Chapter 14: Poisoned

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The Empress Dowager stood up in fright. “Poisonous? How can that be?”

On the other side, Su Nuan pinched herself and her eyes reddened. She exclaimed, “Your Majesty, you must be mistaken! I made this personally. How could it be poisonous? It must be a misunderstanding. I… I’ll eat it right now for you to see.”

She grabbed the gelatin cake with trembling hands and was about to put it into her mouth when Feng Junyi knocked it to the ground.

“Don’t eat it.”

Feng Junyi held her slender wrist, his heart beating wildly.

Why is this little girl so stupid? I already said it was poisonous, and she still wants to eat it.

When Commandery Princess Shuanghua saw this, a vicious look flashed across her eyes.. She stepped forward to support the Empress Dowager before turning around and shouting at the guards at the door, “Guards, take the Empress down! She poisoned the Empress Dowager!”

A group of guards rushed in at once. Just as they were about to approach Su Nuan, they were stopped by Feng Junyi. “Let’s see who dares take another step.”

When the guards saw the Emperor, they didn’t dare to act rashly. Commandery Princess Shuanghua took the opportunity to say, “Big Brother Emperor, she wants to kill the Empress Dowager! You can’t let her off. She’s a spy sent by Yun Nation!”

The moment she finished her sentence, Feng Junyi stepped forward and grabbed her neck. He stared at her with bloodshot eyes and said, “Don’t think that you can hide what you did from me.”

Commandery Princess Shuanghua’s heart skipped a beat.

Did the Emperor see it?

She feigned ignorance and struggled to ask for help from the Empress Dowager while she could still breathe. “Your Majesty, I… I don’t know what you’re talking about. Empress Dowager… Empress Dowager, save me…”

The Empress Dowager returned to her senses as well and immediately called out, “Your Majesty, what are you doing? She’s my niece! Can’t you ask her about it first?”

Su Nuan was still crying diligently. She knew that what she had to do in this situation was to be that ignorant little girl who had been framed and wronged.

Feng Junyi glanced at the crybaby and released his grip on Commandery Princess Shuanghua’s neck. “I’m not going to kill you. It’s not because you’re the Empress Dowager’s niece, but because I’m going to clear the Empress’s name,” he declared coldly.

Commandery Princess Shuanghua fell to the ground, coughing violently. It took her a long time to recover.

The Empress Dowager asked, “Your Majesty, what is going on?”

Feng Junyi explained emotionlessly, “I wanted to visit the imperial garden this evening, but I saw your niece adding something to the pastry the Empress wanted to give you.”

Eunuch Wang immediately stepped forward and bowed to the Empress Dowager. He waved his hand, and a young eunuch brought in a tray. There was a dead cat on the tray.

Eunuch Wang reported in a gentle and reserved tone, “Reporting to Empress Dowager—this cat died after eating some of the pastries. It bled from the seven apertures. This is highly poisonous.”

After Eunuch Wang finished speaking, a palace maid was immediately forced to kneel on the ground. She cried out at once and begged for mercy, “Empress Dowager, please spare my life! Emperor, please spare my life! The Commandery Princess asked me to do it, it has nothing to do with me…”

“Horrid slave! Don’t spout nonsense! When did I ask you to do this?”

Commandery Princess Shuanghua stepped forward, wanting to kick the palace maid in front of her. However, Feng Junyi shot a look, and a eunuch immediately held her arm down.

“We have evidence and witnesses.”

Feng Junyi concluded coldly.

Then, with one hand, he took out the sword from his waist. With the other hand, he covered Su Nuan’s eyes as she stayed in his embrace. With a wave of his hand, the palace maid’s head was immediately cut off.

The head fell to the ground, and Commandery Princess Shuanghua was so frightened that her beautiful face turned pale. She shrieked, and a palace maid immediately covered the corpse with a screen, her hands trembling terribly.

He tossed the sword that was dripping with blood to Wang Ze and said calmly, “Send the imperial physician.”

When Feng Junyi released his hands, Su Nuan looked ahead, and the only thing she could see was the screen. She could make out the silhouette of a few people behind the screen. The air was filled with a strong stench of blood.

After the imperial physician finished checking, he overlapped his hands before his chest and said, “Emperor and the Empress Dowager, this palace maid had some leftover poison in her sleeves. It’s the same poison that killed the cat.”

Feng Junyi’s voice remained cold. “Check the pastries again.”

The imperial physician agreed and walked over to the gelatin cakes. He took out a silver needle and examined the pastries carefully. He overlapped his hands before his chest again. “It’s the same as the poison hidden in that palace maid’s sleeves.”

Feng Junyi waved his hand again. Several palace maids and eunuchs rushed forward to clean up and even lit the incense again. In less than ten minutes, the smell of blood in the entire chamber was almost gone.

The Empress Dowager had seen much of life and was able to keep her composure despite witnessing these things. She turned to the Commandery Princess. “Shuanghua, why do you want to harm me? I’ve always treated you well.”

Commandery Princess Shuanghua knew that she couldn’t deny it anymore. All the evidence was against her. She crawled to the Empress Dowager’s feet and held onto the latter’s leg tightly. She cried, “Your Majesty, you have to believe me. I… Hua’er never meant to poison you. Hua’er… Hua’er just wanted to scare the Empress. Hua’er thought that everything would be fine as long as the poison was discovered. Hua’er would never let you eat anything poisonous…”

Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw the cold look in the Empress Dowager’s eyes. She quickly took the opportunity to apologize. “Your Majesty, please spare me. I promise that there won’t be a next time. Your Majesty, my mother left the world early. You’re the only one who loves me.”

When the Empress Dowager heard this, her expression softened. She turned to Feng Junyi and asked, “Your Majesty, may I handle Commandery Princess Shuanghua?”

Feng Junyi glanced down at the little girl who was still hugging his waist tightly. She was shivering and continuously muttered, “How could this be?” to herself. He said indifferently, “Mother, you may deal with it. After all, this concerns Mother.”

He carried the little girl beside him and was about to walk out when the Empress Dowager stopped him.

“Your Majesty, did you mobilize so many people to protect me from being poisoned?”

The Empress Dowager’s voice trembled as she asked the question.

It made Feng Junyi stop in his tracks. There was a brief moment of silence before he replied flatly, “No.”

Su Nuan clutched the Emperor’s clothes tightly, her little heart thumping wildly.

She knew that Feng Junyi wasn’t on good terms with the Empress Dowager, but the way the Empress Dowager asked the question made the little tyrant’s reply sound so heartless. The Empress Dowager was probably going to cry.

She seemed to have something else to say but said nothing in the end.

Su Nuan leaned her little face against Feng Junyi’s chest. She didn’t know why, but she felt that the little tyrant wasn’t just trying to save her.

At the very least, he probably had some feelings for his mother.

Her mind began to wander when she heard Feng Junyi say in a deep voice, “Can you let go now?”