His eyes darkened, and just as he was about to speak again, the eunuch's distinctive high-pitched voice rang out first: "Consort Shu has arrived!"
Shen Lixue's gaze sharpened. Consort Shu? Ye Qianmei's mother, she's here!
"Is Consort De feeling any better?" With a clear and elegant female voice, the semi-transparent curtain was lifted, and a graceful and noble woman walked in slowly, surrounded by palace maids.
The woman was elegant and beautiful. Her eyes, dignified yet alluring, bore a striking resemblance to Ye Qianmei's captivating eyes. Although their appearances were not very similar, she had maintained herself well for many years in the palace, and the years had left few traces on her face. At first glance, she looked like a woman in her mid-twenties.
"This humble woman greets Consort Shu!" The Lady of Zhenguo Marquis bowed, and Shen Lixue followed suit. The Lady of Zhenguo Marquis shielded Shen Lixue from most of her body. It wasn't that she was afraid to see Consort Shu, but that she had important matters to attend to.
"So it's Lady Hou, please rise!" Consort Shu gracefully sat down on the chair brought by the palace maid, her beautiful eyes sweeping over Consort De, who was half-dead on the large bed, and said with a smile.
The Lady of the Marquis of Zhenguo did not rise, but said loudly, "This humble woman has a matter to ask Your Majesty to decide!"
Consort Shu smiled slightly, then frowned slightly at his beautiful brows: "What is it? Please speak freely, Madam!"
The Lady of Zhenguo Marquis raised her head and suddenly pointed at the imperial physician who was feeding her medicine: "He wanted to use medicine to kill Consort De!"
Consort Shu raised an eyebrow and looked at the imperial physician: "Is this really true?"
"The palace maids and eunuchs of Changxin Palace witnessed it with their own eyes. Just now, the imperial physician was about to force the life-threatening medicine on the ground into Consort De's mouth!" The Lady of Zhenguo Marquis accused in a low voice.
"Imperial Physician, how dare you plot against Consort De!" Consort Shu's beautiful eyes flashed with cold light as she slapped the chair handle and stood up, reprimanding her sternly.
The imperial physician knelt down with a thud, trembling and kowtowing repeatedly, begging for mercy: "Your Majesty, spare my life! I was in a hurry to save a person and was careless, so I used the wrong medicine!" Using the wrong medicine due to negligence is much less serious than intentional murder.
"The imperial physicians have passed rigorous examinations to enter the palace and have practiced medicine for several years without ever making a mistake. How could they have made such a grave error while treating Consort De?"
The words of the Lady of Zhenguo Marquis struck like a thunderbolt, leaving the imperial physician stunned and unable to move for a long time. When he came to his senses, he gritted his teeth. The virtues he had just boasted about had now become evidence against him for deliberately harming people. The Lady of the Marquis was determined to kill him: "Your Highness, I have practiced medicine in the palace for several years. Your Highnesses and the Emperor know my character. Do you think I am a bad person who would deliberately harm others?"
During his years in the imperial harem, his good character was evident to all, and no one could find any fault with him.
Consort Shu gently twirled the golden nail guard on her little finger: "The imperial physician is kind and his character is indeed beyond reproach!" Consort Shu was very clever; she only mentioned the good character that everyone knew, and did not say anything else.
"I also believe that the imperial physician is of noble character and has no grudges against Consort De. He would not harm anyone without reason. It is highly likely that someone threatened him, which is why he did such a despicable and shameless thing."
Lady Hou echoed Consort Shu's words, glancing sideways at the imperial physician: "Imperial Physician, Consort Shu is here, you need not be afraid. Just tell us who the despicable mastermind is, and Her Highness will definitely stand up for you!"
Lady Hou ostensibly spoke up for him, but in reality, she was deliberately trying to anger him. The imperial physician was so angry that he choked, his eyes darting around: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! No one instructed me!"
Lady Hou sneered, "Just now, the palace maids and eunuchs all saw you trying to feed medicine to Consort De. If no one instructed you, then it must be that you, the imperial physician, wanted to harm someone!"
"This..." The imperial physician looked pleadingly at Consort Shu: "Your Majesty, I am innocent! Please investigate!"
Shen Lixue chuckled inwardly. The Lady of the Marquis knew that the Imperial Physician was colluding with Consort Shu to harm Consort De, yet she made the Imperial Physician reveal the mastermind in front of Consort Shu. Wasn't this forcing Consort Shu to kill the Imperial Physician?
If Consort Shu doesn't kill him, it will be telling others that the two of them conspired to harm Consort De. Consort Shu is a smart woman, and she will definitely make the choice that is most beneficial to her.
Turning to look at Consort Shu, her beautiful face indeed changed color slightly. She coldly looked at the imperial physician and said, "The witnesses and physical evidence are all there. You are incredibly audacious, attempting to kill Consort De. What are you still calling an injustice? Guards, take the imperial physician away and behead him!"
The imperial physician was shocked, his body trembling like a leaf, his head pounding as he cried out, "Your Majesty, spare me! I'm innocent! I'm truly innocent!"
Two guards stepped forward and roughly dragged the imperial physician away. The physician struggled desperately, his clothes disheveled, a far cry from his previous decisive and efficient demeanor.
He looked at the aloof woman, wanting to threaten her with past events to save his life, but thinking of her cruel methods, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. She was ruthless and heartless; threatening her would only make him more miserable.
Shen Lixue stood quietly, watching the imperial physician being dragged out of the inner room. Then, his shrill screams abruptly stopped and completely disappeared into the world.
When Consort De fell into the water, she suspected Consort Shu, but had no evidence. Lady Hou forced Consort Shu to kill the imperial physician, hoping that the physician would betray her on his deathbed and testify against Consort Shu. Unexpectedly, the physician was afraid of Consort Shu and would rather die than testify against her.
Thinking about it carefully, the imperial physician still had a family. He died with a crime on his conscience, but his family still had a chance to live. However, if he testified against Consort Shu, none of his family members would be able to survive.
"The imperial physicians in the harem are malicious; I'm sorry to have made you, Lady Hou, laugh at me!" Consort Shu walked over gracefully, her jade pendants jingling and shimmering in the moonlight: "Quickly, let's see how Consort De is doing?"
After she arrived, she was busy solving cases and dealing with the imperial physicians, which took up a lot of time. Naturally, Consort De's condition was also delayed. The imperial physicians were beheaded, and Consort De's condition was delayed, so it was estimated that she was also beyond saving. One imperial physician was exchanged for one Consort De, and she did not compensate.
Her worried gaze fell upon the carved bed, only to find a white-clad man standing before the empty bed. His eyes narrowed, and he said coldly, "Who are you? How dare you trespass into Consort De's room?"
"Your Highness, I am a distant relative of the Marquis's family and have some medical knowledge. I heard that Your Highness was ill, so I accompanied the Marquis's wife and the Third Young Master to the palace to visit Your Highness!" Shen Lixue turned around, performed the junior's greeting, and smiled at Your Highness.
As Shen Lixue slowly raised her head, Consort Shu saw her face clearly: her eyebrows and eyes were like a painting, her skin was as white as snow, her eyelashes were curled and upturned, her lips were delicate and cherry-like, and her eyes were as cold as ice, as if she could see into people's hearts in an instant.
Her gaze suddenly sharpened: "May I ask your honorable name and address, sir?"
Shen Lixue felt that the moment Consort Shu saw her appearance, a hint of shock seemed to flash deep in her eyes, just like the shock that those people in Qingyan Capital who knew Lin Qingzhu felt when they first saw her. Consort Shu's eyes narrowed quickly, and she wasn't sure if she was seeing things.
"Your Highness, my surname is Shen, my given name is Li, and I live in Yingzhou, two thousand miles away!" Shen Lixue and Dongfang Heng had already fabricated their identities on their way to Xiliang, so she answered the Consort's questions fluently.
"Yingzhou, what a wonderful place!" Consort Shu smiled elegantly and radiantly. "I've heard that its peonies are famous throughout the country, and I've long wanted to see them in person!"
Shen Lixue smiled at Consort Shu. She was very clever. Her gentle smile contained subtle probing. Who would have thought that her seemingly casual words were full of traps? If it weren't for the very detailed information from the secret guards, she might have been deceived by her.
He feigned ignorance and paused slightly, saying, "Your Majesty must be mistaken. Yingzhou is famous for its Bauhinia flowers, but not for peonies!"
"Is that so?" Consort Shu frowned her beautiful brows and sighed softly, "I once visited Yingzhou. The scenery of the island in the middle of Daming Lake on the outskirts of the city was quite beautiful..."
"Your Majesty, Daming Lake and the island in the middle of the lake are both in Yangzhou, which is adjacent to Yingzhou. Your Majesty must have confused them." Shen Lixue smiled slightly and easily deflected Consort Shu's probing once again.
"Look at my memory, I'm getting old, it's no good anymore." After being rejected twice, Consort Shu did not try the same trick again. She smiled and looked at the large bed: "Young Master Shen, you know medicine, quickly take Consort De's pulse and see how she is?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, this humble subject has already examined Consort De's pulse. She fell into the lake, caught a chill, and drank cold water. Now she has expelled all the cold water she drank. After taking a hot bath and taking some medicine to induce sweating, she will be fine!" Shen Lixue did not tell Consort Shu that she had secretly given Consort De a precious life-saving medicine from the Qingyan Royal Family. Otherwise, Consort De would really be in grave danger.
Consort Shu's bright smile froze for a moment before returning to normal: "It's so good that Consort De is alright!" Her gaze toward the large bed held a hint of sharpness in her smile. She was truly lucky to have survived such a drowning.
"It's late. Since Consort De is out of danger, I'll head back now and come see her again tomorrow!" The imperial physician had died, but Consort De had been brought back to life. With Lady Hou, Shen Lixue, and Lu Jiangfeng all here, Consort Shu couldn't do anything. Staying any longer would only be pointless. She lightly covered her mouth with a silk handkerchief, gave a shallow yawn, and returned to Chang Le Palace.
After returning to her inner chamber, she dismissed all the palace maids and eunuchs. Instead of silently cursing Consort De for being lucky to be alive, she immediately closed the doors and windows and summoned her secret guard: "Go back to the Duke of Mu's mansion and have them send someone to Yingzhou to investigate Shen Li!"
"Yes!" Consort Shu had been in the palace for many years, and she had always remained calm and cheerful in the face of the provocations and difficulties from the other concubines. The guards had never seen her with such a solemn look or such a deep tone. Knowing that things were not simple, they did not delay and quickly flew away.