Chapter 201: Pleading for Minghui's Care

Ning Daying, upon hearing the words "poisoning," instantly reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, leaping violently from the stool!

"Pfft, cough cough!" The food in her mouth erupted out.

Her face turned deathly pale, fingers frantically digging into her throat, trying to vomit everything she had just swallowed.

She dry‑vomited while panicking, shouting, "Ah! Poison!"

"I told you, vomit… I'm going to die!"

"Sister, help! Virtuous Consort sister, you have such a cruel heart!"

She even exaggeratedly clutched her own throat, rolled her eyes white, looking as if she were about to faint.

In stark contrast stood Wan Tang and Hui Guifei on either side of the table.

They sat face to face, their expressions identically calm, as if what had just been said were not about poisoning but about today's pleasant weather.

Hui Guifei, unable to bear it, gave Ning Daying—a drama queen possessed—a withering glance.

She said irritably, "Shut up! What are you howling about? You won't die!"

Ning Daying froze, eyes brimming with tears, voice trembling, "Really, really?"

Hui Guifei, too lazy to attend to her, glanced at the small porcelain bottle on the table that remained perfectly sealed, its wax untouched.

In a firm tone, she said, "Hmm, the bottle hasn't been opened."

Ning Daying finally let out a long sigh, slumped back into the chair, patting his chest, "You scared me to death."

Hui Guifei waved her hand, telling the other Guanren in the hall, "Everyone step back."

Her gaze swept to Ning Daying, "Including you."

Ning Daying let out an "Oh," stood up feeling aggrieved, his eyes darting swiftly.

In a flash faster than the eye can catch, she lifted the plate of her favorite sweet‑and‑sour lotus‑root slices and another dish of crystal meat from the table.

She giggled, "Cold makes it taste bad…"

After speaking, she whisked away with the plate in hand.

Wan Tang also handed the babbling Minghui in her arms to the wet nurse waiting nearby, signaling that they should also step back.

The hall finally fell completely silent.

Only Wan Tang and Hui Guifei remained seated opposite each other. Wan Tang's expression was calm and unruffled, meeting Hui Guifei's scrutinizing gaze with composure.

The hall was so quiet that a falling needle could be heard.

Hui Guifei's back was straight as a pine, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the table edge, the rough marks left from years of gripping weapons.

She did not look at Wan Tang, her gaze drifting into emptiness, her voice bearing a cold, hardened, detached tone forged on the battlefield:

"Since this palace was placed into this four‑sided cage by the Ning family, I have firmly decided: Former Dynasty harem, I will not inquire about any matters."

She paused, her eyes suddenly sharp as a hawk, sweeping toward Wan Tang, "But if anyone tries to use such demonic methods to harm my Ning family…"

She did not finish, but the chilling murderous aura said it all.

Wan Tang slowly nodded, her eyes showing understanding, and also a deep, almost tragic, maternal resolve.

Suddenly, she lifted her skirt, bent her knee, and knelt upright before Hui Guifei.

Hui Guifei remained seated, neither stopping nor ordering her to rise, but looked down from above, her gaze like a frozen lake.

Wan Tang lifted her face, tears silently sliding down, yet her voice remained unusually steady.

With weary pleading, "It is my incompetence; I cannot protect myself, nor can I protect Minghui."

She mentioned her daughter, her voice trembling slightly, "Minghui, though a child, is so sensible it breaks one's heart."

"She truly loves you, Noble Consort."

She bowed heavily, forehead against the cold floor tiles: "If I, in the future, encounter any misfortune, I beg the Noble Consort… I beg the Noble Consort, for the sake of the innocent child, to raise her to adulthood."

"In my next life I will bind grass and chew a ring, and surely repay the Noble Consort's great kindness!"

Hui Guifei's face darkened, and she finally spoke, her voice revealing no emotion: "You came today not by the Empress's order to poison this palace, nor to use this palace to deal with the Ning family?"

Wan Tang sat up straight, her gaze clear, without evasion, "Duke of Ning is loyal and brave, the pillar of the nation."

"Though I am not a good person, I could not commit such despicable, self‑destructive acts!"

"Fengqi Kingdom needs a person like the Duke of Ning."

A bitter smile curled at her lips: "I, I have long been a doomed person, barely clinging to life until now."

"Now the only thing I cannot let go of is Minghui."

Hui Guifei paused a moment, her tone still ice‑cold: "Since you entered the Imperial harem, you should know this is a place of life and death for you."

"Today you refuse to go along with the corrupt, you shouldn't have given birth to her in the first place! Having given birth, you must take responsibility!"

Wan Tang felt a sharp pain in her heart from her words, yet she suddenly lifted her gaze.

She gazed deeply into Hui Guifei's bottomless eyes, a bitter smile on her lips: "But a person… truly is too lonely…"

Hui Guifei's body trembled almost imperceptibly, her eyes flickering with a brief moment of looseness and dimness.

It seemed as if those words had precisely pierced the most hidden desolation in her heart.

But she quickly regained that cold, hard demeanor, even more ruthless:

"Loneliness is not an excuse for you to shirk responsibility!"

"Since you gave birth, you must see it through yourself! Others, however kind, are not your mother!"

"I, this palace, have always kept things pure; I will never let that noisy little thing disturb my life!"

Wan Tang listened quietly to all her icy words, her face showing no resentment, but a strange calm.

She bowed again, extremely solemn, her forehead touching the ground, kowtowing three times to Hui Guifei.

Each movement was slow and heavy, filled with unspoken sincerity and entrustment.

Then, she straightened, eyes watery, yet displayed a relieved, grateful faint smile:

"I thank you, sister."

Hui Guifei's gaze flickered complexly a few times, finally settling into a cold irritation.

She turned her face away and said stiffly, "Stop this act!"

"You, from head to toe, make this palace displeased."

"If the Empress truly could solve this big trouble of yours, this palace could finally have peace!"

Wan Tang lightly interjected, her tone drifting, "Almost there."

These words only made Hui Guifei more agitated; she snapped her head back, brow tightly knit.

Her tone was extremely impatient: "Let others live or die, that's one thing. Your resigned, waiting‑to‑die ghostly demeanor truly makes this palace feel utterly uncomfortable!"

She seemed to recall something; her gaze suddenly sharpened, and she lowered her voice to forcefully ask, "What?"

"Could it be that the Empress has learned about Xu Yanchuan and you…"

Her words halted abruptly, her stare fixed tightly on Wan Tang.

Wan Tang slowly shook her head, "No."

She lowered her eyelids, her voice carrying deeper fatigue and helplessness, "It's a more troublesome matter. The fewer who know, the better."

She raised her head again, a final glimmer of hope in her eyes, "If sister is willing to agree to look after Minghui, this palace will have no more worries behind us, and we need not be coerced by anyone any longer."

"Dream on!" Hui Guifei abruptly cut her off, eyes full of iron‑to‑steel‑failed fury, "This palace said we won't help, and we won't help!"

"If you truly seek death, go ahead."

"When the Empress later grinds your daughter, at worst this palace will collect your corpse!"

Wan Tang's final sparkle dimmed, shrouded by deep sorrow.

"Enough, enough!"

Hui Guifei, as if unable to bear her appearance, waved her hand extremely impatiently.

Her tone was sharp, "Get up quickly! Just looking at you is an eyesore! Eat!"

She spoke harshly, yet did not truly drive her away.

Wan Tang's purpose unfulfilled, her expression gloomy.

She seemed as if her very spirit had been drained, standing up lost and despondent.

She signaled the wet nurse to lift Minghui, preparing to leave.

"Stop."

Hui Guifei's cold voice rang from behind.

Wan Tang's steps halted, yet she did not turn back.

Hui Guifei leisurely tapped the tiny black porcelain bottle on the table with her fingertip.

Her tone left no room for doubt: "The items brought to this palace, how could there be any reason to take them away?"

She looked at Ning Daying, who was blinking nearby, and lifted her chin: "Ning'er, put that 'good thing' into this palace's custody."

Ning Daying gave a soft "oh", hurried forward and carefully slipped the poison bottle into her bosom.

Only then did Hui Guifei, as if having completed a ritual, look again at Wan Tang's silhouette.

She furrowed her brows, assuming an extremely annoyed posture, her voice suddenly rising, cursing fiercely:

"What are you still lingering here for? Quickly take your little troublesome spirit and scram!"

"In the future, stay away from this Jingren Palace unless necessary! Seeing you makes me irritable! Bad luck!"

She cursed without mercy, her voice loud, ensuring every Guanren in the courtyard with ears upright could hear clearly.

Wan Tang's silhouette stiffened briefly, but she said nothing.

Cradling the child, amid dead silence and countless gazes, she slowly walked out of Jingren Palace.

Li Pin was originally holding the Second Prince at the west hall entrance, cautiously peeking at the movements toward the main hall.

At the sound of Hui Guifei's unabashed, irritated scolding,

her complexion turned instantly pale, as if burned, and she immediately pulled the child back into the hall, swiftly closing most of the hall doors behind her.

Her heart still trembling, she pounded her chest and whispered to the wet nurse, "Quick, quick, go inside."

"Ask nothing, say nothing."

"As long as we don't provoke that demon, anything is fine."

At night, Chu Yunzheng entered Changle Palace, his expression as gloomy as water.

Wan Tang had already prepared exquisite wine and dishes, offering a gentle smile as she stepped forward to pour him wine.

Shei knew that when Chu Yunzheng saw the wine, he suddenly erupted in fury, swinging his sleeve to fling the wine cup onto the floor.

"Wine! Wine! Wine! All you ever think of is drinking! Is this thing really that tasty?!"

His chest heaved violently, his voice full of uncontainable rage.

Wan Tang was startled by the sudden outburst, hurriedly kneeling, "Emperor, calm your anger!"

The Guanren inside the courtyard instantly fell to their knees, silent as cold cicadas.

She forced herself to stay calm, carefully gathering the shards on the floor, but her fingertip was inadvertently cut by a sharp piece of porcelain, oozing a bead of blood.

"Sss…" she whispered softly.

Chu Yunzheng then seemed startled awake, seeing the wound on her fingertip.

His raging anger instantly gave way to concern, and he hurried forward, grasping her hand, "Tangtang! It's my fault, I…"

Wan Tang shook her head, soothingly saying, "This palace is fine."

"Emperor, have you encountered any troubling matters?"

Chu Yunzheng let out a heavy sigh, helped her up, his tone weary, "It has nothing to do with you; it's my own emotions that have lost control."

He massaged his brow, worrying, "Xu Chengyuan died suddenly, the court is in chaos, and many eyes are on the Grand General's position!"

"General Huang was my preferred top choice; he has long been stationed at the border, his prestige sufficient."

I originally intended to let him recuperate for a few days, to use him as a trump card, which would nicely suppress the Xiao Family's arrogance.

He grew angrier as he spoke, his voice rising again: "Shei would have thought that after we summoned him to court today, he actually dares not to come!"

I sent people to his residence to "invite" him; what was the result?

At noon he drank himself into a stupor! When dragged up to the hall, he was still unconscious!

The Xiao Family's lot down there kept snickering; tell me, with my current state, how could I bestow the Grand General's position upon him?

How to command the troops?!

Wan Tang listened quietly, understanding in her heart.

The performance in the Grand Hall today has already achieved her purpose.

Yet she could not watch a loyal general fall like this, so she gently urged, "Emperor, calm your anger."

The border passes are bitterly cold; the old General probably thought this return to the capital was genuine recuperation, so he relaxed a bit.

Furthermore, Subject have heard that the old General's old wounds are numerous; perhaps the pain is unbearable, so he turned to wine for relief?

Chu Yunzheng, upon hearing this, his anger slightly eased, sighed: "When I talk with you, my heart always feels at ease."

These matters, have I never spoken of them?

It's only that the Schemer seized it, turning it into a massive leverage!

Wan Tang said no more, and carefully coaxed him with some food.

Chu Yunzheng, irritated, ate a few bites hastily, then after washing up, cradled Minghui, who was babbling like a newborn.

He retired early, yet the worry etched between his brows lingered for a long time.