vrcanaries Chapter 1206 The Queen Mother Passed Away (185 million votes plus additional content)
Chapter 1206 The Queen Mother Passed Away (185 million votes plus additional content)
A gentle and light smile spread across the corners of Shen Zhinian's lips, and her voice was as clear as a spring hitting a stone: "Sister Xue Fei is considerate and thoughtful."
"Sister Zhuang Fei has always been sincere, so chanting sutras and praying for blessings is most appropriate."
"Although Sister Kangpin is a little weak, she has done her best."
"The Empress Dowager is seriously ill. I believe it will be of some comfort to have the sisters take turns serving her medicine."
Nangong Xuanyu's deep gaze lingered on Shen Zhinian's calm face for a moment: "Comfort?"
"I'm afraid someone might have other intentions..."
The emperor changed the subject, his tone carrying a barely perceptible chill: "The Cining Palace is heavily medicated, and you are weak, so there's no need to rush over."
Shen Zhinian raised her eyes, meeting the emperor's protective gaze. Her charming fox eyes were clear, filled with complete trust and obedience: "I will obey your majesty."
"only……"
She lowered her eyelashes slightly, revealing a hint of worry just right: "The Empress Dowager has ordered all the concubines in the palace to attend to the sick. If I stay away for a long time, I am afraid it will cause criticism and damage Your Majesty's reputation for benevolence and filial piety."
Nangong Xuanyu's lips curled up in a cold arc, with a look of control over everything: "I know my limits."
"As for those criticisms...anyone who dares to even utter a single word will be causing trouble for me!"
"I will take care of all these things, just rest assured."
Shen Zhinian bowed gracefully, her eyes filled with tenderness and gratitude. "Yes, I thank Your Majesty for your consideration."
But she was very clear in her mind.
This man was using his own way to keep her firmly under his wings and away from the rotting quagmire of the Cining Palace.
But... this method is only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution.
There are only a few main ladies in the palace, and it will always be her turn.
I wonder what other tricks Nangong Xuanyu has up his sleeve?
……
The Yiku Palace was filled with a suffocating smell of illness and a strong smell of medicine.
Concubine Wang was wrapped in a thick brocade quilt, leaning against the bed. Her face was pale and gray, and sweat kept oozing from her forehead.
The heart-wrenching coughs nearly shattered her lungs. The dark red blood stains on her handkerchief grew larger and larger...
Xiao Tianzi held the freshly boiled medicine in his hands, his voice tearful and full of worry: "Your Majesty...you...how can you go to the Cining Palace to attend to the patient in this state?"
Concubine Wang opened her eyes with great effort. Her once bright and beautiful eyes were now bloodshot, burning with an intense and unquenchable hatred.
She clenched the corner of the quilt tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, her voice hoarse and broken: "Go... I must go!"
"Ahem... If I don't go... I'll be labeled as an unfilial person... Ahem... Ahem..."
Concubine Wang was breathing heavily, her vision was blacking out, and hatred was churning in her chest!
Why? !
Why on earth could that bitch, Concubine Chen, stay in the Imperial Study safe and sound, protected like a jewel by His Majesty?!
Why did she have to drag this broken body to the lifeless Cining Palace and face that dying old woman?!
"Noble Concubine Chen... good tactics... cough cough... such a deep favor from the Emperor..."
Wang Pin squeezed out a few words from between her teeth, her sallow face twisted with jealousy and unwillingness.
She was once a carefully selected spy for the Duke Dingguo's Mansion, and she understood Empress Dowager Liu far better than anyone else.
This sudden imperial decree ordering all concubines to attend to the sick...
His Majesty's action of detaining Concubine Chen in the Imperial Study...
There must be something fishy going on!
What exactly does the Empress Dowager want to do?
Your Majesty...what are you guarding against?
Wangpin's thoughts were as confused as a tangled mess, but one thought was exceptionally clear:
This fire will never burn her head.
The Empress Dowager hates Concubine Chen and Your Majesty.
And she was still, on the surface, the Empress Dowager's person, and the Third Prince was still being raised under her name.
In the Empress Dowager's mind, as long as she and the Third Prince are still around, those remnants of the Liu family who managed to escape may have a chance to make a comeback and seek refuge in the future.
She is the Empress Dowager's last chess piece, and the Empress Dowager will not touch her.
At least... not before squeezing every last bit of value out of her.
"Change clothes... prepare the sedan chair..."
Wangpin tried her best to hold on, her voice weak but full of unquestionable command: "This palace...cannot...let anyone catch us."
Xiao Tianzi said respectfully: "Yes..."
The medicinal smell in the Cining Palace was mixed with a stale, coffin-like odor.
The inner room was dimly lit, with only a few candles casting flickering shadows in the huge space.
Concubine Wang was almost half-supported and half-carried in by someone.
She was wrapped in a heavy cloak, but she was still shivering from the cold. Every step she took was weak and powerless, and cold sweat covered her sallow face.
Concubine Wang was placed on a chair a little away from the bed, gasping for breath, as if she would faint at any time.
Nanny Yuan quietly emerged from the inner chamber, carrying a bowl of pitch-black medicine. She nodded slightly to Concubine Wang and said in a calm voice, "May your Majesty, Concubine Wang, be blessed with good health."
"The Empress Dowager has just taken medicine and gone back to sleep. Please wait here."
Her eyes swept across Wang Pin's pale face, without a trace of warmth.
Concubine Wang nodded weakly, not even having the strength to speak.
She huddled in the chair, trying to absorb the meager warmth from the cloak, but her eyes were fixed on the heavily lowered brocade curtain that blocked out all sight.
The tent was dead silent, with only the intermittent breathing of Empress Dowager Liu as the sound.
Time flows slowly in the suffocating silence.
Wang Bin felt her head getting heavier and heavier, her vision went black, and her chest felt so stuffy that it almost exploded...
She held on, digging her nails deep into her palms, using the pain to keep herself a little conscious.
can not sleep!
Can't fall!
Get through it...at least get through today!
I don’t know how long it took.
Maybe an hour, maybe longer.
Wangpin felt that the already faint breathing sounds in the brocade tent seemed to have completely disappeared...
The inner room was dead silent.
Concubine Wang felt horrified, and her drowsy nerves suddenly tightened!
An ominous premonition made her struggle to stand up: "Yuan...Yuan Ma! The Empress Dowager...The Empress Dowager..."
Nanny Yuan was waiting beside the brocade tent, listening very carefully for a moment.
Then, she slowly reached out her hand and lifted a corner of the brocade curtain.
Inside the tent, Empress Dowager Liu's withered body lay lifeless. Her sunken eye sockets stared blankly, her cloudy pupils having long since lost the last shimmer of light.
There seemed to be a strange curve at the corner of her mouth.
Nanny Yuan reached out her hand and checked Empress Dowager Liu's breath.
Then, her body shook violently, and her eyes were full of disbelief!
A moment later, Nanny Yuan knelt beside the bed and wailed, a shrill cry that sounded like a death knell, "Empress Dowager..."
"The Empress Dowager... has passed away!!!"