Chapter 398 – Where Is She? (1)
The maids guarding the palace doors saw her and hurriedly opened the door. “Princess, why have you entered the palace at this time?”
Aunt Cheng walked out from inside the room. “Princess, has something happened?”
“I heard about Gui Fei Lu. The matter involved me, so I entered the palace with Eldest Brother.” Ye Zhen said softly, “Has Imperial Mother gone to bed?”
“She just did. You can see Her Highness tomorrow. I’ll send you back to your room so you can have your rest.” Aunt Cheng said with a smile, “This matter has nothing to do with you. If someone wants to harm you, they must see if Empress Dowager and Emperor are convinced.”
Ye Zhen sighed. “Gui Fei Lu… Where is she now?”
“She’s confined in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. His Imperial Majesty won’t allow anyone to see her,” Aunt Cheng said in a low voice.
It seemed like Lu Wushuang would really be unable to recover from this.
A glimmer of mockery flashed across Ye Zhen’s eyes. Lu Wushuang had been the person she had hated the most those two years. But who would have thought she would be overthrown so easily now. Dealing with her was easy but not so much with Lu Lingzhi. That man was smarter than his sister.
Lying on the bed, Ye Zhen thought back to what had happened today. She knew Xu Huiru would use the bird’s nest against Lu Wushuang. It was because of her reminder that Xianfei Xu would not let Ye Zhen be involved in this matter, and thus dared to frame Gui Fei Lu.
Poisoned? With Xu Huiru’s intelligence, she would definitely not allow herself into danger. The poison was probably not serious. If she was just unconscious, she should be better in a couple of days.
Mo Rongzhan… The image of his figure suddenly appeared in Ye Zhen’s mind. She didn’t know if he would really be going to visit Xu Huiru.
Humph, what does that have to do with me! Ye Zhen immediately shook her head and expelled him from her mind.
Mo Rongzhan hadn’t returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity at the time being, nor had he gone to Xinhe Palace. Instead, he went to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, and here, Lu Wushuang was kneeling before him.
“Your Majesty, I am really innocent. You must be the judge for me.” Lu Wushuang was still unaware of the fact that she had been dismissed to be a nun. She kneeled before Mo Rongzhan, begging pitifully.
Mo Rongzhan looked down at her, his eyes brimming with nonchalance. “You’re innocent? Was it not you who gave Xianfei Xu the blood bird’s nest?”
“It… it was Yaoyao who told me to go.” Without hesitation, Lu Wushuang brought out Ye Zhen as a scapegoat.
“At this time, you still want to frame Yaoyao? Lu Wushuang, do you think I’m stupid?” Mo Rongzhan laughed out of anger. He was angry at himself for thinking that Lu Wushuang had been his savior back then, and for treating her well for a period of time.
When Lu Wushuang had been planning to poison Xu Huiru, she had already thought about using Lu Yaoyao. She thought this was killing two birds with a stone, but the way things turned out… seemed to be different from what she had expected.
“Why is it impossible that Yaoyao would have framed me?” she asked unrelentingly.
♚
Lu Wushuang looked at Mo Rongzhan’s cold eyes, and her heart slowly froze. The only reason she had dared poison Xu Huiru was that she thought he wouldn’t do anything to her. Even if he was good to other women, she was still different to him.
“Your Majesty, do you not believe me?” Lu Wushuang looked at Mo Rongzhan with a teary gaze.
“I trust Yaoyao,” Mo Rongzhan said flatly. Lu Wushuang should never have used Yaoyao. Lu Yaoyao had no reason to poison or harm his consorts. She would rather stay as far away from him as possible, why would she be jealous of Xu Huiru? Let alone frame Lu Wushuang?
Lu Wushuang looked at him with shock. “Why? Your Majesty, to you, is Lu Yaoyao more important than me?”
“Do you really think you can compare to her?” Mo Rongzhan said curtly.
“Why can I not compare to her?” She looked at the man in a daze. She was his beloved consort. What was Lu Yaoyao?
Mo Rongzhan’s lips curled in a cold smile. “Lu Wushuang, it was you who poisoned Xu Huiru. On the matter of you framing Lu Yaoyao, it is already on behalf of Lu Lingzhi’s contributions that I didn’t have you killed. I’ll have someone send you to Nianci Temple tomorrow. You can stay there for the rest of your life.”
Lu Wushuang bolted up, her face ghastly white. “Your Majesty, what did you say? Send me to Nianci Temple? I won’t go!”
“I have already dismissed your position as Gui Fei. From tomorrow on, you will be a nun at Nianci Temple. Carefully wash yourself of your sins before Boddhisattva,” Mo Rongzhan said coldly.
“You can’t do this to me!” Lu Wushuang shouted, pitifully begging again. “Your Majesty, I know I was wrong now. Just forgive me this one time. If it hadn’t been Xu Huiru provoking me again and again, how would I have… harmed her.”
Mo Rongzhan looked at Lu Wushuang, who had not a sliver of regret, and his gaze grew colder. “You harm others when you experience the slightest bit of inconvenience. You have poisoned Xu Huiru this time. Are you going to come after Empress Dowager and me the next time?”