Chapter 4 — Saving the Emperor One Sugar Cube at a Time

A moment later, she abruptly withdrew her hand and let out a piercing shriek:

“This is disastrous! Empress Dowager, the vital breath and blood within His Majesty’s body are in complete chaos!”

“The excessive sweetness and richness of the rock sugar has paralyzed the meridians, and it is now violently backfiring against the heart meridians that this humble handmaiden worked so tirelessly to unblock!”

“Had it not been for the formidable medicinal potency of my divine drugs supporting him, Your Majesty would surely have been driven to… passing away by this vile creature!”

I let out a cold, bitter laugh.

“Utter nonsense from start to finish!”

A loyal veteran official turned crimson with rage, pointing a trembling finger at Wu Xuechu and cursing fiercely.

“It was precisely after Yan Shu fed His Majesty the sugar that he abruptly opened his eyes! How dare you claim this caused him harm?”

“Does this esteemed elder possess medical expertise?”

Wu Xuechu raised her voice, shamelessly arguing her case in public.

“A mere moment of returning light before death, how can anyone mistake it for genuine recovery?”

Right at that moment, a plump eunuch was dragged into the hall by two East Palace guards. It was the chief eunuch surnamed Liu, who managed the Imperial Kitchen. He collapsed onto the flagstones, kowtowing frantically like a pestle pounding garlic:

“I beg the Empress Dowager to illuminate the truth!”

“This humble servant can bear witness that the very item Yan Shu seized earlier was none other than the supreme-grade rock sugar presented as tribute to Your Highness from the provinces!”

“Not only did she recklessly feed random substances to His Majesty, but she also committed the heinous theft of imperial tribute items. Her crimes are truly unforgivable!”

Both human testimony and physical evidence were pinned firmly upon me. The loyal veteran ministers struggled to debate, while the faction of Xiao Chuanyu bit down relentlessly without loosening their grip. The two sides locked horns once more in an endless deadlock. The Empress Dowager massaged her temples. She gazed down at the sleeping emperor, then cast a profound, searching look at me, my entire person stained heavily with blood. Having lived for so long within the deep recesses of the inner palace, how could she possibly fail to perceive the unnatural undercurrents at play? Yet, before the emperor fully regained his faculties, she would never allow herself to turn against or suppress the reigning crown prince over a mere palace maid.

“Enough.”

The Empress Dowager spoke coldly. Her sharp gaze swept toward me:

“Yan Shu broke into the forbidden sanctuary without authorization and disturbed the sacred person.”

“However, considering that His Imperial Majesty has just awakened and the root cause requires thorough investigation, take her away immediately and imprison her in the annex hall!”

“Send guards to secure the perimeter strictly. Without this mourning dowager’s personal decree, not a single soul is permitted to visit. All matters shall await the full recovery of the emperor’s dragon body before a final verdict is reached!”

“Imperial Grandmother…”

Xiao Chuanyu still attempted to intercede, but the Empress Dowager cut him off mid-sentence.

“Does the Crown Prince fail to understand the words that have left this mourning dowager’s lips?”

Xiao Chuanyu clenched his teeth, swallowing down his bitter resentment as he shot me a ferocious glare. Two matrons hauled me to my feet and dragged me straight out of the Longyan Hall. The annex hall was damp and freezing; the heavy double doors behind me slammed shut with a dull crash, followed immediately by the clanking of iron chains sealing the lock. Outside, the sound of marching feet grew dense as the imperial guards completely sealed off the area. I leaned against the chill of the wall, tearing off a strip of my skirt to bind the abrasions on my limbs while my mind raced to calculate the situation. Although Xiao Qiyuan had regained consciousness, Xiao Chuanyu and Wu Xuechu would never sit idly by and wait for their own demise. To conceal the truth of regicide and usurpation, they would inevitably resort to any means necessary to silence me permanently before I could ever face the emperor again. Night fell completely, plunging the unlit annex hall into an abyss of absolute darkness where one could not even see their own fingers.

The preceding moments harbored extreme peril! Cease breathing at once! The toxic smoke has already drifted inside!

I snapped my head around just in time to spot a paper-covered lattice window where an impossibly thin bamboo tube had quietly pierced through the barrier.

I instantly clamped a hand over my nose and mouth, rolling across the floor to dive into the blind spot beneath the window sill. Almost simultaneously, a faint, sickly-sweet scent drifted inward through the hollow tube.

This poison guarantees death upon contact! Fetch a damp cloth immediately! Make haste!

There are footsteps outside; the assassin is about to enter through the door. Seize the ceramic vase beside the door at once and conceal yourself behind the cabinet on the left!

Daring not to delay for even a fraction of a second, I leveraged the cover of darkness to rip another corner from my skirt, biting down hard on my finger until it bled, saturating the fabric with warmth before pressing it tightly over my nose and mouth. Groping blindly through the gloom, my hands closed around a half-man-tall celadon vase, holding my breath as I curled into the thickest pool of shadow beside the cabinet.

Creak…

The door pivot emitted an infinitesimal scrape. A pitch-dark silhouette slipped stealthily into the room, a dagger gleaming with a chilling light clutched in her grasp. She lunged straight toward the bed, driving the blade down with merciless, unhesitating force! Discovering the bed completely empty, the shadowy figure froze rigidly in place.

Now is the moment!

Gathering every ounce of strength remaining in my body, I heaved the heavy vase upward and smashed it fiercely against the back of the intruder's head. A resounding crash shattered the silence as porcelain shards exploded across the floor, drawing a muffled groan from the assassin before her limbs went slack and she collapsed face-first onto the ground. I instantly strained my vocal cords to their absolute limit and shrieked at the top of my lungs:

“An assassin! Someone is attempting to murder witnesses to silence the truth!”

The imperial guards stationed outside shattered the door open instantly upon hearing the commotion, their blazing torches turning the annex hall as bright as day in the blink of an eye. The figure sprawled motionless on the floor was none other than the personal maidservant who had accompanied Wu Xuechu earlier that day. Clutched tightly within her limp hand were still the gleaming dagger and the blowing tube.

Half an hour later, within the main hall of the Cining Palace.

The Empress Dowager sat draped in an outer robe upon the elevated throne, her complexion a terrifying shade of leaden blue as she stared down at the figures kneeling before her.

“I beg the Empress Dowager to illuminate the truth! This humble maiden has been grievously wronged!”

Wu Xuechu wept bitterly, her face resembling pear blossoms washed in rain.