C105 (1/2)

This was already the fifth time he had knocked on the door, and the Yongle Palace guard's face was full of false apology. He leaned against the door and laughed: ”I am truly sorry Consort Fu, your body isn't well, and it is inconvenient for you to see a guest. The Empress gives the gift to this servant, and this servant will bring it in for you.”

, who had been waiting for a long time, could not help but spew out anger, ”Your Empress and my Empress are both consorts, there is no difference in status between high and low. The Yongle Palace is so far away from the Cheng Huan Hall, can your Empress close the door and sweep the guests just by saying that you are not feeling well?”

”My lady cannot breathe,” The guard rolled his eyes in his heart, ”But when Consort Hua is in a bad condition, I don't even see the emperor who came over from the Imperial Study. The Consort Fu isn't necessarily any nobler than the emperor, right?”

”You …” Shouxiang opened her eyes wide, clenched her teeth and said, ”Don't think that I don't know …”

”Shouxiang, hand the gift over to him,” the silent Li Xiuse said. ”Since Consort Hua is not feeling well, then I will come again another day.”

”Empress” Shouxiang saw Li Xiuse turning around to leave, and had no choice but to pass the gift to the guard. She hurried to keep up with her footsteps, ”Empress, wait for me.”

”Sigh.” Li Xiuse quickly walked to a spot around a dozen steps away from the Yongle Palace and lightly sighed, ”You're right.

Shouxiang curled her lips, ”Empress, Consort Hua punished the palace maids yesterday and caused such a commotion. Today, her body is not feeling well, and it is obvious that she is trying to fool Empress.”

”What can I do about it?” Li Xiuse said tiredly as she held her forehead. ”We can't go against the dragon embryo.”

Shouxiang muttered in dissatisfaction, and laughed weakly. She only felt empty in her heart, like a cold wind that had been poured into the beginning of autumn.

”Empress, what do you see?” Shouxiang suddenly stopped and pointed.

Li Xiuse looked over in a daze and saw that there was a pool of blood at the mouth of the alley in front of her. She covered her mouth in panic, preventing herself from screaming out.

”What …” Why would there be such a thing in the palace, and it's even a place near the Yongle Palace. ”

”Could it be that the Consort Hua left something behind when she dealt with the palace maids yesterday?” Shouxiang curiously went over to take a look.

Li Xiuse was startled, after hesitating for a moment, she followed her, only to see a palace maid covered in blood lying behind the pool of blood.

”Hurry up and see how the girl is doing.”

Shouxiang carefully walked into the alley. There were wounds on the face of the palace maid, some of them already scarred and still dripping with blood. Her lips were covered with blood, her eyes were tightly shut.

”Empress,” Shouxiang shook away the messy hair on the palace maid's face, ”This servant knows this person, it's Yongle Palace's palace maid, Ru Yan.”

”So it's someone from Consort Hua's side,” Li Xiuse said before turning around, ”Then I'll go look for someone from the Yongle Palace.”

Ru Yan woke up from her nightmare and raised her head from Shouxiang's hands, struggling to crawl towards him.

Shouxiang was shocked, and immediately pulled at the corner of her clothes. However, her clothes were tattered to begin with, and with a ripping sound, she ripped off a large part of it.

Ru Yan's body, which was covered with green and purple wounds, was exposed in front of him. Li Xiuse opened her eyes wide in shock, ”You are that palace maid that was punished by the Consort Hua, what kind of mistake have you made to beat her up like this?”

”Empress, it seems like someone cut Ru Yan's tongue,” Shouxiang pinched open her mouth, and said in a pitch black voice.

”Can she write?” A trace of sympathy flashed across Li Xiuse's eyes, ”Why would the Great Qin have a tongue cutting punishment?”

Ru Yan fiercely nodded her head, shakily dipped her finger in blood and wrote two words ”Save me”.

Li Xiuse revealed an awkward expression, ”You are from the Yongle Palace, so it is not convenient for me to interfere. How about I bring you to the Royal Hospital first, and then, the Consort Hua …”

Ru Yan shook her head in fear, she looked at her with pleading eyes and wrote another few words, ”You can't go back to Consort Hua”.

Shouxiang frowned, ”Ru Yan's tongue has been cut off and placed in this black alley. Consort Hua just wants her to die slowly here, and indeed, she can't return to Consort Hua's side anymore.”

”Then what should we do,” Li Xiuse said worriedly. ”If Consort Hua is determined to kill Ru Yan, what if we find out that she's still alive …”

Ru Yan prostrated on the ground and kowtowed a few times, writing ”Consort Hua killed me”.

”Yes, Consort Hua definitely wants to kill her,” Shouxiang thoughtfully nodded his head, ”But what kind of mistake did you make in the end?

Ru Yan's body froze, her fingers stopped in mid air, but she could not write a single word.

Shouxiang asked curiously: Could it be that you have something that's difficult to explain?

Li Xiuse saw that she did not react for a long time, and said: ”You wanted me to save you, but didn't tell you the reason.

Ru Yan's head slowly fell down, and smeared a few words on the ground, ”The Emperor wants me”.

”Oh,” Shouxiang suddenly realized, ”So Consort Hua wanted to kill you because the Emperor wanted you to, but this Consort Hua was pregnant and still had to stare at the people by her side.”

Li Xiuse frowned, ”The women in the palace serve the emperor alone, even if the emperor wanted you to, the Consort Hua should not treat you like this.”

Ru Yan's bloodshot eyes gushed with hot tears. She dragged her crippled body to kneel beside Li Xiuse's feet, her entire body trembling uncontrollably from the pain.

Shouxiang said softly: ”Empress, this servant thinks that Ru Yan is very pitiful. How about we help him?”

Seeing Ru Yan being tormented, Li Xiuse also couldn't bear it anymore, ”I want to save her too, but if Consort Hua finds out, then I'll be troubling you.”

Shouxiang gave Ru Yan a comforting smile, and lightly pushed her to the side. ”Empress, let me speak with you.”