Zui Gu🔞 ( mtl)

84

　　 The truth of the past was finally revealed, but Xie Ci Yan did not feel relieved at all. It was as if there was a lingering black fog shrouding him, and waves of hatred seemed to crush his reason.

　　After hearing these words, the Queen Mother seemed to be shocked and lost her majesty. She stepped back in fear, grabbed the quilt on the bed and hugged it in her arms, murmuring: "No, no... I'm not afraid... I'm not afraid."

　　Xie Ci Yan retracted his gaze, but his slender fingers were quietly hooked by the woman behind him. He subconsciously looked back and saw that Yan Zhaozhao had a little cautious emotion on her face, but her fingertips were entangled more tightly, and her beautiful eyes were looking at him, as if saying, "I'm here."

　　The emotions in his heart seemed to have completely dissipated at this moment, and his heart was full of her. Xie Ci Yan curled his lips slightly, revealing a smile, and shook her hand back, saying softly, "I'm fine."

　　Seeing that the time was almost up, Yu Min should be back soon. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Xie Ci Yan had to go back first, still pretending that he knew nothing, but in fact, the things that were being planned behind the scenes also quietly accelerated.

　　Yan Zhao Zhao finally did not say that the empress dowager's madness was caused by poisoning, and only asked Yu Min not to burn soothing incense in the hall. Although Yu Min did not understand, she still did as she said and never burned soothing incense again. The empress dowager's madness was under control. She no longer mistook Yan Zhao Zhao for Concubine Ning as before, and she did not remember what she had said. She was sometimes clear-headed and sometimes confused.

　　Seeing the empress dowager's increasingly thin body, Yan Zhaozhao pretended to be worried and came to Shoukang Palace every day to take care of her. At first, Yumin was polite and said no, but every time she came, she would welcome her in. After getting used to it, she became less defensive against her and felt more at ease to let her and the empress dowager stay alone in the same palace.

　　She couldn't help but ponder. Obviously, there was no more incense burning in Shoukang Palace to calm the spirit. It should be no problem even if there was cinnabar hanging on the bed. But the empress dowager still hasn't recovered from her illness. Although she is not as crazy as before, she has not recovered.

　　Yan Zhaozhao couldn't help but think of a possibility. Maybe... the amount of drugs she and the empress dowager gave were different. Obviously, the amount of drugs the empress dowager inhaled was many times more than hers, otherwise the toxicity would not be so strong. The person behind the scenes didn't just want to scare the empress dowager, but wanted her to shut up and not speak normally anymore. What's worse, he wanted her to die.

　　In the past few days, she had been taking care of the sick, and she had been asking the empress dowager indirectly, to see if she had any thoughts about the person who harmed her. But no matter how Yan Zhaozhao asked, the empress dowager was still dull and indifferent, with gray and cloudy eyes. In just a few days, she had become several times more haggard, without the usual radiance on her body, and she was no longer wearing gorgeous and dignified palace clothes. There were only a few hairpins on her head, as if she had aged ten years.

　　"Your Majesty, Empress Chunfei has arrived--"

　　When the eunuchs' loud chanting came from outside, Yan Zhaozhao was sitting on the edge of the bed feeding the empress dowager a few mouthfuls of tranquilizing medicine. She paused, and then naturally placed the medicine bowl on the table, stood up and bowed towards the door of the palace.

　　When a pair of bright yellow shoes came into her sight, Yan Zhaozhao whispered, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Her every move was respectful and dignified, but there was no emotion in her eyes. The moment she noticed his gaze on her, a trace of disgust flashed in her eyes.