When Dumeiren first entered the room and saw the scene that had led to Jing Guifei’s exclamation, she wasn’t too taken aback. She simply walked around the table and hurried to the couch.
"Cai Wei, how are you? Open your eyes and look at me...God, you were fine this morning, how did things come to this so suddenly?"
Seeing Cai Wei unconscious on the couch, Du Meiren felt as if her heart was being torn apart. Tears flowed like rain.
She had heard about what happened to Cai Wei at noon. Although she was anxious, her low status denied her the right to enter the palace. She had to wait painfully, and when she was finally able to see Cai Wei, she found her in a lifeless state. How could that not cause heartache?
She held Cai Wei’s hand, crying profoundly, rambling, "Why is my fate so bitter? Betrayed by my own parents and enduring more than ten years in the cold palace, finally got a daughter that I could love, only for her to be taken away from me just like that..."
Listening to her lamenting, Cai Wei was deeply moved, but mostly she was anxious. Saknu was in a violent rage. What if Doctor Liu couldn’t handle him? What if he turned his beastly gaze upon Du Meiren? If it were just her, she could handle him easily, but with Du Meiren there, things became more complicated.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry for long. At last, Saknu roared in fury and stopped.
Doctor Liu was already dead, her eyes wide open, motionless on the table. A pool of blood flowed from the table onto the floor, creating a monotonous dripping sound. The smell of blood mingled with Hong Rui’s, creating a strong, pungent odor.
At Saknu’s command, two of Liaodan’s guards entered the room and knelt on the ground.
"Awaiting your orders, Master!"
"Throw these two corpses out and clean the place!"
Without a moment’s hesitation, the guards complied; they seemed accustomed to such orders. They bent down, carried the bodies and left.
Saknu wiped his body and gloomily walked out. His robe was drenched in blood, and there were also several spots on his upper clothes. He looked like he had just committed a murder.
After Saknu left, Dumeiren finally exhaled. She had seen his brutal actions. To marry Cai Wei to him would be worse than poisoning her!
As Cai Wei lay on the couch, her thoughts turned to the Emperor. She wondered if he had discovered the crimes committed by Zhao Yang. Would the Empress suffer due to her foolish actions and would Nangong Yi be implicated by his foolish sister?
"Brother Ying, go check the situation with Princess Zhaoyang at the Emperor’s end. If there’s news, transmit it to me immediately." She activated her thoughts and sent Brother Ying off.
Brother Ying flew off and quickly returned with news.
"Master, Zhaoyang’s maids have all confessed, including her bribing the eunuch in the imperial kitchen to poison your bird’s nest soup with sugar, and using the warming room wine to lure Saknu. The Emperor has already verified the evidences and they are indeed true. Ah! The wrath of Emperor is terrifying...."
"And the result? How has the Emperor punished her?" What Cai Wei cared about the most was the Emperor’s attitude. Anything else was irrelevant.
"The Emperor has decreed that Princess Zhao Yang will marry Saknu in your stead. He also ordered the Empress to be placed under house arrest in Jade Palace for a year, and the imperial harem is temporarily taken care of by Jing Guifei. Moreover, anyone close to Princess Zhao Yang will be beaten to death on the spot, and the rest will be banished from the capital, never to return..."