usatvline Chapter 260 The Palace Maid's Revenge and Sudden Wealth (4)
Chapter 260 The Palace Maid's Revenge and Sudden Wealth (4)
Grand Tutor Song brought only a limited amount of silver notes, and in the end, everyone pooled their money and managed to get them into the Cold Palace.
The imperial physician, his face also covered in wounds, followed Grand Tutor Song to a locked room, his backside sticking out as he laid out silver notes along the way.
"Consort Qi lives here?" Grand Tutor Song was seething with anger.
Su Dingding unlocked the door and pushed it open. "Go in, but don't stay too long."
"Humph!"
Grand Tutor Song narrowed his eyes slightly. After all, she was just a naive palace maid who had never seen the world!
She thought that by becoming the steward of the Cold Palace, she could do whatever she wanted, giving her the silver notes she was entitled to but not the chance to spend them.
Hearing the noise, Su Xiang, still half asleep, slowly opened her eyes.
Upon seeing Grand Tutor Song, she immediately burst into tears.
"Grand Tutor, please save my lady..."
Before she could finish speaking, she fainted.
When Grand Tutor Song saw Su Xiang's miserable appearance, he didn't even recognize her.
Upon seeing Consort Qi lying on the bed, he trembled all over.
This is... Consort Qi?
His daughter!
Even the imperial physicians felt a sense of helplessness, unsure of where to begin.
After taking his pulse, the imperial physician looked grave, fearing there was nothing he could do to save him.
Grand Tutor Song, seeing the dusty and messy room, rebuked Su Dingding, "How dare you! Is this a place for a human to live?"
Su Dingding was taken aback, then pointed at Consort Qi lying on the bed, "Isn't that a person?"
"You!" Grand Tutor Song's eyes reddened with anger.
This palace maid must die.
In the end, the imperial physician still prescribed medicine. As for whether Consort Qi could live, that was up to fate.
As Grand Tutor Song and the imperial physician left, Su Dingding waved goodbye to them, still holding a large wad of silver notes. "Welcome to visit again next time, and remember to bring plenty of silver notes!"
The Sixth Prince turned his head and clenched his fist.
Grand Tutor Song whispered to the guards beside him, "Get rid of her tonight."
Late at night, several masked men scaled the rooftops and walls.
Gangzi had already set a trap and was just waiting for them.
As a result, when these people jumped from the roof into the yard, they were all caught by the neck.
After struggling desperately, he hanged himself.
Su Dingding was too lazy to deal with their bodies. She found it rather peculiar to see them lying neatly under the eaves.
The palace maids in the Cold Palace were terrified. The new steward was a bit strange; he seemed to be... mentally ill.
They were all very careful, afraid of making a mistake and being punished by Su Dingding.
Grand Tutor Song also complained about Su Dingding to the Emperor.
The Emperor ordered Su Dingding to be summoned, but Su Dingding put on an act of having painstaking efforts.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent. As you know, Consort Qi's oranges are not allowed to be touched by anyone except Consort Qi and Su Xiang. I locked Consort Qi up only to prevent her from doing evil again."
"Nonsense!" Grand Tutor Song exclaimed angrily, his beard bristling. "What evil has Consort Qi done?"
“Since the Grand Tutor asked me to speak, then I will speak,” Su Dingding said with a straight face, “Every mother wants her son to be successful. Consort Qi naturally hopes that the Fourth Prince will inherit the throne in the future, so she has been secretly refining cat poison, which is said to be able to control people’s minds. If she succeeds in refining it, the Emperor will definitely listen to her, depose the Crown Prince, and pass the throne to the Fourth Prince!”
"You... talking nonsense!" Grand Tutor Song was so frightened by these words that he almost lost his mind.
Throughout history, no emperor has ever been unafraid of the struggle for the throne; it was a grave taboo!
The Emperor was furious. "Do you have any evidence?"
“If Your Majesty doesn’t believe me, you can go and ask Consort Qi yourself while she still has a breath left. A dying person’s words are often wise,” Su Dingding replied earnestly.
Grand Tutor Song immediately knelt down, "Your Majesty, Consort Qi has absolutely no intention of plotting to usurp the throne, and the Fourth Prince has no intention of rebelling. Please, Your Majesty, do not listen to the mad words of a palace maid."
"I didn't want to say it, but you insisted. Now that I've said it, you're upset." Su Dingding pouted, "You're so hard to please."
The Emperor turned away and decided to confront Consort Qi face to face.
Grand Tutor Song was sweating profusely. If all of this were true, it would be a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family!
Upon arriving at the entrance of the Cold Palace, Su Dingding once again reached out to block their path.
"Your Majesty, according to the rules of the Cold Palace, anyone entering must pave the way with silver notes," Su Dingding said casually.
"How dare you be so disrespectful in front of the Emperor!"
Su Dingding tilted his head back and let out a low snort, "I'm risking my life to do this job. Surely a king can't even come up with this little bit of silver..."
The emperor gave the eunuch a meaningful look.
The eunuch had no choice but to comply. The emperor was startled when he saw the several men in black hanging from the eaves.
"How is this going?"
"Your Majesty, these were sent by Grand Tutor Song to kill me and silence me. They were caught in my trap. Because they are too high, I have no way to lower them down, so they can only remain suspended for now," Su Dingding replied.
The Emperor frowned. "How could this be?"
Su Dingding opened the door, and a faint musty smell wafted from the room.
"His Majesty has arrived!" the eunuch announced.
Su Xiang staggered to her feet and came to greet her.
"Your Majesty, please save my lady! She is innocent..."
If the Emperor doesn't release Consort Qi soon, they'll all probably die here.
Su Xiang didn't want to die. She was not even twenty years old yet, and her life hadn't even begun!
The Emperor ignored her and walked up to Consort Qi.
Consort Qi had been unconscious, but she opened her eyes at this moment.
"emperor……"
"I ask you, where did those cats that scratched you come from?"
Consort Qi looked at the Emperor and whispered, "I concocted cat poison in an attempt to control Your Majesty's mind..."
The Emperor was furious, just as he had hoped!
Su Xiang was shocked and crawled to the Emperor's feet. "Your Majesty, please calm down. Consort Qi was just delirious from a fever, which is why she spoke so recklessly!"
The Emperor kicked Su Xiang away; otherwise, Consort Qi probably wouldn't have told the truth!
Gangzi, who was sitting on Consort Qi's ear, gathered his emotions and continued, "The Crown Prince is a good-for-nothing, a useless piece of trash. How can he compare to my Fourth Prince? If Your Majesty had made the Fourth Prince the Crown Prince earlier, why would I have had to go through all this trouble!"
"You vile woman! Why didn't I see your ugly face sooner?" the Emperor roared angrily. "Guards! Throw Consort Qi into the imperial prison! Execute the entire Song family!"
"How dare you!" Gangzi forced Consort Qi to sit up and roared, "If it weren't for the Fourth Prince quelling the rebellion on the border, how could you be so peacefully ruling as the Emperor? I am the Fourth Prince's mother. If you kill me, he will certainly not forgive you!"
"This is outrageous! This is blatant rebellion!" The Emperor was even more furious. "This empire is mine! Do you think I have no other generals besides the Fourth Prince? I'm just giving him a chance to hone his skills; it's not like I absolutely need him..."
Consort Qi's mind went blank; those words she had just said were not what she intended to say.
But she had no choice in the matter. What exactly happened?
A number of guards rushed in and dragged Consort Qi and Su Xiang away.
"I'm innocent! Your Majesty, I know nothing..."
When Grand Tutor Song saw this scene, he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.
The Song family is finished!