The maid looked at the gold in front of her but dared not accept it. Although the gold was tempting, just thinking of those who had accepted the silver and then lost their lives, a chill ran down her spine.
Concubine Chu naturally noticed her hesitation. She curled her lips and asked with a smile, "What, do you think it's too little?"
The maid immediately shook her head, took the gold in front of her, and quickly replied, "How dare this servant! This servant thanks Your Ladyship for your kindness!"
Seeing this, Concubine Chu smiled and returned to her sleeping quarters. The maid let out a relieved breath when she found that nothing terrible had happened to her. Then she rushed off in another direction.
But before she could step out of the inner courtyard gate, she suddenly let out a scream of pain. Then she fell forward onto the ground, with a sword sticking straight out of her back.
She still clutched the gold in her hand, her eyes full of disbelief. Blood was gurgling out of her mouth as she murmured, "How could this be..."
Then she lost her breath. Her body was soon carried away by others and put into the incinerator.
After hearing the woman's scream of pain, Concubine Chu finally relaxed. After all, there were fifteen people who had followed her, and no one could be spared, not even her personal maid.
The palace was cleaned up neatly in just one afternoon, looking exactly the same as before. The smell of blood in the air had also dissipated completely, as if the slaughter here had just been an illusion. But only Concubine Chu knew that she would do anything to achieve her goal.
The last step of her plan was to find a perfect scapegoat to take all the blame for her. Now she already had the best candidate in mind. Thinking of this, she curled her lips, a treacherous smile appearing on her face.
On the other side, in Concubine Shu's palace.
After hearing what had happened in the harem today, Concubine Shu couldn't sit still. She wanted to go and take a look.
When Dongfang Yi was sent to the cold palace, she had gone to visit her many times but never got the chance to go in. Now that she heard that the emperor had woken up, it meant that Dongfang Yi had the most powerful backer, and she wouldn't have to suffer anymore.
So she decided to go and try her luck again. Maybe this time she could go in and visit.
Thinking of this, she packed up her things. Just as she was about to go out, Cuiping stopped her and advised, "Your Ladyship, this servant advises you not to go and see that Concubine Yi. She is no longer the queen, and she has offended the Empress Dowager. You won't get any benefit from going there!"
She said every word sincerely, just wanting to persuade the woman in front of her.
But after Concubine Shu heard her words, her face froze for a moment. Then she frowned, subconsciously reached out and pushed the maid in front of her. Then she said fiercely, "Who allowed you to talk about her like that?! Even if she is no longer the queen, she is still this palace's best sister in the harem! I still want to take care of her. After all, she has helped me so much!"
"Your Ladyship, please wake up. She was just being charitable to you. Why do you..." Cuiping had fallen to the ground but still didn't forget to persuade the woman in front of her earnestly. Even her eyes were red.
But Concubine Shu didn't allow her to continue. She raised her hand and slapped her without hesitation.
The sound of "slap" echoed in the sleeping quarters. Cuiping stood there stunned. She had never been beaten by the woman in front of her. Even when she had made mistakes before, she had only been scolded a few times. She used to think that only the two of them, mistress and servant, were the closest, but now...
Concubine Shu couldn't bear to look at the maid in front of her anymore. She felt a sharp pain in her heart, as if she had been betrayed by someone close to her. Then she shouted, "Don't you dare say any more bad things about her, or you'll never appear in front of me again!"
After saying that, she fluttered her sleeves and left the sleeping quarters.
Cuiping, who was still standing there, covered the side of her face that had just been slapped with one hand. Her heart was filled with sadness. Then she let out a cold laugh in a fit of loss of control and murmured, "I've always had your best interests at heart, but you're so eager to be someone else's dog. It's really ridiculous, so ridiculous!"
On the other side, Concubine Shu had already arrived at the Queen's Palace. Before she could go in, Ru Yi, who was guarding outside the palace, stopped her.
"I'm really worried about the queen sister. Please let me in," she pleaded with a frown.
But Ru Yi didn't let her in. Instead, he replied, "I'm sorry, Concubine Shu. The Empress Dowager has given an order that no one is allowed to enter. So Your Ladyship, please wait a while. Moreover, Concubine Yi is no longer the queen. I hope you can watch your words."
It wasn't that Ru Yi was deliberately making things difficult for her. It was just that in the current situation, everything needed to be handled carefully. Although the two people in the palace were out of danger, they were still worried that someone might take advantage of their coma to do something harmful.
So even though he knew that the woman in front of him was very kind to Dongfang Yi and would never harm the emperor, he still couldn't let her in.
When Concubine Shu heard this, she lowered her eyes. Looking very disappointed, she murmured with her head down, "I'm really worried about Sister Yi..."
Ru Yi naturally noticed her sad look and couldn't help but comfort her, "Concubine Shu, please rest assured. As soon as Concubine Yi wakes up, I'll send someone to inform you. Then you can come and visit!"
"Really?!" Concubine Shu asked excitedly, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Seeing this, Ru Yi nodded heavily with a smile. Only after getting his confirmation did Concubine Shu leave the place at ease.
At least now she knew that Dongfang Yi was out of danger, and so was the emperor. So it didn't matter if she waited a little longer.
On the other side, outside the palace, in the Prime Minister Nangong's mansion.
Nangong Liuyun entertained many court officials in the reception hall, discussing countermeasures regarding the fact that the emperor was now out of danger and had woken up.
Early this morning, he had received a letter from Concubine Chu in the palace, saying that Helian Qi had woken up and it seemed that the poison in his body had been cured.
At that time, he could hardly believe it because everyone had told him that the poison the emperor had been poisoned with was incurable. But now, how could he wake up safe and sound?
But then he thought that fortunately he hadn't done anything too outrageous recently, or it would have been too suspicious. So he had summoned all the officials to discuss how to act.