Chapter 211: The Thing That Betrays Its Former Master

Nan Xueyin only felt it was laughable after hearing this.

Slandering her, assassinating the Emperor.

Consort Xian's trick of a thief crying "stop thief" was truly played with great ease.

But thinking about it carefully, history has always been written by the victors; as long as Xiao Mingyu succeeded in his rebellion tonight, how this history would be recorded by future historians would be up to her and Xiao Mingyu to decide.

What's more, Consort Xian coming over to "take care" of the Emperor tonight was originally a part of Xiao Mingyu's plan.

While Xiao Mingyu was attacking the Imperial City, Consort Xian was to simultaneously control the Emperor here.

Along with Consort Xian came many Assassins and Hidden Guards, all of whom were forces Xiao Mingyu had planted in the palace bit by bit over these years.

As the saying goes, soldiers are raised for a thousand days to be used for a single moment; following Consort Xian's order, the Assassins launched their action.

Outside the hall, the personal guards and attendants brought by Xiao Youlan were locked in a struggle with the Assassins brought by Consort Xian.

Inside the hall, before the palace servants could react, they drew the weapons hidden on their persons and swiftly and mercilessly stabbed them into the bodies of the palace servants beside them, killing each with a single blow.

A thick, bloody stench soon permeated the surroundings.

After finishing off the palace servants, the Hidden Guards' gazes fell upon Xiao Youlan and Nan Xueyin.

Xiao Youlan remained seated on his chair, frowning slightly—the events of tonight had happened in haste, and he had not had time to notify the palace servants here, which meant their deaths were very innocent.

Xiao Youlan actually did not wish for such things to happen, but standing from the perspective of a politician, the deaths of these people would contribute to a greater degree to his ascension.

The Hidden Guards approached step by step, while Xiao Youlan remained motionless in his chair.

Consort Xian sneered: "The Crown Prince is truly fearless. Then, I wonder if this Miss Nan from Qingzhou beside you is afraid..."

Before she could even finish the word "afraid," she saw Nan Xueyin rise and lift her leg, kicking away the dagger in the hand of the nearest Hidden Guard that was aimed at Xiao Youlan, then spinning forward, supporting his arm and giving it a light twist, cleanly slicing his own throat.

The remaining Hidden Guards were dealt with in the same manner.

Nan Xueyin's figure was as agile as a swallow; in just a few breaths, she had dealt with everyone.

Consort Xian had not even seen her movements clearly; she was stunned for a moment, and the floor was already covered in corpses.

Nan Xueyin stood amidst the corpses, without a single drop of blood on her body or face, and even her hair remained neat and tidy, without the slightest disarray.

She adjusted the hairpin in her hair and commented: "Not one of them could take a hit."

Consort Xian was dumbfounded.

Nan Xueyin looked up at Consort Xian again.

Consort Xian subconsciously took half a step back.

Nan Xueyin pulled up a mocking smile: "It seems the story for tonight is that Consort Xian brought Assassins with the intent to assassinate the Emperor, and the Crown Prince arrived in time to successfully save him."

Consort Xian's complexion was extremely ugly.

She suddenly thought of something, stared at Nan Xueyin, and asked: "Are you... a person from the Duan Prince Mansion?"

Nan Xueyin tilted her head, neither saying yes nor saying no.

In fact, Xiao Mingyu had never told her the detailed cause and effect.

But Consort Xian was no fool; through the cause and effect of the events, she slowly deduced a general idea.

She had long known that her son was keeping a powerful female Assassin by his side, perhaps one with some beauty, but her son had been raised well by her and knew that in the face of power, beauty was not worth mentioning.

Therefore, her son had never had anything happen with that female Assassin, only using her to constantly scheme for power and profit.

Until later, when things took a turn.

Her son sent this female Assassin into the Eastern Palace, to the side of the Crown Prince.

The female Assassin's mission was to find out the Crown Prince's hidden ailment; she should have failed, but from another perspective, she succeeded, because the Crown Prince fell in love with her.

If things had continued to progress like this, it would not have been impossible for the position of heir to fall to her son.

But who would have known that her son would also recklessly fall in love with this female Assassin!

Xiao Mingyu had always refused to tell Consort Xian who this female Assassin was, and only at this moment did Consort Xian finally understand that the female Assassin was none other than this Nan Xueyin before her!

"A thing that betrays its former master!"

Consort Xian gritted her teeth and let out a scolding.

Xiao Youlan frowned and said coldly: "Consort Xian, watch your language."

"It doesn't matter."

Nan Xueyin's voice was unhurried.

As she spoke, she strode toward Consort Xian, raised her hand, and delivered a solid slap.

This blow was beyond Consort Xian's expectations; she was struck and fell onto the bed, her ears buzzing.

"It doesn't matter" was only said to Xiao Youlan, to tell him not to be too angry.

As for Consort Xian, it mattered very much.

Nan Xueyin curled her lips and said: "You need to get one thing straight: I have already left the Duan Prince Mansion and am no longer Xiao Mingyu's person. There is no master or anything of the sort. Don't talk about you; even if Xiao Mingyu were standing in front of me right now, I would not be soft-hearted."

She paused, then added: "And speaking of betraying a former master, wouldn't those four words be more appropriate for you?"

Consort Xian took a long while to come to her senses and suddenly raised her head: "What did you say?!"

Nan Xueyin shrugged her shoulders: "According to the rules of the Ye Dynasty, palace maids are servants, the Emperor is the master, and the Empress is also the master. Empress Rouyi, wasn't she your master? But you not only climbed onto the Emperor's dragon bed and snatched away the Empress's favor, you even poisoned the Empress to death. This is truly being wolf-hearted and dog-lunged, betraying your former master."

"I did not!"

Consort Xian gritted her teeth: "I did not harm her! Empress Rouyi was hurt by love and died of illness herself! What does this have to do with me? None of this has anything to do with me!"

"Hurt by love, is it."

Xiao Youlan spoke slowly.

He said indifferently: "All of you think that in the Empress Mother's heart, the Emperor Father's favor was ranked first. In reality, the Empress Mother did not think so. She loved the Emperor Father, but she also loved me, and she loved herself. If she could obtain the Emperor Father's favor, that would certainly be good, but if she didn't, she wouldn't wallow in self-pity. Without the Emperor Father, she could still take good care of me, and she could also be herself. Her health was not good, but she wouldn't have died at such a young age. During that period, the Empress Mother had already started trying to regulate her health."

He stared coldly at Consort Xian: "But you pretended to be sisters, secretly poisoning the Empress Mother's medicinal soup, and even spread rumors everywhere that the Empress Mother had lost favor and was wallowing in self-pity, grieving in secret every day. Outsiders believed it. When the Empress Mother died from the poison, they believed she had died from excessive grief. Even the Emperor Father believed this without a doubt. No one suspected you, and no one went to investigate the truth—except for me."

"After the Empress Mother died, you used your methods to eliminate the people who knew the truth one by one; those Momos and palace maids who took care of her in the palace were all harmed to death by you one by one. You thought all the evidence had disappeared, that no one could punish you, and that the truth would be buried forever. But you forgot, there is still me. I, too, am evidence!"

Consort Xian sat crookedly on the bed, her whole body limp, unable to climb up, and she was unable to speak for a long time.

It was also at this moment that a burst of weak coughing suddenly sounded from the bed—

Emperor Yongzheng had awakened.