20demayo Chapter 455
Chapter 455
especially since there are very few people in the palace who truly care for her.
the ones she can trust to some extent are consort liang and a few others.
"your majesty! your majesty! please wake up, your majesty! don't scare me! someone! someone, come quickly!"
as jiang xinyue approached the entrance of shunan palace, she heard shu xiang's heart-wrenching cries.
"this is bad!"
noble consort ye, who had been following jiang xinyue, rushed in with small, hurried steps: "could something have happened to consort liang...?"
inside the bedchamber of shunan palace, consort liang had collapsed on the floor. shu xiang was holding her, sobbing uncontrollably, while the maids and matrons in the room crowded around, their faces filled with panic and fear.
noble consort ye rushed over and shouted, "the floor is cold. quickly, carry consort liang to the bed!"
shu xiang was so frightened that her legs had gone weak, but a few strong matrons managed to lift consort liang and place her on the bed.
jiang xinyue approached the bedside and saw that consort liang's face had turned pale, her eyes tightly shut, her breathing shallow and labored.
her breath was faint, her complexion ashen, as if she were on the verge of death.
jiang xinyue sat by the bed and checked consort liang's breathing. relieved to find that she was still alive, she said, "shuangjiang, go to the imperial hospital immediately and summon yan the imperial physician, along with any other physicians skilled in treating poison and colds."
shu xiang crawled to the bedside and, choking back sobs, handed jiang xinyue a blood-stained handkerchief, her hands trembling. "your majesty, i had planned to seek an audience with you after my lady fell asleep today, but i never expected her to collapse before i could. your majesty, ever since the last poisoning, my lady's health has been deteriorating. she forbade me from speaking of it, but today, after coughing up blood, i could no longer bear to see her suffer like this..."
the handkerchief was stained with dried blood, a large patch that indicated the severity of the situation.
consort liang, that fool, had kept this hidden. was she trying to drag herself to death?
upon the empress's summons, yan the imperial physician and others arrived quickly. after several physicians took turns examining her pulse, the prognosis was grim.
yan the imperial physician said with a grave expression, "your majesty, i have told you before. consort liang's condition is different from yours. you ingested a small amount of arsenic, which, even without an antidote, can be expelled from the body naturally.
the late empress only wanted you to overthrow concubine li, not to take your life. but consort liang...
consort liang was poisoned with a rare toxin. this poison clings to the internal organs, bones, and blood, causing fatal damage.
in truth, if it weren't for your majesty's reluctance to let consort liang go, and the use of the finest medicinal herbs to prolong her life, she would have already reported to king yama.
noble consort ye and consort shu stood to the side, wiping away tears but not daring to cry aloud, fearing it would bring bad luck.
consort liang felt as though she had been dreaming for a long, long time. in her dream, she had just entered the palace, and concubine li had bullied her. it was the late empress who had come to her aid, always supporting her.
but later, she had always sought to gain more advantages from the late empress, who had never held it against her.
and the emperor... the emperor...
to meet shen lang was to be doomed for life...
the love they had nurtured within these deep palace walls had turned into poisonous jealousy, into sharp thorns that pierced the innocent.
but what had those people done wrong?
in the palace, whether one vied for favor or not, it was never up to oneself.
and her?
why had she become so detestable?
no!
she had changed for the better. she had found friends.
true friends!
they played cards, drank wine, sipped tea, and admired flowers together. they sat together and complained about the emperor being a scoundrel.
the camaraderie between women was far more reliable than the fleeting illusions of love.
she didn't want to die!
there were still so many things she wanted to do, so many words she wanted to say. she wanted to leave the palace after the emperor's death, to dote on her grandchildren and live out her days in peace.
would she not even outlive that old man, the emperor?
beneath her eyelids, consort liang's eyes began to dart around, a sign that she was about to wake up.
jiang xinyue glanced at consort shu and noble consort ye, signaling them to stop crying.
for someone seriously ill, the will to live was paramount. jiang xinyue hoped that consort liang's will to survive would reach its peak once she learned that there was still hope.