Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Zhen Huan Chronicles, An Ling Rong

“The emperor has arrived!” That shout finally cut through the scene in front of them. “Greetings, Your Majesty,” all the consorts said as they bowed. So the moment the emperor entered, he saw…

Zhen Huan and Consort Li, disheveled and covered in scratches. They looked utterly miserable, and one glance was enough to tell they had just been in a fight. Then there was the Empress and Attendant Fang, still in their underclothes, cloaked in outer robes. They looked equally awkward and embarrassed.

As for the rest of the consorts, though they were not fully dressed up, they were at least decently clothed. The emperor’s gaze swept over everyone. Then his eyes landed on Xiao Yun Zi, kneeling on the ground with ropes bound around him. “He was the one haunting Qi Xiang Palace?”

With a look at the situation, the emperor understood the whole story. He was perfectly aware of the grudge between Zhen Huan and Consort Li. And Xiao Yun Zi was a eunuch from Zhen Huan’s side. Of course the emperor knew of him.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, it was him,” the Empress said, taking over. “He had a long rope tied to him, flying back and forth under the eaves. He played at spirits and ghosts and kept Qi Xiang Palace in turmoil.” “Mm.”

The emperor had already guessed as much, and he was not surprised. He looked at the Empress and Attendant Fang again. “And what about you two? What happened?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, I don’t know,” the Empress said, shaking her head. “I should have been asleep in Jing Ren Palace. I don’t know why I appeared outside Qi Xiang Palace. Attendant Fang was the same. It was as if we wandered here without awareness. We happened to run into a young eunuch. He screamed in panic when he saw us. Attendant Fang and I both startled awake. Before we could understand what was happening, a white shadow drifted past right in front of us. Attendant Fang and I ran into Qi Xiang Palace in fright.”

“Your Majesty, it was just as Her Majesty said,” Attendant Fang said, her voice shaking. “I don’t know why I ended up outside Qi Xiang Palace either. After Her Majesty and I woke, we saw Xiao Yun Zi dressed as a ghost. We ran in here, and he followed to frighten all of us. When everyone was so scared they were about to pass out, the rope on Xiao Yun Zi snapped and he fell from above. He should have broken his leg when he fell. It was only when he cried out that we realized he was a person.”

“Your Majesty, we can confirm two things now,” Noble Consort Hua said. “First, Xiao Yun Zi played ghost in the inner palace, and it had to be at Consort Wan’s command. Second, the Empress and Attendant Fang were likely lured out on purpose, so Consort Wan could take revenge!” “Revenge?”

Attendant Fang froze. “Sister Wan treats me so well. How could she take revenge on me?” “Idiot.”

Noble Consort Hua rolled her eyes at her. “If you weren’t involved, how could Consort Wan find an excuse to argue her way out? If her eunuch hadn’t messed up at the last second, then with tonight’s ‘haunting,’ no one would have guessed the master mind was Consort Wan. Even if suspicion fell on her, wouldn’t she have you, that fool, as her excuse?

Who doesn’t know Consort Wan treats you like a real sister? Now it seems you aren’t worth much to her at all!”

“…” Attendant Fang’s face turned deathly pale. Her blank gaze fell on Zhen Huan, as if she were thinking of something. What should have been a terrifying mystery stopped being mysterious the moment Xiao Yun Zi was exposed.

The emperor’s icy gaze fell on Consort Wan again. “Consort Wan, what do you have to say?” “Reporting to Your Majesty!” Zhen Huan’s face was ashen as she kowtowed.

“I confess my guilt. I only wanted to scare Consort Li. I never meant to harm the Empress or Sister Fang.”

“You never meant to harm me?”

The Empress nearly exploded with rage. “Consort Wan, if you didn’t intend to harm me, then tell me this. How did Attendant Fang and I walk out of our palaces? And how, without awareness, did we walk such a long distance to Qi Xiang Palace?

If you didn’t do this, then who did?”

“Zhen Huan, that slut is lying!” Consort Li shouted furiously. “Just now, when Xiao Yun Zi was playing ghost, he kept charging at me and at the Empress again and again to scare us. Everyone saw that!”

“Your Majesty, that is true,” the Empress said, furious. “If Your Majesty doesn’t believe me, ask Noble Lady Cao and Attendant Fang. They know very well who Xiao Yun Zi targeted.” Under the emperor’s questioning gaze, the two of them nodded at the same time.

So yet another lie was shattered. Zhen Huan opened her mouth, but she could not argue. She truly had not expected the Empress to appear. She also did not know that Xiao Yun Zi, aware of how much she loathed the Empress, would take the Empress as a target for revenge as well.

“Your Majesty, the Empress and Attendant Fang’s situation is indeed very strange,” Li Si Qi said softly. “For them to walk out like that without alerting any maids or eunuchs is far too eerie. I believe the imperial physicians should be summoned to take Their pulses, to see whether anything is wrong with their bodies. Otherwise, this kind of strange thing could not have happened.”

“Your Majesty, Consort Xian is right,” Noble Consort Hua added. “This is far too strange. Two people who were clearly asleep ran out on their own, and no one in their palaces knew. That sounds like the work of immortals. I’m very curious what method Zhen Huan used to do this.”

“Your Majesty, this is frightening,” Consort Jing could not help saying. “If this happens to the rest of us in the future, won’t the inner palace fall into chaos? Wandering the palace at night without awareness is one thing. But if we accidentally fall into a lotus pond, or crash into a rockery, we could lose our lives.”

As soon as she said that, everyone present shivered. Including the emperor – the moment he imagined his consorts wandering the palace at night without awareness, his scalp went numb. It was terrifying.

“Summon the imperial physicians! Bring them all here at once!” the emperor ordered. At his command, the imperial physicians rushed to Qi Xiang Palace as fast as they could.

By then, everyone had already sat in the main hall. The imperial physicians did not know what had happened, so they could only hurry to greet him first. The emperor ordered, “Take the Empress and Attendant Fang’s pulses.” “This humble minister obeys!”

The imperial physicians immediately took their pulses. Li Si Qi quickly asked, “Xiao Hu Zi, can they detect the illusion drug Zhen Huan gave Attendant Fang?”

“Only a tiny trace is left,” Xiao Hu Zi replied. “Normally, they wouldn’t find it. If the medicine hadn’t already been mostly digested, Attendant Fang couldn’t have recovered her awareness.”

“Restore a little,” Li Si Qi instructed. “At least let the imperial physicians discover it. And don’t forget to put something similar into the Empress as well. It can’t be that only Attendant Fang has it in her body. If it exists, then both of them should have it.”

“Understood,” Xiao Hu Zi replied at once. “Master, leave it to me.”

… After a while, the imperial physicians’ expressions grew grave. They exchanged glances and all nodded. Imperial Physician Zhang clasped his hands and reported, “Reporting to Your Majesty, the Empress and Attendant Fang both have a kind of drug in their bodies called an illusion drug. This drug can cause hallucinations.

A person can do things without knowing it.”