The Battle of the Noble Ladies (Book 2)

Chapter 4 - Evil Spirit

Translator Xiaobai: Mmm guys, this is embarrassing but Zhou Weizhao is the Crown Prince's son, not grandson. I apologize for the mistakes T_T If I have the time, I will go back to the last 200 chapters and fix it...sigh.

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Empress Dowager Rongxian stood in Hanzhang Hall. The weather today was clearly not very cold, but she felt as if every pore in her body was being blown up by the wind, with the cold seeping into her limbs, freezing her so that she couldn't move.

Chief Physician Sun exchanged glances with Chief Physician Chen, both seeing their own pale faces reflected in each other's eyes—first the Crown Prince, then the Crown Prince's heir; the word "conspiracy" practically hung in the air. Those who got involved in such palace struggles rarely came out unscathed...

"It's... just like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince... poisoned!" he forced out the words before collapsing to the ground like a pile of mud, feeling as though his time was up.

Empress Dowager Rongxian had anticipated this. Looking at Zhou Weizhao's face, which was no different from Zhou Ji's, it was easy to guess that he had also been poisoned. However, the fact was that she had never intended to drag Zhou Weizhao into this; it was an unnecessary move! The mere weight of one Crown Prince Zhou Ji was enough to send Noble Consort Song and the Song family to their doom!

But who was it?! That greedy snake, Prince Duan, who wanted to swallow an elephant! It had to be him. He not only wished for the Crown Prince's death but also hoped for the complete destruction of the Crown Prince's family, so that no one would stand in his way...

Countless thoughts raced through her mind. She steadied herself and suddenly turned to glare at the Empress, saying furiously, "If it weren't for your indulgence, how could things have reached such a point?!"

No matter what, even if Prince Duan was behind this, she had to continue playing her part, keeping the scheme in motion. She had meticulously plotted for the Princess of Zhennan's favor, and it could not be disrupted by such a small incident. The lives of hundreds from Prince Tai and Duke Cheng's household, along with Wang Jinsi, were all watching her from below. She had to send them all down to accompany her loved ones in death.

Feeling as fearful as a corpse, she widened her eyes in panic. If anything unfortunate happened to the Crown Prince, at least there was still the Crown Prince's son, but if something happened to him too...

Old Lady Chen wasn't much better off; her husband was famously loyal, and if the Eastern Palace were to fall into chaos, the Chen family would likely be the first to face the reckoning...

The Empress lowered her eyes, her face looking somewhat terrifyingly pale. She stared intently at her grandson, whose lips were blue and purple, for a moment, then suddenly turned to glare at Chief Physician Sun and Chief Physician Chen: "It's been three days already, and you still can't find out what poison it is?!"

All the poisons in the palace were meticulously documented. There were strict records of who had received what and at what time. As long as they knew the type of poison, they could trace back to who had administered it.

Even Chief Physician Sun, who was usually calm and steady, couldn't maintain his composure at this moment. His legs shook like sifted chaff as he knelt on the ground: "I have practiced medicine for over forty years and have never encountered such poison before..."

"Finding the person who poisoned them will naturally lead us to the antidote," Empress Dowager Rongxian looked down at the Empress with a cold glance, her voice returning to its usual aloofness. "Seal the palace and conduct a thorough investigation. With the palace's guards so strict, it must be someone from within the palace. If we don't get to the bottom of this, it's likely that both you and I will end up poisoned!"

As she spoke, her eyes caught a glimpse of Old Lady Song, who had her head bowed and seemed extremely anxious. A faint, contemptuous smile flickered at the corners of her mouth. Don't you dare leave, old hag; today your entire Song family is going to be buried here.

Outside, there was a thunderous roar of loyal shouts, and inside the room, there was a moment of silence, with the timid, like Madam Guo, already collapsing to the ground.

Old Lady Song squeezed Song Chuyi's palm, prompting her to immediately lower her head in a respectful manner. However, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a flash of bright yellow clothing crossing the threshold.

Emperor Jianzhang entered with his hands clasped behind his back, ignoring the dark mass of people kneeling on the ground, all shouting "Long live the Emperor!" He walked straight to the Empress Dowager to pay his respects, then supported the Empress beside him. His eyes, still full of vitality, fixed firmly on Zhou Weizhao, who was lying on the couch. He spoke in a calm voice, "What's going on?"

Empress Dowager Rongxian waved her sleeve and coldly laughed. "What's going on?! I only just found out that both my grandson and great-grandson have been poisoned in the Eastern Palace. The absurdity is that we haven't even caught a glimpse of the murderer's shadow! If this gets out, how will the world view our royal family?!"

She ignored Emperor Jianzhang's increasingly grim expression and continued in a flat tone, "Your son and grandson are lying here. He is the heir to the Great Zhou. Are you just going to sit back and watch the murderer go free?! The late emperor is watching you from above."

The Crown Princess Lu's expression was unusually dark as she suddenly glanced at the Empress Dowager, her eyes filled with unmasked resentment and malice.

"The Eastern Palace has been under martial law since two days ago. Besides the serving maids and myself, only the Empress and the Crown Princess have free access," Emperor Jianzhang's face showed no signs of joy or anger, and his tone was very calm. "How did Chen Xiang manage to bring the Imperial Guards in?"

He suddenly pointed the finger at Chen Xiang, leaving Empress Dowager Rongxian momentarily speechless.

"The Grandson is right in the Eastern Palace and hasn't gone anywhere. The maids coming in and out are all accounted for," Emperor Jianzhang coldly curled his lips, turning to Eunuch Feng and saying, "Go summon the Imperial Guard's Deputy Commander Chen Ping and instruct him to detain everyone who has entered or exited in the past two days, as well as all the maids of the Eastern Palace. Conduct an on-the-spot interrogation."

It seemed that the situation was straying from the path she had originally envisioned. Empress Dowager Rongxian's eyes darkened as she spoke up in agitation, "Your Majesty! We should seal the palace and thoroughly investigate the Six Palaces..."

"Mother, this seems a bit inappropriate," Emperor Jianzhang looked at her, his eyes like an unfathomable abyss. "After all, this is a matter within my palace. As you said, if it gets out, it might provoke ridicule from the world. No matter who did it, one cannot just poison someone out of thin air. I will have the Imperial Guards check the records of entries and exits, and closely interrogate these serving maids. There's no need for you to worry."

However, from the moment Zhou Weizhao was poisoned until their arrival, only a brief period had passed. She couldn't help but fear whether the poisoner would escape. If they were unfortunate enough to be caught by Chen Ping, that iron-faced executioner, even a dead person would have to speak before dying...

She felt an intense panic, as if the Song family, who had already one foot in the grave, now resembled the fearsome figures in paintings—ghostly and terrifying, enough to send shivers down one's spine with just a glance.

"You all," Emperor Jianzhang disregarded her current expression and turned to the group of physicians, lifting his chin slightly. "Quickly determine what poison the Crown Prince and the Grandson have been afflicted with and how to resolve it. The palace sustains you; it's not to have you say you've never seen this or that you don't know anything."

Chief Physician Sun wiped the cold sweat dripping from his forehead, exchanged a glance with Chief Physician Chen, and responded in a panic.

Emperor Jianzhang turned back to the group of titled ladies and instructed them to rise, "It's rare for you to visit the palace, and yet you witnessed these events... Quite the coincidence indeed."