"Honestly, the Empress is too indulgent. That little slut Jiang Xinyue has been exiled to the Palace of Exile, yet she still has a chance to rise again? The Empress has even instructed the Internal Affairs Department to treat her so well."
In Consort Jiang's view, the preferential treatment Jiang Xinyue received in the Palace of Exile was due to the Empress Zhu's special intervention with the Internal Affairs Department.
Otherwise, where did those extravagances in the Palace of Exile come from?
She had originally intended to mock and humiliate Jiang Xinyue after entering the palace, reducing her to a state of utter shame and despair.
But all her plans were ruined.
At least, she had fed Jiang Xinyue some horse hoof cakes laced with laxatives.
"Poisoned?"
The Empress Zhu and the Xuanwu Emperor were dining in the Yikun Palace when they received the frantic report. The Empress turned to the Emperor, whose expression was inscrutable, and said, "Your Majesty...this servant..."
"Go ahead!"
The Emperor leisurely blew on his hot soup to cool it before taking a sip, then said without rising, "Consort Zhen may be lowly, but she is still one of my consorts. If someone dares to poison one of my consorts within the palace, the Empress must investigate this thoroughly."
The Empress nodded. "Then this servant shall take her leave."
She bowed and beckoned for a few palace maids to accompany her to the Palace of Exile.
Seeing that the Emperor did not even look at her, Xi Que felt disappointed and hung her head low as she followed the Empress out of the Yikun Palace.
The Xuanwu Emperor stared at Xi Que's retreating figure, his brow deeply furrowed. "Wang Dequan, go to Concubine Li's Changxin Palace and tell her that I have a headache and am feeling unwell. Summon Yan the Imperial Physician to the Yikun Palace."
Indeed!
All the imperial physicians were currently at Concubine Li's Changxin Palace. Without the Emperor's command or the Empress's personal visit, if Concubine Li refused, the physicians would not dare leave the Changxin Palace.
Yan the Imperial Physician was the most skilled in treating poisoning at the Imperial Hospital.
The Emperor did not actually have a headache; he was heartbroken that Consort Zhen had been poisoned and innocently harmed.
Xuan Eunuch closed the dilapidated gates of the Palace of Exile and paced back and forth outside, occasionally gazing into the distance.
After a few strides, he noticed a young palace maid lurking by the gate and ran over to grab her as she tried to flee. "Which palace are you from? Why are you sneaking around the Palace of Exile? What are you trying to see?"
The young maid, no more than nine or ten years old, was so frightened by Xiao Xuanzi that she burst into tears.
This tactic did not work on Xiao Xuanzi. He seized her collar and dragged her into the Palace of Exile.
Regardless of whether she was guilty or innocent, he would hand her over to his masters when they arrived, and let them interrogate her.
Jiang Xinyue found herself engulfed in darkness, but at the end of that darkness appeared a path filled with light.
In her bewilderment, she unhesitatingly walked towards that light.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness, where are you? Hurry back to the Cining Palace, or the Empress Dowager will worry."
Amidst the dense canopy of a camphor tree in the imperial gardens, a young boy clad in a purple dragon robe, with delicate features like carved jade, was hiding.
It was the young Xuanwu Emperor!
He had a cold, detached expression as he wiped away the tears streaming from his eyes. "The Empress Dowager will not worry about me. She only favors the Wu Family and even sent my pet snake, Little Flower, to Wu Chengyi."
Little Flower? Wu Chengyi?
The scene shifted to a young boy around the same age as the young Crown Prince, dressed in a blue brocade robe. He sat in the main hall of the Kunning Palace, a colorful little snake coiled around his arm. He stroked the snake's head from time to time, glaring provocatively at the young Crown Prince.
Behind the pearl curtain sat an elegant figure. "Ah'er, be a good boy. You're three months older than Little Yi, so you're the older brother. As the elder, you should make concessions to your younger brother. It's just a snake. Tomorrow, I'll have the Internal Affairs Department send you another one."
"But it won't be Little Flower," the young Crown Prince replied, tears welling up in his eyes. "If it's just a snake, why doesn't the Empress Dowager let him choose a new one instead of helping him take my Little Flower?"
"Slap!"
"Insolent!"
The Empress slapped the wooden table in front of her. "I am your mother, the Empress Dowager, and Little Yi is your uncle's son. You can sit on this throne as the Crown Prince only because of me and your uncle. Not only a snake, but if Little Yi wants anything under your royal behind, you should satisfy all his needs."
But Wu Chengyi always enjoyed taking things that belonged to him.
Whenever he liked something, as soon as Wu Chengyi entered the palace, it would become Wu Chengyi's.
Even the maternal love he had always longed for was the same. Wu Chengyi would run over, nestle in the Empress Dowager's embrace, and whine, "Auntie, you're still the best to Little Yi. Can Little Yi stay in the palace a little longer?"
"Little Yi can stay as long as he wants. Just make yourself at home in the palace."
"The Empress Dowager is biased," the stubborn young Crown Prince muttered, his unshed tears reddening his eyes as he glared at his aunt and cousin embracing behind the pearl curtain.
The Empress Dowager had never hugged him.
"You're becoming more and more unruly."
The Empress snorted coldly. "Guards, lock the Crown Prince in the punishment chamber for reflection. Don't give him any food. He can come out whenever he realizes his mistakes."
The scene changed again, and the young Crown Prince was locked in a pitch-black punishment chamber with no light at all, so Jiang Xinyue could not see where he was.
She could only hear muffled sobs coming from a corner.
Then, the iron door of the punishment chamber was pushed open, and the light from outside was so blinding that the young Crown Prince could not open his eyes. He shielded them with his hand as a dead snake's body was tossed in.
A malicious laughter rang out. "Hey! Don't say I'm not good to you. I saw how lonely you were, so I specially sent your Little Flower to keep you company. Take your time and bond with it! Hahaha..."
It was intentional!
He had intentionally killed Little Flower and thrown its corpse at the young Crown Prince!
The young Prince cradled the snake's body in his hands, unmoving for a long time. After a while, he finally stood up and walked out of the punishment chamber, letting the snake's body fall to the ground without a glance.
But from that day on, the young Crown Prince learned to hide his feelings. The more he liked something, the more indifferent he pretended to be. The more he disliked something, the more he feigned fondness for it.
Wu Chengyi could no longer take the things he truly cherished.
"Huff!"
Another blackout, and Jiang Xinyue's body sank rapidly as she convulsed sharply before snapping her eyes open.
"Mistress! Mistress, you're awake!"
There was a commotion by the bedside, but Jiang Xinyue felt dazed, the noises around her seeming unreal. Her mind was filled with the young Emperor's cold, indifferent gaze.
Was that... the Xuanwu Emperor's past?
"Consort Zhen, how do you feel? Is your stomach still hurting?" She simply shook her head, speechless, staring blankly like a dazed fool.
Wang Dequan's heart raced: "Yan the Imperial Physician, this..."
Yan the Imperial Physician continued to take Jiang Xinyue's pulse: "This shouldn't be! I've never seen anyone take a small amount of arsenic and have it affect their mental state!"
"My lady, please don't frighten your servant, wuwuwu..."
Empress Zhu also frowned tightly, seemingly deep in thought.
Jiang Xinyue suddenly woke up and said to Empress Zhu: "Your humble servant thanks Your Imperial Majesty, the Empress Dowager. Your servant was merely feeling unwell, but is now without any major issues."
Indeed, there was no discomfort anymore, only a lack of energy.
