Zui Gu🔞 ( mtl)

85

　　After that day, the emperor never came to Shoukang Palace to see the empress dowager again. The gate of Shoukang Palace was also ordered to be closed. No concubine was allowed to come here to pay respects without permission. Even the number of servants was reduced by half. Only Aunt Yumin could serve the empress dowager. The remaining palace maids could only do the cleaning work outside the inner palace, and they could not even see the empress dowager. The

　　Shoukang Palace, which was once so prosperous, seemed to have become a cold palace overnight. Aunt Yumin looked at the Shoukang Palace, which was so different, and couldn't help crying. She vaguely realized that someone wanted to harm the empress dowager because of the sudden madness, but the imperial doctors who were invited said that the empress dowager had no signs of poisoning, and there was nothing wrong in the palace. The empress dowager seemed to have been frightened and had gone crazy. There was no reason to believe it.

　　But because of this, Yumin was more convinced that the empress dowager was harmed by someone. She had no evidence, so she could only take good care of the empress dowager with all her strength, hoping that one day she would return to normal.

　　The door of the inner palace was suddenly opened, and a beautiful figure walked in. She took off her cloak to keep warm and placed it on the soft couch beside her, then slowly walked towards the bed. Yumin's pupils shrank, and her voice unconsciously became higher, "Empress?! How come you... are here?"

　　Yan Zhaozhao smiled softly, and the bright smile on her face seemed to melt the fluffy snow outside the palace, making people feel warm. "Auntie forgot? I came here to serve you."

　　Auntie Yumin was stunned for a moment, and then she reacted and whispered, "Empress, this is not allowed. The emperor has already ordered that no concubines can enter Shoukang Palace without permission. If they are found out, they will be punished!" She sighed that the queen could have such a rare thought, but after all, she couldn't break the rules. "Your Highness, I'll be fine with you, please go back quickly, and be careful not to be discovered."

　　Yan Zhaozhao still stood there, and asked softly, "Excuse me, aunt, am I still a concubine?"

　　Yumin was startled, and then smiled knowingly after she realized what was going on. The emperor's decree explicitly prohibited the concubines from coming to pay respects, but the queen was the mother of a country, so how could she be considered a concubine? How could there be a place in the harem that the queen could not go to?

　　Yan Zhaozhao naturally took the medicine bowl from Yumin's hand, "Don't worry, aunt. I heard that the emperor has been busy with state affairs recently and has no time to care about things like Shoukang Palace. The emperor has not ordered anyone to guard outside the Shoukang Palace. How can I not come to serve my mother?" She smiled at Yumin, sat on the bed with elegant manners, and carefully fed the tranquilizing medicine in her hand into the empress dowager's mouth little by little, "Besides, this huge Shoukang Palace has to be managed by aunt alone. I think she must be exhausted. Aunt is an old man who serves my mother. If she has suffered so much, she will probably feel distressed when my mother recovers from her illness."

　　Yumin's eyes were slightly red. After decades in the harem, she had already seen through the warmth and coldness of the people in the palace. Most of them stood by and watched when it had nothing to do with their own interests, or even added insult to injury, but this was the first time she saw someone who helped her in times of trouble.

　　Yumin, who knew the emperor's character and had never complained about him, could not help but feel resentful at the strong contrast. If the emperor had listened to the Empress Dowager and got along well with the Empress, he would not have such a dissolute reputation now.

　　Yumin sighed in her heart and bowed to Yan Zhaozhao sincerely, "Thank you very much, Empress, for your consideration."

　　"Get up." She seemed to suddenly remember something, "When I came here, I ordered the imperial kitchen to stew the blood swallows. It should be almost done now. Aunt, please go to the imperial kitchen. I want to use some for my mother."

　　How could Yumin disobey? After bowing, she went to the imperial kitchen to fetch the blood swallows.

　　As soon as she left, Yan Zhaozhao walked to the Queen Mother's bed without delay. Seeing that she was still in a daze, she lowered her voice and asked softly, "Does the Queen Mother still remember Concubine Chun Yan Zhiman?"

　　The Queen Mother might not have heard clearly, and she was still staring blankly ahead, shaking her body from time to time, as if she couldn't hear Yan Zhaozhao's words at all. She had no choice but to patiently ask again, patting the back of her hand with her fingertips.

　　The Queen Mother seemed to have sensitively heard Yan Zhiman's name, or heard her title. Her eyes were suddenly startled, and she dodged Yan Zhaozhao's hand and made a gesture to her to shut up.

　　"What's wrong? Is the Queen Mother afraid of Concubine Chun?"

　　The Queen Mother lowered her voice a little, looked around, and when she was sure that there was no one else here, she whispered: "Don't say that name, she...she will hear it!"

　　Yan Zhaozhao frowned and continued to induce the Queen Mother, "There is no one here, she won't hear it, tell me, why are you so afraid of her?"

　　She was still terrified, her eyes dodged, "She, she will hear it...She has a glowing insect that can hear me talking!" As soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to be worried that she would be heard if she let it slip. She suddenly lifted the quilt and buried her head deep in it, mumbling, "I didn't say, I didn't say..." After saying

　　this, Yan Zhaozhao couldn't help but become more confused. What is a glowing insect? Why is the Queen Mother so afraid of this insect?

　　She suddenly remembered the fireflies that Xie Ci Yan had taken her to see in the suburbs, and thought to herself, could the so-called glowing insect be the firefly? But what is there about that kind of firefly that makes the Queen Mother so afraid? It will not harm humans, and is even afraid of humans, so how could it hear what the Queen Mother said?

　　Perhaps there is only one possibility, that is, the glowing insect is not a firefly, but a kind of insect that will scare the Queen Mother.

　　Yan Zhaozhao wanted to continue asking what kind of insect it was, but no matter what she said, the Queen Mother had already turned a deaf ear to her and kept saying that she did not reveal anything about the insect.

　　She sighed lightly, and guessed that Yumin would soon come back from the imperial kitchen, so she had to give up and wanted to continue to inquire tomorrow.

　　After serving the Queen Mother to eat the stewed blood swallow, Yumin fed the Queen Mother some tranquilizing soup. Seeing that it was getting late, Yan Zhaozhao returned to Fengyi Palace first.

　　On the way, she also asked Biluo to quietly go to Jinyuan and asked Xie Ciyan to find out what kind of insects in the world can glow and cause harm to the human body. If I guessed correctly, the Queen Mother went crazy like this, in addition to the poison mixed with cinnabar and datura, there were also the so-called glowing insects.

　　Yan Zhaozhao felt vaguely that she had touched the door to the truth.

　　That night, Yan Zhaozhao lay on the bed and went to bed early. When she was drowsy, she suddenly heard a loud noise in her ears. She sat up abruptly and listened carefully. It turned out to be the death knell.

　　Eight consecutive sounds of the death knell were heard continuously, startling everyone in the harem.

　　The Queen Mother passed away.