Judging by how self-righteous these people looked, it was unlikely that they had poisoned anything. Last time she brought out the Laws of Great Xi. By rights, that should have been enough to keep the harem in check for a month without anyone daring to break the law.
Fu Xinghe wanted to know what was really going on with Xiao Fengfeng, but without Meng Dongting’s permission, she could not leave Wenhua Hall. She was not afraid of trouble, but this group had disturbed her afternoon nap. She needed to drive off Yu Feng first, that troublemaker, before the others would finally disperse.
Yu Feng was furious yet helpless. This matter truly had nothing to do with her. Moreover, the Noble Consort had personally eaten the pastries to prove they were not poisoned.
Yu Feng stood up and moved to the side, grinding her teeth as she watched. Gao Ni wanted to stand as well, but Yu Feng shot her a glare and forced her back down.
Fu Xinghe took a sip of tea. Her stomach was prone to hunger, so she picked up a plate of savory Yunnan ham pastries. “Did you not want an explanation?”
A group of people kneeling while watching her eat was quite a rare experience.
Top-grade Yunnan ham transported from the southwest was only allocated to Wenhua Hall. Fu Xinghe had been completely unsparing with ingredients in order to lure the tyrant. These people had benefited from it and yet did not know how to appreciate it.
Fu Xinghe tasted the tea and shared some with Ming Feng and Wu Qi.
When she bit into the pastry, the fragrance burst forth. The people around them could not help sniffing and swallowing their saliva.
Fu Xinghe broke off half and brought it close to her mouth. As soon as the meaty aroma hit her, a sudden, indescribable wave of nausea surged straight up her throat.
Her fingers clenched. She endured the nausea without showing it.
What was going on? This had not happened before. Has the ham’s flavor changed?
But the system showed no toxicity. Today, she was slapping the faces of the consorts. She absolutely could not spit it out. She paused briefly, then calmly put it into her mouth.
“Enough.”
Someone suddenly grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
Fu Xinghe’s nerves jumped. She saw a section of bright yellow sleeve gripping her wrist and reacted instinctively, slapping the hand away.
She could not let the tyrant touch her.
Meng Dongting had barely grabbed her before his hand was struck aside. His face darkened. “You dare strike me?”
Fu Xinghe replied, “I would not dare. I did not know it was Your Majesty”
Meng Dongting snorted coldly. “You are ungrateful.”
Something felt slightly off in Fu Xinghe’s heart. Had Meng Dongting stopped her because he saw she wanted to vomit?
Meng Dongting’s gaze lingered on her for a moment, displeased. “The Noble Consort dresses like this?”
Her sleeves were rolled up two folds, exposing a slender wrist white as snow. What kind of decorum was this?
Fu Xinghe played dumb and smiled. “What is improper?”
Yu Feng and the others bent their knees to salute the emperor. They waited a long time without hearing “rise,” only to overhear what sounded like flirtatious bickering. Seeing His Majesty dissatisfied with the Noble Consort’s attire, they finally regained a bit of confidence.
Inner garments with a sleeveless cotton outer robe, and she even came outside for everyone to see. It was an offense to propriety.
Meng Dongting could not be bothered with how the women of the harem dressed. Whether it was proper or not had nothing to do with him. When Fu Xinghe asked what was improper, he could not articulate exactly what he was displeased with, so he let the topic drop.
A quarter of an hour earlier, Fu Quan had briefly reported Xiao Fengfeng’s poisoning to Meng Dongting. After listening, Meng Dongting’s expression did not change. He handed the matter over to the inner court for investigation.
However, Fu Quan mentioned that the harem had taken to placing pastries in the imperial garden. If someone were secretly targeting the emperor, it could not be ignored. Meng Dongting never ate food handled by others. His eyes did not leave his memorials as he sneered, “The one making pastries must be truly foolish.”
Fu Quan added, “It seems the pastries were distributed to the various palaces by Noble Consort Qian.”
That was why His Majesty appeared at the gates of Wenhua Hall.
Fu Quan immediately followed along. He had said it before. The Noble Consort was not simple.
Meng Dongting asked, “What are you all crowding around Wenhua Hall for?”
Yu Feng was just about to speak when Meng Dongting decided he did not want to hear her. Chattering endlessly, coming here just to watch the spectacle.
Ignoring them did not mean he did not understand.
Meng Dongting stared at Fu Xinghe’s bare, unpowdered face. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind. No wonder Fu Xinghe had looked less sharp upon entering the palace during the consort selection than she had in the brothel. It turned out the cosmetics were simply ugly.
“Did I not tell you to stay properly inside Wenhua Hall?”
Fu Xinghe shot back, “When people are kneeling outside Wenhua Hall, am I supposed to ignore it?”
Meng Dongting said, “Why can you not? Now that you have come out, can you investigate the truth behind Talented Lady Xiao’s poisoning?”
That single “why can you not” made Yu Feng and Yan Pianpian’s faces change.
The Noble Consort had nearly been saddled with a death case, and His Majesty was protecting her like this?
Fu Xinghe understood perfectly. Meng Dongting was not trusting her or protecting her. It was because everyone around her was an informant. Meng Dongting trusted Xia Mian and Wu Qi.
She pressed the advantage. “This consort can try.”
Meng Dongting was curious what abilities she had. Since there were no pressing matters at the moment, he said, “Such big words.”
A large group moved in force toward Chuxiu Palace, where Talented Lady Xiao resided. Fu Xinghe deliberately requested that the onlooking consorts be brought along as well.
Since Meng Dongting had given her this chance to establish authority, she intended to make full use of it.
Chuxiu Palace.
Xiao Fengfeng’s poisoning symptoms were severe. Her lips were blue, her eyes tightly shut.
Fu Xinghe blinked. A line of red numbers jumped before her eyes, dropping all the way from eighty-seven to thirty.
She guessed that the system meant that after the imperial physicians’ treatment, the toxin in Xiao Fengfeng’s body had been reduced from deadly to ordinary. Her life was no longer in danger.
Yu Feng suddenly began to sob softly. “Sister Xiao likes sweets. She must have failed to restrain herself for a moment and thus poisoned herself so badly.”
The imperial physician was not very old and moved efficiently. He opened a food box and revealed the glutinous rice cakes inside. “Your Majesty, after examination, the poison Talented Lady Xiao ingested came from the glutinous rice cake that remained in her mouth, un-swallowed.”
Fu Xinghe asked, “Are the remaining glutinous rice cakes poisonous? Is the poison on the surface or inside?”
The physician replied, “The remaining ones are not poisonous. The poison should have been inside the glutinous rice cake.”
Yan Pianpian said, “Then the poison was not added later. It was already inside when the cakes were made. And only the top few were poisoned, which Sister Xiao happened to eat. Is that correct?”
Yu Feng followed immediately. “If Sister Xiao had not been greedy and eaten several pieces, it might not have acted so quickly. Is that so?”
The physician hesitated, then nodded.
The room was heavy with medicinal smells and poorly ventilated. Fu Xinghe suddenly recalled the Yunnan ham pastry that had made her nauseous earlier. She raised a hand to press her philtrum and took a moment to steady herself. In that brief pause, Yu Feng and Yan Pianpian had already displayed impressive investigative prowess.
Fu Xinghe asked, “How do you determine that the poison was present when the glutinous rice cake was made?”
Seeing that His Majesty’s peripheral vision kept drifting toward the Noble Consort, the physician answered cautiously. “In reply to Your Highness, if poison powder had been sprinkled on the outside, it would inevitably contaminate the other pastries and the plate. However, after my examination, I found that neither the plate nor even Talented Lady Xiao’s fingers were contaminated with poison powder.”
Yu Feng hurried forward two steps, half-kneeling by Xiao Fengfeng’s bed and grasping her fingers, looking deeply affectionate. Inside, she was growing anxious. The evidence was already so clear. Why had His Majesty still not spoken?
Fu Xinghe summoned a maid from Chuxiu Palace and asked, “Where did Talented Lady Xiao go this morning?”
The maid answered, “The Lotus Appreciation Pavilion.”
Fu Xinghe said, “With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Talented Lady Xiao liked to admire withered leaves and dead lotus flowers?”
“This servant… this servant does not know.”
Once she said that, the others finally caught on. The Lotus Appreciation Pavilion was on the northwest side of the imperial garden, in a relatively secluded spot. After the lotus flowers withered, few people went there.
People went to the imperial garden hoping for a chance encounter with the emperor. What was Xiao Fengfeng doing alone there?
Yu Feng said, “Sister Xiao’s life hung by a thread. Why does Your Highness make such conjectures?”
Fu Xinghe replied, “Are you not also conjecturing about this consort?”
Yu Feng said, “Your Highness ” “Silence!”
Fu Xinghe walked to the bed and spoke to Xiao Fengfeng. “If you can speak, wake up for this consort. Even if you resent me, even if you wanted to die, if you dared drag me down with you, you would bear the consequences. I know where the remaining poison powder is the moment I see it. I will give you one more chance. I will count to three. Three, two ”
Fu Xinghe extended one finger. Deliberately or not, it pointed straight toward the windowsill.
On the windowsill, a tiny red dot appeared. It was easy to miss if one was not paying attention. The number displayed was exactly [87], proving it was the same poison Xiao Fengfeng had ingested.
“Your Majesty! The Noble Consort is threatening an unconscious person, ” Yu Feng shouted loudly.
The next moment, Xiao Fengfeng slowly woke up. Her face, already bloodless, turned even paler.
She looked at Fu Xinghe. Her eyes were filled with both hatred and fear. She hated Fu Xinghe for cutting off her future. She feared the direction of Fu Xinghe’s finger.
Fu Xinghe withdrew her aggressive stance and took a sip of the chrysanthemum tea Xia Mian handed her.
“How have I wronged you?” Fu Xinghe sat down by the bed, adopting the posture of a long, earnest conversation.
Xiao Fengfeng was sweet-looking. Even with a hoarse voice, she sounded like she was acting coquettish or complaining. “I did not want to enter the palace. It was Your Highness who forced me.”
“Oh?” Fu Xinghe raised her brows. “Was there anyone present who filled in ‘do not accept reassignment’ and was still selected by me?”
As the Noble Consort and Yu Feng dueled, the other consorts, previously huddled like quails, finally dared to speak. “…No.”
Fu Xinghe said, “And you?”
Xiao Fengfeng clutched the blanket and said bitterly, “My father wanted me to enter the palace. How could I fill in that I did not accept reassignment?”
Fu Xinghe pointed at Gao Ni. “Come. Repeat what I said that day.”
Gao Ni was suddenly called out. She panicked and replied tremblingly, “Your Highness said that the answer sheets would all be destroyed together, and no second person would see them.”
Fu Xinghe reasoned calmly. “See? Everyone here has ears. You did not trust me, yet you wanted me to see into your heart. Where in this world do such good things exist? Does the entire world owe you?”
Xiao Fengfeng suddenly shrieked, “Yes, I did not trust the Noble Consort. But there was still the final body inspection. I have a birthmark on my inner thigh. There was no way I could pass. But Noble Consort, you canceled it!”
Yan Pianpian suddenly spoke up for Fu Xinghe. “That day, Your Highness only said that you yourself did not wish to go. You did not require us not to go.”
It was just that the Noble Consort had taken the lead in rebellion. Everyone felt justified and seized the chance to avoid the body inspection. Fu Gonggong had asked twice, and no one made a sound.
Fu Xinghe’s original intent had been to protect women. Yet someone had come to resent her for it. She shook her head. “You cared about your pride and brought suffering upon yourself. Even before the selection results were announced, before I left the palace, even before the day after you entered, if you had asked someone to tell me that you did not wish to enter, I would naturally have had a way to keep you out.”
Meng Dongting coughed in displeasure. I am not dead yet, and Fu Xinghe dares to speak so freely. Does she think of herself as the Empress Dowager?
Everyone was immersed in the Noble Consort’s sharp words and godlike investigation. That single cough jolted them awake.
The emperor’s consorts were not ordinary household concubines. They were not people a wife could dismiss at will. Moreover, the Noble Consort was not even the empress. There had never been such precedent. His Majesty must be displeased.
Thinking this, Yu Feng and the others held their breath and waited.
They waited and waited. They waited for the Noble Consort to say something even more outrageous, yet His Majesty made no further response. Everyone: ??? Has His Majesty been angered into leaving?
Xiao Fengfeng cast a timid glance at the emperor, her heart sinking into despair.
Fu Xinghe rolled up her fallen sleeve. “If there are no objections, then it is this consort’s turn to speak.”
“This consort does not possess supreme insight, but my eyes are not blind, nor is my heart. During the selection, your performance was clearly very proactive. When you sat down, you even poured me a cup of water. Yet you say you did not want to enter the palace. Then I surmise that you had someone you loved. But during the selection, when you saw His Majesty’s noble bearing, you were tempted by his looks and changed your mind, wanting to enter the palace.”
Xiao Fengfeng shuddered. She had clearly been hit on the mark.
Fu Xinghe continued, “With your looks, you were invincible in Jinling. Act a little coquettish and you could get anything. But you have been in the palace for half a month, and His Majesty has not glanced at you once. You could not bear the gap, so you began to blame this consort.”
Bringing deadly poison into the palace was a capital crime. A consort committing suicide was a capital crime. Framing the Noble Consort was a capital crime. Xiao Fengfeng knew she could not escape death. She vented, “So what if it is? Do you know? Because I entered the palace, Changhan married someone else. He said he would marry no one but me…”
Unable to gain the emperor’s favor, and watching her former lover marry another woman, Xiao Fengfeng had once gone everywhere surrounded by admirers. With a soft voice, she could provoke men into fighting over her.
But after entering the palace, she had nothing.
Unwilling to accept it and not knowing whom to hate, she thought of Fu Xinghe, who had been the center of attention on the day of selection. Without realizing it, hatred gathered.
She split open the glutinous rice cake, poured the poison powder inside, and in her haste, stuffed the medicine packet into a crack in the windowsill. At the Lotus Appreciation Pavilion, she deliberately ate half of the poisoned cake, leaving half in her mouth.
Either she would die, or she would frame the Noble Consort and gain the emperor’s pity.
What she had not expected was that the Noble Consort would spot where she had hidden the medicine packet at a glance.
“You abandoned him first. You chose your own path. You cannot blame others.”
Everyone’s gaze toward Xiao Fengfeng shifted from initial sympathy to shock and condemnation. They dared not even raise their heads to look at the Noble Consort. Young and hot-blooded, they had rushed to demand an explanation from her at the first sign of trouble. Yet since entering the palace, the one who had shown the most overt concern for them was also the Noble Consort. With parents absent and no one else to turn to, there was no second person who would personally make pastries for them like she did.
Fu Xinghe glanced at the dog emperor, then turned her gaze to the other stunned consorts. “This consort stays shut inside all day, yet fears you will be lonely. Every few days I distribute snacks. I have done my utmost. Is there anyone else who does not wish to enter the palace? I will give you another chance. Speak up today, and I will resolve it all at once.” No one spoke.
Fu Xinghe’s gaze swept across their faces one by one. “There will not be a next time.”
She chose them. She was responsible for them. Meng Dongting’s rule truly ruined lives.
A gust of west wind blew in through the wide-open window. Fu Xinghe had dressed lightly and felt a chill.
It was as if Meng Dongting only now remembered that he was the one with the final say. He frowned and said, “Someone, take ”
The red numbers on Xiao Fengfeng’s body suddenly flickered. Fu Xinghe clearly heard the system issue two warning beeps.
In a flash, Fu Xinghe raised her voice. “Have you had enough of this consort’s spectacle? Anyone who wants to be punished alongside Xiao Fengfeng can stay and keep watching!”
As soon as the words fell, Yu Feng and the others filed out in a stream. His Majesty was handsome, but no one doubted his brutal methods. Since the Noble Consort thoughtfully spared them from watching, then they would not watch. The room returned to quiet. Xiao Fengfeng lay on the bed, deathly still.
Fu Xinghe’s eyes were cold. “Strip Xiao Fengfeng of her Talented Lady title. Send her back to Jinling and inform her parents of her crimes.”
In her current physical condition, the long journey would cost her half her life. Returning to Jinling, she would be bedridden.
But it was still better than letting the tyrant deal with her.
Meng Dongting cast Fu Xinghe a flat look, seeming to mock her womanly softness.
Afraid she could not establish authority and unwilling to show weakness before the other consorts, yet acting arrogant before him.
Hah.
“Let there not be a next time,” Meng Dongting said.