The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 205 The situation is over
Consort Xian laughed in exasperation.

Now that things have come to this, Xia Fuchuan is still struggling there. Let him struggle for a while. Consort Xian has already begun to think about which way of dying was the most painful and ugly among the servants who were executed in the palace over the years.

Wasn't he a eunuch?

Aren't eunuchs most sensitive about being called castrated?
Those who betray her will not only die, but will die in the most gruesome way.

She wanted to see how long this dying man could keep making excuses for himself.

"Your Majesty, you said the Empress said that I confessed. Did she tell you what I confessed to?"

Consort Xian's eyes flickered, then she seemed to be deep in thought.

The Empress just said that Xia Fuchuan confessed, but she didn't say exactly what Xia Fuchuan confessed to.

Although she didn't look at each of the signed confessions carefully, she did glance at them.

She just wanted to remember who betrayed her.

Xia Fuchuan noticed a subtle change in Consort Xian's expression and continued, "Your Majesty, think about it again. All those servants who confessed were kept, but the Empress released them. This means that the servants really didn't say anything. Your Majesty didn't have any evidence against them, so you couldn't keep them. Your Majesty must know that Your Majesty cares for the servants. Keeping them without evidence will surely lead Your Majesty to demand an explanation."

Consort Xian was completely thrown into turmoil.

Although she didn't want to believe that Xia Fuchuan could get away unscathed without betraying her, Xia Fuchuan's words didn't seem to make any sense.

She felt like there was a tangled mess in her heart that she couldn't untangle.

Could it be that Shen Qingwan really would commit the crime of deceiving the emperor in order to bring her down?
Yup!

If she really had Xia Fuchuan's confession, wouldn't she present it to Emperor Yuanwu and accuse her of wrongdoing? Isn't she the one who loves to oppose her the most?

She... she actually got tricked by that bitch Shen Qingwan!

Consort Xian took a deep breath and said to Xia Fuchuan, who was kneeling on the ground, "You should get up first."

When she was angry, she didn't feel any pain in her knees, but now that she's calmed down, the pain in her knees almost made her fall to the ground.

Xia Fuchuan was stunned for a moment, then scrambled to his feet and quickly grabbed her arm. "Your Majesty, what are you still kneeling for? Quickly... quickly go and summon the imperial physician..."

At this moment, the servants kneeling on the ground finally realized what was happening. Some helped Consort Xian back to her palace, while others went to the Imperial Hospital to summon the imperial physicians.

Xia Mei struggled to her feet and limped into Consort Xian's palace. "Imperial Physician Zhang, what's wrong with our lady?" Xia Mei asked.

"Perhaps Her Majesty knelt on a spot with charcoal fire under the floor when she knelt in Kunning Palace, which caused her knees to bleed. I have just bandaged Her Majesty's wounds. Remember to give Her Majesty the prescribed medicine on time. I will come back tomorrow to change the dressing." Physician Zhang said as he walked outside.

"Please wait, Physician Zhang." Xia Mei tiptoed over. "Please, Physician Zhang, are you really sure that the injury on my lady's knee was caused by kneeling on the ground? And not by something else?"

Xia Mei was puzzled.

These servants were often forced to kneel by their masters, sometimes for an hour or two, but they had never heard of anyone kneeling on the ground until their knees were raw, unless they were kneeling on a cobblestone path or broken porcelain.

Just now, when I watched the imperial physician cut her clothes off with scissors, her skin and flesh were ulcerated, and blood and flesh were stuck to the fabric of the clothes. When the fabric was lifted, it tore open a huge hole.

No wonder Consort Xian fainted from the pain; just watching it sent chills down one's spine.

“Aunt Xia Mei may not know this, but burns are not only caused by boiling water. Prolonged contact with low-heat objects can also cause burns. Although the burn process takes longer, it is generally not as severe as high-temperature burns. Follow my prescription and let it heal slowly. Please rest assured, Aunt Xia Mei.” After saying this, Physician Zhang bowed.

Xia Mei returned the greeting, "Thank you for your trouble, Physician Zhang."

"Aunt Xia Mei's injuries haven't healed yet, so she needs to rest more. I'll take my leave now."

After Physician Zhang left, Xia Fuchuan and Xia Mei exchanged a glance and walked to a corner of Consort Xian's palace. "Eunuch Xia, should we tell the Emperor about this? I have a feeling something's fishy about this. Her Highness only knelt in Kunning Palace for a short while, and her knees are already so badly rotten that there's not even a layer of skin left. Even if the floor heating in Kunning Palace was too hot, it shouldn't have burned Her Highness's legs like this. I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of?" Xia Fuchuan retorted. "Are you afraid that this was done on purpose by Her Majesty the Empress? Did she deliberately have the floor heating in the main hall of Kunning Palace heated up today, deliberately causing our Empress to be burned?"

Xia Mei was taken aback by the question.

“Even if the Empress did it on purpose, do we have any evidence? If we want the Emperor to stand up for the Empress, we need evidence. Without evidence, it’s slander. Slandering the Empress in the harem is a capital offense. Do you have a spare head for the Emperor to chop off, or do I have a spare head for the Emperor to chop off?” Xia Fuchuan finished speaking and shook his head with a laugh.

"Even if we don't mention that Her Majesty's burns are related to the underground dragon in Kunning Palace, Her Majesty's injuries are so severe. If His Majesty were to come and take a look, perhaps when he sees Her Majesty's injuries, his heart would soften and Her Majesty would regain favor. If Her Majesty could regain favor, we servants who serve Her Majesty would also benefit. What's wrong with that?" Xia Mei grabbed Xia Fuchuan's arm as he was about to leave.

Xia Fuchuan reached out and stopped Xia Mei's hand. He shook his head, his smile deepening. "Aunt Xia Mei, Aunt Xia Mei, you've served Consort Tai before, you're a veteran in the palace, how can you still be so blind? Ever since the Empress's serious illness, the world in the harem has changed. Do you really think the Emperor cares for our Lady? He only cares because she's General Pang Da's legitimate daughter. He just wants to use General Pang Da for his own purposes. Now, General Rong is favored by the Emperor, and Consort Ying is pregnant. Consort Ying is someone close to the Empress. The Empress has spoken highly of Consort Ying to the Emperor to gain favor. Do you think even if you invite the Emperor over, he'll stand up for Consort Xian?"

Xia Mei was speechless at the counter-question.

After finishing her dinner, Shen Qingwan went to bed early. The next day, she changed into a set of Shu brocade cotton clothes that had just been made and headed towards Cining Palace with Zhen'er.

I had just walked halfway when I saw two people talking in a relatively secluded spot in the Imperial Garden...

(End of this chapter)