Luyin laughed so hard she held her stomach: "I told you not to go in there. You can't blame me for this."
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey..."
Xi Que spat out all the dirt from her mouth. She lifted the bamboo basket and looked around, noticing there was clearly some space between the door and the cabinet. Someone had deliberately placed it on the doorframe to embarrass her.
"Consort De... Consort De, something terrible has happened!"
A young eunuch, drenched in sweat, ran into the courtyard and knelt down, quickly reporting: "The Old Madam... the Old Madam of the Duke Cheng's household was attacked by assassins and has... has passed away."
"What?" Consort De's legs went weak. "Say that again."
"In response to Consort De, just now the Duke Cheng's household outside the palace reported to His Majesty that the Old Madam was assassinated. His Majesty sent this slave to inform you."
"Consort De!"
The palace maids of Yanqing Palace all rushed over to support the fainting Consort De.
Luyin, with a face full of anxiety, bowed to Jiang Xinyue and bid her farewell: "Noble Imperial Consort, as you've heard, our mistress is in no state to entertain you now. Please forgive us."
Jiang Xinyue glanced at Consort De, who had turned pale and collapsed into the arms of her maids. If she didn't take advantage of this opportunity to strike while her enemy was down, when would she get such a good chance again?
"With Consort De suddenly fainting, how could I just stand by and do nothing?" She instructed Jiang Chuan: "Quickly go to the Imperial Hospital and summon Imperial Physician Lu, whom Consort De trusts. You few there, carry Consort De into her bedchamber."
Luyin was, after all, just a palace maid. When the Noble Imperial Consort said she wanted to stay and help, how could a mere palace maid refuse her?
Seeing this, Xi Que whispered to Jiang Chuan: "Go to our palace and bring more of our own people. I refuse to believe that we can't find evidence if we turn the entire Yanqing Palace upside down."
Her mistress had said before that any deed done must leave traces behind. There was no such thing as a perfect crime in this world.
She was determined to find evidence of Consort De's mistreatment of palace servants, to avenge the basket of dirt from earlier.
Luyin now had her heart entirely focused on Consort De, how could she pay attention to what Xi Que was doing?
If even she couldn't control the situation, the lower-ranking maids and eunuchs certainly wouldn't dare to interfere.
Jiang Xinyue covered her lips and said, "Go check the Lotus Garden we were in earlier. I feel there's something wrong with the fish there."
Xi Que nodded and quietly slipped away.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xinyue blocked Luyin's view and stood concernedly by the bed: "Is Consort De alright? Is it serious?"
By the time Imperial Physician Lu arrived, Xi Que had already turned Yanqing Palace upside down, but she truly hadn't found anything amiss.
However...
She kept barking towards that room storing flower fertilizer. Xi Que had searched it several times but hadn't discovered anything unusual.
Finally, she went to the Lotus Garden that Jiang Xinyue had mentioned.
About an incense stick's burning time later, under Imperial Physician Lu's treatment, Consort De slowly regained consciousness.
Seeing that Jiang Xinyue was still there, she was somewhat surprised and weakly spoke: "Noble Imperial Consort, this concubine is fine now. Please return to your palace! This concubine will go see His Majesty shortly to inquire about the situation."
Her heart was anxious and troubled. She felt that Jiang Xinyue, that cheap woman, was truly despicable. What was she doing staying here while she was unconscious?
Did she want to catch her making a mistake?
Well then, she would give her a "grand gift." She hoped she would like it when she saw it.
Just then, Jiang Chuan at the door signaled Jiang Xinyue to withdraw. She took the opportunity to say: "Then this consort will not disturb Consort De's rest. Regarding the assassination of the Old Madam, this consort will certainly ask His Majesty to thoroughly investigate."
Every word she spoke deeply pained Consort De's heart. She nearly ground her teeth to pieces, barely suppressing the urge to kill.
"This concubine thanks the Noble Imperial Consort."
Jiang Xinyue led the grand procession of Hexi Palace servants, quickly stepping out of Yanqing Palace. "You say Xi Que was injured?"
Jiang Chuan was clearly out of breath from running, but still tried his best to explain clearly: "Xi Que followed your instructions and went to the Lotus Garden. To see clearly what was in the water, she had several young maids lie on the edge of the pond. But for some reason, the yellow-lipped fish in the pond went berserk and bit onto a maid's arm, trying to drag her into the water. To save the young maid, Xi Que pried open the fish's mouth allowing the maid to escape, but she herself fell into the pond. A large chunk of flesh was bitten off her leg. Fortunately, this slave went to check on the situation and managed to rescue her from the fish's jaws."
Yellow-lipped fish eating people? This was unheard of!
"Has Yan the Imperial Physician been summoned?"
"This slave has already sent someone. By the time we return to the palace, Yan the Imperial Physician should have arrived."
Jiang Xinyue said no more and hurried back to Hexi Palace.
"Ugh... Ah..."
There were two wounds on Xi Que's left leg. One had a very large area of injury, deep enough to see bone. The other was smaller, leaving only sharp animal tooth marks.
It seemed the yellow-lipped fish had tried to bite off a chunk of Xi Que's flesh when Jiang Chuan rescued her just in time.
Jiang Xinyue didn't dare imagine what would have happened if Xi Que had fallen in completely. Would she have been eaten whole?
By the time Yan the Imperial Physician had finished bandaging Xi Que's wounds with herbal medicine, it was already past lunchtime. The people of Hexi Palace were in no mood to eat, all terribly frightened by Xi Que's miserable state.
Xi Que had a lively personality and was kind-hearted. Which young eunuch or maid in Hexi Palace hadn't received her care before?
Kindness begets kindness, and everyone was very worried about her.
"What happened here?"
The Xuanwu Emperor had finished his official duties and originally intended to have lunch with Jiang Xinyue. But when he arrived, he saw all the people in Hexi Palace looking gloomy and dejected.
After asking a palace maid, he learned that Xi Que had been seriously injured.
Knowing Jiang Xinyue was in Xi Que's room, he entered without announcement: "I heard that Xi Que was injured. What happened? Is it serious?"
As soon as he entered the room, he smelled a strong scent of blood.
On the table was a basin of bloody water, and beside it were carelessly piled white silk cloths soaked in bright red blood.
They could no longer be called white; they had all been dyed red by the blood.
"Your Majesty..." Jiang Xinyue's voice was choked with tears as she buried her head in the Xuanwu Emperor's chest. "It's all this concubine's fault..."
Xi Que, usually so lively and energetic, now lay pale and listless. Due to excessive blood loss, she was in a daze, her face contorted in pain.
Sweat had soaked her hair, which clung messily to her cheeks. Blood continued to seep through the white silk bandages.
Yan the Imperial Physician had no choice but to unwrap the bandages again: "Miss Xi Que, this old physician needs to apply a stronger hemostatic medicine. It will be very painful, but you must endure it."
Jiang Xinyue covered her mouth, silently shedding tears in the Xuanwu Emperor's arms.
"Hiss—"
When the herbal paste was scraped off, the Emperor also saw the wounds on Xi Que's leg clearly. He drew in a sharp breath: "This... Did Xi Que go to the beast fighting arena?"
The wounds looked like they had been inflicted by a fierce beast.
Yan the Imperial Physician shook his head: "Noble Imperial Consort, these wounds... were really caused by a fish?"
A fish? What kind of fish could be so vicious?
