"What do you mean? Did Consort He send you? How dare she?"
Consort He had long lost the strength to support herself and collapsed to the ground. People coming and going around didn't pay her any attention. Now that they saw her showing signs of life, no one cared either, which gave the maid an opportunity.
The maid bent down slightly, her fingers constantly rubbing the medicinal powder in her hand. She didn't flinch at all when facing Consort He's hideous face.
"Shh, Your Ladyship, just keep quiet. Otherwise, if you alert others, you'll just die faster."
Consort He never expected that Consort He still wouldn't let her go. She gritted her teeth.
"I haven't revealed a single word that shouldn't be said. Why still won't she let me go? Go and tell her that I've cooperated with her for so long and I still have something on her..."
Her voice suddenly stopped as the maid's hand grabbed her neck.
"Don't you understand even now? It's precisely because you know too much that the young miss made this choice. Your Ladyship can rest assured. I'll wrap you in straw mats so that you won't be torn apart by wild dogs."
The maid gently waved her hand in the air, and the colorless and odorless powder was quickly inhaled by Consort He.
Consort He stared wide - eyed. In the blink of an eye, blood oozed from her seven orifices, and she died with her eyes wide open.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, the maid made a gesture towards the door.
Consort He almost collapsed to the ground. After receiving the news she wanted, she staggered away.
What she didn't know was that just as soon as she left, Shoukang Palace was strictly guarded.
The maid was about to quietly retreat when her hand was grabbed.
When she saw who it was, she panicked. It was too late to escape.
"Auntie, weren't you already asleep?"
She felt that her hand was almost being crushed, and cold sweat continuously oozed from her forehead.
Xiao Xiao sneered and kicked her in the abdomen. Just like that, her body flew out like a kite with a broken string.
The maid's body trembled, and blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. When she got up, she still wanted to argue: "Auntie, you've misunderstood. I just thought Consort He seemed a bit strange. I didn't expect that she had taken poison. I was just about to go and call you."
"Oh? So you care about Consort He more than this old woman. I should have let you watch over her from the beginning."
Looking up in the direction of the voice, Shi Muwang and Ji Heng were wearing ambiguous smiles on their faces. The maid was greatly startled and became even more flustered.
"Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, why are you awake?"
"Humph, this old woman would like to ask, why is a little maid like you so concerned about the consort in the middle of the night? Moreover, the consort died at just the right time, didn't she?"
"I, I don't know anything. Empress Dowager, this has nothing to do with this slave. I just thought the consort seemed strange, so I came over to take a look. I didn't expect, I didn't expect..."
"Didn't expect her to suddenly die, right?"
Shi Muwang thought it was ridiculous. She forcefully pulled the maid's hand out from behind her back. Just then, Shoukang Palace was brightly lit, as bright as day. The powder that hadn't fallen off her fingernails was thus exposed to everyone's sight.
Xiao Xiao stepped forward in time to identify it.
"Your Highness, it's right. This is the poison that made Consort He die suddenly."
The young girl raised her eyebrows, and her look at the maid already carried a bit of sharpness.
The maid was so frightened that she cried and took out the things she had just received from Consort He.
"Please spare me, Empress Dowager. I was just bewitched by money. Recently, my parents at home had an accident. I had no choice but to listen to the young miss."
"Snort, you call her so affectionately. It seems you've long regarded her as your master. I never keep people with divided loyalties here. Someone, since she likes the young miss so much, remember to send her to the young miss later to celebrate her promotion to a concubine. But I don't want to hear any inappropriate words come out of her mouth."
"Yes."
Soon, the maid was taken away.
Actually, Shi Muwang really wanted to expose all of Consort He's false facades that night, but the young emperor was afraid that she had some other tricks up her sleeve. To eliminate future troubles, they could only keep her for the time being.
However, it wasn't easy to keep her. If they didn't give her a warning, she might not know how high the sky was and how thick the earth was.
"Thank you, Mother, for listening to me."
"You still need to be on guard. I've already had someone get rid of that gu worm."
"Mother, don't worry. The imperial consort selection is about to be on the agenda soon."
"Do as you say. Announce Consort He's death tomorrow and hand it over to the Minister of Dali Temple."
"Does Mother want this to become an unsolved case?"
"No, no, no. What crushes a camel is never the last straw but every single one. Your Majesty, go back first. It's too dirty here. Don't soil your eyes."
Ji Heng responded and quickly left Shoukang Palace.
Shi Muwang had Xiao Xiao arrange everything properly and just waited to watch the good show the next day.
...
The next day, the news that Consort He had died in the harem spread like a bird with wings and soon flew throughout the entire Changjing City.
During the morning court, the ministers were whispering to each other below.
"Your Majesty, Consort He's death is really strange. Now that the imperial consort selection is approaching soon, we mustn't let this matter continue to ferment. How about having the officials from the Inner Palace Affairs Office investigate what exactly happened? Although Consort He didn't have much influence, she was still a consort in the palace."
Some words were left unsaid, and those present weren't all fools.
Following this, Ji Heng turned to look at the others.
"What do you all think is the appropriate way to handle this matter?"
"We'll all follow Your Majesty's instructions."
"In that case, let the Minister of Dali Temple investigate what exactly happened. As for the imperial consort selection, it will still be held as usual. Since such an inauspicious thing has happened in the harem, there should always be some happy events to drive away the bad luck."
His reason was impeccable, and the ministers had no objections. As long as the imperial consort selection they had been looking forward to wouldn't be delayed, that would be fine.
Just like this, Consort He's matter was hastily settled. To prevent any more accidents during the imperial consort selection, everyone directly advanced the date of the selection to the next day.
Shi Muwang had already prepared. After getting the list from the young emperor, without even thinking, she directly had someone announce it.
At first, Consort He thought that the matter from last night had been discovered. She didn't expect that everything would go so smoothly for her. Although she didn't become the noble consort in the end, she still had the title of a concubine.
Well, she'd make do for now. With her own means, it wouldn't be a problem for her to become the noble consort or even the empress in the future.
With this thought in mind, the balance in her heart gradually evened out.
Just as she was about to go to her own palace, a roadblock suddenly appeared at the door.
"Ah, it seems that little sister is really lucky. Now we're both the emperor's favorites. We should get along well in the future and not let outsiders laugh at us."
The person who came was Ye Xinxin, who had been conferred the title of noble consort. She couldn't wait to announce to the whole world that she was the noble consort.