Chapter 1117 - 1119: Plan within a Plan, Interlocking Rings_1
The Empress Dowager’s face showed anger, "Was that child intentional, or was she used as a pawn? She seemed quite well-behaved, how could she..."
At this point, she herself could not continue, for there were many well-behaved children in the palace, but it was as if this place were a big dye vat; who coming in could guarantee they’d never change?
Moreover, you can know someone’s face but not their heart.
Bai Ruozhu remained entangled in the grudge she once held against Fu Yiyi and for a moment did not wish to speak out, but meeting the Empress Dowager’s compassionate eyes, she could not bear to conceal it and roughly explained the situation at that time.
"What? Why didn’t you speak up about this just now?" the Empress Dowager chided gently, though her tone was not too harsh.
Bai Ruozhu wryly smiled, after all, the other had become the Emperor’s woman, how could she expose her shortcomings? Who would have thought there would be something wrong with what she was handling?
The Empress Dowager sighed softly and said in a low voice, "You ought to have heard of the current situation; the Emperor intends to employ some new nobles, and General Fu is one of those he now values greatly, so the harem is always connected with the former court."
Bai Ruozhu nodded slightly, she too had considered this, hence she did not wish to bring up Fu Yiyi’s past, especially since she had once been betrothed to someone else.
In modern times, such a thing would not matter, but in ancient times, it was a great taboo to speak out and would also embarrass the Emperor.
"Let’s go and see. Initially, I thought well of her, but now it seems she doesn’t even appreciate kindness, and harbors resentment out of greed, not as honest as she appears on the surface," the Empress Dowager added.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, thought for a moment, and then said, "The Empress Dowager should summon an Imperial Doctor from the palace, after all, it’s not good to rely solely on my account. I have some grievances with the Beauty Fu, to avoid being manipulated by others using this matter later on."
The Empress Dowager thought this made sense and ordered a palace maid to go to the Imperial Medical Bureau and call someone to go directly to Wanshuang Hall where Fu Yiyi resided.
With Fu Yiyi’s status, she was not entitled to live alone in a palace, so she stayed in the West Courtyard of Wanshuang Hall, together with three other beauties.
The Empress Dowager didn’t announce the decree nor let the palace maids make a fuss; they nearly arrived at Wanshuang Hall’s West Courtyard with the speed of a thunderclap. By the time Fu Yiyi entered the door and had yet to finish a cup of tea, the Empress Dowager and Bai Ruozhu arrived closely after.
The Empress Dowager had her lady-in-waiting grasp Fu Yiyi’s hand and asked Bai Ruozhu to examine it. Fu Yiyi, terrified and pale, asked confusedly, "Empress Dowager, what did Yiyi do wrong? Was it just now that I applied too much force?"
Bai Ruozhu stared at Fu Yiyi’s face, thinking that if she truly was unaware, then well, otherwise her acting skills were impressive indeed.
An officer close to the Empress Dowager smelled it and said, "It’s that faint smell of medicinal herbs."
Bai Ruozhu went over and smelled it, indeed noticing the scent of Soul-soothing leaf, and she nodded to the Empress Dowager.
Fu Yiyi looked at Bai Ruozhu in terror, saying, "Did you tell the Empress Dowager something about me? I know I should not have offended you back then, but I lost my mother at a young age, and it was the Empress Dowager who let me feel the warmth of a mother’s love, how could I harm her?"
After speaking, she looked pitifully at the Empress Dowager, her almond eyes filled with tears, as if to say, "Please believe me, I really wouldn’t harm you."
The Empress Dowager, afraid she might soften her heart, averted her gaze and said, "You did not harm me, but the one you harmed was the Consort Yue."
"How could that be possible!" Fu Yiyi cried out, "I have no grudges against Consort Yue, why would I want to harm her?"
At this moment, the Imperial Doctor from the Imperial Medical Bureau rushed over. Bai Ruozhu saw that the one leading the group was Jiu Sheng, with an excited expression on his face. She felt three lines forming on her forehead—why did it seem that Jiu Sheng was especially excited about incidents in the palace, as if he could learn something new? Wasn’t he a bit too eager?
The Empress Dowager stopped paying attention to Fu Yiyi and ordered three Imperial Doctors to examine Fu Yiyi’s hands and her face and head for any traces of medicine from Fu Yiyi’s hands.
"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, this official has found some sedative on Lady Fu’s hands, and the medicine on Her Highness’s face and head is of the same composition as what’s on her hands," said Jiu Sheng, who was the most articulate among the Imperial Doctors present.
Having finished speaking, he covertly glanced at Bai Ruozhu, unsure of her intentions and deliberating on what to say to avoid misspeaking.
Bai Ruozhu, feeling Jiu Sheng’s gaze, simply ignored him. Now was the time for honesty, otherwise, she might bring trouble upon herself.
"However, these medicines are harmless to you; instead, they can help you rest and soothe your mind," Jiu Sheng said, seeing that Bai Ruozhu ignored him, he had no choice but to report the results of the examination.
The other two Imperial Doctors also nodded in agreement. Fu Yiyi let out a sigh of relief and looked pitifully towards the Empress Dowager, "Yiyi would never dare to harm the Empress Dowager."
Bai Ruozhu turned to the three Imperial Doctors and asked, "Don’t you know that the Soul-soothing Leaf has other uses? Such as causing a pregnant woman to miscarry?"
This reminder suddenly jogged the memory of the three doctors, and they all agreed. They were focused on examining the Empress Dowager—who would think about a pregnant woman in that moment?
Jiu Sheng suddenly realized the implication and slapped his forehead, saying, "Thanks to Lady Jiang’s reminder, if the Empress Dowager, having come into contact with the Soul-soothing Leaf, went to see Consort Yue, that would be trouble!"
The other two Imperial Doctors were also frightened; they hadn’t considered this at all. If not for Lady Jiang’s reminder, had they declared there was no issue today and something befell Consort Yue later, wouldn’t their diagnosis today be scrutinized, and their heads at stake?
The Empress Dowager’s gaze turned cold, and she glared at Fu Yiyi, asking, "Lady Fu, do you have anything else to say?"
Fu Yiyi was terrified, her face drained of color, but then she suddenly lunged at Bai Ruozhu uncontrollably. Because Bai Ruozhu was close to her from the previous examination, and considering the Empress Dowager was nearby, Bai Ruozhu, not wanting to bump into the Empress Dowager, could only raise her hand to block Fu Yiyi.
"It was you! You must have framed me! Is it because I didn’t want to be your servant in the past? How could you do this to me!" Fu Yiyi screamed like a madwoman, reaching to scratch Bai Ruozhu’s face. Bai Ruozhu, seeing her nails colored by Fen Xianhua, felt a surge of revulsion and, with a forceful flick of her wrist, shook off Fu Yiyi’s attacking hands.
It was at this moment that Fu Yiyi suddenly cried out in alarm, her body toppling to the side. By chance, there was a chair next to her. She fell onto the chair, hitting her stomach, then tumbled to the ground.
"Ah... my stomach... it hurts so much..." Fu Yiyi clutched her stomach and cried out in pain. Everyone was startled, her palace maids hurried to assist her, but couldn’t help exclaiming in alarm, "It’s terrible, the beautiful lady is bleeding profusely!"
Bai Ruozhu was also shocked, her expression growing more somber, and anger welled up in her eyes. By this point, if she still couldn’t feel that she had been set up, then she really would be surprisingly foolish!
"Imperial Doctors, quickly see what happened!" The Empress Dowager, coming back to her senses, spoke with a trembling voice. By nature tenderhearted, she dreaded witnessing the loss of life.