20demayo Chapter 408
Chapter 408
as jiang xinyue was lost in self-doubt, the doors of the imperial study opened, and yan the imperial physician stepped out: "the emperor has awakened and requests the empress to enter. the rest of you should disperse."
"only the empress is to see him?"
"how is the emperor? how is his health? is there anything serious?"
"the empress is with child. how can she attend to the emperor in such a state? why not let the higher-ranking consorts enter as well, so as not to burden the empress?"
"that's right, the empress is pregnant and should not be overworked. let the other consorts accompany her."
the ministers who spoke were not advocating for consort shu or consort liang, but were instead aligned with the northern general's mansion, pushing for concubine shi.
yan the imperial physician glanced at the officials who had spoken: "these are the emperor's orders. i am merely conveying his edict. if any of you have objections, you may take them up with the emperor yourselves."
wasn't this nonsense?
the emperor hadn't summoned them; how could they dare to enter uninvited? they might be mistaken for assassins by the emperor's personal guards and killed on the spot.
"no... no, no..."
concubine shi, blushing slightly, smiled apologetically at jiang xinyue: "empress, i... i rushed here in haste and now feel a sharp pain in my abdomen. i wish to return to rest, if your majesty permits."
the ministers looked frustrated, their expressions betraying their disappointment in concubine shi. but she seemed oblivious, her pleading gaze fixed on jiang xinyue.
"abdominal pain?"
jiang xinyue smiled faintly: "since consort liang and consort shu are also returning to their quarters, why don't you accompany them?"
concubine shi's demeanor was that of a quiet, unambitious concubine, fitting the image everyone had of her. even though her family wanted to elevate her status, she herself kept a low profile.
but jiang xinyue had said it before: in this palace, she trusted no one. even with consort shu and consort liang, she remained cautious, let alone concubine shi, who was currently her rival.
at the entrance of consort shu's palace, her broken sedan chair still lay. now concubine shi was asking to leave, and jiang xinyue wasn't comfortable with that.
consort shu and consort liang exchanged a glance before warmly taking concubine shi's arm: "is concubine shi in pain? then you must return quickly and call for the imperial physician. we happen to be going the same way; let us accompany you."
"same... same way?"
"yes, i wish to visit noble consort jin at qingyang palace."
consort shu's eyes widened. she had forgotten about the princess from goguryeo, noble consort jin. consort liang was indeed clever, lying without hesitation.
concubine shi was ushered out, with no chance to refuse.
jiang xinyue then lifted her skirt and walked to the doorway, turning back slightly and raising her voice: "the emperor has been neglecting his meals and rest while handling state affairs. don't you, as his ministers, know to remind him? if he falls ill, i will hold you accountable."
if the empress didn't take charge, they would all be in trouble.
"if your majesty doesn't want me here, i will leave. there's no need to trouble wang dequan and the others."
with that, she turned to leave.
but the concern in her eyes was already evident. she had glanced over the emperor from head to toe, confirming he was fine before speaking in anger.
"you... *cough cough cough*..."
the emperor, in a panic, stood up from the bed. after taking two steps, he began coughing and "weakly" crouched on the ground.
"your majesty!"
wang dequan exclaimed loudly on purpose: "what's wrong, your majesty?"
tang shiliang frantically blinked at the emperor, who caught the hint and pretended to faint, collapsing into tang shiliang's arms.
jiang xinyue could tell from wang dequan's tone that the emperor was fine.
but she still turned back in worry, her eyes reddening at the sight of the emperor lying motionless: "your majesty!"
her performance was far more convincing than wang dequan's.
it didn't seem like an act at all.
as she rushed to the emperor's side, she tripped over her own skirt and stumbled toward him.
the emperor, peeking through half-closed eyes, quickly reached out to catch her, ensuring she didn't hit anything hard.
wang dequan and tang shiliang, ever perceptive, retreated to wait outside.
"xinyue, it's been half a month. are you still angry?"
"your majesty doubted my integrity and chastity, insulting me so deeply. should i not be angry?"
"you're exaggerating."
the emperor averted his gaze guiltily: "i only looked into lan xiaolou a little. if i hadn't, how would i have known the tong family was framing you?"
but who was really framing whom?
the broken tombstone didn't have the character "dong" altered to "jiang." it was the other way around—the "jiang" had been changed to "dong."
thus, it was a perfect setup to shift the blame.