Chapter 140: Life and Death Hang in the Balance

Li Ping'er's copper basin smashed onto the floor, hot water splashed onto the blue bricks, raising a cloud of white mist.

Xiao Shunzi clutched the dust‑brush tightly, the knuckles turning a pale blue.

The messenger eunuch knelt on the plush mat, his forehead pressed to the ground trembling nonstop: "Mother, you must quickly, quickly inform the Emperor!"

"After all, Xu Answering's child is not even seven months old!"

The candles in the hall crackled, flaring into sparks that lit the faces of those present with shifting shadows.

【Wan Tang won't be foolish again, will she? At a time like this she still wants to play the saint?】

【Xu Luoyan's miscarriage is a good thing; does Wan Tang not want revenge, not want her dead?】

【Anyway this was done by the Empress, Wan Tang just stays in Xitang Courtyard, pretends not to know.】

【That's true, the Dog Emperor has never taken Xu Luoyan's unborn child seriously; after all, the Dog Emperor knows Xu Luoyan's dirty business. It's just a matter of face, hard to speak of, hard to act on.】

Rescue?

Ridiculous!

Wan Tang's peripheral glance flicked to the jade pendant at the little eunuch's waist.

It was the white nephrite that Xu Luoyan favored most.

The bronze mirror reflected Wan Tang's suddenly cold, sharp eyes: "The Emperor said that with Xu Answering, in this life, we shall never meet again."

She suddenly turned, laughing as she looked at the little eunuch: "Are you asking me, the palace, to offend the Emperor's countenance?"

Amid the sound of porcelain shards breaking, the little eunuch trembled like a sieve: "Nubi, Nubi…"

"What audacity, daring to sow discord between me and the Emperor!"

"Take him out." Wan Tang lightly brushed the jade bracelet on her wrist, "Twenty rods."

A scream tore through the night sky as Wan Tang was shaping her eyebrows before a rhombus‑patterned mirror.

The charcoal pencil paused heavily at the brow tip: "Who else will go to summon the Emperor?"

The mirror reflected a room full of kneeling figures, "I will not block it."

In the dead silence only the water clock ticked.

Li Ping'er trembled as she brought the nightclothes: "Master, rest; we heard nothing."

"How could we not have heard?" Wan Tang suddenly pushed aside the dressing chest, the gilt box fell to the floor, pearls and agate scattered everywhere.

She crouched, pulling from the deepest hidden compartment an unmarked tablet.

The ebony spirit tablet gleamed from being polished, its front blank of any inscription.

"Prepare a sedan." She wrapped the tablet in a plain silk, "to the Cold Palace."

The night wind swirled snow particles that struck the sedan curtains, the tablet in Wan Tang's bosom pressed painfully against her chest.

Wan Tang's exterior remained calm, yet her heart quivered.

Finally!

Finally, this moment has arrived!

The dilapidated vermilion doors of the Cold Palace stood half‑ajar, from within came Xu Luoyan's heart‑rending cries: "My child… my child!"

"Mother, it hurts so much."

"Daughter is so scared, save the daughter and the child!"

"Don't be afraid, mother's here, mother's here!"

"As long as mother is here, she will protect you!"

The tattered window paper let in a few strands of moonlight, illuminating the expanding pool of blood beneath Xu Luoyan.

"Help! Send the physician quickly!" Wang Jingyi's disheveled hair bun slapped against the doorframe, "My daughter is the Emperor's personally appointed Answering! You Nubi, are you courting death?"

Only the cold wind that swept through the hall answered her.

When Wan Tang's embroidered shoes crossed the threshold, a pearl at the tip caught a splatter of blood.

A smile curled at her lips as she walked in.

"The Emperor?!" Wang Jingyi's eyes bulged, her front collar stained with Xu Luoyan's bloody handprints, "I, the imperial consort, demand an audience with the Emperor!"

"The Emperor will not come." Wan Tang leisurely smoothed the crease of her sleeve, "I originally did not intend to come either."

"After all, a place like the Cold Palace is truly ill‑omened."

She suddenly leaned down, lifting Wang Jingyi's chin, "But who made me oversee the Six Palaces?"

"The duty remains; even if I loathe it, I can only come to see."

Wan Tang's bright smile contrasted sharply with the falling snow.

The smile chilled Wang Jingyi, who stepped back.

Xu Luoyan let out a beast‑like howl on the couch, her ten fingers tearing the brocade quilt to shreds.

Fresh blood kept pouring, and she was in agony beyond words.

"You did it on purpose!"

"It was you who prevented the Emperor from coming."

"It was you who harmed my daughter?"

Wang Jingyi suddenly lunged forward, but Xiao Shunzi held her firmly.

Wan Tang let out a light laugh, "How could I possibly commit such a foolish act?"

"How Xu Answering… is beyond my concern, but the Emperor's child… I will protect it well."

She turned and said to the doorway, "Send for Xie Taiyi."

Seeing the crowd stare, she added gently, "All on‑duty physicians, summon them all."

Li Pin staggered in at that moment.

The crimson‑gold Step Shake in her hair became tangled in a spider web, yet she, oblivious, rushed to Wan Tang's side: "I heard Xu Answering is bleeding?"

Wan Tang's gaze dimmed; Li Pin's news was indeed very reliable.

She nodded, however.

Li Pin's eyes were full of anxiety: "The child is only eight months old!"

"Can this child truly still be saved?"

She rushed to the bedside, her trembling hand hovering over Xu Luoyan's abdomen, yet daring not to touch it.

Wan Tang began to comfort her: "Sister, rest assured, this palace will summon all Imperial Physicians to ensure the child is saved."

Xu Luoyan was in excruciating pain.

Wang Jingyi took everything in, seeing that none of the arrivals were good.

"Poisonous woman! Get out!" Xu Luoyan suddenly sprang up, spitting a mouthful of blood foam onto Li Pin's face, "You all want to kill me!"

"Harm?" Wan Tang laughed, "This palace is to save a life!"

"Do one's best and listen to the Heavenly Mandate."

Wan Tang's voice was like a blade tempered with ice, making Wang Jingyi shiver all over.

As the Imperial Physicians' footsteps drew nearer, Wan Tang suddenly stepped before Wang Jingyi.

"Madam, won't you let us in?" Wan Tang smiled cryptically, deliberately exposing a corner of the blank plaque she held.

So Wang Jingyi could see clearly: "Delaying treatment means one corpse, two lives!"

Wang Jingyi's pupils suddenly contracted.

She stared intently at that blank plaque, the iris carved upon it familiar to her.

"No!" she suddenly flung her arms to block the bedside, looking frantic, "I refuse! You dare not touch my daughter!"

Wang Jingyi's eyes were blood‑red, her hair bun in disarray.

She abruptly drew a gilded token from her bosom, raised it overhead, and barked, "Everyone, get out!"

The token bore the character "Xu", shimmering with a cold light in the candlelight.

"This was left to me by my late husband!" Her voice was hoarse, each word like a blade, "Whoever dares step over this threshold, the Xu Family will make his life worse than death!"

The Guanren exchanged glances, and for a moment no one dared move.

Li Pin clenched her handkerchief, anxiously looking at Wan Tang: "Your Majesty, the child is innocent! No matter what, we must save the child!"

Wang Jingyi sneered, "That's only natural!"

She gritted her teeth hard and shouted toward the doorway, "Hou Yishou! Let Hou Yishou in!"

Wan Tang's lips curled slightly, and she said softly, "Very well."

The door was pushed open, and a middle‑aged man with a sharp nose and monkey‑like face entered trembling.

He was slender, his eyes darting, and he was the Imperial Physician recommended by Wang Jingyi.

"Madam…" Hou Yishou had just clasped his hands in greeting when Wang Jingyi seized his collar and pulled him forward.

"Listen!" she whispered harshly, "If you save my daughter and the child, the Xu Family will grant you three generations of wealth! If there is even the slightest slip…"

She dug her fingernail into his flesh, "I want your whole family to be buried with you!"

Hou Yishou's complexion turned ghastly, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He glanced at the dying Xu Luoyan on the bed, his legs went weak, and he nearly fainted.

Wan Tang coldly said, "Imperial Physician Hou, if you dare not save her, this palace can kill you right now."

Li Pin, seeing this, stamped her foot anxiously, tugged Wan Tang's sleeve and whispered, "Your Majesty, let Imperial Physician Xie come instead!"

Wan Tang chuckled lightly, "I would like that, but who would be willing?"

Wang Jingyi stared at them, her voice hoarse, "I only trust Imperial Physician Hou!"

She suddenly pointed outward, "Everyone, get out!"

Wan Tang's eyes flickered, and she raised her hand to signal the others to withdraw: "All of you, wait at the doorway."

Li Pin wanted to say something, but Wan Tang's glance stopped her, and she gritted her teeth and retreated.

The Guanren withdrew one after another, and the hall fell silent in an instant, leaving only Xu Luoyan's painful gasps.

Wan Tang walked forward slowly, and amid everyone's astonished gazes, she personally closed the Cold Palace's hall door.

"Bang!"

At the instant the doors sealed, the candle flame leapt, reflecting the meaningful smile at the corner of her lips.

"Save her! Quickly, save her!"

"My daughter, she's about to die."

Wang Jingyi's scream pierced the dead silence of the Cold Palace, and the gilded armor dug deep into Hou Yishou's shoulder.

Xu Luoyan convulsed in a pool of blood, the brocade quilt torn into shreds, her fingernails scraping a harsh sound on the bedboard.

Wan Tang, however, was eerily quiet.

She placed the nameless spirit plaque neatly on the low table, her fingertips gliding over the smooth ebony surface.

The candle flame danced in her eyes, reflecting two streams of tears slowly sliding down, yet a smile lingered at the corner of her mouth.

She rubbed the underside of her finger inch by inch, cleaning the barely visible dust.

At this moment, Wang Jingyi had no time left to worry about what Wan Tang was doing.

Only one thought filled her mind: save the person!

"Imperial Physician Hou!" Wang Jingyi kicked Hou Yishou's knee pit, "What are you standing still for!"

"Can't you see my daughter's condition?"

Hou Yishou lunged to the bedside, his hands trembling above Xu Luoyan's swollen abdomen.

The blood had already soaked through three layers of bedding.

He carelessly ripped open the brocade quilt, and the surging blood startled him, causing him to stagger backward.

"Use the needle! Use the medicine!" Wang Jingyi grabbed the medicine box and slammed it onto his back, "Aren't you able to discern a hundred poisons?!"

Xu Luoyan suddenly arched her body, letting out a wretched howl not like a human voice.

Wang Jingyi looked at Xu Luoyan's suffering, her eyes reddened.

Tears kept streaming uncontrollably.

"Daughter, you must not have any more trouble."

"I have already lost my virtue, I cannot be without you."

Wang Jingyi cried until her voice was hoarse.

Wan Tang said lightly, "Madam Xu, some matters, I'm afraid you cannot make the decision!"

Xu Luoyan's blood‑stained fingertips reached into the void, meeting Wan Tang's tear‑filled eyes: "Poison… woman…"

Wang Jingyi, trembling with fear, yanked out a hairpin and pointed it at Hou Yishou's neck: "Quick, save the person!"

"If you don't act now, I'll kill you!"

"I… I…" Hou Yishou suddenly fell to his knees, his forehead striking the pool of blood heavily, "I truly don't understand!"

Blood plasma splashed onto his pallid face, "I am only a veterinarian, I can only assist livestock in birthing…"