20demayo Chapter 31
Chapter 31
chapter 31
although a portion of the palace maids in xihuo palace were dismissed, a portion remained, all of whom had served consort zhen jiang xinyue.
consort zhen treated people with kindness and never imposed overly strict rules on the maids and servants, able to jest with them as well - she was an excellent mistress.
but this consort jiang was overbearing and treated servants like dirt, especially the old servants of xihuo palace, tormenting them terribly.
a few maids and eunuchs with connections to the internal affairs department exchanged glances, none of them telling consort jiang about consort zhen going to the internal affairs department to request items, and getting them.
they wanted to see how ridiculous consort jiang would look when she got slapped in the face the next day.
after feeding concubine li congee, the xuanwu emperor instructed her to rest well.
there was already a pile of memorials awaiting in chengqian palace that he had to process swiftly.
after all, she had just woken from a coma, and the emperor did not wish to stay and make the exhausted concubine li expend energy conversing with him.
"your ladyship..."
after seeing off the xuanwu emperor, xia he quickly returned to concubine li's bedside, reporting their victory: "his majesty has demoted consort zhen fangyi to consort zhen and exiled her to the palace of exile."
concubine li rose and walked to the bronze mirror, finding the cotton cloth wrapped around her forehead unsightly, and untied it.
the wound on her forehead was not severe at all, merely a small cut that had nearly healed after applying medicine for two days.
the surrounding redness looked frightening, but it was only a superficial injury.
"your ladyship!"
xia he was terrified and quickly re-wrapped concubine li's forehead, looking around to ensure no maids were nearby before saying: "your ladyship, imperial physician xu said that the false wound he made for you would heal at the normal rate, so you cannot remove this bandage for a month, or else his majesty will find out, and that would be disastrous."
it turned out the horrific wound on her forehead was fake.
concubine li gripped her forehead in vexation: "to get rid of that vile woman, i had to mar my face - i will never forgive her so easily."
her indignant words made xia he imagine the miserable days awaiting consort zhen in the palace of exile.
"how about it? sister won't accept my goodwill and won't even try a bite?"
behind her were two eunuchs rolling up their sleeves in eagerness, as if they would grab jiang xinyue's head and force the cakes down her throat if she refused to eat.
that would not be pretty.
only after watching jiang xinyue eat the cakes did consort jiang reveal a wicked smile, her mood apparently good as she flounced out of the palace of exile with the cake box.
seeing how appetizing the cakes looked, xi que asked her mistress: "mistress, may this servant have one bite?"
*slap!*
xi que's outstretched hand was struck as her eyes went wide in shock: "mistress?"
jiang xinyue upended the plate of cakes on the table and closed her eyes.
there were truly many people in this palace seeking her life!
blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as cramping pain gripped her belly, and beads of sweat formed on her brow. xi que screamed in terror: "mistress! mistress! xuan eunuch, go fetch the imperial physician, fetch him quickly!"
jiang xinyue gripped xi que's hand tightly, the agony wracking her body: "no...no imperial physicians, go...go to the yikun palace and find the empress, quickly!"
she pushed xi que away, grimacing as she coughed up another mouthful of blood.
her mistress must have known the cakes were poisoned, that's why she forbade xi que from eating them.
with tears streaming down her face, xi que turned and fled from the palace of exile. xiao xuanzi did not stop her, but instead used jiang xinyue's own handkerchief to catch the blood she coughed up, then stuffed the handkerchief into her hand, hoping that whoever came would take pity on consort zhen in her pitiful state.
jiang xinyue, slumped in the noble chair, had already passed out.
back in xihuo palace, consort jiang could not help but laugh at the thought of how the laxative in the horse hoof cake had tormented jiang xinyue, leaving her sickly and haggard.
mu tan brought her a bowl of warm sheep's milk. "my lady, i have ordered someone to keep watch at the entrance to the palace of exile. soon, the whole palace will know of consort zhen's embarrassing diarrhea."
"hmph!"
consort jiang raised her head arrogantly. "if she had not just entered the palace of exile, making it inconvenient to take action, i would have rewarded her with crimson crest poison."