Wen Zhiyi knew all too well how much Li Jinghuai valued Lu Ningrou’s pregnancy. As far as he was concerned, it was better to punish ten innocent people than let one guilty person escape.
But she could already guess what had happened.
This miscarriage scare had most likely been orchestrated by Lu Ningrou herself.
A woman as meticulous as Aunt Liufang kept Yuexian Palace under iron discipline. Every servant there had been trained so thoroughly that even those loyal enough to help Lu Ningrou secretly lose the child would never have found an opportunity.
That left only one option, buying someone from outside.
After suffering two humiliating failures at Wen Zhiyi’s hands, Lu Ningrou no longer dared frame her directly. This time, she had shifted her target to Ning Wuyu.
What Lu Ningrou hadn’t expected was that she only wanted to divert the disaster, while Wen Zhiyi intended to drown her in it.
If Li Jinghuai truly accepted Wen Zhiyi’s proposal and threw every servant from Yuexian Palace into the Imperial Punishment Bureau, Lu Ningrou would lose every trusted attendant she had.
Before Li Jinghuai could make his decision, Lu Ningrou’s thoughts raced.
Feigning concern, she turned toward the imperial physician.
“Imperial Physician… can my child still be saved?”
“Please rest easy, Lady Zhaorong.” The physician wiped the sweat from his brow. “Fortunately, the amount of the medicine you consumed was extremely small. The imperial heir has suffered no serious harm and is now stable. I will prescribe several miscarriage-preventing decoctions. Take them on schedule, and everything should be fine.”
“Thank you, Imperial Physician.”
Then she turned tearfully toward Li Jinghuai.
“Your Majesty…”
“Rou’er!”
Li Jinghuai hurried to her side.
Her face was deathly pale, tears trembling on her lashes. She looked like a delicate poppy battered by a violent storm, fragile enough to shatter at any moment. The sight made his heart ache.
“Our child… is still alive.”
“I know.” He gently clasped her hand. “I heard everything. Our child is blessed by heaven. Such petty schemes could never claim their life.”
Standing nearby, Wen Zhiyi almost laughed.
Petty schemes?
This child was astonishingly tenacious.
Even after Lu Ningrou herself had tried again and again to get rid of the pregnancy, the baby still stubbornly clung to life.
A child with such resilience…
Perhaps they were destined to be raised beneath her elder sister’s care instead.
In a gentle voice, Lu Ningrou continued,
“Your Majesty, everyone in Yuexian Palace has served me for years. None of them would ever harm my unborn child. Why not simply punish Si’er and Zipei to serve as a warning?”
“Lady Zhaorong is mistaken,” Wen Zhiyi interrupted calmly. “You’ve only been pregnant for three months, yet disaster has already struck repeatedly. Had the palace servants exercised greater care, people like Si’er and Zipei would never have found an opportunity. Their negligence alone warrants severe punishment.”
“Well said.” Li Jinghuai nodded approvingly. “Rou’er is simply too kind. That’s why these insolent servants keep taking advantage of her. Had anything happened to our child, they would deserve death.”
“I also agree with Noble Consort Wen.”
Ning Wuyu’s cool voice rang out across the hall.
“In order to clear both myself and Zipei of suspicion, I request that every servant from Yuexian Palace be sent to the Imperial Punishment Bureau alongside Si’er and Zipei. Nothing is more important than the safety of the imperial heir.”
Li Jinghuai glanced at her in surprise.
Seeing no trace of reluctance on her face, he nodded.
“Consort Ning truly understands the bigger picture.”
Lu Ningrou’s heart immediately tightened.
Cold sweat soaked her back.
Keeping her movements subtle, she shot Qiurui a meaningful glance.
Qiurui lowered her eyes and quietly slipped away.
Just as the guards were counting the attendants from Yuexian Palace, Aunt Liufang suddenly frowned.
“Hm? Where is Qiurui? She was standing here just a moment ago.”
Li Jinghuai’s expression changed instantly.
“Find her. At once.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Several guards rushed off.
Moments later, they returned, dragging Qiurui behind them.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, when we found Qiurui, she was attempting to poison herself in the woods outside Luanming Palace. We also noticed that the soil beneath her feet had recently been disturbed. After digging, we uncovered this.”
The guard presented a gray cloth bundle.
The moment it was opened, the imperial physician glanced inside and immediately identified its contents.
“This… is bitterleaf tea.”
Rage ignited across Li Jinghuai’s face.
His murderous gaze locked onto Qiurui.
“So it was you?”
Qiurui threw herself flat against the floor.
“Since everything has been exposed, this servant has nothing more to say. I am willing to die to atone for my crimes.”
Lu Ningrou stared at her in apparent disbelief.
“Qiurui… I have always treated you well. Why would you do such a thing?”
Tears streamed down Qiurui’s face.
“I never intended to harm Your Ladyship. I only added a tiny amount to the soup. I trusted the Imperial Physician’s skill and believed both you and the imperial heir would survive.”
Ning Wuyu spoke lazily from the side.
“So you weren’t trying to harm Lady Zhaorong. You were trying to frame me and Zipei instead?”
“That wasn’t my intention. Si’er bumping into Sister Zipei while carrying the soup was purely a coincidence.”
Qiurui’s tears looked utterly sincere.
Ning Wuyu merely rolled her eyes and sneered.
Zipei also remained silent, refusing to dignify the explanation.
Wen Zhiyi, however, frowned.
The moment she’d heard that Qiurui had attempted suicide outside Luanming Palace, she’d sensed something wasn’t right.
Now Qiurui’s confession conveniently cleared Ning Wuyu, Zipei, and even mostly absolved Si’er.
But if that was the case…
How exactly did Qiurui intend to explain pinning the blame on her?
Before Wen Zhiyi could organize her thoughts, Ning Wuyu voiced the same question first.
“Then why were you trying to kill yourself outside Luanming Palace?”
Qiurui suddenly lifted her head.
Her eyes burned with naked hatred as she glared at Wen Zhiyi.
Wen Zhiyi frowned in confusion.
“You intend to frame me? Why?”
“Does Your Grace know that my family name is Chen?”
“So?”
“I am from Chen Village outside the capital!”
Qiurui’s voice dripped with hatred as she pointed accusingly at Wen Zhiyi.
“It was your father, Chancellor Wen, who seized our village’s homes and farmland! Because of him, my mother was driven from her home!”
“His Majesty has already ordered a full investigation,” Wen Zhiyi replied coolly, looking down at her. “No one knows the truth yet. What gives you the right to declare the Wen family guilty? Besides, those villagers themselves admitted that although they wandered homeless for months, no one died. Once the real culprit is found, justice will naturally be done for your mother.”
“Do you know…” Qiurui’s voice trembled with grief.
“…that my mother was six months pregnant when we were driven out?”
“No one cared about the unborn child.”
“But he was already fully formed… a baby boy.”
“My parents had waited years for a son to carry on the family line.”
“My mother had no midwife out in the wilderness.”
“When my little brother was finally born…”
“…he never took a single breath.”
Qiurui closed her eyes as tears poured down her cheeks.
Her bloodshot eyes filled with desperate resolve.
A sudden chill ran through Wen Zhiyi.
Something was terribly wrong.
“If everything has already been exposed…”
“…then I’ll gladly trade this worthless life…”
“…to avenge my little brother!”
With that, Qiurui ripped the hairpin from her hair and lunged straight at Wen Zhiyi!