still want to stay by his side."
She arched her body in pain and exerted force in her hands, "I have done many wrong things, but I cannot atonce for them one by one like Your Majesty, Your Majesty... please don't implicate my family, okay?"
Yan Shiyu closed his palm and wrapped Lady Zhang's hand in his own, "I promise you."
A smile finally appeared on Lady Zhang's face. The blood was flowing more and more, but she didn't care at all:
"Your Majesty... don't forget Rongrong, don't hate... Rongrong."
Unable to support herself any longer, Concubine Zhang fell on the bed. The inner hall was filled with the smell of blood. Concubine Zhang slowly closed her eyes and her hands fell down weakly.
Ruan Jun looked at the emperor in silence for a moment, then stood up and walked out of the inner hall in silence.
Following the emperor out, Ruan Jun looked at the emperor's back, not knowing what to say.
The Queen stood up. As she and the Emperor had been married for decades, she naturally knew what had happened.
"emperor……"
Yan Shiyu raised his hand and said, "Concubine Zhang will be buried with the rites of a concubine. The rest will be handled by the Empress."
She left in a huff, but none of the concubines dared to say a word. They all looked at the empress quietly.
The Concubine Shu used to be arrogant and domineering, but now she is gone. It is really sad.
The queen raised her eyebrows slightly, put her hands in front of her body, and said, "It is inconvenient to stay here for long. You all should return to the palace."
His eyes drifted to Ruan Jun, who also understood what this meant and stood aside without leaving.
The Qingyi Palace became deserted in an instant. Ji Zhaoyi came out of the side hall with the little princess, looked towards the inner hall with a cold gaze, and finally went to the Empress's palace with Ruan Yun.
…
Fengyi Palace
As soon as Ruan Yun sat down, she told the Empress and Ji Zhaoyi everything that Concubine Shu had said before her death.
The Queen lifted the lid of the tea and said nothing else, "The maid in the West Third House, Concubine Shu once wanted her to disappear from this world. Can you guess why?"
Ruan Yun and Ji Zhaoyi looked at each other, then stood up and knelt down to greet each other. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I did not mean to pry into your past."
The queen stood up with the help of a stool and helped Ruan Yun and Ji Zhaoyi up. "I don't mean to blame you, but you two are smarter than I thought." Ji Zhaoyi couldn't help but ask, "Her Majesty, did you know that your miscarriage was caused by Concubine Shu?"
The queen did not hide anything, but asked, "Isn't it that there is one person missing?"
After taking a sip from the teacup, the Queen said softly, "It's not that I didn't want to say it before, but I had no evidence and naturally couldn't do much because I didn't have enough energy."
"I told you before that I didn't know that the production was small, but someone was pushing it from behind. This is true."
Ruan Yun's hand paused while twisting the pastry, and there was doubt in his eyes.
The Queen spoke of this incident again with a faint smile on her face, as if it happened just yesterday, and yet as if it did not happen to her.
"I was disheartened after my miscarriage, and it was only when I saw my sister's corpse that I wanted to find out what happened."
"But they never made any mistakes in their work. The only thing that made me realize something was wrong was that they started to drift apart. Later, I really didn't have the energy to think about it. I could only suppress the pain in my heart and tell myself to just treat it as an accident."
Ruan Yun pursed her lips and said, "The nanny from the West Third House should not be really crazy. If she had to guard against only Concubine Shu, I think she would tell the truth when she knew Concubine Shu had passed away."
The queen released her strength and held Ruan Yun's hand. "I am exhausted and can't take care of so many things. So, can you help me?"
Ruan Yun nodded and held the empress's hand, "Don't worry, your majesty, I will investigate the matter thoroughly."
After walking out of Fengyi Palace, Ji Zhaoyi asked softly, "Sister Ying... do you want to go to Zichen Palace?"
Looking southeast, the tall red wall blocked her view. Ruan Yun shook her head and said, "After all, the Concubine Shu has been with the Emperor for a long time. The Emperor doesn't want to see anyone else right now."
If she met her, Ruan Yun would feel uneasy.
Ji Zhaoyi nodded. After what happened today, she dared not slack off even a little.
If she hadn't reacted today, she would have been the one in trouble today.
Ji Zhaoyi showed a sneer on his lips. He really didn't want to let her go. He wanted to use the little princess to win favor, but he also wanted to get rid of her completely. This move would also prevent Shen Chongyi from having any chance to turn things around. Concubine Zhang calculated very well, but she missed one thing.
The most important point.
…
Today is a particularly dull new year in the palace. Concubine Shu has passed away and the Emperor is in a bad mood. He has not set foot in the harem for several months.
When Yingning brought the nanny to Linxuan Palace, she saw that the nanny was still crazy. She looked at Tingxu and then took the nanny into the inner hall.
Ruan Yun sat on the couch in deep thought. When the nanny saw Ruan Yun kowtowed in panic, she said, "Your Majesty, be well, Your Majesty, be well, Your Majesty."
Then he started mumbling incoherent words and walked around everywhere restlessly.
Ruan Yun winked at Tingxu, who stepped forward to support the nanny and said softly, "Are you hungry, nanny? Do you want to eat a steamed bun?"
In front of the master and the mistress, saying that you would reward a servant with a steamed bun was really embarrassing.
But listening to Xu's words seemed to wake the nanny up directly, and she calmed down in an instant.
But his eyes were not as foolish as they were at the beginning.
Seeing this, Tingxu continued, "It's cold, and the queen has prepared a blanket for Madam. It's most suitable to cover her head at night."
There was silence in the hall for a long time, and Yingning looked at the nanny nervously.
The nanny then turned her head stiffly, carefully identified Tingxu, and suddenly chuckled, "I thought that the little girl back then was no longer alive."
Tingxu breathed a sigh of relief, and Ruan Jun also smiled and said softly, "Madam, please sit down."
The nanny, whose back had been bent for decades, finally stood up straight and said to Ruan Yun, "I am sorry to accept your kindness, Your Majesty. I think the last time you came to make autumn clothes for me, Your Majesty wanted to see if I was really crazy or just pretending to be crazy."
Ruan Jun's smile widened, "Mammy is a smart person, otherwise she wouldn't want to act crazy and stupid just to protect herself."
"Since Madam is a smart person, I don't want to play tricks with her."
"Lady Zhang—now she should be called Consort Shu—has passed away."
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