Du Xiaoli had been constantly on guard against this palace maid. She originally thought the maid would make a move on her halfway through the journey, but didn’t expect for her to actually bring her here to the Empress.

“Princess, please.” The palace maid opened the palace door, gesturing to Du Xiaoli.

Du Xiaoli entered the main hall, and saw the Empress, still dressed the same as during the day.

“Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress.” Du Xiaoli approached and curtsied.

The Empress seemed to be thinking about something, so at first she didn’t even notice Du Xiaoli’s entrance. Only after hearing Du Xiaoli speak did she come back to her senses, “Anle, you’re here. You may rise.”

“Yes. Anle is unsure what orders Your Majesty the Empress has for Anle,” Du Xiaoli stood up straight, and inquired.

“It’s like this. Today, didn’t this Empress say she would send you someone to talk about the marriage sendoff? In the end, I forgot about it afterward. That’s why I called you over here so late.” The Empress smiled, continuing, “That nanny just went out to fetch something for this Empress, have a cup of tea first while you wait.”

“Yes.”

Du Xiaoli gazed at the Empress and sensed that her eyes seemed to carry some kind of struggle, and she grew increasingly wary in her heart. A palace maid brought up a cup of tea for her, so she picked it up and smelled it. She used the lid to stir it a few times, placed it to her lips, but didn’t drink it.

“Is the flavor of this tea bad?” The Empress asked smilingly when she saw Du Xiaoli not drinking the tea.

Du Xiaoli set the cup on the tea table, explaining with a smile, “I ate particularly salty dishes tonight so I drank a lot of water; seeing this tea, I can’t really drink it.”

In fact, she had indeed eaten on the saltier side tonight, and now, was truly a little thirsty. If she hadn’t smelled an almond scent hidden in the aroma of the tea, perhaps she would have downed it in one go.

The Empress smiled when she heard Du Xiaoli's words and no longer pushed her, only lowering her head and drinking the tea herself.

After some time, an old nanny entered the hall from outside, exposing the room to a windy gust of snow.

“Your Majesty, the item has already been brought. Should this be handed to Princess Anle?” The old nanny asked, curtsying to the Empress.

“Mm.” The Empress answered in acquiescence.

The old nanny approached from Du Xiaoli’s side, and handed a box to her, saying, “Princess, this is what Her Majesty prepared for Princess’ marriage sendoff.”

Du Xiaoli observed that the old nanny seemed to be holding the box fine, and normally, so she reached out and took the box.

The old nanny stepped back to the side, saying, “Princess, the item in here is very important and concerns the success or failure of the marriage alliance peace treaty. Open it first and take a look, then this servant will instruct you on its use.”

Du Xiaoli nodded, grasping the box with her left hand and preparing to open the clasp with her right hand.

“Anle.” The Empress suddenly shouted. Seeing the old nanny and Du Xiaoli both looking at her, she smiled, saying, “This item is very important. You must be careful, don’t break it.”

“Anle understands.” After speaking, Du Xiaoli pushed with her hand. The moment the box was opened, a black shadow flew out and fell on Du Xiaoli’s hand.

Du Xiaoli couldn’t make out what it was, only feeling a stab of pain on the back of her hand before losing consciousness. The box slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground, the lid flipping open only to reveal there was nothing inside.

Just before she lost consciousness, she only had time to curse internally: Bastards, she had been plotted against!

The old nanny came to the front of Du Xiaoli and made sure she had already fallen unconscious. Then, she reached out and picked up the box, looking at the Empress, and said, “Your Majesty, your every move concerns the life or death of the Crown Prince and Emperor. I hope next time, you won’t act on such impulse. This servant will take the person away now.”

“Wait, where are you taking her?” The Empress rose and asked.

“Your Majesty, Mistress only told this servant to bring a message to you: Mind your own business and don’t interfere with the rest.” After saying this, the old nanny picked up Du Xiaoli and left the hall. After leaving, she did not walk through the courtyard but instead turned towards a remote corner, leaving with a leap of her body. Her movements were clean and sharp.

The Empress stood dumbfounded in the palace hall. As she watched Du Xiaoli being taken away, she couldn’t help but let tears fall.

“Empress, don’t be sad anymore, you also had no choice.” The palace maid who had gone out to fetch Du Xiaoli just now came forward, comforting the Empress.

“This Empress has made an unforgivable mistake, going further and further down the wrong path. I only hope that for such a deep sin, the heavens will only punish this Empress alone, and not drag the Emperor and Heng’er into this,” the Empress murmured.

Unaware of how much time had passed, Du Xiaoli felt like all the food she had eaten that night was being shaken out of her. Her head felt dizzy and throbbed with discomfort, the back of her left hand burned with searing pain. She wanted to open her eyes to see, but found that she couldn’t.

“Mistress, the person has been brought.”

In the midst of her muddled daze, she seemed to be thrown to the ground by someone, and then the old nanny's voice was heard again.

Mistress? That old hag was bringing her to her mistress? Who was her mistress?

They had made her lose consciousness and kidnapped her right from the Empress' palace, so why hadn’t any of those guards reacted?

No– those guards weren't the ones from during the day!

That was to say, those people weren’t the Emperor's people at all!

"Mm, did everything proceed smoothly?" A somewhat elderly voice asked.

Du Xiaoli wanted to listen carefully for her identity, but her brain seemed to be trapped in a state of collapse. She could only sense that it was someone she knew, but no matter what she couldn’t recall who.

“Responding to Mistress, she seemed to be somewhat wary of the Empress. She didn’t consume any of the tea and pastries prepared for her, and in the end we still resorted to the Sleep Gu.”

Sleep Gu? Was it that black shadow from inside the box? It seemed that the other party knew she was skilled at poison, thus resorting to a Gu insect to deal with her.

“What a vigilant little b*tch!” That Mistress sneered coldly, “Seeing her like this, I desperately want to crush her bones at once.”

Saying this, she squatted down, and rapidly squeezed Du Xiaoli’s neck.

References

MoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

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