Soon, the imperial carriage arrived at the gate of the Empress's palace.
Emperor Jingyuan was initially skeptical about this matter.
Before they even entered the gate, they saw Consort Yun standing under the palace wall.
When Consort Yun saw Emperor Jingyuan, a look of surprise flashed across her face. She then quickly stepped forward to pay her respects, her voice low and filled with barely concealed guilt.
"Your Majesty, what brings you here?"
Emperor Jingyuan's expression was unpleasant.
Recalling what Jinghui said, could it be that someone really harbors ill intentions and is here to offend the Empress?
He directly mistook Consort Yun for this person and angrily rebuked her.
"I have already ordered the Empress to rest and recuperate in peace. What are you doing here!"
"How dare you! Do you intend to harm the Empress's health?!"
Consort Yun was terrified and immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! I only came to pay my respects because I was worried about Her Highness."
Emperor Jingyuan said coldly, "I have already given the order to exempt the six palaces from serving the sick. Why do you disregard my imperial decree!"
Consort Yun dared not raise her head, feeling quite surprised.
She didn't understand why Emperor Jingyuan was so angry when she had only come to visit the Empress.
Consort Yun gritted her teeth and had no choice but to tell the truth.
"Your Majesty, it is...it is Rong-mei who said that she has been having nightmares these days, saying that Heaven is blaming her for not taking care of the Empress's illness and for not fulfilling her duties as a concubine. She is feeling uneasy, so today, we have come together to pay our respects to Her Majesty."
She and Consort Rong were rivals for the emperor's favor for many years and were mortal enemies in the harem.
When Consort Rong first put forward this explanation, she was also very suspicious, fearing that the other party was setting a trap for her.
However, she was unwilling to let Consort Rong curry favor with the Empress alone.
In addition, since the Empress had been in a coma for many days, she also wanted to find out what was going on, so she came along.
I didn't want to anger Emperor Jingyuan so much.
"Consort Rong has come too?" Emperor Jingyuan frowned.
Consort Yun glanced inside the wall and said in a strange tone, "Your Majesty should go and see for yourself."
As Emperor Jingyuan stepped into the palace gate, he immediately saw a woman kneeling on the green jade bricks in front of the Empress's Hall.
Dressed in simple white robes, with an elegant and refined appearance, she was none other than Consort Rong.
Pei Xuan stood opposite her, his face cold and aloof.
When Consort Rong saw Emperor Jingyuan, she remained calm and explained with her head bowed, "Your Majesty has decreed that Your Highness should not be disturbed. I dare not disobey, but I am uneasy every day because I cannot serve Your Highness. I wish to kneel here and pray for Your Highness until she awakens."
Emperor Jingyuan frowned as he looked at her.
Unlike the arrogant and domineering Consort Yun, Consort Rong was always considerate and understanding.
These words calmed his anger considerably.
"I am gratified that you have not disobeyed the imperial decree," Emperor Jingyuan said. "But it is cold today, and you are weak. How can you keep kneeling here?"
Consort Rong's face was pale from the cold, but her thin body knelt upright, and she insisted: "For Your Majesty, I am willing to do anything. Please grant my request, Your Majesty."
Emperor Jingyuan was deeply moved.
Faced with such a sensible Consort Rong, he found it difficult to utter words of reproach.
Pei Xuan suggested that the Empress should rest, but it was also in accordance with palace rules for the concubines to attend to her when she was ill, so it was not unreasonable.
Emperor Jingyuan said, "Fine, since you have this intention, go and take care of the Empress."
Jinghui disagreed and leaned forward to remind him, "Your Majesty..."
Emperor Jingyuan waved his hand, indicating that he did not need to say anything more.
Consort Rong is delicate and doesn't seem like the type to harm the Empress at all.
"I haven't seen the Empress for several days either, so I'll go with you to see her."
Consort Rong's brow twitched, and she smiled gratefully, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The maidservant rushed forward to help him up.
Just before she stepped over the steps and into the palace, Emerald rushed out from inside, looking panicked.
"It's terrible, Your Majesty! The Empress has suddenly vomited blood!"
Emperor Jingyuan's expression changed in surprise: "Quickly, summon the imperial physician."
The imperial physician arrived quickly. Jiang Wan lowered the curtain and, with a flick of her wrist, inserted a silver needle into the Empress's neck.
The imperial physician took the empress's pulse through a curtain.
"this…"
The head of the Imperial Medical Academy took the pulse for a moment, then abruptly withdrew his hand, his wrinkled face filled with shock.
He had served the late emperor, and Emperor Jingyuan trusted him greatly. Upon seeing this, his heart sank: "What exactly happened to the Empress?"
The head of the Imperial Medical Academy knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowing and saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, this old minister has never seen such a chaotic and strange pulse. Her Majesty is probably..."
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Before Emperor Jingyuan could speak, Pei Tang jumped out first, her eyes red.
"You've come to take my pulse every day, and you said Mother only had a cold! How could it suddenly become so serious!"
The chief physician was also unable to answer, and said with sweating profusely, "Your Majesty, Her Majesty's pulse was always normal before. I even came last night. I really don't know what happened, how could it suddenly deteriorate like this!"
Emperor Jingyuan was suddenly startled and looked up at Consort Rong.
Could it be that she really brought bad luck to the Empress?
Consort Rong paid no heed to the imperial physician's words; all she wanted was to rush forward, lift the curtain in front of the Empress, and expose everything to Emperor Jingyuan.
Taking advantage of the moment when no one was looking, she walked step by step toward the bed.
Just one step away, he was suddenly grabbed by a pair of hands.
Jiang Wan grabbed her wrist tightly and shouted, "Your Highness, what are you trying to do!"
With success just one step away, Consort Rong lost her patience, forcefully pushing her away with one hand and reaching for the curtain with the other.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Wan seemed to have been prepared, and the two started tearing at each other.
Emperor Jingyuan was alarmed.
Consort Rong has always been gentle and obedient; how could she have lost her composure like this? She's practically gone mad.
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