Chapter 135

Chapter 135: A Deathly Look

Eunuch Su stepped down from the carriage outside the Duke manor.

Duke Qi glanced at the commoner nearby and begged stiffly, “Eunuch Su… could you proclaim it inside the manor instead?”

“No need,” Eunuch Su replied, smiling without warmth. “This servant will wait right here for the Duchess.”

Eunuch Su had watched Princess Qing Ning grow up.

These past two years, the Duke manor relied on Princess Qing Ning’s sincere feelings for the Heir Apparent to squeeze and humiliate her in every way.

The Emperor did not interfere, but Eunuch Su remembered it all.

Now Eunuch Su finally had a chance to make the Duke manor lose face, so Eunuch Su naturally chose the spot with the most people watching.

Wen Xi Courtyard.

When Madam Cui heard the nanny report that there was an oral edict from His Majesty for her, Madam Cui was still lying in bed, half-dazed.

“What?” Madam Cui asked. “His Majesty’s oral edict? For me?”

Madam Cui thought she misheard.

Madam Cui was an inner-house woman. Why would His Majesty issue an oral edict to her?

Only after the nanny confirmed it again and again did Madam Cui scramble up.

Madam Cui dressed quickly and patted powder onto her face to look healthier before Madam Cui hurried outside.

Eunuch Su was already impatient from waiting.

Madam Cui was truly putting on airs.

Eunuch Su had been standing there for half a quarter-hour and still had not seen her.

“Eunuch Su,” Duke Qi said again, “my wife’s health is poor. You may need to wait a little longer. Why not come inside and have tea to warm yourself?”

Eunuch Su had not spoken yet when Madam Cui finally appeared, supported by two nannies.

Duke Qi’s face darkened.

Eunuch Su flicked his hand and raised his voice. “Madam Cui, wife of Duke Qi, receive the Emperor’s oral edict!”

Madam Cui did not even have time to ask Duke Qi what happened.

Madam Cui heard that shout and did not dare delay.

Madam Cui steadied herself, performed the grand salute, and knelt. “This humble woman, Madam Cui, receives the Emperor’s oral edict!”

Behind her, the nannies and maids dropped to their knees as well.

Only then did Eunuch Su continue, voice ringing loudly. “By Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decreed: Madam Cui, wife of Duke Qi – her nature is jealous, causing discord in the inner chambers. She has many failings in raising her children. She ignores the gentle and kind virtues a woman should uphold, and brings harm to the family’s reputation.”

Eunuch Su went on, each word heavy. “She is ordered to correct her faults at once and reflect deeply. If she still refuses to repent, she will not be spared lightly!”

Eunuch Su truly deserved to be Emperor Chong Sheng’s trusted attendant. Eunuch Su had heard the edict only once, yet now recited it without missing a single word.

As those words fell, each one struck Madam Cui like a hammer to the skull.

Madam Cui’s heart filled with fear and confusion.

The whispers and stares of the commoner made Madam Cui feel there was nowhere to hide.

Madam Cui instinctively thought this must be because of Qi Fei Yan’s smuggled salt.

But where did these two words, “jealous by nature,” come from?

Before Madam Cui could make sense of it, Eunuch Su continued, smile still on Eunuch Su’s face. “Duchess, in today’s morning court the Duke admitted in public that he kept a mistress outside. He even said it was because you were jealous and lacked kindness, and because the concubines had been childless for years, that he did such a thing.”

Eunuch Su’s voice carried a warning beneath the politeness. “His Majesty was furious. His Majesty ordered the Duke to bring her back. Madam Tao is already pregnant. Duchess, you must take good care of her and ensure nothing goes wrong!”

A mistress…?

Madam Cui looked up, unable to believe it.

Madam Cui’s gaze swept past Eunuch Su and landed on the Duke manor’s carriage behind him.

A woman was stepping down timidly from inside.

When Madam Cui’s eyes fixed on that face, Madam Cui’s whole body began to tremble.

“Madam Cui,” Eunuch Su snapped, displeased. “Did you understand?”

Madam Cui’s face went paper white.

Madam Cui forced herself to finish the salute and thank the Emperor. “Madam Cui will remember.”

Only after Eunuch Su left did Madam Cui rise shakily with the nannies’ support.

Eunuch Su’s voice had not been especially loud or quiet.

Not only Madam Cui and her servants heard it, but the surrounding commoner heard it clearly too.

Now everyone’s eyes shifted from Madam Cui to Duke Qi, whose face flushed red.

“Kept a mistress?”

“Wasn’t Duke Qi famous for loving his wife?”

“Hah. Forced by the Duchess?”

“Bah! What ‘forced’? He’s just chasing a good name. A hypocrite!”

The chatter grew louder and louder.

Madam Cui’s vision spun.

Madam Cui stared straight at Madam Tao.

A mistress…?

The husband Madam Cui had always been proud of had actually kept a mistress outside?

At first, Madam Cui refused to believe it.

But once Madam Cui saw Madam Tao’s face, so similar to someone in Madam Cui’s memories, Madam Cui could not deny it anymore.

Duke Qi raised a sleeve to hide Duke Qi’s face and strode to Madam Cui, urging in a low voice, “What are you standing there for? We’ll talk after we go inside.”

Madam Cui’s eyes trembled.

Madam Cui suddenly lifted a hand.

But before the hand could rise fully, a large hand clamped down hard on her wrist.

Duke Qi warned coldly, “Don’t forget His Majesty’s oral edict.”

Madam Cui’s fingers shook.

Only then did Duke Qi release her.

With the other hand, Duke Qi half-pulled and half-dragged Madam Cui into the manor.

Madam Cui felt a fishy, salty taste crawl up from her chest into her throat.

The Duke manor’s gates closed behind them.

Madam Cui suddenly spun around.

With a loud crack, Madam Cui slapped Madam Tao hard across the face. “You filthy wretch! What were you, to dare appear in the Duke manor?”

Madam Tao had been sneaking glances at the Duke manor, still trying to take it all in.

Caught off guard, Madam Tao cried out and fell backward.

Madam Tao hit the ground hard, clutching her belly, face drained of color.

Duke Qi had only ever seen Madam Cui’s dignified, gentle side.

Duke Qi also knew Madam Cui must have done something to those two concubines, or they would not have stayed childless for so many years, but Duke Qi had never seen it with Duke Qi’s own eyes.

Now Madam Cui struck Madam Tao in front of Duke Qi, and the small guilt Duke Qi once felt was replaced by disgust.

Duke Qi yanked Madam Cui away before Madam Cui could kick again.

Duke Qi said, “Cui Yu Zhi, I don’t want to dig into why Lady Lian and Lady Ping never conceived all these years. But His Majesty already knows about Lady Tao’s pregnancy. If anything happens to Lady Tao or the child in her belly, His Majesty will investigate it!”

Madam Cui swayed, only staying upright because a nanny held her.

Duke Qi bent down and picked up Madam Tao, whose face was still white as paper.

Madam Cui watched it happen, and the blood she had been forcing down finally broke loose.

Madam Cui spat out a mouthful of blood.

A nanny shrieked, “Madam! Duke, Madam fainted!”

Duke Qi paused for a moment.

But Madam Cui fainting and coughing blood was not the first or second time.

If Madam Cui wanted to faint, then Madam Cui could faint.

Duke Qi walked away without another glance.

The nannies panicked and hurried Madam Cui back to Wen Xi Courtyard, then rushed to summon the house physicians.

When the house physicians heard the Duchess had fainted again, they came with practiced ease.

But this time was clearly different.

Before, a few needles would wake Madam Cui, but now several house physicians took turns using every method they knew, and none of it worked.

Not only did Madam Cui not wake, Madam Cui’s face grew worse and worse.

Her complexion turned sallow and gray, with a deathly look to it.

If they had not felt a faint breath when they checked, the house physicians would have thought Madam Cui was already gone.

One of them whispered, “This… what do we do?”

The house physicians looked at each other, helpless.

Meng Yang tried the emergency methods from her previous life, but nothing worked either.

Meng Yang asked, panicked, “Where was the Heir Apparent?”