Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jin He quickly realized what “medicine” Sheng Zhaoning meant.

She hurriedly turned around, took out an unremarkable small box from the luggage, opened a hidden compartment, retrieved a porcelain bottle, and handed it to Sheng Zhaoning.

A faint, bitter smell lingered in her palm.

This was something Sheng Zhaoning had prepared a long time ago, back when Wei Yi had just ascended the throne. He would summon her to Changhua Hall almost every day, only letting her go when dawn was near.

After each absurd night, he would hold her tightly, forcing her to stay and not escape.

“Sheng Zhaoning, give me a child.”

He had said this many times.

Sheng Zhaoning was disgusted.

How could she allow herself to bear his child?

Wei Yi forbade her from drinking the contraceptive potion, so she had Zhou Wei secretly have the medicine made elsewhere. The herbs used were potent, ensuring strong efficacy but inevitably harming her body.

She shook out a pill and swallowed it.

The originally full bottle was now less than half full.

“This medicine harms your body after all; you should take it less often,” Jin He said, looking at her with worry.

The bitterness in her mouth spread endlessly downward.

Sheng Zhaoning handed the medicine back to Jin He and told her to hide it well.

“It’s just the difference between living a few more years or a few less. Better than watching someone who shouldn’t come into this world arrive.”

Jin He might not be able to truly empathize and understand her, but Jin He knew that if there really was a child, then for the rest of her life, this lady would never be able to rid herself of that man.

The medicine bottle was hidden again, put back in its place.

Jin He carefully cleaned up any traces, trying not to reveal the slightest flaw.

The effects of the medicine gradually set in, and a faint pain began to churn in her stomach.

Wei Yi had not yet returned from the morning court session. Sheng Zhaoning lay listlessly, looking weak and spiritless.

Jin He was about to get her some warm water when, at this moment, a clamor of noise suddenly erupted outside the door.

“Consort Gui, you cannot go in!”

“Get out of my way! Even I dare to be stopped? You don’t want your worthless life, is that it!”

The shouting clearly reached inside the hall.

Jin He instinctively looked toward Sheng Zhaoning, momentarily unsure of what to do.

Sheng Zhaoning listened to the familiar voice, propped herself up to sit, raised an eyebrow, and glanced toward the door. She immediately understood.

It seemed someone in the harem could no longer hold back.

“Consort Gui, this servant is on His Majesty’s orders to guard this place; I really dare not let you enter!”

The young eunuch’s voice was panicked.

“You dare threaten me? Who gave you the nerve! Someone, pin him down!”

Sounds of scuffling and shouting rose one after another.

With a violent kick, the door to the hall was flung open, and cold air rushed in at once. Even Sheng Zhaoning, in the inner chamber, couldn’t help but frown.

The person barging in locked eyes almost immediately onto Sheng Zhaoning, who was leaning against the headboard, dressed only in a plain white inner garment.

Two pairs of eyes met across the distance-one calm and composed, the other ablaze with fury.

But the latter soon turned to astonishment, and then became even more ferocious.

“It really is you, Sheng-Zhao-ning!”

Sheng Zhaoning smiled faintly, looking at the person at the door. “Long time no see, Second Miss Chi.”

…

If Wei Yi was a pride of heaven, then Chi Wan, who grew up with him as childhood sweethearts, was a favored daughter of heaven, loved by fate.

Chi Wan was the legitimate daughter of General Chi, who guarded the Northern Border, and also the full sister of Chi Yu.

Since childhood, she had liked Wei Yi and saw Sheng Zhaoning as a lifelong enemy.

Even when Sheng Zhaoning herself couldn’t feel Wei Yi’s affections, Chi Wan still stubbornly believed that Wei Yi had Sheng Zhaoning in his heart.

Therefore, when she later learned that Sheng Zhaoning had shifted her affections and betrayed Wei Yi, she let out a deep breath of relief. She even secretly rejoiced and sincerely hoped that Sheng Zhaoning could love and stay with the Crown Prince far away in the Capital, growing old together, and never return to Liangzhou.

The young eunuch guarding the door was pinned to the ground by several men, his arms twisted behind him. Chi Wan, clutching a soft whip, approached step by step, her face dark and terrifying.

“You really are a lingering ghost.”

Jin He had never seen such a scene. Flustered and defensive, she shielded Sheng Zhaoning. “Wh-what do you want?”

Chi Wan had no time for a lowly servant. Her eyes were now wholly consumed by Sheng Zhaoning’s hateful visage, her reason overwhelmed by surging jealousy.

She hated betrayal above all, yet why? Why, even after almost dying at her hands, did Wei Yi still love her!

Only one thought remained in her mind.

As long as Sheng Zhaoning lived, Wei Yi could never forget her.

Sheng Zhaoning must die!

Chi Wan gripped the whip tightly, hatred deepening in her eyes. She raised her hand abruptly and brought the whip down with vicious force.

The sharp whistle of the whip cutting through the air rang out. Sheng Zhaoning knew she couldn’t dodge; she didn’t waste her strength-no dodging, no struggling.

But the expected pain never came.

Opening her eyes and focusing, Sheng Zhaoning saw Jin He standing firmly before her, having taken the raging whip in her stead.

Her expression finally changed.

“Jin He…”

Jin He was nearly fainting from the pain, her face drenched in cold sweat, yet she clung to Sheng Zhaoning fiercely, shielding her completely.

“My lady, don’t move!”

Held protectively, Sheng Zhaoning’s gaze fell on Jin He’s back, where blood was already seeping through, blooming into dark patches of startling crimson.

The young eunuch outside, witnessing this, his vision went black and he nearly fainted.

The emperor’s decree forbade anyone from entering Changhua Hall. Now the Imperial Consort had not only barged in but also struck someone. If anything happened to Sheng Zhaoning, he wouldn’t have nine lives to pay for it!

That snowy night, Eunuch Zhao’s words still seemed to echo in his ears.

Qing’an shuddered violently, and somehow summoning strength, he strained and broke free from the two men pinning him.

But to everyone’s surprise, instead of rushing in to intervene, he bolted outside, losing a shoe in his haste without a care.

The two eunuchs who had held him chased after, while the rest remained guarding the entrance, subduing everyone else in Changhua Hall.

A cold gleam flashed in Sheng Zhaoning’s eyes. “Get lost!”

Chi Wan’s eyes widened, then after a long moment she burst into sharp laughter as if hearing a joke. “Sheng Zhaoning, after a few days in Changhua Hall, you really think you’re its mistress?”

With a face full of mockery, she signaled maids to drag Jin He away, then stepped forward, whip in hand, and bent down to sneer. “A dog raised by the Zhenbei Prince’s Mansion for over ten years, you wheedled your way into the Capital City as an official for a few years, and now you’ve forgotten your place.”

Her gaze vicious, Chi Wan stared into Sheng Zhaoning’s eyes and spat out two contemptuous words: “Lowly slave.”

Killing intent surged in Sheng Zhaoning’s eyes. Instinctively, she reached for the dagger under her pillow, but her hand met emptiness, and she suddenly realized-

This was Wei Yi’s bedchamber.

She quickly withdrew her hand, then struck at Chi Wan with a fierce knife-hand chop, but it was blocked mid-air, and the whip fell heavily upon her.

“Slap!”

Her clothes split open instantly, blood gushing out.

That whip strike carried hidden force; beneath the torn wound there was deeper damage, and her bones were nearly shattered.

Sheng Zhaoning let out a muffled groan, bearing the blow, her face turning deathly pale.

Excruciating pain consumed her mind; for a moment, her consciousness blurred, a buzzing in her ears, barely able to think.

Chi Wan leaned down and grabbed her face, forcing it toward her, and laughed triumphantly. “You still think you’re the Sheng Zhaoning of old? You’re nothing but a cripple-even a dog would find you unlucky.”