「Lijing Pavilion」
Lady Xi slapped Lianlian to the ground, her anger uncontainable.
"I told you to lure Xia Jieyu over, yet you brought the Imperial Physician! Quite the talent, aren’t you!"
Lianlian’s face throbbed with pain. She covered it as she lay on the ground.
"Mistress, that Xia Jieyu is just too cunning!"
"This slave saw Honored Lady Lan pass out a handkerchief, but unexpectedly, Xia Jieyu actually sent someone to summon the Imperial Physician!"
Lady Xi’s anger suddenly erupted.
She stepped forward and kicked Lianlian several more times.
"You still dared to let her pass things out!"
"If you don’t want to live, then get out of my sight!"
What Lady Xi had wanted Xia Jieyu to know was that Honored Lady Lan was seriously ill. Not that Honored Lady Lan had been harmed by someone!
Now, this was just perfect. Xia Jieyu was cunning by nature.
Having seen the handkerchief, what wouldn’t she understand?
She must have known Honored Lady Lan was harmed, which is why she summoned the Imperial Physician.
One misstep, and every subsequent move would be wrong. Was all this planning going to be for naught?!
This idiot!
Lady Xi looked at Lianlian with utter disdain and contempt.
"Someone! Xiao Xuzi, give her a beating! Let’s see if she dares to ruin my plans next time!"
She had planned for so long and was just a hair’s breadth away!
To fail because of Lianlian—the rage in her chest felt like it would erupt through the top of her head.
Xiao Xuzi entered with a sinister smile.
"As you command!"
"Mistress, just you watch. I guarantee I’ll vent your anger!"
Saying this, he grabbed Lianlian by the hair and yanked her up.
Lady Xi was impatient.
"Be gentle! Don’t leave any marks!"
"She’s still useful!"
Only then did Xiao Xuzi release her hair.
He then switched to grabbing her clothes.
In the palace, there were far too many punishments that could make one wish for death yet leave no visible trace. The most common method involved using fine needles, like cow hair.
Lianlian cried and wailed.
"Mistress, spare me! Mistress, spare me!"
Impatient, Lady Xi simply ignored her.
Xiao Xuzi smirked coldly.
"Spare you? Our Mistress is merciful; she isn’t trying to take your life!"
"But you bungled Our Mistress’s affairs, so you must be punished!"
"Off you go!"
With that, he dragged her to the rear courtyard.
Two Shi Chen later, Lianlian staggered out of Lijing Pavilion, her face pale, and returned to Zhaohua Pavilion.
The moment she unlocked the door and entered, she fainted.
Molli heard the noise and hurried out to see. When Molli saw it was her, a flash of anger crossed her eyes, and then she walked away.
Lianlian had brought their mistress to such a state and had even bound her! Molli wanted nothing to do with her!
Lianlian remained unconscious on the ground like that. It wasn’t until nightfall that she finally awoke on her own and managed to get into her room.
「...」
「Qingya Residence」
Upon returning, Xiao Xizi and Zi Su didn’t immediately go to see their mistress. Instead, they first bathed and changed into fresh clothes, ensuring no scent lingered on them. They dared not bring anything with them and only then presumed to enter.
In the inner chamber, Xia Ruqing was playing with a cat. As spring turned to summer, the twilight hours were neither cold nor hot, making them the most pleasant.
At less than three months pregnant, her figure wasn’t yet showing, so she still wore her old clothes. Xia Ruqing found the style of this year’s new spring clothes unappealing, so she hadn’t worn them. Her old clothes were familiar, and the fabric was comfortable.
Xiao Xizi and Zi Su came in and reported Honored Lady Lan’s situation.
Xia Ruqing tossed aside the ball of yarn and rose to her feet.
"Lady Xi is not simple. I’ve said so from the beginning!"
It was just as she had anticipated.
Alas, Honored Lady Lan!
Ultimately, she had nurtured a venomous snake, only for it to bite her.
Xiao Xizi looked somewhat worried.
"Mistress, what should we do then?"
Xia Ruqing gave a light smile.
"What should I do? Now that things have come to this, what can I do?"
"Didn’t the Imperial Physician say she was poisoned with opium? She can only rely on herself now!"
Xiao Xizi felt a pang of sympathy.
Was their mistress... going to watch her die without lifting a finger?
However, that wasn’t wrong either. Their mistress was pregnant; why should she get involved in these troubled waters?
Xia Ruqing glanced at him, teasing.
"Are you... feeling sorry for her?"
Xiao Xizi quickly denied it.
Xia Ruqing just smiled.
"It’s not that I’d watch her die without lifting a finger. After all, Honored Lady Lan’s current predicament might be because of me!"
"The person Lady Xi most wants to eliminate is me, after all!"
Xia Ruqing had thought it through very clearly.
Though it was true that by associating with Lady Xi, Honored Lady Lan was bound to meet misfortune sooner or later, her current predicament was, in all likelihood, because of me.
Therefore, to watch her die without helping seemed truly inappropriate.
Before she could say anything, Zi Yue’s expression changed drastically.
"Mistress, you don’t mean to..."
Lady Xi claimed she could make incense, but the incense she produced was poisonous.
Previously, the Noble Consort had nearly lost her life.
And now Honored Lady Lan had been poisoned by opium!
It showed how malicious her heart was!
Her mistress was pregnant; if there was even the slightest mishap...
The more Zi Yue thought about it, the more terrified she became, and she shot Xiao Xizi a fierce glare.