The strange thing that happened today, Song Zhao had actually noticed something wrong early on:
Zhao had gone mad, but was somehow able to get past so many guards along the long avenue, dagger in hand, lying in ambush for her on the road that must be taken to get to Chaoyang Palace from Xian Shou Palace?
If no one had instructed her, helped and abetted her, there was no way she could have accomplished this alone given her state.
Moreover, today, as soon as Zhao saw her, she kept repeating the same crazed words over and over,
"Your evil spawn is dead, and my child will be able to live again."
Clearly someone had said something upsetting to the already mad Zhao, making her feel that by killing Song Zhao and the imperial heir in her belly, her own child would come back to life.
In addition, there were far too many coincidences in this matter.
The spirit tablet of the previous emperor in Fengxian Hall randomly toppled over, Consort Chen inexplicably went to provoke Zhao and mistakenly let her out, Song Zhao's palanquin broke down early or late, but it had to happen right at this moment...
When there are too many coincidences, it necessarily means there are human factors involved.
Later, when Song Zhao heard why Consort Chen had gone to provoke Zhao,
Song Zhao guessed that the maid named Qiu Lan must be the Empress' spy planted by Consort Chen's side,
Otherwise, what loyal servant would stir up trouble like this?
Therefore, Song Zhao had to remind Consort Chen earlier to clean out the spies by her side as soon as possible.
After all, if this spy remained in Consort Chen's palace, and she happened to discover the confession letter Song Zhao had written to her one day, that would be a huge headache.
Of course, Song Zhao was able to analyze this much based on the limited clues, which also meant Xiao Jingheng certainly would not be kept in the dark.
But Zhao was a madwoman, a madwoman's words could not be believed, so pursuing this matter further would be fruitless.
The Empress had always acted in this way,
thinking three steps ahead, ensuring she had a fallback plan so she could get away scot-free before making her move.
Although they could not pin anything on the Empress for this matter,
with Xiao Jingheng's suspicious nature, what good would come to the Empress?
She may have won this round, but there would surely be endless troubles waiting for her afterwards.
Returning to the palace, the first thing Song Zhao did was go see how Yun Shan was doing.
Xiao Fuzi had been keeping watch at Yun Shan's side, eyes unblinking as he looked at her.
The imperial doctor had cleaned Yun Shan's wounds and stitched up the gashes.
The bleeding had stopped and her life was temporarily preserved,
but due to major blood loss, she still remained unconscious and had not emerged from danger.
Looking at Yun Shan lying silently on the sickbed,
her face was as pale as snow, her lips chapped and peeling, completely devoid of vitality.
Song Zhao felt a sharp wrench in her heart.
She gently stroked Yun Shan's forehead, tidying her disheveled hair. Fighting back the sorrow in her heart, she said to Xiao Fuzi:
"You go rest, I will keep watch over her tonight."
But Xiao Fuzi said, "Please let this slave stay by Yun Shan's side..."
She knew of his feelings for Yun Shan,
so she did not stop him.
That night, Song Zhao tossed and turned, barely sleeping a wink.
At first light just before dawn the next day, she got up to wash and went to check on Yun Shan.
Arriving there, she saw Xiao Fuzi still sitting on the stool by the bed, maintaining the exact same posture as yesterday. His eyes were bloodshot, and dark circles had formed under his eyes.
"You didn't sleep all night?"
Xiao Fuzi was very proper, men and women should not be intimate. He did not dare sully Yun Shan's purity,
so he had spent the entire night just staring fixedly at her without even touching her hand once.
"With Yun Shan like this, I can do nothing for her, I can only keep watching over her and hope she wakes up sooner."
Song Zhao was worried that if this continued, Yun Shan would not wake up but Xiao Fuzi would collapse first. So she said,
"Go rest for a bit, I will keep watch here."
Xiao Fuzi remained rooted to the spot, refusing to budge.
Song Zhao reached out to pull him.
But as soon as she grabbed his forearm, he let out a hiss, and his expression twisted in pain.
Song Zhao's eyebrows knitted slightly. Seeing the bloodstains seeping through Xiao Fuzi's brown palace uniform,
he tried to hide it, but Song Zhao had already grasped his wrist and rolled up his sleeve.
Revealed before her eyes was Xiao Fuzi's forearm wrapped in coarse cloth.
The not-so-white material was almost soaked through with blood already.
Song Zhao immediately understood, "You offered your flesh and blood as medicine?"
Xiao Fuzi quickly pulled his arm back and sheepishly rolled down his sleeve. "This slave only wanted Yun Shan to wake up sooner, and tried to do something for her..."
"Are you crazy?" Song Zhao was somewhat angry. "You study medicine yourself, don't you know how absurd this method is? Yun Shan has been with me since childhood, I see her as a sister. She was injured protecting me, my heart aches more than anyone's. But what can be done? Does it mean we stop living? Raise your head and look at me."
Xiao Fuzi sobbed and lifted his eyes to meet Song Zhao's resolute gaze.
Hearing Song Zhao continue, "Feel sad in your heart, no need to show it. You don't have to keep vigil at her bedside day and night, offer your flesh and blood as medicine, just to show your concern for her.
Do you think that by doing this, other than gaining some worthless self-satisfaction, what else can you achieve? Can Yun Shan wake up because of it? If she wakes up and knows you harmed yourself like this, will it make her feel better?"
The harsh words served to scold Xiao Fuzi awake.
He wiped his tears and softly said, "What Lady teaches is right, it's this slave's mistake."
Song Zhao knew his actions came from deep care for Yun Shan, so she did not continue blaming him.
"Lady." Zhihua's voice sounded from outside the sickroom. "The Empress' aunt Shuang Ruo is here. She said she's following the Empress' decree to bring medicine for Yun Shan."
Song Zhao's expression clearly turned ugly.
She suppressed the disgust in her heart and spoke coldly, "Let her in."
Xiao Fuzi moved the stool aside and stood formally behind Song Zhao.
Soon after, Shuang Ruo entered bearing a medicine box. She bowed fully to Song Zhao and greeted her,
"This lowly servant pays respects to Noble Lady Yi, may Lady be safe and well."
"Lady, please rise." Song Zhao smiled amiably at her and said,
"This is excellent Nine Heavens Golden Sore medicine, best for healing wounds. The Empress specially granted it as reward since Yun Shan is a loyal servant who protected her master."
Song Zhao smiled shallowly and said, "The Empress is benevolent, even caring for the maids by my side, I am truly touched. Xiao Fuzi, quickly take the medicine."
Afterwards, Shuang Ruo went through the motions of checking on Yun Shan, saying a couple perfunctory words of concern before taking her leave.
As soon as she left the palace, Xiao Fuzi could not help but spit and say angrily,
"She didn't come to care about Yun Shan at all! She clearly came to mock us on the Empress' behalf!"
Song Zhao's expression was extremely gloomy, her eyes brimming with piercing murderous intent.
She abruptly raised her hand and flipped over the medicine box on the floor,
before tightly clenching her fists until her slender fingertips seemed to dig into her flesh, snarling,
"If Yun Shan comes to any harm, I will make the Empress unable to live or die in peace!"
