Demoting my wife to a concubine? After being reborn, I turned around and married into the imperial f

The palace servants immediately stopped what they were doing, knelt on the ground, and bowed to the Empress Dowager who was walking in.

"Greetings, Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager!"

The Empress Dowager, dressed in a black palace gown embroidered with orchids, walked in with an indifferent expression, supported by Granny Gui, and sat down to one side.

"Your Majesty, why were you subjected to torture against the Ninth Prince's Consort?"

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma said to the Empress Dowager, "The Ninth Prince's wife disrespects me and forbids me from giving her concubines to the Ninth Prince for his nights. She is so jealous; as the mistress of the harem, how can I not punish her properly? Otherwise, if all the wives of the imperial clan learn to be so jealous, what will become of us?"

The Empress Dowager's gaze remained unchanged, but the coldness in her eyes intensified: "Empress! Don't you know that the Ninth Prince is frail and has not yet recovered, and needs to be restrained from excessive sexual activity? I know you are the Third Prince's birth mother, but why don't you care at all about the Ninth Prince's affairs? Do you even need me to tell you this?"

Empress Ma's face darkened upon hearing this: "Mother, please calm down. Your daughter-in-law only wanted the Ninth Prince to favor other women so that they could produce offspring for the royal family."

The Empress Dowager's voice was icy: "If the Empress truly desires this, then all the better. The Ninth Prince is unwell and not fully recovered. He already stated publicly last time that he cannot provide happiness for those women. Why then does the Empress deliberately bestow concubines upon him? Is the Empress determined to humiliate him?"

Empress Ma was furious, but she said to the Empress Dowager, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I thought that after so long, the Ninth Prince would have recovered long ago."

"What do you think? If you were so concerned, did you summon the imperial physician to examine the Ninth Prince? Are you sure his body can truly withstand the concubines you sent him? As the mother of the nation, is the Empress so capricious in her actions? Or do you know he is unwell, yet you insist on sending him women to cause him distress?"

Empress Ma turned pale with fright, but her dignity as an empress prevented her from kneeling down to apologize.

Her gaze was fearless as she met the Empress Dowager's eyes and said, "Your Majesty is right. It was my oversight that almost harmed the Ninth Prince."

Suddenly, with a thud, Chu Xunzhen swayed and fell to the ground.

Only then did everyone notice that her clothes were soaked with blood on the back.

When the Empress Dowager saw the patch of blood on her back, she shouted anxiously, "Quickly! Summon the imperial physician. Help the Ninth Princess to my Shou Kang Palace."

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma immediately said, "Why go to such lengths for Your Majesty? Let the Ninth Princess rest in my Phoenix Palace."

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager sneered: "If I hadn't come just now, the Ninth Princess Consort would have been beaten to death by you, wouldn't she? If the Ninth Princess Consort had been left with the Empress, I'm afraid she wouldn't have made it out of the palace alive."

Empress Ma's face turned pale and then red; the Empress Dowager's words were a direct slap in the face to her.

Shou Kang Palace.

Chu Xunzhen was lying in bed.

After examining her pulse, the imperial physician said to everyone, "The wound had already healed, but it was torn open due to external pressure."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately looked at Empress Ma, who was following behind her.

"Your Majesty, who did this? If you don't tell us, then everyone in your palace will suffer the same fate as those who murdered the Princess Consort."

Empress Ma's face was grim as she stared intently at Chu Xunzhen on the bed.

She even began to doubt whether Chu Xun was deliberately trying to embarrass her.

Suddenly, a loud shout came from outside: "The Ninth Prince has arrived."

Wearing a dark blue robe, Nangong Yue hurriedly entered Fengyi Palace and bowed to the Empress Dowager and the Empress.

"Greetings to the Empress Dowager and the Empress Mother."

Nangong Yue's gaze fell on Chu Xunzhen.

She had been taking such good care of herself these past few days, yet now she has become so pale.

"Grandmother, who did this?" Nangong Yue asked coldly.

Empress Ma spoke up, "Ninth Prince, this was an accident. Who could have known that the Princess Consort's injuries hadn't healed yet?"

"Mother, I would like to ask, what exactly did the Ninth Princess Consort do wrong that requires your order to punish her?"

"The Ninth Princess Consort has disrespected me, so she must be punished."

Nangong Yue raised an eyebrow and asked, "How is this disrespectful to the Empress Dowager?"

"She did not kneel before me."

Nangong Yue scoffed, "Is that so? On my way here, I heard that the Empress Dowager was very dissatisfied that I wouldn't touch the concubines you sent. Didn't you spread rumors everywhere that the Ninth Princess Consort was jealous? Today I'll make it clear. My heart belongs only to the Ninth Princess Consort. To me, everyone else is nothing but a beautiful skeleton. Besides, I don't have a healthy body to enjoy the pleasures of other women."

Empress Ma turned pale upon hearing this.

"I was too arbitrary."

Nangong Yue's voice grew even colder: "Mother, please bring out the three matrons who were holding down the Ninth Princess."

Empress Ma's thoughts were in turmoil.

If we hand people over to Nangong Yue so easily, who will be willing to serve her in the future?

"Your Highness, this is the inner palace. I will discipline those three maids myself. Your Highness should pay more attention to matters of the court."

"Oh?" Nangong Yue's gaze fell on the palace servants behind Empress Ma, and a cold smile appeared on her lips. "What Mother says is true."

Empress Ma felt relieved to see Nangong Yue give in.

She is the true mistress of the harem. Nangong Yue should not even think about usurping her position.

When the Empress Dowager saw this, she gave Empress Ma a disdainful look.

She couldn't even tell who in the palace was powerful enough to be won over and who she could control.

This empress will probably be replaced soon.

Empress Ma strode away.

She was quite pleased with herself when she left.

Even if she deliberately makes things difficult for Chu Xunzhen, so what? What can Chu Xunzhen and Nangong Yue do to her?

The Empress Dowager glanced at Chu Xunzhen on the bed and felt a pang of heartache.

She asked the imperial physician, "Imperial physician, when will the princess be able to wake up?"

"The princess lost too much blood and is not expected to regain consciousness until tomorrow."

Nangong Yue said to the Empress Dowager, "Grandmother, why don't you rest for a bit? You must be tired."

"Okay. The royal grandmother will come back tomorrow."

In the dead of night, Nangong Yue was urgently summoned by the emperor.

He had only been gone for less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea when Chu Xunzhen suddenly woke up.

The person in front of her was Nangong Moli.

She was dressed in a light blue princess robe, her eyes filled with anxiety as she groped her body.

"What is the princess doing?"

When Chu Xunzhen spoke, Nangong Moli was startled.

"You're awake?" Nangong Moli said. "Quickly, give me the antidote."

Chu Xunzhen then remembered that she had asked Granny Hua to deliver the antidote to Nangong Moli once before, but Granny Hua disappeared afterward and had not delivered the antidote to her since.

"Were you trying to find the antidote yourself?"

Chu Xunzhen scoffed, "She really is disobedient."

Nangong Moli suddenly walked to Chu Xunzhen's bedside, took out the dagger from her waist, and gestured at Chu Xunzhen's body.

"Don't think your ninth brother will come back to save you. He's been summoned to the Imperial Study tonight and won't be back."

Chu Xunzhen's expression remained unchanged.

Nangong Moli had originally wanted to enjoy her panicked appearance, but seeing her so calm, she became somewhat annoyed.

"Chu Xunzhen! You damned bitch! You should have died last time. Since you didn't die last time, you'd better die this time!"

As she spoke, Nangong Moli raised the dagger and stabbed it toward Chu Xunzhen's heart.

"Kill me, and you won't survive either."

Nangong Moli's hand paused, stopping exactly an inch in front of Chu Xunzhen's chest.

Chu Xunzhen chuckled: "You must have secretly gone to see the imperial physicians to examine you, right? Even they couldn't find a way to cure the poison in your body, could they?"

Nangong Moli threw down the dagger, staring intently at Chu Xunzhen, and said, "What do you want from me to let me go?"

"Let you go?"

Chu Xunzhen looked at Nangong Moli with a mocking gaze in his eyes.

Princess Jiamin used to regard her as an enemy, but Chu Xunzhen saved her, and now Princess Jiamin regards her as her savior.

She didn't expect anything in return from the second princess, but she couldn't tolerate the second princess repaying her kindness with enmity.

Chu Xunzhen coldly said, "How about you kneel down and kowtow to me? Plus, apologize."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Moli's expression immediately changed.

"Impossible. Don't even think about it!"

Chu Xunzhen chuckled: "Then I'm sorry, Princess."

Nangong Moli felt a sharp pain in her ankle.

She looked down and saw that a small black insect had bitten her.

With a thud, her body went limp and she collapsed to the ground.

After a while, Nangong Yue returned.

Upon seeing Nangong Moli lying unconscious on the ground, he suddenly looked towards the bed.

"Sister, are you alright? Why is Jasmine unconscious here?"

"She was about to kill me."

Chu Xunzhen briefly recounted what had happened, and Nangong Yue suddenly looked at Nangong Moli.

"Guards, take the Second Princess away."

After Nangong Yue finished speaking, two men in black took Nangong Moli away.

"Your Highness, this will cause you trouble."

Nangong Yue hugged Chu Xunzhen, gently stroking her cheek, and said, "Sister, I will absolutely not allow anyone or anything that hurt you to have another chance to hurt you."

As she spoke, Nangong Moli was taken away.

Early the next morning.

In the Phoenix Palace.

Empress Ma was in a great mood.

Although they failed to reprimand Chu Xunzhen yesterday, the nannies pressed their hands on Chu Xunzhen's back, causing her back wound to reopen and bleed, which really vented her anger.

"It's terrible! Your Highness, Granny Liu, Granny Zhao, Granny Zheng, and dozens of maids including Youjing, Youlan, and Meixiang, all died last night."

"What did you say?"

Empress Ma's eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing this.

"Take me to see this."

Dozens of palace servants died in one night. There was no movement at Fengyi Palace last night, not even a scream was heard.

Empress Ma went to the residence of the palace maids.

Blood flowed throughout the entire residence.

All the palace servants died in their sleep.

Empress Ma turned pale and retreated in fright.

The palace maids who served the Empress last night are now filled with lingering fear.

If they hadn't waited in the Empress's bedchamber all night, they probably would have died by the time they returned to their quarters to rest last night.

"Quickly! Inform the Emperor. This matter is a serious violation of the laws of Great Ning."

Empress Ma's legs were still weak, but fortunately, the palace maid beside her was supporting her.

"Let's go! Prepare to enter Shou Kang Palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

As the Empress and her entourage were preparing to go to the Empress Dowager's palace, a eunuch suddenly rushed over and spoke anxiously.

"Oh no! The second princess has gone missing!"