Jiang Xinyue let her in on the truth: "I am one who prepares for rainy days. I had already gone to see Consort Jiang when she was still in the Palace of Exile."
All the subsequent plans, including Consort Jiang deliberately going to the entrance of Hexi Palace to seek an audience, only for Jiang Xinyue to firmly refuse, were arranged by them in advance - a show put on for the Empress to see.
The purpose was to make the Empress believe that neither Consort Jiang nor Jiang Xinyue knew that she was the one behind the poisoning.
In the past, the Empress never took Consort Jiang seriously. She was just a pawn, used to intensify the conflict between Jiang Xinyue and Consort Li.
As long as her goal was achieved, she didn't care whether the pawn lived or died.
While Jiang Xinyue agreed to cooperate with Consort Jiang, she didn't consider her a friend, so there was no special treatment to speak of.
In the Palace of Exile, Consort Jiang had to eat poor food, wash clothes, pretend to be crazy, and do everything possible to preserve her life.
In just half a year, she aged twenty years due to excessive labor and exhaustion.
Her beautiful face was gone, her favor dissipated. If it weren't for her father, the Minister of Personnel, looking after her, she would have been bullied to death long ago.
Consort Jiang wanted the Empress to stumble at the hands of the pawn she despised most.
The more the Empress heard, the more alarmed she became: "The third prince... was that your doing as well?"
"No!" Jiang Xinyue denied, "Like Your Majesty, I never harm children."
The shocked Empress felt a mix of emotions. Over the years, the new beauties entering the palace were truly surpassing their predecessors. Even an old hand like herself had been fooled.
She had thought Senior Concubine Xian was truly innocent and kind, just with a bit of cleverness.
But in reality, her every move had been in the other's grasp. For every step she took, Jiang Xinyue took ten. This was how the gap between them had closed so rapidly.
"Yes, in this life, after entering the palace, the little kindness I had left was used in the wrong places, leading to my utter defeat today..."
Jiang Xinyue didn't respond, just silently watching her.
The Empress sat up, supporting herself on the small table. She straightened her blood-stained skirt and wiped the blood from her lips. Once again, she became the composed Empress who could face a collapsing mountain without changing expression: "Jiang Xinyue, everyone in the harem wants to be Empress, only you see it as a hot potato. But you should know, sometimes the Emperor's favor is a death warrant. Only when you hold a high position will others not dare to act rashly, cough cough..."
The hall was dim, doors and windows tightly shut. Jiang Xinyue suddenly had a bad feeling: "Your Maj-"
"Fire! The Empress's chambers are on fire! Quickly, find someone to put out the fire!"
Xi Que and Shuang Jiang were waiting outside when they suddenly saw flames shooting up from the roof behind the Empress's chambers. They were shocked.
The two pounded on the door, but the door of the Empress's chambers in Yikun Palace was made of the finest gold-threaded black sandalwood, incredibly sturdy. No matter how they pounded and kicked, the door didn't budge.
This door...
When had it been locked from the inside?
Xi Que's hands were swollen from pounding, realizing this was futile as the fire grew fiercer. This wouldn't work.
She looked around and said to Shuang Jiang: "You go that way, I'll go this way. See if any windows can be opened. If not, find something to break them."
Shuang Jiang nodded and quickly ran off. As they were about to turn away from each other, they saw Fen Yun walking out from behind, holding a torch: "I advise you not to come any closer."
"Cough cough cough..."
Inside the hall, smoke was billowing. The Empress coughed incessantly but held a water-soaked cloth over Jiang Xinyue's nose and mouth, her eyes resolute: "Senior Concubine Xian, I'll help you eliminate Consort Rong, but you must promise me... promise me you'll take good care of the Fifth Prince!"
Mentioning that poor child, the Empress suddenly burst into tears: "Don't tell him... don't tell him I killed his mother. I just... I just wanted to have a child of my own."
Even if she wasn't the Empress, Court Lady Lan wouldn't have survived anyway.
A disfavored court lady, pregnant with no one to rely on - it would have been as simple as crushing an ant for a high-ranking concubine to kill her and her unborn child with a flick of a finger.
It was the Empress who protected her, ensuring she wasn't discovered and safely delivered the child.
It's hard to say Court Lady Lan didn't willingly go to her death for the Fifth Prince's promising future.
"Promise me... take care of... the Fifth Prince..."
Just as a burning beam was about to fall on Jiang Xinyue, the Empress pushed her away, taking the full impact herself. Pinned under the beam, she coughed up a mouthful of blood: "I know Consort Jiang tampered with my incense, causing my frequent migraines. I'm helping you clean up the loose ends now. As long as you... as long as you promise to take care of the Fifth Prince for me, let him... let him grow up safely, marry, have children, be enfeoffed as a prince..."
Once enfeoffed, he could go to his own fief, and from then on, be as free as a fish in the sea or a bird in the sky.
The Empress's last gift to the Fifth Prince was... freedom...
Being an emperor is too difficult, being an empress too bitter.
She didn't want the Fifth Prince to become like his father in the future, disappointing those who loved him deeply, destined for hell.
Jiang Xinyue said nothing, trying hard to pull her out, but couldn't move her. The beam pinning the Empress weighed thousands of pounds, and Jiang Xinyue's hands were covered in blisters from the scorching wood.
The Empress clutched her sleeve tightly. The fire from the beam had already ignited her clothes, yet she smiled brightly: "Jiang Xinyue, your kindness has been used in the right places. Your kindness has an edge to it. You are... more suited to be the Empress of Great Yan than I am."
With that, she closed her eyes and collapsed forever under the beam.
Jiang Xinyue checked her breathing and found she had only fainted. She began to look for a way out.
Considering the Empress's earlier words about helping her eliminate Consort Rong, she guessed the Empress didn't truly intend to take her life, so there must be an escape route somewhere.
She looked around, but smoke filled her vision, making it impossible to keep her eyes open. Involuntary tears streamed down her face.
Breathing was becoming difficult...
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you can't go in! It's too dangerous!"
Upon hearing about the fire in Yikun Palace, the Xuanwu Emperor rushed over immediately. Seeing Xi Que and Shuang Jiang already held back in a safe area by the guards, he realized the gravity of the situation and was about to charge in.
But he was stopped by those around him: "Your Majesty, the fire is too fierce. Even if the Empress is inside, she must... she must be... Your Majesty, your safety is paramount!"
"Let go!" The Emperor drew the sword from a guard's waist and pointed it at the officials blocking him: "Whoever dares to stop me, I'll execute their entire clan."
The veins on his temples bulged, his eyes concealing a fierce beast, as if he might erupt in violence at any moment.
