Palace maid Shuoning

(Up)

The sound of the pestle echoed in the empty, quiet palace road at midnight, drifting far away.

Changchun Palace, sleeping quarters.

Consort Liu lay on the bed coughing incessantly, one cough after another, as if she were coughing up her lungs, a sound that was heartbreaking to hear.

Miaozhu pushed open the door and entered, carrying the brewed medicine. She walked to the bedside, lifted the curtain, and placed the medicine bowl on a stool. She helped Consort Liu lean against the bedpost and carefully tucked her in.

"Master, the medicine is ready."

Miaozhu picked up the bowl, gently stirred it with a spoon, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it, and brought it to Consort Liu's lips.

Consort Liu's face was pale, her lips devoid of color. She raised her hand, wrapped in white cloth, and gently nudged the medicine spoon in Miaozhu's hand, saying in a hoarse voice:

"The medicine can't cure me anymore. Drinking it won't help."

Miaozhu's eyes reddened, and her voice trembled:

"Master, listen to me, we'll be fine after we drink the medicine."

Consort Liu gave a bitter smile.

In just half a month, those once bright and lively eyes are now like two dry wells, reflecting nothing at all.

She said in a hoarse voice, "If the medicine could really cure my throat, how come it's not only ineffective after half a month, but now I can't even get out of bed? Is someone trying to prevent me from getting better..."

Miaozhu's tears welled up instantly, and her hands trembled violently as she held the medicine.

She slammed the medicine bowl to the ground, shattering it into pieces and splattering the medicine everywhere.

"What kind of justice is this! We can't even drink medicine from the Imperial Hospital, what can we still believe in?"

Consort Liu reached out and took her hand. Miaozhu turned around, sobbing, and cried out:

"Your Highness, what should we do? I've pleaded with Eunuch Feng and Eunuch Baozhong, hoping they could put in a good word for our mistress before the Emperor, but they both refused..."

"Don't cry, sweetie." Consort Liu gently wiped away her tears with her fingers wrapped in white cloth, her voice hoarse and trembling.

"I shouldn't have asked Feng Xi for help. This time it was my carelessness that led to me being tricked by him and Consort Rong. I was too trusting of everyone."

Miaozhu cried even harder.

"Don't cry. If I don't make it to the end of the month, I'll have to find you a new master ahead of time."

Consort Liu raised her hand to wipe away Miaozhu's tears, the white cloth between her fingertips brushing against Miaozhu's cheek.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a thunderclap suddenly sounded outside the palace, lightning cleaved the night sky, and a ghastly white light instantly filled the bedchamber.

The palace doors were suddenly flung open by the wind.

A fierce wind howled in, causing the candlelight to flicker violently. Two candles went out, leaving only one lonely, eerie yellow candle burning, casting long, crooked shadows throughout the room.

Consort Liu and Miaozhu were both startled and looked up.

A figure wearing a scarlet cloak stood at the entrance of the palace, his hood pulled low, obscuring his face.

Four eunuchs followed behind, and then a person wearing a purple cloak.

Another bolt of lightning tore through the sky, its pale light striking their faces.

Beneath the scarlet cloak was Consort Rong, and beneath the purple cloak was Jiang Shuoning.

Consort Rong raised her hand and pushed down her hood, her lips as red as if she had just drunk blood, a smile playing on her lips, her phoenix eyes like knives, scraping at Consort Liu inch by inch.

She walked slowly toward the bed, her steps unhurried, yet each step sent shivers down one's spine.

The four eunuchs behind him immediately closed the door.

Jiang Shuo Ning stood at the door, not following, his fingers slightly curled inside his sleeve.

She felt a vague unease throughout the journey. Things had gone too smoothly today.

Qing'er died, the purse was discovered at just the right time, and Suihe's letter was handed out under the pretext that Consort Rong didn't ask any questions and just followed the path they had laid out.

Everything went too smoothly.

This made her feel a chill run down her spine.

She couldn't help but wonder if Consort Rong truly believed it, or if she simply didn't care whether she believed it or not.

If Consort Rong knew from the beginning that this was a trap, then her entering Changchun Palace tonight was not to "eliminate the scourge" for herself.

She's here to close the net. And Jiang Shuoning herself is caught in that net.

She raised her eyes and looked at Consort Rong's retreating figure. The crimson cloak flickered in the candlelight, like a flame.

(under)

Miaozhu suddenly stood up, spread her arms to block the bed, her voice trembling uncontrollably:

"Your Highness, Consort Rong, my master is unwell. May I ask what brings you here so late at night?"

Consort Rong stopped three steps away, not even glancing at Miaozhu, but only glancing to the side.

Feng Chun understood and stepped forward, slapping Miao Zhu across the face: "How dare you not kneel before Consort Rong!"

Miaozhu covered her face, tears streaming down her cheeks, biting her lip tightly, and knelt down with a thud.

"This servant greets Consort Rong."

Consort Liu, supporting her ailing body, threw back the covers, slowly sat up, and with a hoarse voice, glared at Consort Rong like a knife:

"Your Majesty came to Changchun Palace so late at night just to reprimand my servants? If I'm not mistaken, Your Majesty should be under house arrest by the Emperor. This is Your Majesty's disobedience."

Consort Rong chuckled softly, as if she had heard a joke, and slowly said:

"Confined to my quarters? Once I step out of that gate, the confinement order is a joke. Ask anyone in this palace: who dares to stop me? Who dares to complain to the Emperor about me?"

She took a step forward, leaned down, and stared into Consort Liu's eyes, her voice low and soft, yet each word was like a poisoned needle:

"Consort Liu, you've fallen out of favor. There are only the two of you left in Changchun Palace, you and your servant. Even if I were to pin you down on this bed tonight, it would only be an excuse for your sudden death tomorrow. Do you believe me?"

Consort Liu's pupils constricted sharply as she stared at her in disbelief: "Your Majesty, are you going to kill me?"

Consort Rong straightened up, looking down at her with a slight smile, her red lips curving upwards, but she remained silent. That smile was sharper than a knife.

Feng Chun waved to the eunuch behind her, and two eunuchs immediately pounced on her, grabbing Miao Zhu from the left and right and dragging her to the side.

"What are you doing!"

Miaozhu struggled desperately, and before she could even scream, one of the eunuchs pulled out a long strip of cloth and strangled her mouth, tying a knot tightly around the back of her head.

Two eunuchs pinned Miaozhu to the ground. Miaozhu's screams were muffled in her throat, turning into muffled sobs, and tears streamed down her face.

Seeing this, Consort Liu was about to rescue Miaozhu. Just as she propped herself up, Fengchun stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and roughly dragged her off the bed.

Consort Liu collapsed at Consort Rong's feet, too weak from her illness to even stand up.

Consort Rong looked down at her as if she were a bird that had fallen to the ground, the smile on her lips slowly deepening:

"Consort Liu, your father is just a governor of Zhongzhou, yet he dares to oppose my Li family?"

"My ancestors seized Zhongzhou City from a pile of corpses back then. Your father acted like a tyrant there, only because the Li family gave him a meal. What, have you forgotten who the real masters are now?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuoning's heart pounded wildly.

Wrong, you've calculated it all wrong.

Consort Rong came to Changchun Palace tonight not for Qing'er, not for Suihe, and not for that letter.

She came for Consort Liu's father, and for Zhongzhou City. Qing'er and Xin were merely pretexts she picked up along the way.

The imperial harem is forbidden from interfering in politics. Consort Rong is interfering in politics.

Being confined to the palace was defying the imperial decree; breaking in late at night was overstepping the bounds; and she even wanted to use Consort Liu's life to strangle her father. This was already a blatant transgression.

Both Baozhong and she thought they were trying to lure Consort Rong into a trap, but Consort Rong had been on her own path from beginning to end.

Rongfei simply stepped onto the line that she and Baozhong had laid.

Jiang Shuoning broke out in a cold sweat, his fingers clenched tightly in his sleeves, his nails almost digging into his palms.

Upon hearing this, Consort Liu trembled violently. She lay prostrate on the ground, her trembling hand reaching out to grasp Consort Rong's skirt, her pale face tilting upwards.

Her lips trembled a few times, and before she could utter a word, two lines of tears slid down her cheeks, condensed on her chin, and dripped into the collar of her nightgown.

She opened her mouth, her voice hoarse as if sandpaper had been rubbing against her throat:

"Your Majesty... if my father has offended you in any way, I apologize on his behalf... I beg Your Majesty to forgive him..."