Gourmet Girl: Becoming a Royal Merchant Started from Selling Buns

After thinking it over again and again, the empress dowager finally suppressed her impulse, pursed her lips, lowered her eyes, and sighed softly.

After leaving the Cining Palace, Su An had no choice but to let the palace maids lead him to live in the Begonia Garden like a mechanical puppet.

The snow outside was falling heavier and heavier, as if it was going to submerge the entire imperial city. The view was filled with white, and only a few faint candlelights from the palace lanterns could barely illuminate the outline of the blue brick road.

Standing in front of the window, Su An tightened his cloak, frowned and looked into the distance.

I don’t know how Fu Zhun is doing now. Even if he doesn’t want to make her worry, he can’t have not sent any news for such a long time. It would be too cruel for her!

Just as she was worrying, a gentle and well-behaved palace maid pushed the door open and walked in, bowing to her.

"Miss Su, the Queen Mother is here."

As soon as she finished speaking, a gust of wind and snow blew in from the door, carrying the empress dowager's cloak, and the chill that followed quickly spread throughout her body.

"I need to speak to the Queen Mother alone. Please leave first!"

Su An waved at her and gave the order calmly.

Upon hearing this, the palace maid quickly retreated.

The nanny took off the empress dowager's cloak, brushed off the snow at the door, and then closed the door.

Su An poured a cup of hot tea, pushed it in front of the Queen Mother and thanked her.

"Thank you so much for your help, Her Majesty the Queen Mother. I thought I would never have the chance to thank you in person again, but I didn't expect you to come back after all these twists and turns."

She smiled bitterly, as if mocking herself.

Although the Queen Mother was not as perfect as she imagined, at least she never took advantage of her and even helped her a lot.

It is only right and reasonable for her to express her gratitude.

The Queen Mother frowned and glanced at the tea on the table, but did not pick it up. Instead, she turned her head slightly and looked towards the door vigilantly.

Seeing that there was no suspicious figure at the door, she took out a white porcelain bottle from her sleeve.

She pressed the porcelain bottle into Su An's hand and sighed.

"I know that you only have the Prince of Zhenbei in your heart and are unwilling to marry into the imperial palace. Back then, I had no choice but to compromise, but you still have other choices. I don't want to watch you follow my old path."

Su An frowned in confusion, took the porcelain bottle in his hand, looked at it carefully, then pulled out the cork and smelled it.

A strong herbal smell suddenly wafted from inside.

Without waiting for her to ask, the Queen Mother took the initiative to explain to her.

"This is a fake death drug I specially ordered. Once you take it, within a moment, your breathing will cease and your pulse will disappear, making you indistinguishable from being dead."

"But you don't have to worry too much. After three days, once the effect of the drug wears off, you'll be able to regain consciousness."

The Queen Mother continued to give instructions with concern.

"During this period, I will ensure your safety and have His Majesty take you outside the city for burial. Once you are outside the city, find an opportunity to leave the capital. The farther the better, and never appear before His Majesty again."

Su An held the porcelain bottle tightly, his heart filled with mixed emotions, his eyes slightly red.

This is indeed a good idea.

But she still has a family, so she can just leave. However, according to Chu Yi's methods, if he realizes later that she has deceived him, he will definitely take action against her family.

It is true that she wanted to leave the palace, but she cared more about her family's safety.

She took a deep breath, slowly opened her palm, handed the porcelain bottle back to the empress dowager, and shook her head with a wry smile.

"Thank you for your kindness, Queen Mother. My own death is not a pity, but if my family is implicated, even if I manage to escape the palace, I will surely be unable to rest in peace day and night. I do not wish to live in such a cowardly state."

"You won't have to worry about that. Although my influence in the palace is not as great as before, I still have the ability to protect your family. You can leave. I will take care of your family. He won't dare to do anything too extreme."

Knowing her concerns, the Queen Mother raised her hand, returned the porcelain bottle, snorted lightly, and spoke in a strong tone.

Su An pursed his lips and nodded, his eyes fixed on the porcelain bottle.

After hesitating for a while, she finally made up her mind, looked at the empress dowager, and nodded heavily.

"Alright, then I will respectfully obey your command. Thank you, Queen Mother, for your help. If we meet again in the future, I will do my best to repay your kindness!"

The Queen Mother raised her lips slightly, a hint of relief flashing in her eyes.

She stood up, and the nanny beside her immediately came forward to put a cloak on her, and then left Begonia Garden.

Not long after the Queen Mother left, Su An took the pills out of the porcelain bottle and took them with tea.

Then she lay quietly on the bed and closed her eyes.

The next day, the palace maid saw that she had not gotten up for a long time, so she pushed the door open and went in to check.

The person who should have been sleeping soundly on the bed was now lifeless. Not only was his face as pale as paper and his lips black, but his body had also become cold and he was no longer breathing.

The palace maid widened her eyes in horror and took a few steps back tremblingly.

"Miss Su died of poisoning!"

She shouted in panic as she ran out.

Soon, everyone in the palace knew about this, and the concubines and Chu Yi gathered in Haitang Garden.

Looking at Su An lying lifeless on the bed, Chu Yi frowned, his eyes filled with violence. He clenched his fists and urged the imperial physician in a cold voice: "What happened? What kind of poison did she get? Is there any hope?"

My body is already cold, how can I be saved?

The imperial physician knelt tremblingly, sweat dripping down his forehead. He said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, Miss Su has been dead for a long time. This poison is so strong that I am powerless to help her."

Chu Yi suddenly raised his foot and kicked him back, gritting his teeth and cursing.

"You dare to lie to me? Aren't you afraid that I will chop off your head? She cherishes her life so much, how could she die?"

The imperial physician prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to say anything more.

Instead, the Queen Mother frowned unhappily and gave a reminder.

"The deceased is gone. Your Majesty, please mourn with understanding and refrain from implicating innocent people. Moreover, if Your Majesty had not insisted on taking Miss Su into the palace, she would not have been so desperate as to seek her own death. All of this was forced upon her by Your Majesty."

The sarcasm in his words was not concealed at all.

Chu Yi's face turned pale when he heard this. He turned around and glared at the empress dowager, then asked the palace maid beside him.

"Who did Miss Su meet yesterday?"

The maid looked up at the Empress Dowager and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, yesterday...yesterday only the Empress Dowager came to Begonia Garden, and Miss Su had a long and private conversation with the Empress Dowager. As for what they talked about, I don't know."

Hearing this, Chu Yi's eyes flashed, and he walked up to the Queen Mother, looking at her with a sinister look.

"What did you say to her yesterday? Why did she commit suicide by taking poison?"

Su An slept peacefully, without any signs of struggle. It seemed that he was willing to die and was not forced by others.

But she has always cherished her life and would never commit suicide by taking poison for no reason!