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nThe empress arrived at Xihe Palace just in time to see a somewhat familiar palace maid carrying a basin of bloody water out.

n“This slave pays respects to Your Majesty the empress,” said Tingzhu, stopping in her tracks and curtsying the moment she had caught sight of the other party. Then she moved the basin away from the empress so that the coppery scent of blood wouldn’t drift her way.

n“No need to be so polite. How is your master right now?” Never had the empress imagined such a thing to occur. It didn’t matter whether or not Zhuang Laoyan had a place in the emperor’s heart. The fact that this situation happened pointed to a dereliction of her duty.

n“Reporting to Your Majesty the empress, Her Highness is still unconscious. The imperial physicians said that fortunately, the injury did not take her life. However, she has lost a lot of blood, and they cannot prescribe medicine that is too potent. She could only slowly recuperate,” said Tingzhu, eyes red. “Begging Your Majesty the empress to definitely uncover the culprit’s identity.”

nAnger and concern filled the empress’ expression. “This palace will definitely seek justice for Xianrong Zhao. Do not worry.” After she saw Tingzhu leave, the empress’ expression grew serious. Since there had been so much blood in the water, it meant the culprit truly wanted Zhuang Laoyan’s life. Perhaps because Zhuang Laoyan had sensed something, she avoided the attack, and subsequently, avoided death.

nThe empress called into mind that the dubious situations occurring recently all involved Zhuang Laoyan. Furthermore, it’s clear someone wanted to frame her, so much so that many people were implicated. It really made it hard for one to figure out who was behind everything. Just who held such a deep resentment toward Zhuang Laoyan?

n“Your Majesty the emperor, the empress has arrived.”

nFeng Jin’s expression darkened. “Let her in. In addition, summon the two noble consorts and Consort Ning here.”

nOnce the empress had entered the bedroom, she smelled the scent of herbal medicine. Mixed with it was the coppery scent of blood. After she had paid respects to the emperor, she carefully cast a glance at the Zhuang Laoyan lying in bed. Her brows couldn’t help but twitch. In the first place, Zhuang Laoyan had fair skin. But because she had lost so much bood, her face was as deathly pale as a sheet of paper. As if she would die if she couldn’t draw enough air into her lungs from a single breath.

n“Your Majesty, why does Xianrong Zhao look like this?” The empress sucked in a cold breath, eyes widening from disbelief.

n“If you don’t know, then how could We?” Feng Jin pushed his teacup to the side. His anger was evident. “You said to remove Xianrong Zhao’s name tag in order to let her rest and recover. We were recently busy with court matters and rarely visited the harem. Who would have known that things would become like this? Where are Xianrong Zhao’s allotments? Where are her servants? Or could it be that a xianrong only has two people waiting on her, and even the tea she drinks is old tea from the previous year?!”

n“Your Majesty, this concubine truly didn’t know that the servants in the Department of the Palace only complied in appearance,” said the empress, brows furrowed. “Recently, this concubine felt concerned about Xianrong Zhao’s health after her miscarriage, and so bestowed a good many things to her. Who would have thought she would get to this state?”

n“Noble Consort Shu has arrived. Noble Consort Xian had arrived. Consort Ning has arrived.”

nAs the empress watched the trio arrive, she did not have much of a reaction. Rather, she continued to explain to the emperor, saying, “Your Majesty, there is a fixed amount of servants arranged to wait on a xianrong. This concubine also did not have anyone remove any servants from Xihe Palace. As such, this concubine is in the dark regarding this matter.”

nThe moment the three consorts entered the bedroom, they heard the empress in the middle of those words. Furthermore, they saw Xianrong Zhao lying on the bed, whether she was dead or alive unknown. In a flash, they felt something was wrong. Who would have foreseen such a scene upon arriving at Xihe Palace?

nFollowing a round of paying respects to the emperor, the trio dared not open their mouths without careful consideration. They only watched as an imperial physician threw aside piece after piece of bloody cloth. There were silver acupuncture needles inserted into Zhuang Laoyan’s head, apparently to stop the bleeding.

n“Your Majesty, Xianrong Zhao’s bleeding has stopped. Approximately two hours from now, Her Highness should wake up.” The head physician carefully took some steps forward. “Her Highness’ injury is very severe. Moreover, it is on her head. Therefore, she must not be excited in the near future. It could kill her otherwise.”

n“We understand. You people only need to carefully treat Xianrong Zhao. If you lack anything, there will naturally be people who will supply you with what you need. If something happens to Xianrong Zhao…” Feng Jin looked at him with a cold gaze. Although he did not finish his sentence, the other party already knew what he meant.

nFollowing that, the emperor turned to the empress and the three consorts. “The empress manages the imperial harem and you three assist her. Yet, such a thing could still occur in the harem. If the harem is in this kind of a state, how could We still have the energy to deal with court and governmental matters?”

nSuch words were already quite damning. If the harem was in disorder, the emperor would not be in the mood to deal with the court. And this was proof of the empress’ incompetency. If the emperor wanted to depose the empress, just these words were enough.

nThe empress staggered, coming to a faint conjecture in her heart. One would fear that in this case, someone wanted to kill two birds with one stone. And it wasn’t only this time, but when Zhuang Laoyan had miscarried as well. The victims in both occasions were not only Zhuang Laoyan, but also the empress herself.

nThen the empress shifted her gaze to the trio. Before they had arrived, she begged the emperor for forgiveness. Although the empress did not like Zhuang Laoyan, that didn’t mean she liked other people using Zhuang Laoyan to scheme against her. “Your Majesty, this concubine will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly.”

nThe emperor nodded. Tone growing a bit gentler, he said, “We know it’s not easy for you to manage the imperial harem. Just investigate well. Don’t blame yourself too much.”

nNoble Consort Shu looked at the emperor and empress. In the end, her gaze fell upon the person lying in bed.

nOnce Zhuang Laoyan regained consciousness, her head pulsed with pain, a buzzing in her ears. The moment she moved, waves of nausea crashed into her.

n“Your Highness, you’ve awoken?” said Yunxi after seeing Zhuang Laoyan move. She blurted, “Don’t move. The imperial physician said you injured your head and cannot move carelessly.”

nThese words of Yunxi informed Zhuang Laoyan of what had occurred. Recently, she had noticed that someone had been watching her in secret. And so, she had purposely taken a stroll at the lotus pond to tempt that person into shoving her into the water. Since she knew how to swim, she wasn’t afraid of falling in. Yet who would have imagined that the other party would try to kill her and then toss her corpse into the pond? If Zhuang Laoyan had not known someone was behind her, and avoided the strike a little in the nick of time, she could have actually died.

nIn those palace intrigue dramas, people merely shoved their opponent into the water. Why was it that when it was her turn, the scheme became so bloody and violent? As a result, it was clear that relying on experience could sometimes kill someone. She was truly lucky; even in such a case, she did not lose her memory or become mentally disabled.

nDon’t support theft; read this at sleepchaser’s wordpress.

nIndeed, since she wasn’t a female lead, she did not get the illnesses associated with being one.

n“Beloved Concubine, you are awake?”

nJust as Zhuang Laoyan was about to turn her head, a warm hand stopped her. “Don’t move. We are sitting by your side.”

nHer eyes shifted to the side. What entered her line of sight was an expanse of bright yellow. When she tried hard to look higher, she saw the tired face of the emperor. But after he saw her awake, his expression carried a trace of a smile.

n“Your Majesty?”

nFeng Jin looked at Zhuang Laoyan’s dazed expression. And he knew she wasn’t quite clear headed yet. He softly said, “You’ve been seriously injured. For the next two days, you can’t move around.” He stroked her cheek in a gentle manner. “Do you remember what happened?”

n“This concubine doesn’t remember too clearly, and only recalls feeling something strange behind me. So this concubine turned to look. The moment this concubine was able to see a corner of that person’s clothes, this concubine heard a buzz…” Zhuang Laoyan looked at the emperor, the picture of puzzlement. “Your Majesty, did this concubine dream this all up?”

n“No. Someone tried to harm you.” Feng Jin pulled back his hand. Sighed. “Do you remember if that person was wearing the clothes of a palace maid or court eunuch?”

n“It appeared to be a palace maid’s clothes…” Zhuang Laoyan gazed at the person by her bedside dazedly. As if she still did not dare to believe that the emperor was sitting next to her.

n“A palace maid would have such strength?” Feng Jin sneered. “One would fear it’s a fake palace maid.”

n“Your Majesty, your honored self has not slept the whole night. It is already the third watch—”

n“You don’t have to mention it. We are very clear about Our own body,” said Feng Jin, gaze still fixed on the dazed Zhuang Laoyan.

nThere were many women in the imperial harem. However, few of them regarded him as a man or a husband. From the start until now, Feng Jin was clear how Zhuang Laoyan felt about him. Although he was flabbergasted that a woman would enter the palace purely for him, when it was all said and done, he found her special.

nNo matter how he thought about it or how he compared her with others, this woman wasn’t the best among them. Even though he favored her more than he did some people, it didn’t go as far as him being unable to do without her. However, the moment he discovered she had almost died due to his neglect, Feng Jin realized that the reason why he hadn’t frequented Xihe Palace recently was because of just that.

nOr perhaps he couldn’t do without someone loving him wholeheartedly. Or couldn’t do without a woman regarding him as purely a man, as purely a husband.

nNo matter the reason, in the end he couldn’t bear to see her die. The deep palace was lonely. He ought to keep a place where he could relax a little.

n“This concubine thought Your Majesty didn’t want to see me anymore.” Zhuang Laoyan stared at the emperor. “Your Majesty, this concubine did not harm Noble Lady Ye, and doesn’t know what happened…”

n“You don’t have to say any more. We already know.” Feng Jin helped pull the covers over her properly. “You’ve been severely injured. Don’t worry about this. We believe you.”

nJust the word “believe,” and her eyes brightened. Feng Jin’s heart softened. His original thought of leaving was given up on. He personally fed Zhuang Laoyan medicine. Only after seeing her drowsy did he leave the bedroom.

n“Reporting to Your Majesties the emperor and empress, this slave found this object at the rock garden to the side of the lotus pond.”

nThe moment Feng Jin heard those words, he looked at the object in question: a short hammer. Indeed the handle was short, but the head was very large. As such, if someone very strong hid it in their wide sleeve, practically no one would be able to tell. Like the clothes Zhuang Laoyan had seen that belonged to a palace maid.

nThe empress examined the bloodstain on the hammer’s head, and recalled Xianrong Zhao’s weak body. If this thing had struck her more accurately, and Zhuang Laoyan died, the emperor might resent her for this. So much so that he might punish her.

nAs such… just who could the culprit be?

nThe empress slowly shifted her gaze to the three people standing by the side.

nPlace your bets guys: which of the three?

nFor those of you still interested in advanced chapters, please read this post for more information. There are only three advanced chapters left this month, so if you pledge for a tier that gives four chapters now, you’re basically my suga daddi.

nIf you like this chapter, please rate

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nTwelfth chapter of The Times Spent in Pretense is out! You can read it here.

nAnother plug for the new BL tl group me and my friends formed: Perpetual Daydreams! I’ve started moving all of my BL novels there. Click here if you’re interested.

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