Chapter 897: Chapter 897: Who Should She Hate?
Cai Xia trembled, her neck craned and afraid to move, her eyes lowered in pleading: "Yes, I will certainly show Consort my loyalty. If Consort has any commands, I will neither fear boiling water nor fire."
"Very well then." Noble Consort Xue laughed, but the smile did not reach her eyes. She released the person with one hand and slowly wiped her hands with the handkerchief.
As she wiped her hands, she glanced at Cai Xia absentmindedly and murmured, "What a pity..."
As for what was a pity, Xue Wanjun did not finish her sentence, but Cai Xia understood it was a pity she didn’t cut her face!
She instinctively touched her face, frightened, avoiding those eyes as she bowed her head to the ground. She did not know when, but Consort began to become bloodthirsty. She always felt that bright red blood could excite Consort, which was truly terrifying.
Xue Wanjun finished wiping her hands, tossed the handkerchief aside, and said flatly to the one below, "Remember what you just said, now leave."
"Yes, Consort." Cai Xia felt as if she had been granted amnesty and crawled backward out.
"Wait."
The voice was like the sound of the king of hell urging death, causing Cai Xia to tremble instinctively, stopping her movements, stuttering: "Consort...what...what other command do you have?"
Xue Wanjun seemed to find this amusing, her lips curled into a smile, and then she spoke: "No need to be so afraid. If you are loyal to me, I will not treat you unfairly. You’ve served me well in the past, attending to me thoroughly, and I’ve seen it all. Now I have nothing but an abundance of yellow and white objects, it wouldn’t be right to let you serve for nothing. The box on the table is your reward, take it."
The tone was as gentle as before, as if what had just happened was an illusion.
Cai Xia was taken aback, looked up and saw the box, one foot square.
She hesitated, glanced at Xue Wanjun again discreetly, and dared not refuse, saying: "Thank you, Consort, thank you, Consort."
She got up hurriedly, went to the table to pick up the box, unexpectedly found it extremely heavy, and as she tried to leave, it slipped from her grip, spilling its contents all over the ground — shimmering silver ingots.
Her mouth opened wide. Even if she worked as a Palace Maid for a lifetime, she wouldn’t be able to accumulate so much genuine gold and silver.
The impatient voice came: "Why are you standing there dazed?"
"Forgive me, Consort, I will pick it up immediately." Cai Xia swallowed hard, hastily picking up the silver pieces and putting them back into the box, repeatedly saying before she left: "Thank you, Consort..." Her tone contained more sincerity than before.
After she left, Xue Wanjun’s expression turned cold. If it weren’t for the lack of people she could use now, she would definitely chop such a two-faced wretched maid and feed her to the dogs.
A person emerged from behind the curtain, and she turned her head to ask, "Is the matter handled?"
Cai Qin lowered her head calmly and said: "It is all taken care of, according to Consort."
Noble Consort Xue barely uttered a soft "um," tiredly closed her eyes, feeling physically and mentally exhausted.
The Xue Family was gone. From now on, she was alone... But when it had come to this point, what was there left to live for...
Her eyes slightly moist, she opened them, her face instantly cold, staring straight into the void ahead, her eyes carrying a fierce intent, the moisture disappearing without a trace.
She, Xue Wanjun, was born noble, for her to live humbly, bending to another’s will, she’d rather die!
The Punishment Bureau’s people were too naive, thinking she really was mad. She abandoned her pride and behaved like a lunatic, just to numb them and seize the opportunity to let Cai Qin out.
Cai Qin stood expressionlessly in the palace hall, as though she were invisible.
After a long time, Xue Wanjun spoke coldly: "That ancient recipe of beauty enhancing powder, was it Beauty Zhao or Attendant Zhou who schemed against me?"
Like the hunter being preyed upon, the ancient beauty recipe—she had sent several people to investigate and had it tried by the people below—all proved to have no problem.
Despite her caution and prudence, she still fell into the trap, it was indeed clever!
The beauty enhancing powder made from this ancient recipe was offered by Beauty Zhao, but initially originated from Attendant Zhou, after confirming its significant efficacy, she would always have some sprinkled into her tea.
If it hadn’t been for her sudden realization a few days ago, she would have still been kept in the dark.
She recalled how, each time after drinking tea infused with the beauty enhancing powder, a period later, she would become restless and easily agitated. Once stimulated, that agitation at the bottom of her heart would spiral out of control, increasingly intense!
Only it was realized too late, the poison was hard to remove. Though she stopped drinking the powder, the symptoms following the cessation were severe, causing her immense suffering, prompting her daily desire to quench that fury with fresh blood.
Others had no issues, yet she did—this ancient recipe she was sure was targeted particularly at her!
If her guess was correct, the few Western ingredients in it were surely peculiar, maybe especially targeting those with head ailments.
Further speculation suggested this ancient recipe had energizing effects, its beauty-enhancing results highly remarkable. Likely, for people like her, drinking it would dramatically trigger a surge of blood, raising to the crown.
If it were ordinary people, naturally there would be no problem, but for those with head ailments, whose blood circulation through the brain is problematic, that surging blood would rush up, causing splitting headaches, eyes turning red as if seeing a sea of blood, destroying sanity and making one nearly go mad, a killing intent growing in the heart, a brutish desire to destroy everything.
Xue Wanjun cared little about what kind of person she might become, nor about her own growing agitation. She only wanted those who schemed against her to wish they were dead!
Cai Qin said: "I do not know. Attendant Zhou is no longer in the palace now."
Xue Wanjun frowned: "Where did she go?"
Cai Qin shook her head: "The time of departure was too short, I have not found out."
Xue Wanjun fell silent for a long while, now trapped in a small space, as if blind, unaware even of news within the harem.
According to her estimation, Attendant Zhou’s cunning and methods surpassed Beauty Zhao’s, the highest possibility was this woman.
She held the fatal leverage over Beauty Zhao’s father and brother, logically, Beauty Zhao wouldn’t betray her. But after the Consort Zhen incident, she realized things were never absolute, she no longer dared to trust easily.
Looking at Cai Qin, the quiet figure always alongside her, Xue Wanjun’s eyes softened: "Cai Qin, now I only have you, only you. But even I don’t know when the day of death might come."
Speaking to the end, her throat suddenly grew bitter, difficult to express.
His Majesty’s heart was hard as iron, never recalling their past affections. In this life, hoping to attain that position was but a luxury. Even if she were unharmed, with the Xue Family charged with rebellion and treason, her chance was none.
She had contended with Liu Lingyi for a lifetime, that vile woman finally died, yet her own end was also miserable. Ha, truly a twist of fate...
Yet she was very unsatisfied, if only she hadn’t miscarried all those years ago, if the child in her womb was born safely and grew to this day, would she not have ended up like this? Would everything she wished for have come naturally?
Liu Lingyi had died, now who should she hate?