Concubine Xue and Lady Lin were also stunned. They never expected that the fifth princess would be so unyielding.
The Empress Dowager stared at the glaring red in front of her, extremely shocked. Had she really wronged the girl?
Aunt Minfang, the steward of Yaoguang Pavilion, rushed over in a hurry. Seeing Wei Dongling pale - faced and weakly collapsing in Cheng Hao's arms, Minfang's tears streamed down. She quickly knelt in front of the Empress Dowager and sobbed, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager! Please believe this slave. The fifth princess is truly innocent! The fifth princess had suffered a hard life while living outside. So every night before going to sleep, she would always count the silver at her bedside carefully before falling asleep. Last night, this slave watched the fifth princess finish counting the silver before she went to bed. At that time, there was absolutely no such thing in the bedside drawer, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager!"
The Empress Dowager was greatly shocked. Minfang was a slave from her Cining Palace. She knew very well about Minfang's character and was sure that she would never lie. Had she really wronged that girl?
Concubine Xue winked at Lady Lin. Lady Lin immediately stepped forward and asked, "So, after the fifth princess fell asleep last night, someone sneaked into the bedroom and put this poison in the bedside drawer just to frame the fifth princess? Who did this? And why? The Emperor sent more guards here just a few days ago. Logically, the Yaoguang Pavilion should be the most strictly guarded."
Minfang knelt on the ground, not daring to say a word. There was another possibility. Among the eunuchs from the Inner Court Department who came to search, someone might have taken advantage of the chaos during the search to secretly put the poison into the bedside drawer. Most likely, the person who framed the fifth princess might still be on the scene.
Minfang knew it clearly but dared not say it. After staying in the palace for so many years, any little mistress could decide the life and death of their servants. Even though she thought the newly - arrived fifth princess was a nice person, she couldn't risk her life to offend other mistresses for her.
Concubine Xue said coolly, "Hey, it seems a bit like she's committing suicide out of guilt."
This seemingly casual remark made the Empress Dowager startled. What if the fifth princess was just feigning self - harm to gain people's sympathy and trust?
Cheng Hao looked at Wei Dongling in his arms, barely breathing, and said anxiously, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager! Please ask the imperial physicians to come and take a look first! If we delay any longer, the fifth princess may not survive!"
Only then did the Empress Dowager hurriedly order the servants beside her, "Hurry! Go and invite the imperial physicians!"
"Yes!" The little maid beside the Empress Dowager took the order and left.
Everyone was in a hurry to help Wei Dongling onto the bed. The Empress Dowager felt extremely uncomfortable looking at Wei Dongling's pale face.
What if she really had wronged the fifth princess? Given the Emperor's favor for her, when the Emperor saw her seriously injured, he would surely fly into a rage.
What if this damaged the mother - son relationship between her and the Emperor?
Just as the Empress Dowager was at a loss, she heard a little eunuch's shrill voice shouting outside, "His Majesty the Emperor is coming—"
The Empress Dowager felt a sudden panic. The Emperor, who usually had morning court at this time, had come early. Had someone gone to tip him off?
Not long after, the Emperor strode in. A large number of eunuchs and maids followed behind him, as well as Concubine Shu in a hurry.
Everyone quickly bowed to the Emperor.
The Emperor saluted the Empress Dowager, glanced at Wei Dongling lying dying on the bed, his eyes filled with shock and fear. He roared angrily, "Where are the imperial physicians?"
Everyone in the room knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.
The Empress Dowager said softly, "Your Majesty, please calm down. This old woman has already sent someone to invite the imperial physicians. I think they are on their way. Why did Your Majesty end the morning court so early today?" As she spoke, she looked at Concubine Shu behind the Emperor.
Concubine Shu just bowed and stood there, frowning and lost in thought.
The Emperor's face was ashen. He glanced at Concubine Xue and Lady Lin beside the Empress Dowager and said coldly, "If I had come a bit later, would my fifth princess be gone?"
The Empress Dowager was startled, and her face darkened. Concubine Xue and Lady Lin lowered their heads and kept silent.
The Emperor didn't care about the Empress Dowager's bad complexion. He glared at Cheng Hao, who was pressing a cloth on Wei Dongling's chest to stop the bleeding, and roared, "Get out of my way!"
Looking at the Emperor's murderous gaze, Cheng Hao wanted to cry but had no tears. He quickly asked the maid beside him to come and press on Wei Dongling, and then he crawled out in a hurry.
Concubine Shu was quick - witted. She stepped forward to stop the bleeding for Wei Dongling in a hurry.
The Empress Dowager calmed down and gently called out, "Your Majesty, this old woman knows you love your daughter deeply, but today's incident was purely an accident. The Inner Court Department found a large amount of arsenic in the drawer beside the fifth princess's bed. This old woman just asked her a few questions. Who would have thought that this girl was so unyielding? As soon as she got angry, she took a pair of scissors and harmed herself. It's also this old woman's fault that she didn't stop her in time."
The Emperor replied calmly, "Mother must have wronged her, so she did this. This girl is as stubborn as I was back then."
Seeing that the Emperor firmly believed that the fifth princess was wronged without saying a word, Concubine Xue was annoyed. But she could only calm down and persuade, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager meant well. She was worried that the fifth princess would use such a deadly poison to plot something and endanger Your Majesty's safety. That's why she said a few harsh words..."
The Emperor glared at Concubine Xue fiercely and roared, "Everyone in the world might plot something, but she definitely won't!"
Concubine Xue was left speechless. She looked at the Empress Dowager beside her nervously. Seeing the Empress Dowager's ashen face, she felt extremely unhappy.
The Emperor bowed to the Empress Dowager and said, "Leave this to me to handle. Mother, please go back to the Cining Palace first. All of you, step back."
The Empress Dowager was very unhappy to hear the Emperor's order to leave, but she had no choice but to get up and leave.
Concubine Xue cast a cold look at Wei Dongling on the bed and then had to lead Lady Lin to leave with a bow.
The Emperor looked at the haggard - looking Wei Dongling and felt extremely self - reproachful. His daughter had only been back in the palace for a few days, yet she had been constantly injured under his protection.
The chief eunuch of the Inner Court Department was holding the small packet of arsenic and kneeling on the ground, not daring to make a sound for a long time. It was not until the Emperor waved his hand for them to leave that they got up and went out.
The imperial physicians rushed in. After a long time of fussing, they stepped forward to report that there was no immediate danger to her life.
The Emperor finally breathed a sigh of relief. He told the imperial physicians to take good care of her and report immediately when she woke up, and then he got up to attend to his official duties.
Wei Dongling didn't wake up until late afternoon. She felt a sharp pain in her chest. Weakly opening her eyes, she saw a room full of imperial physicians and servants kneeling on the ground.
Seeing her wake up, Concubine Shu stroked her forehead and asked with concern, "Is the fifth princess awake?"
Wei Dongling gave her a weak smile. She wanted to say some words of thanks, but her tongue seemed to be out of control, and she couldn't say a single word.
Concubine Shu patted the back of her hand to comfort her, "It's okay. You just focus on recuperating." Then she got up and left.
Wei Dongling was dumbfounded. What was this woman up to? She left without saying a single word!