Upon hearing this, Concubine Shun trembled as she struggled to her feet. With red - rimmed eyes and an expression devoid of emotion, she said to the woman in front of her, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
However, her heart was filled with desolation. She was not completely unaware of what had happened on the city tower this time.
When Nanny Dong first proposed it to her, she had refused. She did indeed hate Dongfang Yi, but she didn't want to resort to such a despicable act.
Unexpectedly, Nanny Dong had carried out the plan on her own, and in the end, things had ended up like this.
Dongfang Yi watched Concubine Shun's dazed expression and felt that she didn't seem to be faking it. A sense of doubt welled up in her heart. Could it be that Concubine Shun really had nothing to do with this? But Concubine Chu had said that she had heard the plan with her own ears. What on earth was going on...
Thinking of these things gave her a headache. She then realized how insidious the harem was. Everyone had their own motives and was constantly scheming against others.
After thinking for a while, she patted Concubine Shun on the shoulder and said, "Go back and rest then. I heard you're still ill."
Concubine Shun seemed not to have recovered from what had just happened. She just nodded blankly and stiffly turned around to leave the Queen's palace.
Dongfang Yi watched her gradually receding figure, which seemed a bit unsteady. Her eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.
If she wasn't mistaken, the root cause of this incident should be more complicated than it seemed on the surface.
On the other hand, Concubine Shun, who had left the Queen's palace, walked alone on the palace avenue. Her heart was filled with desolation. Thinking of all the kindness Nanny Dong had shown her, she felt a pang of grief. Since childhood, when her parents were not around, it was Nanny Dong who had taken care of her. And after she entered the palace, Nanny Dong had still taken meticulous care of her. But in the end, she had ended up like this.
Thinking of this, tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. She had a sense of hatred that she didn't know how to vent, and in the end, she placed all that hatred on Dongfang Yi.
If it weren't for Dongfang Yi, Nanny Dong wouldn't have made a mistake and wouldn't have died... Thinking of this, her eyes were filled with killing intent.
In Concubine Chu's palace on the other side.
Concubine Chu was writing a calligraphy piece in the study in her palace, trying to calm the anger in her heart.
Normally, when she was in a bad mood in private, she would always write to soothe her nerves. As she wrote, she would calm down a lot.
But today, after returning from the Queen's palace, she had been extremely irritable and couldn't suppress it. And then there was the incident of her beating the maid, which had been discovered by Helian Qi. This made her even more uneasy.
Because her primary task in the harem was to win the Emperor's favor, but Helian Qi clearly seemed to be disgusted with her.
Before she could finish thinking, a young eunuch rushed in from outside the palace.
After entering the palace, he knelt in front of her and said, "Your Majesty, Nanny Dong is dead."
Upon hearing this, the pen in Concubine Chu's hand made a heavy mark on the rice paper, and the corner of her mouth curled up in a triumphant smile.
"Leave," she said.
The young eunuch bowed and slowly backed out of the palace after receiving the order.
Concubine Chu also left the desk and walked over to a chair to sit down. Her expression softened a lot, and her eyes squinted slightly with pleasure.
Indeed, all of this had been planned by Concubine Chu. After Nangong Liuyun left the harem, she had taken over all the informants around Concubine Shun, and Nanny Dong was one of them.
Although Nanny Dong had been with Concubine Shun since childhood, in essence, she still belonged to the Nangong family and was supposed to take orders from Nangong Liuyun.
So this incident happened today. Nanny Dong had taken orders from Concubine Chu. Concubine Chu's plan was for Nanny Dong to tell Concubine Shun about the plan to harm Dongfang Yi. Given Concubine Shun's kind - hearted nature, she would surely not agree.
Then Nanny Dong would carry out the plan on her own. After everything was exposed, Nanny Dong would be executed. And because Concubine Shun was attached to Nanny Dong, she would surely hate Dongfang Yi because of this.
As for Nanny Dong, Concubine Chu had promised to protect her family from being implicated.
Thinking of this, Concubine Chu couldn't help but sneer a few times. It was really pleasing that the plan had been carried out so perfectly. She finally had a chance to smear Dongfang Yi in this matter.
"Hahaha - Dongfang Yi, I'm just waiting to see you and Concubine Shun kill each other!" she laughed maniacally.
On the other side, Dongfang Yi thought more and more and felt that something was wrong. She just couldn't figure out that if Concubine Shun had instigated Nanny Dong to harm her, why would she be so heart - broken after the incident was exposed?
But if it wasn't Concubine Shun who had instigated it, Nanny Dong had kept saying before she died that she had done everything for Concubine Shun. This clearly indicated that Concubine Shun was the mastermind behind it all.
If someone was instructing Nanny Dong to make her think that Concubine Shun had harmed her, after she killed Nanny Dong, Concubine Shun would probably hold a grudge against her.
So who could be the mastermind behind all this? Could it be Concubine Chu? But Nanny Dong was from the Nangong Mansion. Now Concubine Shun was in favor, and the Nangong family was strongly supporting her. Why would they allow Concubine Chu to do something to harm Concubine Shun?
These things were so complicated and involved so many aspects. As she thought about them, Dongfang Yi felt a headache coming on, and her stomach even began to growl. Just as she was about to call Donghua to prepare the meal, she heard an eunuch outside the palace announce,
"Concubine Dong, Noble Lady Shu, and Noble Lady Jia are seeking an audience!"
As soon as the voice fell, there was a sound of running. Then Noble Lady Shu appeared.
She was still as bold and carefree as ever. Wearing a bright pink long dress, she rushed up to Dongfang Yi. Looking at Dongfang Yi, who seemed to be in good health, she asked curiously, "Your Majesty, I heard that you were injured, but why do you look so healthy?"
Dongfang Yi was about to say that she was fine when she heard a female voice from the bedroom door, "Sister Shu is being presumptuous! How can you talk to the Queen like that? Shouldn't we be happy that Her Majesty is safe?"
The speaker was Concubine Dong, who had just walked in. Behind her was Noble Lady Jia, looking gentle and graceful.
Receiving the criticism, Noble Lady Shu lowered her head and scratched her head awkwardly. Realizing that her words had been inappropriate, she bowed slightly and said, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Dongfang Yi just smiled after hearing this. She thought these three were really interesting people. Then she said to them, "You three came at just the right time. I was about to have a meal. Since you're here, join me."
After saying that, she patted Noble Lady Shu on the shoulder with a smile, as if to comfort her guilty heart.
All three of them exclaimed in unison, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"