"A misunderstanding?" Yan Jue seemed to have heard a joke. His icy gaze swept over her face before landing on the Empress. His tone was mocking. "The hatred for killing one's mother is considered a misunderstanding?"
"..." Shen Tangning's chest trembled, and only one thought flashed through her mind.
Didn't the Fourth Prince's mother die in childbirth? What does that have to do with his aunt?
A commotion arose outside, growing louder as it approached; it was Aunt Wenlan's urgent voice:
"Quickly, go save the Empress!"
"Oh, right, Mrs. Chi is inside too!"
Yan Jue frowned almost imperceptibly, suddenly realizing that the woman was deliberately stalling for time. His icy gaze lingered on the two of them for a moment.
Seeing Shen Tangning standing guard in front of the Empress with a wary look in her eyes, as if he would have to step over her to kill her, his expression darkened slightly.
Shen Tangning saved that person; if he were to kill her, the other party would likely be angry with him.
His expression shifted between light and shadow, and in the end he only glanced deeply at the Empress, the hem of his snow-white robe flashing in the firelight before disappearing from sight.
He eventually gave up.
Shen Tangning breathed a sigh of relief, forgetting her joy at surviving the ordeal, and hurriedly helped the Empress to her feet with difficulty: "Aunt, let's get out of here quickly."
The Empress had inhaled too much smoke and was quite weak. It was only after Wenlan called people, along with Shen Tangning, that the Empress was successfully taken away from there.
She had just stepped halfway out the door when the beam above her head fell down and hit her arm hard, making her vision go black from the pain.
Wenlan, with her sharp eyes, noticed and exclaimed, "Young Miss, your hand!"
Shen Tangning broke out in a cold sweat and swallowed back a muffled groan: "It's nothing, let's leave first, it's not safe here."
...
Once they were moved to a safe area, Shen Tangning finally felt relieved. The burning pain in her arm came in waves, making her face turn pale.
"This servant will summon the imperial physician to examine you!"
After pressing her down to sit, Wenlan went out with a worried expression.
The Empress had recovered considerably. Looking at the wound on her arm with concern, she ordered scissors and hot water to be prepared: "Who sent you? Silly girl!"
Looking at her vivid face, Shen Tangning felt only relief, and her eyes involuntarily reddened: "If I had arrived a moment later, would I have never seen my aunt again?"
The Empress paused, not responding to the topic, and took the scissors handed to her by the maid: "Bear with the pain, I'll cut open your cuff first so the imperial physician can apply the medicine later."
He had barely finished speaking when he touched her fingertips, which were icy cold, and her skirt was soaked. He frowned. "No, you should change your clothes first."
She had been in a hurry on her way here and wasn't wearing much clothing, which was soaked by the snow. No wonder her hands couldn't warm up.
After changing her clothes with the help of the palace maids, Shen Tangning felt much better, and her complexion improved somewhat.
The imperial physician was applying medicine to her, and to distract herself, she casually mentioned, "On my way here, I heard that something seemed to have happened at the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Aunt, would you like to go and take a look?"
The Empress was somewhat surprised. The Kunning Palace had been in turmoil all night, so she naturally hadn't had time to attend to other matters. Hearing this, she pondered for a moment and nodded.
"I will be there in a moment."
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