Wen Zhiyi slowly raised a hand to her cheek.
Her fingertips barely brushed the swollen skin before pulling away, trembling ever so slightly.
It really hurt.
Beside Li Jinghuai, Chunyan dropped to her knees and burst into tears.
“Your Majesty! Lady Zhaorong only started suffering from stomach pain shortly after returning from Luanming Palace. There must have been something wrong with the food served by Imperial Noble Consort Wen! Please, Your Majesty, uphold justice for our lady!”
Wen Zhiyi sneered inwardly.
Outwardly, however, tears streamed down her face as she looked at Li Jinghuai with unconcealed grievance and heartbreak.
“This concubine has been wronged.”
At that moment, the Imperial Physician had just finished examining Lu Ningrou. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he bowed respectfully.
“Your Majesty, Lady Zhaorong is not in serious condition. Women with child often have delicate stomachs. It appears Lady Zhaorong ate food that was too spicy at lunch, causing intestinal cramps and severe abdominal pain.”
The entire room fell silent.
Not only had Li Jinghuai failed to anticipate this outcome, even Chunyan’s sobbing came to an abrupt stop.
“My… my lady only has stomach cramps?”
Watching everyone’s colorful expressions, Wen Zhiyi almost laughed.
Instead, she widened her eyes in surprise.
“Lady Zhaorong is pregnant?”
She turned toward the Imperial Physician.
“May I ask, is the imperial heir unharmed?”
“Replying to Your Highness, the child is perfectly safe. I’ll prescribe a few gentle restorative medicines. After one or two days of recuperation, both mother and child will be well.”
“That’s wonderful.”
Wen Zhiyi dabbed at the tears lingering at the corners of her eyes with a silk handkerchief.
“Thank you for your hard work, Imperial Physician.”
She then turned toward Li Jinghuai, her voice choked with emotion.
“I also ask Your Majesty to see clearly that I never intended to harm Lady Zhaorong.”
Li Jinghuai cleared his throat awkwardly before personally helping her to her feet.
“It was my mistake, my beloved. I thought…”
“What did Your Majesty think?”
Wen Zhiyi interrupted calmly.
“You couldn’t possibly have thought there was a miscarriage-inducing drug hidden in the food at Luanming Palace… could you?”
Her tone was casual, as though she had spoken without thinking.
Yet Li Jinghuai heard every word with crystal clarity.
The hand holding hers stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Wen Zhiyi acted as though she noticed nothing.
Her gaze slowly swept across everyone gathered inside Yuexian Palace before finally stopping on the stunned Chunyan.
The warmth disappeared from her eyes.
“You insolent maid!”
“You serve Lady Zhaorong at her side every day. You knew full well she was pregnant and that every bite she ate required the utmost care. Yet during lunch you deliberately concealed her condition from me, allowing her to eat spicy food until she suffered unbearable stomach pain.”
“What exactly were your intentions?”
Startled, Chunyan collapsed onto the floor and instinctively looked toward Li Jinghuai for help.
He didn’t even spare her a glance.
His voice was ice cold.
“Palace maid Chunyan neglected her duties and even dared falsely accuse the Imperial Noble Consort.”
“Drag her away.”
“Beat her to death.”
“Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!”
She repeatedly kowtowed, desperately begging for mercy.
No one paid her any attention.
The guards seized her arms and mercilessly dragged her toward the door.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger!”
Panicked beyond reason, Chunyan blurted out whatever came to mind.
“It wasn’t because this servant failed in her duties! It was Lady Zhaorong… Lady Zhaorong, she…”
“Your Majesty…”
A weak voice suddenly drifted from the bed.
“Rou’er!”
Li Jinghuai hurried to Lu Ningrou’s bedside and gently helped her lean against his chest.
“Your Majesty, Chunyan was certainly at fault, but I also bear responsibility for failing to discipline her properly.”
Tears shimmered on Lu Ningrou’s eyelashes as she pleaded earnestly.
“She has served me faithfully for many years. I beg Your Majesty to spare her this once.”
Seeing the frail woman he cherished so dearly brought an ache to Li Jinghuai’s heart.
He carefully wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, his voice overflowing with tenderness.
“Very well.”
“As you wish.”
“Your Majesty.”
Wen Zhiyi spoke quietly.
“If she’s forgiven so easily today, won’t everyone in the palace think they can casually throw accusations at me in the future?”
Lu Ningrou looked at her with tear-filled eyes.
“Does Your Highness truly insist on punishing someone from my household?”
“I’m only thinking of your safety.”
Wen Zhiyi’s expression remained gentle, though there wasn’t the slightest hint of compromise in her words.
“You’re carrying the imperial heir now, yet this maid harbors questionable intentions. If she remains by your side, who can guarantee she won’t cause an even greater disaster next time?”
She turned to Li Jinghuai.
“Don’t you agree, Your Majesty?”
Seeing Lu Ningrou on the verge of tears again, Li Jinghuai sighed impatiently.
“She may escape death, but she won’t escape punishment.”
“My decree is this.”
“The servant Chunyan shall receive ten strokes of the rod before being expelled from the palace.”
He looked at Wen Zhiyi.
“Is that satisfactory?”
“Your Majesty is wise.”
As the emperor and his beloved gazed affectionately into each other’s eyes, utterly absorbed in one another, Wen Zhiyi watched from the side with nothing but ridicule in her heart.
After a brief silence, she excused herself and left.
…
Outside Yuexian Palace, Wen Zhiyi patiently waited until Chunyan’s ten strokes had been carried out.
Only then did she order her attendants to carry the half-dead maid back to Luanming Palace.
Inside the palace, the steward of the imperial kitchen had already been forced to his knees in the main hall.
Hongyi stood nearby, holding a lantern.
“Your Highness truly foresaw everything.”
“I secretly kept watch throughout lunchtime and caught the servant red-handed while he was drugging the food. I never imagined it would be the kitchen steward.”
As she spoke, Hongyi angrily kicked the kneeling steward.
“Your Highness has always treated us generously, yet this wretch still betrayed you. He deserves to die.”
“Enough.”
Wen Zhiyi remained calm.
“Have you identified the drug?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Hongyi lowered her head.
“It was… an infertility drug.”
Wen Zhiyi wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
It was exactly what she had expected.
Hongyi’s voice became even quieter.
“This servant is useless. No matter how we questioned him, he refused to reveal who ordered him to do it.”
Wen Zhiyi lowered her eyes toward the steward.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Although tightly bound, the steward stubbornly lifted his chin.
“Your Highness is an intelligent woman.”
“If I dare not reveal my master’s identity, surely you’ve already guessed who stands behind me.”
“If Your Highness spares me today, I guarantee today’s events will never reach a fourth person’s ears.”
“In the future, you and my master can continue living in peace.”
Wen Zhiyi gently touched her still-swollen cheek.
A faint smile curved her lips.
In her previous life, she had willingly allowed Li Jinghuai’s spies to infiltrate Luanming Palace in order to reassure him of her loyalty.
Looking back now…
She had been unbelievably foolish.
Mistaking her silence for hesitation, the steward quickly continued.
“Your Highness needn’t worry. Once I walk out of this hall, no fourth person will ever know what happened today.”
“A fourth person?”
Wen Zhiyi couldn’t help laughing.
“Very well.”
“I’m in a good mood tonight.”
“I’ll let you meet this so-called fourth person.”
The steward frowned in confusion.
Moments later, two palace servants dragged in a maid whose lower body was a bloody, mangled mess.
A bucket of icy water was poured over her.
She slowly regained consciousness.
Only then did the steward recognize her.
It was Chunyan, Lu Ningrou’s chief maid.
The moment Chunyan opened her eyes and saw Wen Zhiyi seated above, she weakly threatened her despite her condition.
“I serve Lady Zhaorong.”
“Our lady will come save me sooner or later.”
“If Your Highness kills me… you’ll have a difficult time explaining yourself to Lady Zhaorong.”
“Don’t worry.”
Wen Zhiyi smiled.
“I’m not planning to kill you.”
She gestured toward the steward.
“Do you recognize this man?”
Chunyan looked puzzled but answered honestly.
“No.”
“He’s the steward of Luanming Palace’s imperial kitchen.”
Just thirteen simple words.
Yet to Chunyan, they struck like a bolt of thunder.
She stared at the steward in utter disbelief before snapping her head back toward Wen Zhiyi.
Her face was filled with shock.
Seeing her reaction, Wen Zhiyi’s smile deepened.
“So my guess was correct.”
“You already knew.”
“The one secretly mixing infertility drugs into my meals every single day… was the kitchen steward.”
Forcing herself to remain calm, Chunyan replied,
“This servant has no idea what Your Highness is talking about.”
“Does Your Highness really believe Lady Zhaorong planted someone inside Luanming Palace?”
“What a joke.”
Wen Zhiyi chuckled.
“Your mistress doesn’t have that kind of influence.”
“But…”
“The Emperor does.”
She casually waved a hand toward the palace attendants.
“Take the steward away.”
“Beat him to death.”
“Your Highness, have mercy!”
Facing death, the steward repeatedly slammed his forehead against the floor.
Half pleading, half threatening, he cried,
“Since Your Highness knows I serve His Majesty, are you truly unafraid of offending him by killing me?”
“Please reconsider!”
Wen Zhiyi looked down at him with utter contempt.
“A traitor who bites the hand that feeds him is of no use to me.”
“I’ve only kept you alive this long so I could kill the chicken in front of the monkey.”
She glanced leisurely toward Chunyan.
“I simply wanted a certain monkey to understand one thing.”
“If I dare kill one of the Emperor’s own men…”
“Then a mere maid serving a Zhaorong means even less to me.”
“When he’s dead, drag the body farther away.”
“Don’t stain the paving stones of Luanming Palace.”
Ignoring the steward’s desperate struggles, the palace servants stuffed cloth into his mouth and dragged him away.
Watching the scene unfold, Chunyan trembled violently.
She nearly fainted again.
Once the steward had been dealt with, Wen Zhiyi slowly walked over and stopped in front of Chunyan.
She spoke patiently, emphasizing every word.
“The Emperor dotes on Lady Zhaorong.”
“It isn’t strange that he’d tell her about these little secrets.”
“And as Lady Zhaorong’s most trusted maid, it makes sense that you’d know as well.”
“What I can’t understand is this.”
“If both you and your mistress knew my meals were laced with infertility drugs…”
“Why were you so determined to enter Luanming Palace?”
“Why knowingly risk your own lives by eating that poisoned meal?”
Chunyan’s voice trembled with tears, though she still stubbornly resisted.
“Lady Zhaorong dining at Your Highness’s palace today…”
“…was only a coincidence.”
Wen Zhiyi interrupted her.
“Even now, you’re still protecting your mistress.”
“But when I was in Yuexian Palace, I saw things very clearly.”
“At first…”
“Your mistress didn’t seem particularly eager to save you.”
Those words instantly reminded Chunyan of the moment she had nearly been beaten to death in Yuexian Palace.
Her face turned deathly pale.
Looking down at the despairing maid, Wen Zhiyi gently lifted her chin with the tip of her embroidered shoe.
Her voice was low.
Compassionate…
Yet strangely seductive.
“If you’re honest with me…”
“And tell me why Lady Zhaorong knowingly consumed food containing infertility drugs…”
“I might spare your life.”
“I’ll talk!”
“I’ll tell you everything!”
Standing on the brink of death, Chunyan finally broke.
“Lady Zhaorong was born with a weak constitution. She was never supposed to become pregnant.”
“This child…”
“…was never going to survive in the first place.”