Five years after her death, she awoke on the dragon bed.

Chapter 347 His Majesty is Truly Heartless

Consort Ning stopped coughing after a while: "It's just a minor illness, nothing to worry about."

Empress Dowager Chen looked Ning up and down, only then noticing that Ning was wearing heavy makeup. Ning had always been very low-key and rarely wore heavy makeup.

She thought Consort Ning was wearing heavy makeup because it was her birthday, but now it seems she was mistaken.

She had a good impression of Consort Ning. Consort Ning used to be low-key and not one to cause trouble, so she found her to be quite agreeable.

"Have you consulted the imperial physician?" Empress Dowager Chen asked routinely.

Although she had a good impression of Consort Ning, she could never feel close to her.

"I've consulted the imperial physician. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager," Consort Ning replied softly, her throat itching again.

Everyone was a little disgusted when they saw Consort Ning coughing like that.

Fangruo was also worried that Consort Ning would pass on her illness to Empress Dowager Chen, and she really wanted Empress Dowager Chen to leave Jingren Palace. However, because it was Consort Ning's birthday, she couldn't be too direct about it.

Just then, Murong arrived at Jingren Palace.

Consort De's eyes lit up the moment she saw Murong, but when she remembered that Murong had arrived very late on her birthday, while Consort Ning's birthday was so punctual, she felt a pang of jealousy.

When Murong entered, he happened to see Consort Ning coughing.

He stepped forward to present the birthday gift and asked, "What happened to Consort Ning?"

After a bout of violent coughing, Consort Ning finally recovered.

Her face flushed red, and she said in a hoarse voice, "I have been disrespectful before Your Majesty, and I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."

Seeing Linglong hesitate to speak, Murong asked, "Has Consort Ning caught a cold?"

"It was just a minor illness, I'm all better now..."

Seeing Consort Ning's appearance, Murong looked at Linglong and said, "I told you to speak!"

Linglong was so frightened that she knelt down and said in a tearful voice, "Consort Ning caught a cold the night before Consort De's birthday. She also consulted the imperial physician, but her condition did not improve. In fact, last time on Consort De's birthday, Consort Ning was late because she suddenly fell ill, not because she was deliberately late."

Murong calculated that Consort Ning had been ill for several days.

"Consort Ning, since you were ill that day, why didn't you say so?" Murong asked, puzzled.

"I didn't think it was a big deal. Besides, it was Consort De's sister's birthday that day, and I didn't want to overshadow her, so..."

As Consort Ning spoke, she couldn't help but cough a few more times.

Consort De frowned as she looked at Consort Ning; she really disliked Consort Ning's behavior.

Even if Consort Ning spoke up that day, could she possibly steal her thunder?
She, Consort Ning, is not Lou Suyi; she is just like her, not valued by Murong.

“If you’re sick, you should speak up. It’s not good for you to keep everything to yourself; you need to learn from the Empress in this respect. The Empress once said something very true: nothing is more important than your health.” Murong unconsciously brought up Lou Suying.

Consort Ning's forbearance may be a good thing, but it depends on where it's used. What's the point of enduring physical discomfort? Will simply enduring it make you better?
Upon hearing this, Consort Ning said in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty is right. I just didn't want to cause trouble for everyone. Her Majesty the Empress is very considerate, and I should indeed learn more from her."

Murong knew it was her birthday today, so he didn't criticize her too much. Instead, he asked Jiqing to invite Imperial Physician Liu to examine Consort Ning. Indeed, since Consort Ning had already seen the imperial physician, why didn't she ask Imperial Physician Liu to examine her?
"Why don't you ask Liu Qing to treat you?" Murong asked, voicing his question.

"Considering that Her Majesty the Empress is pregnant, and that Imperial Physician Liu serves His Majesty, I thought it best to avoid trouble and therefore found another imperial physician to examine her," Consort Ning said in a hoarse voice.

Empress Dowager Chen thought that Consort Ning was a sensible person.

Murong, however, felt that Consort Ning was overthinking things. Nothing is more important than one's health. When someone is sick, of course they should see the best doctor. What's the point of Consort Ning being so hesitant at a time like this?
But today was a special day, so he didn't say anything more.

Consort De certainly noticed Murong's calm expression. She then looked at Consort Ning, and although she didn't see any obvious emotions on Consort Ning's face, she felt that Consort Ning wasn't particularly happy.

At that moment, a sudden thought struck her: Could it be that Consort Ning was deliberately using a self-inflicted injury as a ruse?

Perhaps Consort Ning wanted to use this self-inflicted injury to make Murong pay more attention to her, but Murong's reaction was clearly not as Consort Ning expected, which may be the reason why Consort Ning was in low spirits.

Of course, it's also possible that Murong's comparison of Consort Ning and Lou Suyi displeased Consort Ning.

Whatever the reason, Consort Ning's displeasure must be related to Murong's attitude.

Interestingly, Murong did not stay for long before claiming he had official business to attend to and leaving Jingren Palace.

After Murong left, Consort Ning's cough worsened.

Consort De saw this and suddenly smiled.

On her birthday, Murong at least accompanied her for a stroll in the Imperial Garden for a while, but Consort Ning, even though she was ill, couldn't get Murong to stay for even a moment longer.

If Consort Ning really wanted to use this self-inflicted injury to gain Murong's attention, she would probably want to find a wall to smash her head against and die.

Seeing that Consort Ning was sickly, Empress Dowager Chen, urged by Fang Ruo, did not linger and left Jingren Palace.

As soon as Empress Dowager Chen left, Consort De laughed and said, "His Majesty is so heartless. Today is my sister's birthday, and on such an important day, His Majesty doesn't spend much time with Consort Ning. I feel sorry for my sister."

“Since Consort Ning has caught a cold, she certainly doesn’t want to pass on her illness to His Majesty. It would be better if His Majesty left sooner,” Consort Tao said, defending Consort Ning, unable to bear Consort De’s gloating attitude.

"That's not necessarily true. Consort Ning is usually in very good health, but she caught a cold on her birthday. Could it be that she's trying to use her illness to evoke His Majesty's sympathy?" Consort De smiled maliciously.

No one else thought that far ahead. After all, Consort Ning was well-liked, and she always considered the big picture. Who would connect that to her feigning illness?
But after Consort De said that, everyone suddenly felt that this possibility was not out of the question.

Upon hearing Consort De's words, Linglong was immediately enraged: "My mistress has always treated Consort De well, so why would Consort De maliciously speculate about my mistress? Is she wicked, seeing everyone as bad?"

"Linglong, you mustn't be rude to Consort De!" Consort Ning scolded.

Linglong looked at Consort De with tears in her eyes and resentment, but she didn't dare to say another word.

"Whatever Consort De says goes. I'm not feeling well, so I won't entertain you all any longer," Consort Ning said, rising to her feet.

The next moment, she suddenly collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.

A gasp rippled through the crowd, and Consort De was pushed aside.

Just now, Consort Tao had a moment of suspicion about Consort Ning, but at this moment she was only concerned about Consort Ning's health.

The scene was in chaos, but someone still remembered to fetch Murong. Just then, Imperial Physician Liu arrived at Jingren Palace, and they hurriedly asked him to examine Consort Ning.