Chapter 280: Volume 1_Chapter 280 Empress x Courtesan (10)

Volume 1_Chapter 280 Empress x Courtesan (10)

Jiang Zhi also didn't move closer to the bedside, setting the freshly brewed soup bowl aside, picking up the helmet, 'This just-brewed medicinal soup is good for your injury.'

The youth was not only highly vigilant; his defensiveness toward others was like a thick wall, difficult to overcome.

Jiang Zhi had no choice but to lift the bowl of medicinal soup and take a small sip; the taste was bitter and astringent, so bitter she bared her teeth, almost vomiting the bile from her stomach.

"I don't need to save you again and poison the medicine." Having said that, fearing he wouldn't drink the medicine, she lifted her leg and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Creak—

The wooden door closed, leaving him alone in the room.

Wen Ci resisted the urge to fall asleep, trembling as he lifted his fingers, picked up the medicine bowl, and brought it to his nose to sniff.

In his previous life, too many people had wanted to harm him; he had seen most kinds of poison in the world, needing only a sniff to know the ingredients of the medicine in the bowl.

But this medicine bowl in his hand contained no poison; even the herbs used were of excellent quality, highly effective for his wounds and high fever.

The guard did not deceive him.

Wen Ci raised his head and drank it all, as if tasting no bitterness; his pale face remained calm, and he returned the medicine bowl to its original place.

After sitting for a while, he drifted into a drowsy sleep; when he awoke again, it was already noon the next day.

Wen Ci's primary personality greatly feared pain, curling up in the corner, enduring waves of heart-piercing pain in his back.

The door pushed open, and Jiang Zhi, wearing a guard's uniform, entered with a food tray; hearing the faint breathing from the bedside, she approached and saw the youth's forehead beaded with fine cold sweat, his lips bitten through, his slender body drenched in cold sweat, trembling uncontrollably.

"Pain… it hurts…"

All she could hear was his voice, soft like a kitten's whimper, falling into her ear.

Jiang Zhi could only go out again, heading to the Imperial Medical Institute to get some pain-relief ointment, returning to her lodgings and gently applying it to his back.

This ointment differs from modern painkillers; although it can numb nerves, its effect is short-lived and weak.

Having it is better than having none.

The youth's painful groans lessened slightly; he lay weakly on the bed, like a critically ill patient, on the brink of death.

Jiang Zhi fed him some rice; throughout, his consciousness was hazy, half-asleep, half-awake, and the two wounds nearly took his life.

Because the plot's divine pillar monitors her at all times, she cannot directly harm the male and female leads; but since they harmed the villain, Jiang Zhi, even at risk of punishment, must return these two blade wounds to them.

No one can harm the villain.

Except herself.

Watching Wen Ci fall asleep in her arms, Jiang Zhi gently helped him lie on his side, trying to avoid pressing on the wound; his fever had not yet subsided, requiring a cold towel to reduce it.

The trusted eunuch waited outside, ready to change her water basin and towel.

She couldn't stay too long; after caring for him until near nightfall, she rose and left.

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

A eunuch holding a green head plaque knelt beside her; the Empress unexpectedly flipped open a green head plaque.

It was precisely the green head plaque of the Head of the Imperial Harem, the Cherished Consort.

The palace eunuch said: 'Today the Cherished Consort attends the emperor's bed~'

Jiang Zhi propped her chin, lowered her eyelids, her expression inscrutable: 'Grant the hot spring.'

The palace attendants inside heard this and were astonished.

That is a favor worthy of a Noble Consort.

The imperial harem is about to be overturned.

News of the Empress summoning the Cherished Consort quickly spread throughout the palaces, even reaching the General's Residence outside the palace.

In the main hall.

Leng Qianyan heard the subordinate's report, his face darkened, nearly losing control of his emotions.

You damn Empress, daring to move her people!

The pace must be quickened; this Jiang State ought to be her realm.

…

Prime Minister's Residence.

"Sir, the Empress has granted the Cherished Consort the hot spring."

Yan Yao, holding his teacup high, shook it slightly, spilling water from the rim; scalding tea dripped onto his fingertip, and soon a red mark appeared.

The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive and icy; the subordinates below trembled with fear, dare not speak further.

Yan Yao slowly set the teacup back on the table, saying, 'Prepare the sedan chair, we're going to the Imperial Palace.'

The subordinates promptly responded.

…

Xu Rui, the Cherished Consort in the Hot Spring Palace, pressed her lips tightly, all color draining from her face, deathly pale and panicked.

Beneath him was water of suitable temperature; the surface reflected his fair skin covered in dense marks—all ambiguous kiss marks, and along his waist were clear fingernail scratches.

These were left by Leng Qianyan, not yet faded, imprinted on the skin with striking clarity.

If these marks were seen by the Empress, they would constitute concrete proof of his illicit affair.

Given the Empress's cruel nature, he would surely wish he were dead.

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

He must find a way to survive and inform Leng Qianyan outside the palace.

Behind him, a careless laugh suddenly sounded.

"The Cherished Consort really likes soaking in the hot spring."

Hearing the familiar voice, Xu Rui sank in fright into the bath, startled and panicked, staring in astonishment at the person standing not far away.

Jiang Zhi walked with leisurely steps to the front of the hot spring, the jade-stone edge shrouded in misty water vapor.

"Pay, pays respects to Your Majesty..." Obviously it's a warm hot spring, yet the man's voice from the depths is frozen, trembling.

Wrapped in fear and panic.

Jiang Zhi lightly tugged at the corner of her mouth, speaking as if not quite smiling: "Why are you so afraid of Me? I merely came to look at you."

As the male lead, Xu Rui's looks hadn't reached a stunning level, but his otherworldly, pure and unmatched aura was unsurpassed; this was also the reason the female lead, Leng Qianyan, took a liking to him.

But at this moment, he had no aura left, only endless panic.

Because he had personally witnessed how the female emperor dealt with consorts who committed adultery, having them whipped to death with a spiked whip before all the consorts, suffering immensely.

"Your Majesty, I have not yet bathed and changed; please wait until I have finished changing before I serve you."

Jiang Zhi slightly bent over, her slender fingertips brushing the warm water in the pool, then suddenly stepped down, raised her hand and tightly grabbed the man's long hair, dragging him to the pool's edge, pressing him against the icy, piercing jade stone, drawing close to his face, her phoenix eyes cold and ruthless.

"Xu Rui, if it weren't for your mother, do you think I would allow you to remain in the imperial harem? Good-for-nothing, ugly enough to disgust Me."

Having said that, she disgustedly flung him to the depths of the pool, coldly saying: "If you let Me discover you meeting Leng Qianyan again, not only will you suffer, but Leng Qianyan will wish she were dead."

Having finished saying those, she did not want to stay another moment, striding away.

Xu Rui, who had nearly drowned, crawled to the edge of the pool, gasping for breath, his lips pallid, devoid of blood, shame and fear filling his heart, finally a surge of resentment welled up.

Jiang Zhi!

—

【Due to the Host's character collapse, a third-level punishment is triggered: sub-zero ten degrees cold sensation, lasting three hours, to be executed after ten minutes.】

Jiang Zhi emerged from the hot spring palace, her clothes soaked, water droplets dripping from the hem, her hair tips drenched and clinging to her back; the night breeze carried a hint of chill, and not long after, she met Yan Yao walking toward her.

Yan Yao, still in his official uniform, hadn't had time to change, his light blue robe embroidered with crane feather patterns, a jade crown binding his hair, his graceful bearing, he walked up to her and stopped, his gaze sweeping over her entire body, his brows slightly furrowed, "A Zhi, why..."