Chapter 3604: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (23)
Chapter 3604: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (23)
Fu Min did not use anything sent by anyone in the palace except for Ao Tianze. Even then, she would subject any gifts from the emperor to various inspections. When it came to the child in her womb, she did not dare to be careless.
To save face, she was forced to accept gifts from the other concubines, but she would never actually use them. Instead, she kept them tucked away on high shelves.
How could Ao Tianze not be aware of this?
However, he desperately needed someone to vent his anger on, someone to follow his child to the grave. Were not all these lives held in the palm of his hand?
The next day, Noble Lady Li was bound and subjected to every form of torture imaginable. He would not let her die; he wanted her to suffer to the absolute limit. This was the price for sending Lady Min something that could harm the child.
By the time she died, Noble Lady Li looked neither human nor ghost. Her death was truly horrifying.
That was not all. Guards stormed the palace of every concubine, sparing not even the lowest maids. They searched for anything strange or sordid. This led to the discovery of a large number of ‘illicit companionships’ between palace maids and eunuchs.
In the quarters of several concubines, the guards found aphrodisiac spices and other illicit items. In short, everything in the inner palace was turned inside out and dragged into the light of day.
After Noble Lady Li, another group of concubines met their downfall.
Her fate left the remaining women of the inner palace trembling with fear. Everyone was terrified that they would be next. They lived in a state of constant dread and wanted to seek out Ning Shu to plead their cases, but she was still under house arrest and could not even leave her courtyard.
With no other choice, the concubines knelt outside Ao Tianze’s hall to beg for mercy.
With such a massive upheaval in the inner palace, even the mother of the nation had been confined. Countless concubines, maids, and eunuchs were caught up in the incident. For a time, the palace was filled with the sounds of mourning.
During the morning court session, several officials stepped forward to advise Ao Tianze. They urged him to stop the purge, arguing that too many people were being implicated. Many of the women in the inner palace were their relatives or daughters of their clans.
Ao Tianze exploded in a rage. “Your own backyards are full of such filth! This emperor wanted an heir, yet look at what these ‘virtuous’ women of yours have done! They stopped at nothing to harm this emperor’s child!”
Ao Tianze was so angry that his heart began to ache. He felt a sudden urge to vomit blood. Seeing this, the officials did not dare say another word.
If Ao Tianze hadn’t held a selection and filled the inner palace with so many women, this never would have happened. So many people were fighting over a single cucumber. To win the ultimate victory, they had to defeat their enemies. However, naturally, in his eyes, it was all the women’s fault.
Ao Tianze swallowed the metallic, sweet fluid in his mouth and clutched the front of his robes. He looked to be in great pain.
An attendant eunuch asked quickly, “Your Majesty, what is wrong?”
Ao Tianze waved him off, clutching his chest so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
“May the emperor calm his anger!” The officials all knelt, pressing their foreheads to the ground and begging him not to be upset.
Ao Tianze’s face turned a deep, suffocating red. Finally, a mouthful of blood sprayed out. He slumped back onto the dragon throne, while his ears rang with the sound of startled cries. Figures blurred before his eyes until he finally slipped into total darkness.
When he woke, a crowd of concubines was kneeling by his bed, led by the empress.
The moment Ao Tianze saw Ning Shu, a surge of anger rose within him. Was this woman not under house arrest? How had she been released? Where was the respect for his imperial command?
“Your Majesty, you are finally awake! You scared me to death. If anything happened to you, what would I and all my sisters do?” Ning Shu wailed.
He couldn’t stand the sight of these women right now, yet they insisted on crowding around him. Did they think he wasn’t dying fast enough?
Ao Tianze’s chest throbbed with a piercing, agonizing pain. His heart felt wretched. As he looked at these weeping women, his patience snapped. He roared, “Get out! All of you, get away from this emperor! You are all under house arrest! No one is permitted to leave their rooms!”
Ning Shu looked at him with a heartbroken expression. “Your Majesty, let me stay here and care for you. You are ill. Please do not be angry anymore.”
“The physician said Your Majesty is suffering from liver stasis. Your qi and blood are not flowing smoothly, which is why your chest hurts. Please, don’t be angry. It is all my fault for not managing the harem properly. But I truly did nothing to Lady Min. I beg Your Majesty to investigate the truth!” Ning Shu knelt and began kowtowing.
Ao Tianze was deathly pale. He clutched his chest. “Get out!”
“Your Majesty, it is my fault. Please calm your anger, calm your anger!” Ning Shu kowtowed in a state of apparent terror.
Ao Tianze felt as though he were going to explode with rage at Ning Shu’s stupidity. He only felt angry when he saw these women, yet she was too tactless to leave. She kept hovering in front of him, making everything a total disaster. He was being infuriated to death.
He could not even control his own violent impulses. His heart hammered against his ribs and the veins on his forehead throbbed as if they might burst.
“Your Majesty, I simply cannot rest easy leaving you like this. I must stay and care for you. I originally wanted to call Lady Min here, but she is currently in postpartum confinement. A woman’s health is of the utmost importance, so I did not call for her.”
Listening to Ning Shu’s incessant babbling, Ao Tianze felt like his head was going to split open. When she mentioned Lady Min, his heart gave a violent jolt. He was terrified that while he was ill, these women would turn their sights on Fu Min.
Ao Tianze took an elixir from a box by the bed and swallowed it with his eyes closed. Supported by a eunuch, he rose unsteadily and stumbled toward Fu Min’s palace.
Ning Shu immediately asked, “Your Majesty, where are you going? Should I follow you?”
“Shut up! You are not to follow!” Ao Tianze roared. His voice even cracked.
Ning Shu stopped in her tracks, looking deeply wronged. “Your Majesty, I am worried about you.”
Ning Shu led the group of concubines as they followed Ao Tianze from a distance. Ao Tianze spun around, his eyes as cold as shards of ice. “I said, do not follow this emperor! Does this emperor’s word mean nothing!?
“Guards! Kill them!” he shrieked while clutching his chest. A trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
The concubines stood frozen like wooden statues for a moment before scattering in a panic. Ning Shu’s face also turned pale as she quickly retreated.
Ao Tianze wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, staining the fabric a bright, vivid red.
When he reached Fu Min’s palace, she was sitting on her bed. She hadn’t intended to pay him any mind, but seeing him in such a state, she scrambled off the bed. She didn’t even have time to put on shoes. She covered her mouth as tears began to fall.
“Your Majesty, what has happened to you?” As the eunuch helped him sit, Ao Tianze saw she was barefoot. “I am fine. Don’t cry. You are still recovering. Be careful not to cry your eyes out. Go back to bed.”
A small eunuch brought the imperial physician over. Ao Tianze turned to the doctor. “Examine this emperor and see if I have been poisoned.”
His heart was aching for no apparent reason, and he had even vomited blood.