Chapter 297 - Who Schemed Against Whom?

Shen Ninghua’s expression turned serious. “Mother, this is too dangerous and it might cause serious consequences. Although Zhao Huiying has been deposed, she was the Empress. Once something happens to her, no one knows how much trouble it will bring about.”

If it were so simple to kill Zhao Huiying, why did Baili Qingcang put in so much effort to guard against her? If Zhao Huiying had not risked herself to rebel and committed an unforgivable crime, it would have taken a lot of effort to overthrow her and the Zhao Family.

Bu Yunqing sat on the soft couch without saying a word and lowered her eyes. No one knew what she was thinking.

Shen Ninghua felt uneasy. “Mother, I know that there is a deep hatred between you and the deposed Empress. Now she has been deposed and grounded in Bailu Palace, and the Zhao Family will be punished sooner or later. For her, it is more painful to live than to die. Why do you have to bother to deal with her right now?”

Bu Yunqing’s brows furrowed even more. She raised her head to look at Shen Ninghua’s beautiful face and sneered, “If you experienced everything that I have experienced, I’m afraid you wouldn’t have made such sarcastic remarks.”

Shen Ninghua felt a chill in her heart. Her relationship with Bu Yunqing was extremely complicated. If Bu Yunqing had not saved her, she would have died a long time ago. Later, when she found out that she was Baili Junyi’s mother, she took her as her own mother and tried her best to let her live happily in the Palace. Whatever delicious food and useful stuff she had at home, she would send one portion to Bu Yunqing as well.

However, she could feel Bu Yunqing’s impatience or even annoyance with her. This feeling was getting stronger and stronger recently. Especially after Bu Tinghe was almost killed yesterday, Bu Yunqing carefully looked after Bu Tinghe. She didn’t even cast a look at Shen Ninghua, who was almost injured.

After all, although Bu Yunqing betrayed the Great Yue Kingdom many years ago, she still had feelings for her country. Otherwise, she would not have secretly made things convenient for the Great Yue embassy and even sent spies to work for Bu Tinghe.

Seeing that Shen Ninghua did not reply, Bu Yunqing seemed to realize that her words were a little rude and improper. “The morning court session has already ended. You should hurry back.”

“Yes, mother. I will take my leave.”

Shen Ninghua walked out of the Palace and saw Baili Junyi waiting at the gate. The two of them got into the carriage together. Baili Junyi said with a little pity, “Ninghua, you should have heard about it in mother’s palace, right? Father Emperor only deposed the Empress. He didn’t even punish the Zhao Family and only temporarily locked them up.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “I heard about it. It seems that Father Emperor has a long-term plan. This time, Zhao Huiying’s action scared him.”

“Yes, yes. I think Father Emperor did not punish the Zhao Family and Crown Prince because he wanted to test the officials and various forces in the court to see which team they were in.”

“Father Emperor is far-sighted. I’m afraid that the court will be in turmoil because of what the Zhao Family and Crown Prince have done. We should keep staying low. When there are strong winds and waves, we should stop safely on the shore so that we won’t capsize.”

“The one who knows me best is my wife. I think the same as you.” Baili Junyi smiled and held her hand. Finding that her expression wasn’t relaxed, he asked with concern, “What’s wrong? You seemed to have something on your mind.”

Shen Ninghua looked up at Baili Junyi. “Mother has a deep hatred for the deposed Empress. After hearing His Majesty’s method of punishing her, she was extremely angry and even asked me for poisons.”

Baili Junyi’s eyes widened slightly and he felt nervous. “Did you give her?”

“No.”

Baili Junyi felt relieved and sighed. “Mother was hurt too badly by the Empress. A pregnant woman was set on fire and risked her life to give birth to her child, whom she could not see for twenty years. That kind of pain has probably tortured her all the time. It is understandable that she is a bit extreme.”

“I understand. It’s just that we’ve been waiting for such a long time. Now, we are about to succeed. However, we must be even more patient. Otherwise, we might fail to make the final effort.” Thinking of Bu Yunqing’s expression, the uneasiness in Shen Ninghua’s heart became even stronger. “These days, you should pay more attention to mother. Don’t let her act rashly.”

“Yes, don’t worry. I will get someone to keep an eye on her.”

Inside Zhichun Palace, Bu Yunqing had been sitting motionless on the soft couch for nearly four hours without eating or drinking. The palace maid brought in the lunch for her and then took it away intact.

“Your Highness, no matter what is on your mind, you still need to eat something for the good of your health.”

“My body has long been ruined…You may leave.” When there was no one in the hall, Bu Yunqing’s face twisted for a moment, and then a cold smile appeared on her face. “I still can’t accept it. As long as Zhao Huiying is alive, I won’t be at ease…”

The debate concerning the Zhao Family and Crown Prince in the court was getting more and more intense. However, Baili Qingcang just pretended to be in a difficult position and allowed the officials to quarrel every day without responding.

The weather became hot. Because of the two babies, Shen Ninghua only let people open the windows for ventilation and did not use ice basins in the room. The two babies were almost six months old. The boy could sit for a short while with some help, but the girl could already crawl for a short distance.

But the girl was too lazy. Only when she was fighting for Shen Ninghua’s attention would she move her small and delicate hands and feet. Normally, she would fall asleep in the same gesture she was left on the bed.

Shen Ninghua had thought that the girl was born later and her body was weaker, but now it seemed that it was exactly the opposite.

In the afternoon, the weather became more and more stuffy, and soon there was a clap of thunder. The sky quickly turned dark and bean-sized raindrops fell.

The baby girl was shocked by the thunder. As she kicked her brother, she cried out loud. Shen Ninghua hurriedly asked Bai Ruo to close the window. She hugged the baby girl and soothed her.

The boy, who was kicked awake by his sister, opened his eyes and kicked his legs for a while. He yawned and then slept soundly facing up.

Shen Ninghua soothed the daughter until she fell asleep. She then walked to the window and looked at the heavy rain. The uneasiness in her heart subsided a lot. “Prepare the raincoat and umbrella and have someone send them to His Highness in the Ministry of Civil Affairs.”

“Miss, Ye Yi has already asked someone to do it.”

“That’s good.”

At this time in Bailu Palace, Zhao Huiying was sitting on the edge of the bed, listening to the rain outside in a daze. Only when the wind blew the rain-soaked clothes on her shoulders did she come back to her senses.

Holding an umbrella, Bu Yunqing walked into Bailu Palace step by step. When she saw the empty hall, a trace of pride and ridicule flashed through her eyes.

Zhao Huiying turned around and looked at her with a face full of disgust. “Bu Yunqing, what are you doing here?”

“Of course I’m here to visit the Empress. Oh, no, I can’t call you Empress now. You have already been deposed and demoted to a commoner.” Bu Yunqing put down the umbrella and looked around the hall.

After Zhao Huiying was deposed, she was provided with food but no cosmetics. So now Zhao Huiying did not have any makeup on her face. There were obvious wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and she did not look as beautiful as she used to be.

“Are you here to laugh at me?”

Bu Yunqing smiled and clicked her tongue and she sighed.

“Look at this hall, there isn’t even a decent piece of furniture. I heard that the original ornaments, porcelain, and other items have all been taken back by the Internal Affairs Department. That’s right. Bailu Palace was originally the residence of the Empress, and it used to be the most respected palace in the harem. Now that the person living here has been deposed, it is reduced to a cold palace.”

Zhao Huiying’s chest heaved up and down. Her face was filled with anger. “How dare you!”

“How dare? Haha,” Bu Yunqing burst into laughter and looked at Zhao Huiying coldly. “I am a Noble Consort and you are a convicted woman. How dare you not salute me?”

“Salute you? I think you are crazy. Although I have been deposed, I am still nobler than you because I was the Empress. You concubines will always be concubines. How dare you behave atrociously in front of me?” Zhao Huiying’s face was full of contempt, and her aura was full of arrogance.

Bu Yunqing sneered and clapped her hands towards the door. Two maids and a nurse carrying a bowl of medicine walked in quickly. “Your Highness.”

Zhao Huiying was shocked and her pupils contracted. “What do you want to do? Do you dare to poison me in Bailu Palace?”

A faint smile appeared on Bu Yunqing’s lips. She looked particularly ruthless. “Zhao Huiying, it’s been such a long time. It’s time for me to settle some grudges.”

“I don’t believe you dare.” Zhao Huiying gritted her teeth. “Although I am deposed, the Crown Prince is not. As long as he is the Crown Prince, you will not dare to kill me. I am the Crown Prince’s birth mother. One day, he will ascend to the throne and become the Emperor and I will be the noble Empress Dowager. Do you dare to kill me?”

Seeing Zhao Huiying’s faked pride, Bu Yunqing’s face was full of ridicule. “You really are ignorant. You destroyed the Crown Prince with your own hands, and you still dream of him ascending to the throne to become the next Emperor? Hahaha, it’s just like you strangle a newborn baby and then wait for him to live a hundred years.”

“Nonsense!” Zhao Huiying’s face turned green, her chest rising up and down in anger. “How could I harm my own son?”

“The Emperor is disappointed in you, but he has great expectations for the Crown Prince. Unfortunately, you couldn’t see it clearly. You ignored the broad road and instead jumped over the cliff. Now, you have fallen to pieces, and you brought your son and family to destruction along with you. You still dare to argue?”

“You…you are talking nonsense.” Zhao Huiying did not admit it, but her mood was completely low, and her face was full of pain.

Bu Yunqing curled up her lips and was especially happy. “Ever since you framed me with baseless evidence, I have been living in hell. Every day, I have to suffer heart-wrenching torture. Now that I see you like this, I am finally happy.”

Zhao Huiying seemed to be crushed and she ignored Bu Yunqing’s ridicule.

Bu Yunqing turned to look at the nurse holding the bowl of medicine. “Feed it to her.”

She repeatedly thought about Shen Ninghua’s words and felt that they were extremely reasonable. For Zhao Huiying, a deposed Empress, living was more painful than death.

Therefore, she would not take Zhao Huiying’s life. She would feed her medicine to weaken her body and make her feel the pain. She would let Zhao Huiying struggle on the edge of life and death every day but could not die. Nothing would be more fun than seeing her like this.

The two palace maids clamped down on Zhao Huiying’s arms. The nurse ignored her struggle and expressionlessly opened Zhao Huiying’s mouth, directly pouring the medicine down her throat.

“Ah…ah…” Zhao Huiying shook her head and wanted to dodge, but she was grabbed by the hair and she involuntarily swallowed the bitter medicine. She stared at the laughing Bu Yunqing and wanted to dismember her into thousands of pieces.