Xing tried to talk to her father who was hiding but he still didn"t want to talk to her and ran away."That fool! Always finding a way to be unhappy. He didn"t accept him when he was here and now he tries to act all n.o.ble. Don"t mind him", Lord Zhong tried to coax Xing who felt a bit sad.
Xing went back to her courtyard after promising to meet the Oldman everyday there and make him tea, of course.
She sneaked inside as she was in the Eunuch"s uniform and changed back to her own clothings when she heard a commotion outside. She went outside to the pavilion outside to see a maid dead on the floor.
"n.o.ble Consort, she ate the snacks meant for you and died immediately. Forgive us for being incompetent "
Xing saw her entire posse of maids kneeling in front of her and the dead girl lying and her body was black indicating it was a strong cyanide poisoning.
That girl was sent to her from the palace and she was barely thirteen with a round face and a childish behaviour. Xing found her funny and pleasant to be with and she always gave her food to her and that girl loved these gourmet food she was unaccustomed to before.
Why did she take food by herself before I screened it for poison? Xing was furious. Am I partially responsible for her death? Should I have kept the distance between a mistress and a maid to have avoided it?
No! It"s not my fault, it"s the fault of whoever poisoned my dis.h.!.+ I should have acted earlier to root them out. Now it had cost a life!
Xing left her courtyard in fury followed by Hu Mei running behind her in an attempt to stop her from breaking any laws of the inner palace.
And Xing broke the important law!
No one can leave the inner palace without asking permission and Xing pa.s.sed the gate and was walking furiously fast. Hu Mei could not keep up with her and he was running behind her panting.
Xing ended up in the Imperial study to her own surprise. Turns out, she can reach her destination without getting lost if she was furious! Point to be noted..!
The guards there and those who were along the way were surprised to see such heavenly beauty in these part of the palace and wondered who that might be and forgot that they should stop her.
Being an emperor must be good! They were thinking.
"I know you don"t like me here! But that doesn"t mean you should try to poison me!", Xing shouted at the Emperor as soon as she entered the study.
Xing knew the Emperor would be the last person to Poison her. But for the culprit to be brought to justice soon, it has to be a high profile case and not some insignificant case of a dead maid.
What is more high profile than a Consort accusing the Emperor for trying to Poison her, right?
It wouldn"t work if she was someone of lower status... she"d be immediately sent to the gallows for brazenly accusing the son of heavens. But she is a Huang and the daughter of Huang AoTian, The Prime Minister. If there is anyone in this kingdom who can get away with accusing the Emperor, it would be her and her brother.
Also Xing knew that after she asked Lin Mubai to look at Eunuch Xin, she has noted he had put some more people to watch her and he"d have put people to watch the activities of that eunuch too. This would be an opportunity to see how that guy operates if he is involved in the poisoning incident.
Xing had thought of these things while she was actually furious and decided to tell her father after talking to the Emperor because she knew he"ll definitely create a ginormous fuzz if he knew there were people trying to poison his daughter.
But Xing didn"t expect her father to be present at the study with the Emperor along with her brother. Rijun was happy to see her and Xing was happy to see her brother too after a month. While the happily reunited siblings were smiling at each other, a screeching noise was heard and AoTian exited the study, "Let me see who dared to Poison my daughter! I swear his entire family will be headless by tomorrow"
Does this mean that father believes the Emperor didn"t Poison me? Xing wondered.
The Emperor was furious too, "Mingxia! What happened?" he asked. She was the one who had given him snacks to eat if his food was poisoned. She had actually given food for his hunger before. How could she get poisoned food in his palace? It"s humiliating!
Xing was about to explain when Eunuch Xin arrived and he was not pleased with that Xing was here before him.
The Emperor wanted to know her account of the incident but Xing let the Eunuch talk and he told exactly what happened adding to the accusation that she had left the inner palace without informing him of the death of her maid.
"Consort Huang saw her maid die in front of her and came to zhen to report. Why must she report to you?", the Emperor seethed.
Because it is the rule of the inner palace and because you made him in charge of the inner palace? Xing knew the answer to that question but kept her silence.
Of course the eunuch cannot brazenly answer the Emperor and apologised for speaking out of turn.
The case was given to the Justice Department to solve and suddenly Xing remembered her father leaving angrily and left with her brother to find her father who very well might be planning a rebellion by now.
AoTian was not in his office so they went to Lord Zhong"s office with a guard leading their way and Xing could hear her father"s shout from outside,
"Take my daughter out of the inner palace!"
Xing sighed and entered the room,
"Father, no one is taking me out of the inner palace now!", she said with conviction.
Now that she knew this is the only place where she can be free from the watching eyes of the G.o.ds, how could she leave here without finding her man first?
Xing made everyone sit and started to make tea and explained that she was here to find Shengli and she"ll only leave after getting Shengli back. She didn"t tell them that the G.o.ds threatened her with their Iives because she knew they"ll feel guilty.
Xing poured tea for all of them and explained them why she had to blame the Emperor and she hid the fact that she"s suspecting that eunuch because she knew if she tells her father and the old man, they"ll investigate that Eunuch too and he might get alerted. Too many cooks spoil the broth!
Also after guilt tripping her father for not trusting the Emperor who thinks of him as his father, Xing was sent back to her courtyard by armed escorts.
Xing found Hu Mei who was scared to death thinking that her mistress disappeared and only after seeing Xing did she relax.
The investigations were carried out swiftly and a fourth rank Concubine in the inner harem was found guilty as they found the same Poison that was in Xing"s snacks in her possession and so by the next morning, her and her entire family was beheaded at sunrise.
Xing didn"t go to the execution grounds because she had a small voice in her head saying that Concubine was framed. But she had no proof for her claims so she had to accept it and she felt sick staying in this place. She soon have to find a way to leave!
_________________________
A couple of days later, Xing was getting ready to go to bed when the arrival of the Emperor was announced.
Why would he be here this late night without informing? Xing wondered and decided to send him away.
But She was told to at least greet the Emperor by Hu Mei and Xing reluctantly went to greet him and the moment the Emperor saw her, he slumped on her as if he had lost all his strength. Xing instinctively held his back and her eyes widened with fear.
"Everyone, out!", she commanded and all the maids retreated out leaving only the Emperor and Xing in the room.
Xing felt through her hands that that the Emperor"s heart had palpitations and his breathing was shallow and he was wheezing... All symptoms of allergic reaction.
What did he eat to have this severe allergy reaction? Xing wondered but it was no time for that.