Chapter 298 - Zhao Huiying's Death

Looking at Zhao Huiying, Bu Yunqing laughed heartily. “Hahaha, every dog has its day. The ancients are so right. Zhao Huiying, you never dreamed that you would fall to this state, did you?”

Half of the bowl of black medicine was poured down Zhao Huiying’s throat, and the rest was sprinkled on the clothes in front of her chest, making her in a sorry state.

The two palace maids released their hands. However, instead of struggling, Zhao Huiying lowered her head, her shoulders trembling.

Bu Yunqing frowned and felt a chill in her heart. “Why aren’t you talking? Are you crazy right now?”

Zhao Huiying slowly raised her head. Her eyes were shockingly bright and there was even a smile on her lips.

“Bu Yunqing, do you know why I was the Empress and you are just an imperial concubine? Do you know why I secured the position of Empress for so many years? It is all because of those idiots like you. Ignorant bumpkins are always bumpkins.

“If I’m not wrong, Shen Ninghua must have warned you not to kill me. Unfortunately, you hate me so much. In addition, you are jealous of Shen Ninghua in your heart. So you just can’t bear it. Right?”

A trace of panic flashed in Bu Yunqing’s eyes. “So what if I didn’t listen to her? Do you think you can turn the table today?”

“Puff!” Zhao Huiying covered her chest and spat out a mouthful of black blood. But she did not care. Instead, she laughed in a low voice and seemed extremely happy.

Bu Yunqing suddenly took a step back and turned to look at the nurse and palace maids who were standing with their heads lowered. “What’s going on? Isn’t this medicine only used to weaken the body?”

There was blood on the corners of Zhao Huiying’s lips, but her smile was particularly bright. She looked at Bu Yunqing with bright eyes and said without making a sound, “You lost.”

The nurse and palace maids who had fed Zhao Huiying the medicine swayed, and they suddenly fell to the ground. Blood oozed from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths, and they died immediately.

Bu Yunqing suddenly retreated. She was both surprised and scared. “Zhao Huiying, you bought them over?”

Zhao Huiying lay on the ground and took out a dragon-patterned jade pendant from her pocket. She rubbed the dragon pattern on it with her blood-stained hand.

A voice full of anger suddenly rang out, “Noble Consort, why are you here?”

Baili Qingcang strode in with water stains all over him, followed by the Crown Prince Baili Jinyi, who were completely drenched.

Bu Yunqing’s brain went blank and buzzed. “Your Majesty?”

Zhao Huiying was half-lying on the ground, holding the jade pendant tightly in her hand. There was a yearning expression on her face. “Your Majesty…”

Baili Jinyi quickly rushed over and exclaimed, “Mother! Mother, what’s wrong? What happened to you?”

Baili Qingcang quickly walked to Zhao Huiying. His eyes swept over the jade pendant in her hand. He paused slightly and turned to glare at Bu Yunqing. “Noble Consort, shouldn’t you give an explanation?”

“Your Majesty,” Bu Yunqing was stunned on the spot. The bowl that contained the medicine was still on the ground. The nurse and the palace maids were both dead. What could she say? Telling the Emperor that she did not want to kill Zhao Huiying and the medicine was designed only to weaken her body? Even if she said this, nobody would believe her!

Baili Qingcang looked away and said loudly, “Call the imperial doctors!”

Baili Jinyi knelt beside Zhao Huiying and helped her up from the ground. “Mother, mother, don’t panic. Father Emperor has already sent someone to call the imperial doctors. They will be here soon. You will be fine.”

Zhao Huiying’s face was getting paler and paler. Her life was hanging by a thread, but her gaze was firm as she looked in Baili Qingcang’s direction. Her lips kept moving.

“Father Emperor, mother has something to say to you!” Baili Jinyi noticed her intentions and quickly spoke up.

Baili Qingcang’s expression changed. He noticed the jade pendant in Zhao Huiying’s hand. So he walked over and squatted down. “What else do you have to say?”

Zhao Huiying could not help but spit out another mouthful of blood. Her face became paler and paler. She raised the jade pendant in her hand with difficulty. “Your Majesty…do you still remember it?”

How could he not remember it. This jade pendant was the betrothal gift he gave the Zhao Family for marrying Zhao Huiying as his wife…

“At that time, you said that you would marry me as your wife. You called me a motherly model of the nation and wanted me to share the blessings of heaven and earth and carry on the ancestral bloodline with you. You made me the Empress…In the blink of an eye, it has been twenty-five years. Your Majesty, do you still remember what you said back then?”

Baili Qingcang’s voice was cold, “What’s the use of saying all this now? If you hadn’t made the big mistake, I wouldn’t have deposed you.”

“Your Majesty, I have to make this mistake…” Tears rolled down Zhao Huiying’s face, as if she was suffering from such a great grievance that she wanted to cry out all the liquid in her body.

“What do you mean?”

“Your Majesty, you are the ruler of a country, an Emperor of great wisdom. Can’t you see that? My plan had numerous flaws in it, and it can’t harm your life at all.”

Baili Qingcang’s expression changed. “What’s the point of arguing over what you have done?”

Seeing that he did not believe her, Zhao Huiying coughed in pain. “Cough cough…You are my husband, my god, how can I bear to hurt you…”

The Crown Prince lowered his head and sobbed. “Mother, please, just tell the truth!”

Baili Qingcang looked up. “Truth? What truth?”

“Father Emperor, mother never wanted to hurt you. She knew that you were worried about the Zhao Family, so she advised my uncle and grandmother many times not to be too arrogant. Unfortunately, not only did they turn a deaf ear, but their ambitions kept growing. Later, mother heard that they even wanted to rebel, so she played the trick and committed the flawed rebellion.”

Baili Qingcang frowned tightly. “Do you think I will believe you? What you did that day was clearly a rebellion. Zhao Kun was a coward and could accomplish nothing at all. Without you, how dare he rebel?”

Zhao Huiying opened her mouth to explain, but because she was too grieved, she spat out a mouthful of blood instead.

“Your Majesty, when people are near death, they speak truth from the bottom of their hearts. I will soon die. It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. There is one thing you must remember, and that is to kill all the Zhao Family’s members! You cannot leave a single one of them alive!”

Baili Qingcang’s heart shook and he sighed. “You don’t have to be ironic. I have already made up my mind. I will only kill the main culprits. The other members of the Zhao Family will be exiled.”

“No, Your Majesty, you can’t!” Zhao Huiying struggled to get up and grabbed his sleeve. “Your Majesty, kill all the Zhao Family. You must kill all of them. Otherwise, they will definitely hate the royal family and in the future, they might cause a disaster. Also…”

Zhao Huiying raised her head to look at Baili Jinyi. Her face was full of love. “Your Majesty, Jinyi is innocent. After you depose him as the Crown Prince, I only beg you to save his life and exile him to a remote place. It doesn’t matter if you make him a commoner or a sinner, as long as he stays away from the court.”

“Is that really what you want?”

Zhao Huiying bit her lips tightly and swallowed the blood in her throat. “Your Majesty, please agree…please agree to my request…”

“Mother, hold on. Mother, the imperial doctors are on their way.”

Zhao Huiying slowly closed her eyes. A smile slowly appeared on her lips as she muttered intermittently.

“That year I had a spring out, and apricot flowers dropped on my head…I saw a young and handsome man and wondered who he was. I wanted to marry and spend the rest of my life with him…Even if he ruthlessly abandoned me, I wouldn’t be ashamed or regretful!”

After saying the last word, Zhao Huiying’s hand that was holding Baili Qingcang’s sleeve suddenly fell down, and the jade pendant in her hand fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

Baili Qingcang’s lips trembled slightly. Looking at Zhao Huiying who had drawn her last breath, the scene of their first meeting suddenly flashed past his eyes. On a sunny day in spring, the apricot flowers covered the branches, and she was dressed in fine clothes, smiling brightly. Although he had someone he loved in his heart at that time, he also had wonderful expectations for her, but…

As he thought about this, he turned to look at Bu Yunqing, who was leaning against the door with a look of sudden realization. “Noble Consort, you are really vicious. She has just been deposed and you can’t wait to kill her?”

Bu Yunqing shook her head and furrowed her brows tightly. “Impossible, that medicine can’t kill her. How could it be…She must be faking it, she must be!”

As she spoke, she went forward to test Zhao Huiying’s breath. The touch was cold and lifeless. “Impossible, how is this possible? Someone must have secretly set me up…”

“Shut up!” Baili Qingcang turned around and looked at Bu Yunqing coldly. “Go back to your Zhichun Palace. Don’t come out without my oral edict.”

“Your Majesty, please believe me. I have never thought of taking her life. I only asked someone to feed her the medicine that would weaken her body. I have never thought of taking her life. Your Majesty, please send someone to investigate. Someone must have framed me!”

Baili Qingcang got impatient. “Someone, send Noble Consort Xian back.”

Bu Yunqing was pulled out by the wrist. She felt a stab of pain in her heart. “Your Majesty, back then, she harmed me, she harmed Xia Jingyan, and this time, she planned rebellion. Am I wrong if I want to kill her? She deserved to die ten thousand times. That is the result she deserves!”

“Pull her down!” Hearing Bu Yunqing mention Xia Jingyan’s name, Baili Qingcang became more and more impatient. He did not allow anyone to use Jingyan’s reputation to achieve their goals, even though Xia Jingyan had passed away for such a long time.

In Royal Prince Yi Mansion, Shen Ninghua heard the news from the Palace and failed to hold the teacup in her hand. The cup directly fell to the ground. “What did you say? Mother killed the deposed Empress with poison?”

Hong Ling hurriedly nodded. “Yes, the news just came. They said that His Majesty was furious and confined Noble Consort Xian to Zhichun Palace. He also issued an edict that the deposed Empress shall be buried with the rituals for Empress and gave her the posthumous title, Empress of Dignity, Integrity, Reverence, Benevolence, and Virtue.”

“Dignity, Integrity, Reverence, Benevolence, and Virtue…” Shen Ninghua said with a solemn expression, “This is unusual. Send someone to investigate. There must be some inside story that we don’t know. Who was there before the deposed Empress died?”

“I heard that in addition to the Emperor and Noble Consort Xian, there was also the Crown Prince, as well as a nurse and two palace maids brought by Noble Consort Xian.”

“Crown Prince… Why was he there? Go investigate and see if there is anything we missed. Does His Highness know about this?”

“His Highness is in the study right now. I think his subordinates should already know about this.”

Shen Ninghua suddenly stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”

“Miss, the rain outside is too heavy. Take an umbrella.” Seeing that Shen Ninghua was about to walk into the rain, Hong Ling hurriedly propped up the umbrella and quickly followed her.