Chapter 395

“By the Emperor’s decree, Consort Jin Lihua, the Noble Consort, has been found guilty of harboring malicious intent and conspiring to harm the other concubines in the harem. The evidence is irrefutable, and it pains me deeply to see such treachery. Henceforth, the Empress shall oversee her punishment according to palace regulations. Her title is revoked, and she is demoted to the rank of Noble Lady, to be relocated to Qingyang Palace.”

Consort Jin… now reduced to Noble Lady Jin… stripped of her title, her position, and expelled from Yanqing Palace to Qingyang Palace.

That was no auspicious place. It was the infamous Xihuo Palace, where many had met their untimely ends.

When Jiang Xinyue had lived there, she had been plagued by constant misfortunes and illnesses. Her sister had hanged herself in the side chamber, Consort Li had drowned in the lake, and the body of Consort Chu had been discovered in the now-filled lotus pond.

Later, Jiang Yuan, after her release from the Palace of Exile, had also resided in Qingyang Palace.

In short, since its renaming, no concubine had dared to live in Xihuo Palace. It was a desolate, eerie place, devoid of life.

However, the filled lotus pond was now overgrown with roses, attracting many newly selected court ladies and palace maids and eunuchs.

Noble Lady Jin shook her head, “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me… why…”

Her wide eyes seemed ready to burst from their sockets, her temples throbbing with pain. She shouted accusingly, “Empress! It was you! You framed me, didn’t you? The Emperor has been deceived by you. You are the true venomous snake here!”

Jiang Xinyue took two steps forward, standing face to face with Noble Lady Jin. One was like an enraged bird, the other as calm and ruthless as an executioner.

Suddenly, Noble Lady Jin’s pupils contracted sharply. The onlookers could only see Jiang Xinyue’s back and Noble Lady Jin stumbling backward, tripping over a haystack, and falling to the ground.

As she fell, Leader Du immediately stepped forward, thinking that the Empress had used some hidden weapon to avenge Consort Liang.

But all he saw was Noble Lady Jin pointing a trembling finger at the Empress, her lips quivering, unable to utter a word. It didn’t seem like she had been attacked, but rather as if she had been terrified.

The Empress, meanwhile, wore a smile on her face—a smile that seemed both threatening and terrifying.

“According to palace regulations, Noble Lady Jin, for poisoning Consort Liang, shall be punished with sixty lashes as a warning to others. Should Consort Liang succumb to the poison, Noble Lady Jin’s life will be forfeited, and I will personally ensure that her name is recorded in the underworld. I will come to claim it when the time comes.”

In other words, if Consort Liang were to die from the poison, Noble Lady Jin would have to pay with her life.

But… even if she survived the sixty lashes from the Investigative Bureau, Noble Lady Jin might not live to see another day.

Soon, guards dragged Noble Lady Jin to the adjacent punishment chamber. The sound of her screams echoed, causing Huang Yanyu’s body to tremble.

“Empress… cousin, may I… may I leave now?”

She desperately wanted to escape this place, never to return.

“Of course…”

In her hopeful gaze, Jiang Xinyue slowly uttered, “You may not.”

“What?”

Huang Yanyu thought she had misheard and leaned forward, asking again, “I can’t leave? But earlier…”

“Earlier what?”

Jiang Xinyue waved her hand, and the aroma of chicken soup wafted through the air, tantalizing the senses.

Xi Que emerged from behind Shuang Jiang, holding a steaming white porcelain bowl. Though the two women were dressed in pink and green, to Huang Yanyu, they appeared as the Grim Reapers themselves.

“You… what are you doing? Stay… stay away from me…”

Jiang Xinyue sat down on a nearby chair, her expression turning icy in an instant. She didn’t even glance at Huang Yanyu, instead focusing on her jeweled nail guards as she spoke. “No matter how cleverly you try to twist your words, we both know the truth. You are the one who poisoned Consort Liang. You wanted to kill her, to tarnish my reputation, and to sow discord between me and the eldest princess. The eldest princess is married to the second son of the Jiang family, your cousin. You hoped to kill three birds with one stone, turning the Jiang family against me. Perhaps even the Emperor would believe the rumors that I poisoned Consort Liang, and I would fall out of favor.”

She laid out Huang Yanyu’s schemes with chilling clarity. “If you wanted to destroy me, you should have come at me directly. But you targeted my friend, and that is a line you should never have crossed.”

Her cold gaze locked onto Huang Yanyu. “Consort Liang suffered greatly, and you will suffer the same.”

As soon as Jiang Xinyue finished speaking, Xi Que and Shuang Jiang entered the cell. One held Huang Yanyu’s hands, while the other gripped her jaw, forcing the drugged chicken soup down her throat.

Huang Yanyu struggled with all her might, but the hands restraining her were like iron. Every time she opened her mouth to scream, more soup was poured in, choking her and making her cough uncontrollably.

In a matter of moments, the entire bowl of soup was emptied.

Only then did Xi Que release her, tossing her to the ground with a cold snort before leaving with Shuang Jiang.

Damn it, if her lady hadn’t been so clever, Huang Yanyu’s schemes might have succeeded, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.

“Gag… gag…”

Huang Yanyu lay on the ground, desperately trying to vomit the soup by sticking her fingers down her throat.

“If you dare to spill even a drop, I will force another bowl down your throat. There’s plenty more soup in the imperial kitchen.”

Huang Yanyu’s fingers froze. She collapsed to the ground, weeping in despair. “Empress, I was wrong… I know I was wrong. Please, spare me. I don’t want to die… I really don’t want to die… give me the antidote… please give me the antidote!”

“I’ll go and kowtow to Consort Liang, I’ll admit my guilt! Please, for the sake of the Huang and Jiang families’ ties, I beg you… I beg you to spare me.”

Her forehead was already bruised from kowtowing, but Jiang Xinyue remained unmoved. “Spare you? Give you another chance? Did you give Consort Liang a chance when you poisoned her? Did you give me a chance? Who did you spare? In this game, the victor takes all. If you had won today, you would have shown me no mercy, would you?”

It had to be said, Jiang Xinyue was absolutely right.

If their roles were reversed, Huang Yanyu would have shown no mercy either.

“Ugh!”

A surge of blood rose in Huang Yanyu’s throat, and she spat out a mouthful of black blood. Her stomach felt as if her intestines were being twisted together, the pain so intense that she rolled on the ground in agony.

Jiang Xinyue took a deep breath and turned to Leader Du. “Take her out of the palace and hand her over to the Huang family. Tell them that Huang Yanyu conspired with Noble Lady Jin to poison Consort Liang and frame me. The Emperor is furious and orders them to leave the capital immediately, never to return. Anyone who disobeys will be executed on the spot.”

She would not leave a ticking time bomb nearby. She also wanted both the Jiang and Huang families to know that it was Huang Yanyu, not her, who had caused this disaster.

Upon returning to Kunning Palace, Jiang Xinyue wrote a letter to the Jiang family—not to her father, but as a warning to the entire clan.

As long as she remained in the palace, no Jiang family member was to send any court ladies to the harem. Because Jiang Xinyue was irreplaceable.

She needed no one to help her secure the Emperor’s favor.