Chapter 215: Utter Chaos
The hall instantly descended into chaos.
The Empress Dowager’s prayer beads abruptly stopped, and she lowered her voice with a grave expression.
“Summon the Imperial Physician immediately…”
“Yes!”
A eunuch in attendance hurried away.
Xue Sui looked at Lu Xi’s trembling fingertips, subtly moved her wide sleeves, and gracefully stepped forward to crouch down, placing her fingertips on Empress Xie’s wrist.
“Your Ladyship, what is troubling you?”
Empress Xie’s brows furrowed into a tight knot, sweat beading on her forehead. She forced herself to shake her head, “It’s nothing… Don’t let my discomfort disrupt the banquet’s auspiciousness.”
Xue Sui glanced at her complexion. As she felt her pulse, her fingertips paused slightly, then she thoughtfully pressed and slowly massaged her Neiguan acupoint.
“Your Ladyship’s pulse is steady, but you have been overly worried, causing some false fire to disturb your spirit. You need rest…”
As her fingertips applied pressure, Empress Xie’s pale face visibly regained color, and her breathing gradually calmed.
She gently raised her eyes and waved her hand, “Perhaps it was the stress of managing the banquet that caused a momentary palpitation and dizziness. After the grand feast, I will rest for two days.”
Xue Sui smiled, “Your Ladyship works tirelessly for Daliang. I hope you will take good care of your precious health.”
Lu Xi gazed at Xue Sui expectantly.
Seeing her gracefully step back and return to her seat, Lu Xi couldn’t help but frown.
“They say Consort Xue has excellent medical skills and many ways to cure illnesses and save lives, yet for Your Ladyship, it’s so perfunctory…”
“Your Ladyship, please understand. Imperial Physicians are on duty in the palace, and this humble wife dares not offer medicine without authorization.”
With that, Xue Sui calmly took out a blue porcelain small bottle from her coin purse.
“This medicine calms the spirit and quiets the mind. If Your Ladyship does not mind, you may wear it with you to dispel any unpleasantness…”
Speaking of unpleasantness, she cast a subtle glance at Lu Xi.
Empress Xie happily accepted it, “Thank you for your trouble.”
Lu Xi’s fingertips unconsciously brushed over the bracelet on her wrist. Seeing that Xue Sui was stepping into the trap as Princess Ping Le had predicted, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Empress Xie gently opened the bottle cap and took a sniff. A faint fragrance immediately wafted out, clearing her mind.
She placed the porcelain vase in her sleeve and smiled, “I recently acquired a piece of brocade fabric with vibrant colors. It would perfectly suit a young lady. Why don’t I bestow it upon Consort Xue to make a winter garment?”
Xue Sui quickly declined, bowing to express her gratitude.
“This humble wife’s status is low, and my body is crude. I fear it would tarnish Your Ladyship’s gift…”
“What are you saying? Consort Xue’s beauty is rarely seen in this world.” Empress Xie smiled and gestured for her to rise.
Xue Sui then gathered her skirts and expressed her thanks.
At that moment, an announcement from outside the hall suddenly sounded.
“Princess Tuya has arrived…”
All eyes snapped towards the hall entrance.
This princess had married from afar, was the most mysterious Saintess of Xizi, and was also the Emperor Chong Zhao’s new favorite, doted upon.
Yet, since entering the palace, she had remained secluded. The Emperor had even excused her from formal greetings. Why was she here to join the festivities today?
Everyone looked at her with curiosity, their gazes fixed on her, unwilling to blink.
Several Xizi women gracefully entered. The woman at the forefront wore a light veil, a ruby pendant on her forehead glinting near her eyes. She was adorned in a moon-white ‘jiao xiao’ gown, her water sleeves swirling with a faint fragrance. Her slender figure was subtly revealed under the candlelight. Two maidservants beside her also jingled with ornaments.
“Wishing His Majesty the Emperor Dowager ten thousand years of life, and Empress a peaceful New Year. We wish all in the palace joy, prosperity, and enduring blessings.”
The Empress Dowager nodded slightly, “Grant her a seat.”
Princess Tuya gracefully took her seat. Consort Xiao stared intently at the striking beauty, her fingernails digging deeply into her palm.
“Princess Tuya’s dancing is captivating and renowned throughout Shangjing. It is only fitting that she perform for His Majesty alone, but it would be remiss not to offer some elegant entertainment for Her Ladyship the Empress Dowager. Why not take advantage of this Mid-Autumn festival to let us feast our eyes…”
These words, outwardly praising but inwardly belittling, likened Tuya to a court entertainer.
To force her to dance again, to make her publicly please the nobles, was truly demeaning…
Princess Tuya showed no anger, merely rising calmly and giving a slight bow.
“As Your Ladyship the Empress Dowager commands.”
Empress Dowager Cheng Qing smiled kindly, “Then dance as you please, and let us and the esteemed ladies present broaden our horizons.”
Princess Tuya curtsied, “Yes.”
The clear music began to play.
Princess Tuya spun and rose, her dance graceful like flowing clouds unfurling. Her face, half-hidden by the light veil, was hazy and indistinct. After her dance, everyone applauded. She lightly swept her wide sleeves and gracefully returned to her seat, not conversing with anyone, her expression indifferent and distant, as if detached from it all.
Truly mysterious and unfathomable.
The gazes of everyone in the hall fell upon her.
The Empress Dowager called out to Tuya, “Princess, why do you not remove your veil, so that I may behold the radiance of this Western beauty?”
“Replying to Your Ladyship the Empress Dowager, this subject has cultivated on Wulan Holy Mountain since childhood, and according to our teachings, I am not permitted to reveal my true face.”
Her voice was as clear as a spring.
Upon closer listening, it sounded like the tinkling echo of a mountain stream, or the pure coldness of a snow lotus blooming.
“Holy Mountain?” The Empress Dowager raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, full of interest, “I have heard that the deities on the mountain can divine heavenly secrets and predict human fortune and misfortune?”
Princess Tuya gently shook her head, “The Saintesses of Xizi have always concerned themselves only with divine matters, not worldly affairs.”
The Empress Dowager’s expression faltered slightly. She did not press further, but her expression gradually grew colder.
“You may return to your seat.”
Empress Xie, seeing this, picked up her teacup and took a sip. Just as she was about to interject and smooth things over, she suddenly felt the world spin. The candlelight before her blurred into shifting shadows, and a buzzing sound filled her ears…
The teacup in her hand “clinked” as it fell to the floor.
The people in the hall cried out in alarm.
“Your Ladyship, Your Ladyship, what is wrong…”
Lu Xi hastily supported the Empress, her anxious voice carrying a hint of deliberately heightened shrillness.
Empress Xie clutched her chest and shook her head with displeasure.
Lu Xi suddenly turned and pointed at Xue Sui.
“Consort Xue, it must be the medicine you gave Your Ladyship that is problematic!”
Xue Sui sneered.
This flustered demeanor lacked any semblance of a frame-up. How could Ping Le have entrusted Lu Xi, such a pampered young lady, to do this in full view of everyone, without revealing her true colors?
Her gaze fell on Lu Xi’s guilty face. “Second Young Lady Lu must be confused in her haste. Your Ladyship’s tea was served by Second Young Lady Lu, and it was Second Young Lady Lu who stayed by Your Ladyship’s side the entire time. Why are you blaming this humble wife?”
Lu Xi’s face turned red. “It must be that you tampered with it when you came close earlier…”
She then anxiously retorted, “Or perhaps there is something strange about the bottle.”
“Second Young Lady Lu…” Empress Xie held her wrist and shook her head, forcing her eyes open with effort, “I am merely feeling suddenly dizzy, it is nothing serious. You need not make wild guesses…”
“Your Ladyship, please take care and do not frighten this humble subject!” Lu Xi crouched down, supporting Empress Xie’s arm. Her fingertips suddenly tightened subtly, feeling a slight strangeness.
Ping Le had said this poison was colorless, odorless, extremely potent, and would cause death within half an hour.
Yet, she had administered the poison so long ago. Looking at Empress Xie, although her complexion was not good, she only seemed a little weak. Not only could she speak, but she could also comfort everyone, showing no signs of being fatally poisoned…
Filled with doubt, she felt uneasy.
“Your Ladyship, how are you feeling now?”
Empress Xie shook her head.
Xue Sui slowly approached, dipped her fingertip in the spilled tea on the floor, and looked up, her eyes as if quenched with ice.
“This humble wife dares to ask, Second Young Lady Lu, is the bracelet you are wearing today a tribute of Qinan wood from Nanzi?”
Lu Xi’s face changed slightly, and she covered her bracelet.
“What if it is, and what if it isn’t?”
Xue Sui said calmly, “Your Ladyship’s tea was mixed with Snowmelt Grass. This substance reacts with Qinan wood, which is why Your Ladyship felt unwell upon smelling it.”
Amidst gasps from the hall, Lu Xi retreated in panic, “This humble subject has never heard such an absurd claim. It seems Consort Xue is merely famous in name only, possessing no true skill and knowing nothing of pharmacology.”
Xue Sui: “Since Second Young Lady Lu is well-versed in pharmacology, how could she not know the dangers involved? Could it be that you did it intentionally?”
Lu Xi was furious.
“You are talking nonsense—”
Her eyes widened in rage, and she suddenly lunged at Xue Sui.
Ping Le had said that Xue Sui had a brand on her lower back that proved she was a Xizi spy. If she could strip her clothes in court, she could solidify the accusation—
No one had expected Lu Xi to suddenly attack.
In the ensuing chaos, Xue Sui’s back hit the Coiled Dragon Pillar, and Lu Xi fiercely grabbed and clawed at her.
In a flash, with a light tearing sound, the gold-threaded outer robe was ripped open by Lu Xi, revealing a faint old scar below her shoulder blade—
Lu Xi’s gasp pierced through the din of the hall.
“Heavens, why does she have such a terrifying scar on her body…”
All eyes were fixed on Xue Sui.
The air seemed to freeze.
Having her clothes torn off in public, how had noble ladies ever witnessed such a horrifying scene?
Even more horrifying were the scars on Xue Sui’s body…
They could not believe that the dignified Princess Consort Duan was such a disreputable person…
Where did these scars come from? What kind of person was she?
Lu Xi clenched Xue Sui’s sleeve, her voice growing sharper, “Your Ladyship the Empress Dowager, Your Ladyship the Empress, do you remember the theft case investigated by the Ministry of War years ago? That female spy seduced the Minister of War and stole the secret firearm blueprints of the Divine Arm Camp. After interrogation, she mysteriously disappeared— I heard that the female spy had a branding iron mark on her waist from the Ministry of War’s interrogation—”
“Bewitching woman!” Consort Xiao suddenly stood up, her painted nails almost piercing Xue Sui’s nose. “The mark on the waist of the Xizi female spy three years ago, I saw it with my own eyes…”
The hall fell into sudden silence.
The matter of the Xizi female spy had shaken the court at the time and remained unresolved for a long time. Everyone knew about it…
They had searched high and low, and found it without effort.
Everyone looked on with surprise and fear.
Lu Xi’s face was filled with righteous indignation as she pointed at Xue Sui.
“Xue Liu, Consort Xue, what else do you have to say?”
Xue Sui: “That depends on what Second Young Lady Lu wants to hear?”
Before Lu Xi could speak, Consort Xiao, seated above, pointed at Xue Sui and attacked first…
“What a cunning spy! You were lucky to escape last time, but where will you run this time…”
Xue Sui stared into her eyes and slowly reached for her waist.
There were no men in the hall, only women. No one expected that after a smile, she would suddenly pull off half of her sleeve and outer robe, turn her slender waist, and reveal a large expanse of skin on her back to everyone.
“The mark Your Ladyship speaks of, could it be this peony?”
Lu Xi’s expression changed.
Where the terrifying brand should have been, the skin was smooth as jade. Between the gold-ink outlined petals, a lifelike peony was hidden.
Consort Xiao was stunned into speechlessness, her face fluctuating between green and white as she stared at Xue Sui’s smile, feeling a surge of blood in her throat and her vision darkening.
“The brand on your waist… why did it turn into a peony?”
“I have disappointed Your Ladyship.” Xue Sui adjusted her collar and smiled gently.
“It is not a brand, but a scar…”
She then turned her head to look at Xue Yuechen.
“Last time I was accidentally injured and was left with an unsightly scar. My elder sister took pity and specially hired a female painter to draw it with gold thread ink.”
Lu Xi: “You are lying!”
Xue Sui: “Second Young Lady Lu, how could you know more about the wound on my body than I do myself? Could it be that you were the one who injured me?”
Lu Xi: “You…”
Empress Dowager Cheng Qing’s gaze swept between the two, finally settling on Xue Yuechen, who sat in silence.
“Princess Consort Duan, you speak?”
“This concubine…” Xue Yuechen clenched her palm, forcing herself to put on a proper smile, “This concubine can testify. When Consort Wan was assassinated at the Imperial Palace before her death, my younger sister shielded Consort Wan and took an arrow for her, resulting in this scar… I could not bear to see her weep every day when looking in the mirror, so I specially hired a painter.”
“Grandmother, your granddaughter can also testify.” Wen Jia quickly stepped forward and knelt in the hall, her expression resolute, stepping forward, “On the way to the Imperial Palace that day, the Consort and I were ambushed by Xizi Death Warriors. It was Consort Xue— who, disregarding her own safety, saved your granddaughter and Consort Wan…”
She then looked coldly at Consort Xiao.
“And those so-called Xizi Death Warriors were later confirmed to be death warriors raised by the Xiao Family. Consort Xiao’s elder brother, Xiao Jing, also died tragically in prison as a result…”
Everyone gasped.
Xiao Jing’s death was a painful memory the Xiao Family did not wish to face, and a taboo that palace servants dared not mention in front of Consort Xiao.
Wen Jia spoke unhurriedly, each word like a knife piercing Consort Xiao’s heart.
The noble ladies could barely look directly at Consort Xiao’s grim expression.
Consort Xiao trembled all over, inexplicably recalling the ear sent from the Eastern Palace…
Her heart ached as if bleeding.
“Bitch, don’t think you can get away with it by changing your tactics—”
“Today, this consort will peel off your skin…”
She gritted her teeth and sneered, making a move to approach and examine Xue Sui’s painted flower…
However…
Before she could touch Xue Sui, her body swayed, and she suddenly clutched her chest, letting out a cry as black blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. Before she could call for help, her limbs began to twitch uncontrollably, and she fell backward stiffly.
With a clatter, a gold hairpin fell to the ground.
The sound of pearls and jade ornaments mixed with intermittent whimpers from her throat was particularly jarring in the hall…
The candlelight dimmed.
Consort Xiao slumped to the ground, trembling, pointing at Xue Sui.
“You… you… you murdered this consort…”
The change happened in an instant.
The noble ladies’ faces turned ashen, and the young ladies cried out in fright.
In the panic, someone bumped a desk askew, sending delicacies and jade cups crashing to the floor. Some covered their mouths with embroidered handkerchiefs but could not suppress the rising screams.
Someone cried out, “Quick, where are the Imperial Physicians? Why haven’t they come yet? Her Ladyship is spitting blood…”
“Report—”
“Your Majesty—Your Majesty—”
A sharp announcement shattered the festive atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn banquet.
A eunuch scrambled into the Eastern Hall.
“Reporting to Your Majesty! Consort… Consort is bleeding from all seven orifices…”
The banquet immediately descended into utter chaos.
Emperor Chong Zhao’s dragon robe billowed as he strode forward, stepping over the mess on the floor.
Li Huan and Li Zhao followed closely, accompanied by attending palace servants holding lanterns, their footsteps a Miscellaneous sound, bringing a palpable sense of tension.
“My beloved concubine—” Emperor Chong Zhao knelt and cradled Consort Xiao, his fingertips caressing her face.
Consort Xiao’s eyes fluttered, her whites streaked with terrifying blood.
“Your Majesty… save… this concubine…”
Only guttural sounds came from her throat; she could no longer speak…
Her hands were the only things that could tightly grip Emperor Chong Zhao’s robes. Her face was purplish-blue, her pupils dilated, and the blood seeping from her mouth stained the gold-threaded lapel, resembling a blooming mandala.
Emperor Chong Zhao embraced her, his eyes red, “Imperial Physician! Imperial Physician!”
An Imperial Physician stumbled in, his fingertips trembling as he felt the pulse for a moment. His face suddenly turned pale, and he knelt on the ground.
“Your Majesty… Consort’s poison has entered her internal organs. This… this subject’s medical skills are shallow, and it is beyond recovery. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!”
Everyone in the hall held their breath, not daring to make a sound.
Lu Xi’s face was ashen, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her skirt. Her legs felt weak as she leaned against the Coiled Dragon Pillar, only regaining her senses after a moment.
“Consort Xue, aren’t you skilled in medicine? Why aren’t you coming to see Her Ladyship?”
Xue Sui then slowly stepped forward, touched her neck with her fingertip, and with her other hand, flipped open Consort Xiao’s lifeless eyelids.
“This poison is very peculiar. Consort’s pulse has already stopped. Even the Great Luo Golden Star could not save her now…”
Lu Xi’s body swayed, almost unable to stand.
Consort Xiao’s appearance, bleeding from all seven orifices, perfectly matched the tragic symptoms of poisoning described by Princess Ping Le.
She did not understand why Empress was fine, but Consort Xiao had suddenly died…
A puppet blinded by ambition, though malicious, was still a young lady from a noble family who had never taken a life.
Lu Xi had already lost her composure and could no longer control the spiraling situation. She quietly retreated towards Madam Lu, no longer the composed figure she was before the banquet.
“Second Young Lady Lu!”
Xue Sui called out to her, lowered her gaze to wipe her fingertip, and slowly raised her head, asking coldly:
“Have your hands come into contact with Snakeberry Juice?”
A two-in-one, Happy May Day, great fortune and good luck!
