The Female Psychology PhD Who Time Traveled to the Royal Harem

Chapter 219

the official who was holding the emperor's arm was intimidated by his gaze and let go in fear. without any hesitation, that flash of imperial yellow rushed into the raging fire.

the guards responsible for protecting the emperor's safety, seeing that he had charged in, also grabbed water buckets from the eunuchs. some poured water on themselves before rushing in, while others quickly went to extinguish the fire.

some entered carrying water buckets, and upon finding the emperor, without a word, doused him entirely with water.

it was because of this that the emperor felt his body cool down rapidly, and the burning pain on his skin became less intense.

"yue... cough cough cough cough cough..."

the xuanwu emperor had just opened his mouth when he was choked by the rolling thick smoke. he struggled to open his eyes to discern directions: "yue'er... cough cough cough... yue'er, where are you?"

"your majesty! it's the empress!"

who else could be trapped under the fallen beam if not the empress?

the emperor looked around: "get the empress out first."

"your majesty... cough cough cough... it's too dangerous here, please leave! we subordinates will search for consort xian inside."

"i said... get the empress out first!"

he shook off the guard, enduring the pain in his body as he looked around.

"your majesty, watch out!"

"bang!"

a burnt piece of wood broke off above the xuanwu emperor and crashed down with a bang. fortunately, the guard reacted quickly, pushing the xuanwu emperor away, but the guard was struck, his head bleeding profusely.

"mmm..."

the tremendous noise awakened jiang xinyue, who had fainted by the window. just as she made a small sound, she felt someone grab her shoulders.

the guards' stretcher carried the empress, half of her face already disfigured by burns. the imperial physicians who had been waiting stepped forward to treat the empress.

"seize her!"

a shrill cry pierced the air. the xuanwu emperor had just finished washing jiang xinyue's face clean when he saw consort rong stumbling out from behind the burning buildings, her face filled with terror.

fen yun, her face covered in blood, chased after her: "your majesty, it was consort rong who set fire to the yikun palace."

what?

hearing this, consort rong suddenly stopped in her tracks. due to the abruptness, a fire starter fell from her sleeve.

"clink..."

a bloodstained silver hairpin dropped from her hand. fen yun had already knelt at the emperor's feet, using her face, deeply cut by the hairpin and a bloody mess, to accuse: "your majesty, there weren't enough palace maids in yikun palace, all sorts of evil people came to bully our mistress. today, when my mistress felt a bit better, she wanted to chat with consort xian. we maids were all guarding outside, and the fire started gradually from the back hall, so by the time we discovered it, the fire had already reached my mistress's chambers. i told shuang jiang and xi que to find a way to break down the door, while i went to check the situation at the back. who would have thought... who would have thought..."

her trembling hand fearfully pointed at consort rong: "who would have thought that i would see consort rong holding a fire starter, smiling sinisterly at the flames. i suspected that the fire had something to do with consort rong, so i wanted to grab her and ask for an explanation, but she stabbed my face with her hairpin. the pain made me let go, allowing consort rong to run away. heaven's net is wide-meshed, but lets nothing through. she has been caught red-handed by you, your majesty."

the strong-willed empress had regained consciousness while the imperial physicians were cleaning her wounds.

she struggled to crawl over, but was held down by everyone: "empress, you must not move. you have extensive burns on your body. we must take you back to the imperial hospital for disinfection before we can remove the burnt flesh. otherwise, it's easy to get infected, which could be fatal."

the empress had long lost the will to live. today, even at the cost of her life, she wanted to secure a future for the fifth prince.

"your majesty!"

her voice, already damaged by the thick smoke, was harsh and unpleasant, but every word was heart-wrenching: "the person who put cotton wadding in the sixth prince's wet nurse's clothes was consort rong... today she intended to kill consort xian and then frame me. but unfortunately, she failed! i beg your majesty to uphold justice for consort xian and me!"

jiang xinyue sat on the stool brought by wang dequan, seemingly still in a daze. she lowered her head, allowing xi que and shuang jiang to wipe her hands and neck, and comb through her hair, which had been singed at the ends.

the two little maids were crying with distress.

who would have thought that the empress would use her own life to incriminate consort rong?

half of the empress's face, burned and covered in blood blisters, fell unconscious on the stretcher after uttering those words, overcome by pain.