Chapter 610 Having Suspicions of the Past and Throwing Consort Zhao into the Cold Palace
“Consort Zhao, why did you fall on Consort Yu on purpose? Did you intend to knock her down so as to kill the child in her belly?” The Empress Dowager’s face was livid with anger. She stared at Consort Zhao with her sharp eyes, which looked so gloomy, as if they seemed to drip water. How important the child was to her! It was almost the core of all her plans. During this period, she asked her people to keep a low profile just for the birth of the child.
Unexpectedly, in the end, it was destroyed by Consort Zhao. The Empress Dowager even wanted to swallow Consort Zhao alive!
Consort Zhao’s expression changed greatly. Her body felt so weak that she almost laid on the ground. How could she bear the crime of murdering a royal child? She reached out and grabbed the lower part of the Emperor’s robe. Then she raised her head and looked at the Emperor with tears in her eyes. “Your Majesty, I didn’t. How could I kill the child in Consort Yu’s belly? I don’t have a son. What good will it get for me to murder that child?”
“You are jealous. You are jealous that Consort Yu has His Majesty’s child. Last night, Consort Yu sent someone to your palace and said that her belly hurt, but was stopped outside by your palace maids. You are both jealousy and resentful. You hate Consort Yu for her not being sensible and sending someone to your Mingyue Palace at that time. This morning, you met Consort Yu and there was a quarrel between the two of you. That was why you lost your temper, pretended to be weak and fell on Consort Yu.”
The Empress stated coldly. Of course, she knew that Consort Zhao and the Empress Dowager were close recently. And the latter would not help her at this time. She had investigated it clearly that the people in the two palaces all knew what had happened yesterday. It could not be hidden from others!
Last night, the Emperor had just entered Mingyue Palace when Consort Yu’s people came, and wanted to tell the Emperor that Consort Yu had an upset stomach, but was stopped outside by the palace maids of Mingyue Palace. The palace maids claimed that Consort Zhao did not allow anyone to disturb the Emperor. All the consorts in the palace knew that every time the Emperor came to her palace, it would be an opportunity to fight for his favor.
No one was willing to miss this opportunity!
Consort Yu grew haughty because of the child in her belly and deliberately made trouble for Mingyue Palace when the Emperor came. It was enough to make Consort Zhao hate her. In addition, Consort Yu stimulated her with the child in her belly. Consort Zhao could do such a thing. The Empress gave everyone the facts.
“Your Majesty, I did not. I really did not!” Consort Zhao yelled anxiously and the blood drained from her face. Caichun had indeed mentioned that Consort Yu had sent people to her palace earlier this morning but she did not care at all. However, she did not expect it to be revealed so suddenly. She was already very flustered and could only grab the Emperor’s robes. She looked up at the Emperor pleadingly and tears streamed down her face. She was no longer as gentle and gracious as she had usually been.
The Emperor looked at her coldly beside and didn’t say anything.
The Empress Dowager had already made up her mind. Even though she wanted to draw Consort Zhao to her camp so that she could leave a throne in the Emperor’s side depending on her face similar to Consort Xian’s, she found that the thorn was not planted in the Emperor’s side, but in her heart. If the child was really gone, all her plans were disrupted. How could she not be angry and resentful? She vented all her anger on Consort Zhao.
She turned around and said to Emperor Zongwen, “Your Majesty, those are the facts. Consort Yu and Consort Zhao talked in the pavilion. Consort Zhao pretended to fall into Consort Yu’s body when she left and caused Consort Yu to have a premature birth. It is unknown whether she could be alive or not. It was the people’s quarrel from jealousy. It’s not a big deal, but plotting against the royal child…”
The Empress Dowager did not finish her sentence but had expressed what she meant. Emperor Zongwen only had three sons now. It was true that he did not have many children, and thus, he valued his children very much. The jealousy between the consorts in the imperial harem was not a big deal. However, it was a grave crime to be vicious to the point of harming the Emperor’s children.
Consort Zhao shook her head frantically when she heard that the Empress Dowager was going to punish her. She tugged on Emperor Zongwen’s robe tightly as she looked up tearfully. Her beautiful face was filled with helplessness and despair. She was betting that the Emperor would pity her when he saw her face because it was the last expression Consort Xian had before she died.
“Your Majesty, I really didn’t. When I was about to leave, I suddenly felt that someone tripped me. Initially, I didn’t go to the direction of Consort Yu. But for some unknown reason, someone seemed to have pushed me behind. Your Majesty, please believe me. I really didn’t do anything wrong to you. I really wouldn’t harm your child.”
The gloom in Emperor Zongwen’s eyes reduced a little because of her charming and pitiful face. However, hatred and anger appeared in the Empress’s eyes.
Yes, it was this face that looked at Emperor Zongwen so pitifully and wiped out the Emperor’s feeling for the Empress. From then on, the Emperor hardly stepped into her Tianfeng Palace. If it weren’t for the support of Ding General Manor, the Empress believed that she would have been hacked to death the moment that woman died.
Why was her daughter so disliked and why did she end up like this? It was all because of that woman’s mournful expression before she died. The hatred in the Empress’s eyes carried with some venom. Consort Zhao had become Consort Xian in front of her. The inexplicable disaster almost made her become a dethroned Empress. How could she not hate the woman?
The hatred had always been in her heart, and now it was like a knife scratching her heart. She pressed her fingers tightly on the corner of the table, gritted her teeth, and held back the hatred in her heart. She used the strength of her fingers to ease her mood and slowly lowered her eyes. At this time, she could not lose her temper or be irritated by this expression!
“Your Majesty, I have already asked the palace maids and eunuchs present at that time. They all said that Consort Zhao had cursed Consort Yu viciously before the incident. Then, she fell in a strange direction, as if she had twisted her body on purpose. However, there was no one close to them at that time. The two palace maids who followed her did not see anyone approaching Consort Zhao. So Consort Zhao’s words that someone pushed her isn’t the truth.”
Anyway, she would not spare Consort Zhao easily today!
Consort Zhao looked as if she had been struck by lightning when she heard that. Her face was pale, and her lips trembled a few times as she fell to the ground. No one was close to her? How could that be? There must be someone to cause her to fall and knock Consort Yu down. How could there be no one there? But she could not show any strong evidence.
Everyone pointed out that she was vicious and harmed Consort Yu. How could Consort Zhao not be so flustered that she could not speak?
However, her look was a sign of guilt in the eyes of everyone. They were nearly certain that Consort Zhao was in the wrong and that she had intentionally hurt the child in Consort Yu’s belly. A few consorts, who had come with the Empress and were usually extremely dissatisfied with Consort Zhao, wrung their handkerchiefs and said.
“Why is Sister Zhao so vicious? Even though Consort Yu is a little arrogant, she couldn’t be so vicious for the sake of the child in her belly.”
“That’s right. It was said that Sister Zhao was a kind person, but it turns out that she has been pretending. She has pretended for more than 10 years. I wonder if Consort Xian knew about it.” Another consort had been in the palace for a long time and knew about the secret in the palace. She also knew that Consort Zhao had gained the Emperor’s affection completely because she looked like Consort Xian, so she directly exposed Consort Zhao’s mask.
“Ahh, she tried to murder the Emperor’s child. Sister Zhao used to stay at Consort Xian’s palace, and I heard that King Xuan used to be poisoned as well. Could it be…”
The Empress said coldly, “At that time, I just went there to see Sister Xian and only brought some ordinary tonics. Unexpectedly… Consort Zhao was also there at that time, and the bowl of tonics was handed to Sister Xian by her!”
She didn’t say it completely, but Emperor Zongwen understood what she hinted. At that time, he also felt suspicious that even if the Empress didn’t like Consort Xian, she wouldn’t enter Anhe Palace openly and give Consort Xian the poison. When he arrived at Anhe Palace, Consort Xian was unable to speak. She just watched him, cried in despair and pity, and then died.
Emperor Zongwen almost dethroned the Empress because of this matter. However, the Empress Dowager and Ding General Manor had tried their best to protect her; besides, Emperor Zongwen looked into it but found that something was wrong; the criminal did not seem to be the Empress. Therefore, he had spared the Empress. Now when he heard the Empress mentioning it again, he realized that he seemed to have missed something!
Consort Zhao, at that time, said that she didn’t know the Empress’s bowl of tonics was poisonous, so she personally took it to Consort Xian. If someone else might poison it, it was Consort Zhao. The reason why Emperor Zongwen didn’t suspect her at that time was that she was so good to Consort Xian that she was almost willing to help Consort Xian with her life. Once Consort Xian fell ill, and it was Consort Zhao who kept staying beside her bed day and night. Another time, when Consort Xian was pregnant, and several Consorts almost bumped into her, it was Consort Zhao who protected her, but Consort Zhao fell and broke her leg…
These things made Emperor Zongwen have no reason to doubt her!
But what if Consort Zhao was really pretending? Since she had done something to hurt the child in Consort Yu’s womb today, then didn’t she feel jealous when the Emperor doted on Consort Xian? If she had hidden it well, he had indeed ignored it.
Once one thing was suspicious, the Emperor felt everything was suspicious, including the fact that Feng Yuran got poisoned. At that time, Consort Xian was gone, but he had ordered people to guard Anhe Palace closely. How could Old Eight be poisoned? Unless the poison was not from outside, but from the inside of Anhe Palace.
He had asked Consort Zhao to stay in Anhe Palace so that the little Old Eight could be taken care of…
Emperor Zongwen’s expression grew darker and darker. Even though these words were not necessarily true and he had never thought about it in the past, it was not impossible as he thought about it now. Furthermore, the more he thought about it, the more likely they were. Consort Xian’s death had always been a pain in his heart. When he thought that Consort Zhao might have murdered Consort Xian and the implications behind her words yesterday, his eyes grew cold. “Somebody, send Consort Zhao to the Cold Palace.”
Since he was now suspicious of Consort Zhao, he would definitely find out what had happened in the past.
Being sent into the Cold Palace meant death. Consort Zhao turned pale with fright. She had never thought that the Emperor would be so heartless. She had wanted to soften the Emperor by using Consort Xian’s similar expression. Unexpectedly, the Emperor was so angry. Losing her nerve, she suddenly saw the Empress Dowager sitting to one side and moved two steps forward with her kneels anxiously. “Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager, please save me. Please save me, Empress Dowager.”
She did not beg the Emperor and the Empress but begged the Empress Dowager instead. What did this mean…
The faces of the people seated at the front all changed. The Empress Dowager gritted her teeth hatefully and kicked Consort Zhao away before she snapped, “Somebody, drag her away!”
She said resolutely and decisively, and did not seem to want to protect her at all, which left Consort Zhao hopeless. Her body became limp and she lay prostrate on the ground. Then, she was pulled out unceremoniously by two eunuchs…