Chapter 13
As night fell, the stars gradually drew back the curtain. Palace servants hurriedly carried a stretcher wrapped in white cloth out of a side door. The eunuch beside them kept frowning and urging them on loudly, while the servant covered his nose in disgust.
It was a thick, pungent smell of blood, thick with resentment and helplessness.
Qi Nian'an stared in disbelief from behind the tree.
The corpse on the shelf had its bare arms swaying incessantly, with undried blood trickling down its fingertips, a stark and jarring sight.
She sighed deeply.
Soon, batches of palace maids came to fetch buckets and wood ash to cover up the traces.
A few of the bolder ones peered out from the end of the road, standing on tiptoe with great curiosity, until their companions tugged at them and whispered a hint.
"Are you out of your mind? Hurry up and sweep, or your aunt will have to watch out and you'll run into a gun!"
The palace maid who had been gazing into the distance shuddered and quickly lowered her head: "What on earth happened? The blood from Chang'an Gate has flowed all the way into the palace, and it can't be washed away. I heard that the eunuchs who were carrying the bodies out were so exhausted that their eyes rolled back. How many people have died!"
"have no idea."
Qi Nian'an felt a chill run through her body, and her soul seemed to be floating away from her body.
If she hadn't heard screams and sounds of being hit on her way to Consort Ling's residence today, she would have forgotten that she was a spy and that once discovered, her fate wouldn't be any better.
"Your Majesty, it's time to go!"
Nan Zhi urged anxiously in a low voice, tugging at Qi Nian'an's sleeve repeatedly. If they were discovered... who would dare to be discovered at this critical moment!
"How is Consort Ling?"
She asked softly, her voice muffled.
Nan Zhi was startled. She carefully raised her head to observe Qi Nian'an's deep affection. Seeing that she had no hostility, she then spoke: "I heard... she is still alive."
After saying that, as if still worried, she quickly added, "Your Majesty, there is no need to press your advantage now. Consort Ling has been stripped of her rank and is already on the verge of death, having been banished to the Cold Palace. If she were to die in this matter, His Majesty would be even more suspicious that there are still spies in the palace, and Your Majesty would become the target of everyone's criticism, putting you in a dangerous situation."
Qi Nian'an felt a little nauseous, but she didn't know why.
She hates the current situation.
Here, strategy inevitably means competition, squeezing out competitors, in a dark jungle-like environment, even though she didn't want to kill Consort Ling.
Should I reload the save file?
"Your Majesty, His Majesty will be visiting your palace tonight."
Seeing that she didn't speak, Nan Zhi whispered a reminder.
Shao Sizhi only showed favor because of what happened that day. If she went back, she would not be able to face Consort Jia's desperate situation again, that suffocating feeling was like a venomous snake.
It's just a play, why take it so seriously?
She walked to the front of the Cold Palace, where eerily few people were, and the place was eerily peaceful and lifeless.
An ominous feeling began to rise in her heart.
"Your Highness, please leave quickly." Nan Zhi looked around anxiously, saying, "The rumors in the palace are already serious. If someone sees you here, you'll be in deep trouble!"
"I delivered some medicine and daily necessities, and then left quickly."
Qi Nian'an boldly walked straight in.
What was there to be afraid of? She didn't believe there were ghosts here. She was only worried that she might not be able to get to the evil spirits and end up losing her life for nothing.
The window creaked open and closed, and the dampness of the moss, along with the howling wind and snow, blew against her face. She wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, but still felt extremely cold; even her fingers were stiff.
"Nanzhi, go back to my palace and bring some charcoal."
Just as Qi Nian'an was about to push the door open, faint painful groans and whispers came from inside the dilapidated wooden door.
She immediately stopped her hand, barely stopping at the door, her fingertips trembling slightly.
The candlelight flickered constantly through the crack in the door.
A pale white bed curtain could be vaguely seen fluttering up and down like a ghost. A dark shadow flashed by, and then the room quickly fell silent.
box--
The wooden door was kicked open, and she rushed inside, only to find no one there.
She clutched the valuables and medicine she wanted to give away, puzzled. The ominous feeling grew stronger, and the immense worry in her heart threatened to drag her into the abyss of despair.
Darkness enveloped everything, and the candlelight was extinguished by the strong wind.
Suddenly, a cold hand grabbed her ankle.
She turned sharply and looked down—it was Consort Ling. She looked up and could only vaguely make out her outline. She strained to look up.
"You scared me to death! Why are you lying on the ground? I'm going to light a fire! You scared me to death!"
Qi Nian'an picked up the person on the ground and heard a deep gasp and a lifeless sob. The smell of blood on Consort Ling was getting stronger and stronger.
She felt something warm seeping into her collar.
"Why...why did you come here?"
Consort Ling still spoke in that strange tone she had that day, but this time she was just being stubborn.
She shook her head.
“Don’t waste candles, I… I don’t want you to see me like this. I’m ugly.” She cried out in fright, her voice like a ghost.
Qi Nian'an saw her lowered head, and her blood kept flowing onto her body.
It's very uncomfortable.
I feel so bad I feel like I'm going to die.
She wanted to go find Li Xiaoran and curse Shao Sizhi again, to keep cursing him.
How could I have been so blind and foolish as to actually fall for him!
He's capable of killing!
"Help me... fix my hair. It's been messy ever since that day."
Consort Ling was gently leaned against the edge of the bed. She tilted her head and twisted her arms strangely. She seemed to want to laugh, so her arms trembled, making it impossible to tell whether she was crying or not.
Anyway, Qi Nian'an cried.
She doesn't know how to set bones, she has no medical skills, how can she be saved?
“My father came to see me a long time ago.” Consort Ling looked at her clumsily putting her hair in her hair and wanted to laugh. She chatted intermittently, “A long time ago, I forgot, but I knew that when I saw him, my time would be running out.”
"But I haven't even met the emperor a few times. He's a terrible person. I don't want to be sincere, so I'm too lazy to show him any real affection. As a result, I've never been favored."
Qi Nian'an remained silent. She wanted to burst into tears. Should she reload the save file? Weren't some of the answers already known?
She wiped the blood from her neck, applying more force with a hint of fierceness, but quickly ruffled Consort Ling's hair.
"Do you still have any melon seeds? To be honest, the ones in your palace are especially delicious."
“Of course it tastes good when you eat gossip,” Qi Nian’an cried irritably. “You’d better get better soon, and I’ll take you over the wall to Li Xiaoran’s palace to eat. Hers is marinated, so it tastes even better.”
"good."
Consort Ling smiled.
The next second, those hands fell down without warning, just like the countless people I saw outside the palace this morning, and remained motionless.
It was very cold, smooth yet with a hint of resolute determination, and then it stopped moving completely.
No matter how much Qi Nian'an shouted or how tightly she squeezed, it wouldn't budge.
It won't move at all.
So this was the corpse.
She sat slumped on the edge of the bed, crying, not knowing who to blame.
A biting wind blew in, but Qi Nian'an remained sitting by the window, while Consort Ling lay quietly on the bed, looking nothing like her.
The only sound in the world was the howling wind, and the cool arrows of snowflakes pierced the room, hitting my skin and melting away bit by bit, until I was numb with cold before I realized that this was the dead of winter, and that snow could be this cold.
It looks just like the real thing.
The desolate world outside the door suddenly became lively. Many lights dazzled her eyes. She reached out her hand to cover her eyes, and through her fingers, Nan Zhi's panicked eyes and the sharp, accusing gazes of the crowd behind her were visible.
"My sister is favored by the emperor, but there's no need to force her into the cold palace to be killed."
Consort Yi, no, Imperial Concubine Yi, slowly paced with her precious steps, sighing in a cold voice.
Qi Nian'an didn't have time to pay attention to her.
The room was packed with a large group of people. The palace lanterns instantly illuminated the hellish space, making even the ghostly bed curtains stop howling and stand obediently along the edges.
While the upward expansion of hot air due to convection may be a small part of the reason why objects no longer change shape, the bigger factor is that most fence-sitters in this world know to shut up when the main party is in the picture.
Qi Nian'an dared not look at the person on the bed.
But she wiped away her tears and looked directly at everyone standing under the bed.
"The Noble Consort Yi will be here soon. At that time, I would like to ask my sister to explain how she so abruptly took her own life."
Consort Yi helplessly raised her hand and gently touched her shoulder, sighing softly.
"I have said long ago that spies who defile the harem will be punished."
“Those who indiscriminately kill innocent people should also be punished by law.”
Qi Nian'an clenched his fist and looked at her with a forced smile.
The next second—
She grabbed Consort Yi by the neck and forced her down in front of Consort Ling's bed.
Why don't you dare look at her?
Qi Nian'an asked while crying.
Consort Yi roared with anger from the bottom of her heart. She was breathing heavily and struggling but could not move. Those angry hands were like iron clamps, biting her down and stubbornly refusing to let go.
"You're insane!"
"She's not a good person, does that mean she deserves to be treated like this?!"
Qi Nian'an questioned sharply, her tears gradually drying, replaced by a surge of anger.
She wanted to take down everyone there; she wanted to go crazy.
Consort Yi let out a long breath, then slowly stood up and tidied her hair. She looked into the cracked, rusty iron mirror that Consort Ling had once used, and a low chuckle escaped her throat.
She started coughing violently.
"I never thought you could ask such a naive question, hahahahahahahahahaha."
Qi Nian'an felt a cold draft rushing into the room, pressing down on her chest, making her feel particularly heavy and unwell.
"You're a madwoman, Consort Yi. From the first moment I saw you, I knew you were a madwoman."
"You disgust me utterly."
Consort Ling looked at her coldly, her sarcastic smile growing deeper. She snorted disdainfully, then turned to look out the window, no longer meeting her gaze.
What are you looking at?
Qi Nian'an said in a gloomy tone.
"Let's see when the King of Hell arrives, and see how you, like a grasshopper in autumn, will be crushed with contempt."
This time, Consort Yi answered very quickly, her tone rising uncontrollably.
Sure enough, footsteps came from outside the door.
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