"You?"
"Give me wealth and glory?"
Luo Manman looked at her incredulously, and then at the pill in her hand.
"This?"
She didn’t believe at all that this small pill could control people’s hearts, much less that it could make this extremely obese and ugly woman before her become Empress.
Shih Wanxin was most likely deceiving her again.
She burst into laughter.
"I was careless, I was really careless!"
"Actually, you and the Empress Dowager are in this together, aren’t you trying to kill the Emperor?"
"You’ve woven all sorts of lies to numb me, turning me into your puppet to do your bidding!"
She looked at Shih Wanxin sarcastically, with sheer contempt.
"But you clearly told me that as long as the Emperor consumed all thirty pills, I would be free and no longer under your control!"
"Then what are you doing now?"
"Still forcing me to do your bidding?"
"Haha... You can fool me once, can you fool me a second time? Isn’t it ridiculous?"
Luo Manman didn’t believe it at all.
She struggled to get up and left.
Leaving Shih Wanxin gnashing her teeth in anger behind.
...
The news of Zhao Junyao being severely poisoned spread like wildfire in the palace.
To be precise... it spread like wildfire within Ningshou Palace.
The Empress Dowager received the news that night.
At that moment, she was pretending to worship Buddha while kneeling before it.
Her trusted palace maid relayed the news verbatim.
The Empress Dowager’s eyes suddenly brightened, and a smile curled at the corners of her mouth.
"Oh? Is this news accurate?"
"Indeed, Empress Dowager, it’s absolutely true!"
Upon hearing those words, the Empress Dowager sighed with relief, and the wrinkles on her face seemed to stretch out more.
"Good! I know now, you may leave!"
That palace maid quietly left after acknowledging the order.
The Empress Dowager solemnly kowtowed before the Buddha.
When she got back up, cloudy tears streamed from the corners of her eyes.
"Zongcheng, Junqi, I have avenged you!"
"Do you hear it from down there?"
"That kind of poison... is Red-crowned Crane, highly toxic, no antidote!"
"To prevent them from finding out, I put in a lot of effort!"
"Thankfully, things went smoothly, and everything was worth it!"
"That vile woman’s child will soon meet you down there, and I will join you!"
"How wonderful!"
"All these grudges will soon be over!"
The Empress Dowager fiddled with the prayer beads, murmuring to herself.
Suddenly, a palace maid reported from outside.
"Empress Dowager, Shih Wanxin requests an audience!"
The Empress Dowager hesitated for a moment, then said calmly.
"Let her in!"
"Yes!"
...
Shih Wanxin walked in, treading on the boundless darkness.
Her expression was somewhat complicated, with a hint of defeat.
The Empress Dowager adopted an expression of pre-arranged concern and asked.
"What’s wrong? She... disagreed?"
Shih Wanxin nodded worriedly.
"She keeps saying we deceived her!"
"She just refuses to help me!"
"If we don’t have this antidote for the Peach Blossom Ferry Drug, the Emperor will die!"
"What to do? The Emperor cannot die!"
"Empress Dowager, please help me!"
The Empress Dowager hid the fleeting indifference in her eyes and feigned a look of urgency.
"What should we do?"
"Wanxin, you must think of something!"
In fact, she couldn’t help but feel secretly thrilled inside.
How could the Emperor not die?
This widow insists that he must die.
Shih Wanxin, back then you betrayed me and caused me great pain.
Now, you’ve paid it back to me!
From now on, we’re even!
Of course, for someone who is about to die, there’s really nothing left to owe.
Shih Wanxin was so anxious that she didn’t notice the Empress Dowager’s unusual expression at all.
She racked her brain for a long moment before speaking anxiously.
"If it’s really impossible, Empress Dowager, please create some trouble for her, we... can still threaten her!"
The Empress Dowager’s eyes flickered for a moment and she nodded.
"Alright!"
Consider it a debt from this widow to you.
Of course, she actually just wanted to play the act a little longer.
After all, they were indeed related by blood.
Before dying, she didn’t want to leave things too harsh.
Shih Wanxin’s face was full of gratitude.
"Thank you, Empress Dowager, thank you!"
"Once we succeed, Wanxin will surely show filial piety towards you!"
"Wanxin will never forget your great grace and virtue until death!"
The Empress Dowager looked at Shih Wanxin, who was once so proud and lofty, now kneeling humbly before her in kowtow.
Her heart was filled with emotion.
’Who would have thought she’d come to this one day!’
’You see, until the end, no one knows who the final winner will be!’
...
With the Emperor ’seriously ill’, the court naturally couldn’t operate normally.
Fortunately, Zhao Qichen had already entered the court to attend to affairs, able to temporarily manage state matters.
With the Cabinet’s help, it shouldn’t be a problem to sustain for ten days or half a month.
As for the harem.
Fortunately, the news was tightly sealed, and few in the harem knew about it.