Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character's Revenge

Gao Xi bit her lip.

Feng Jieyu looked at Gao Xi with anticipation.

Now only the Ninth Princess can clear her name. As long as she does what they agreed beforehand and accuses Consort Qi of pushing her into the water, then no matter what Consort Qi says, it will be useless.

But Feng Jieyu seemed to have forgotten that she herself had broken her promise by not rescuing Gao Xi immediately after she fell into the water.

The emperor spoke in a deep voice: "Xi'er, just tell the truth. Your father is here and will definitely stand up for you."

The Ninth Princess then stretched out her hand and pointed to Consort Feng, who was kneeling on the ground: "It's her!"

"It was Feng Jieyu; she made me jump into the lake."

Consort Feng's face turned deathly pale: "Ninth Princess, what... what are you saying? It was clearly Consort Qi who pushed you into the water, have you forgotten?"

She wanted to remind Gao Xi not to forget their promise.

"That's you!"

Gao Xi glared at Consort Feng and said to the Emperor, "Father, Consort Feng said that Consort Qi has fallen out of favor, but it is very likely that you will favor her again. If Consort Qi regains favor, she will help Fourth Brother deal with the Emperor, and you will not have time to come to see me and Mother."

"She said that as long as I jumped into the water and falsely accused Consort Qi of pushing me in, Consort Qi would be punished by the Emperor and disappear forever."

"She also said that she would come to save me immediately after I jumped into the water, but after I jumped into the water, Consort Feng did not come to save me for a long time. Instead, Consort Qi jumped in to save me."

At this point, Gao Xi glanced at Qi Ning with a guilty and somewhat remorseful expression.

Qi Ning's expression remained unchanged, but she muttered to herself, "At least this little princess has some conscience."

Feng Jieyu collapsed to the ground, utterly helpless; she knew she was doomed.

After hearing Gao Xi's words, the Emperor and Consort Shu finally understood that Gao Xi had been used by Consort Feng.

Consort Feng not only used the Ninth Princess to frame Consort Qi, but also tried to kill the Ninth Princess.

It's not hard to guess why she broke her promise and delayed in rescuing the Ninth Princess. She simply wanted the Ninth Princess to be killed, so that she could not only silence her but also harm Consort Qi even more thoroughly.

Gao Yan never expected that the truth was like this: Gao Xi was bewitched and instigated by Feng Jieyu to frame Qi Ning, but Qi Ning ended up saving Gao Xi instead.

He looked at Qi Ning with a complicated expression.

Upon hearing Gao Xi's words, the emperor flew into a rage and immediately ordered, "Guards! Consort Feng has plotted to murder the Ninth Princess and framed Consort Qi. Her intentions are malicious and her crimes are unforgivable. Drag her away and have her beaten to death."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Eunuch Wang responded and beckoned for someone to drag Consort Feng away.

Consort Feng cried out in anguish, "Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong..."

But it was too late to say anything then; Feng Jieyu was forcibly dragged away with her mouth covered.

The emperor sat on the edge of the couch and looked at Qi Ning.

"My beloved concubine, you have been wronged."

In fact, the emperor was also involved in this matter. If he hadn't distanced himself from Qi Ning due to health reasons, making outsiders think that Qi Ning had fallen out of favor, no one would have dared to harm her.

Qi Ning shook her head. She was about to speak when she suddenly collapsed and fainted.

"My beloved concubine!" The emperor was shocked.

"A distinguished guest!" Ji Mei was also startled.

Upon seeing this, Gao Yan took a slight step, then suddenly stopped.

The emperor summoned the imperial physician: "Quickly, take a look at Consort Qi and see what's wrong with her."

The imperial physician quickly went forward to check on Qi Ning's condition.

The imperial physician took Qi Ning's pulse and examined her complexion before replying, "Your Majesty, Consort Qi was frightened after falling into the water and then caught a chill. She has now developed a high fever and fainted."

Autumn has begun, and the lake water is quite cold. Staying in the water for too long can indeed make you catch a cold.

The emperor reached out and touched Qi Ning's forehead; it was indeed burning hot.

"Is the situation serious?" the emperor asked again.

The imperial physician said, "Your Majesty need not be alarmed. Consort Qi's condition is not too serious. I will prescribe some medicine for her, and she will recover after a period of rest."

The emperor was relieved, but still looked at Qi Ning with heartache.

Qi Ning kept her eyes tightly closed, though of course, she was faking it.

She had taken the prepared medicine in advance, and outwardly appeared to have a fever. Even the imperial physician could not detect anything unusual when he took her pulse, but in reality, she was fine.

Qi Ning's jump into the lake wasn't for nothing; it was to maximize his benefits.

Just now, Qi Ning was falsely accused of plotting to harm the princess, so the emperor inevitably had some suspicions about her. Later, after learning that she was innocent, the emperor naturally felt some guilt towards her.

Seeing that Qi Ning had "fallen ill," the emperor couldn't help but feel even more sorry for her.

"By imperial decree, Consort Qi, who has been wronged and has rendered meritorious service in saving the Ninth Princess, shall be promoted to Consort Qi from this day forward."

The hall fell silent for a moment after the decree was issued.

Jiang Weilan and Ji Mei were naturally both surprised and delighted, especially Jiang Weilan, whose face was full of smiles as she saw Qi Ning turn misfortune into good fortune and be promoted to the rank of concubine.

Consort Shu felt guilty about Gao Xi's matter and the misunderstanding she had with Qi Ning earlier, so she had no objection to the decision.

Because Qi Ning was "unconscious" and unable to express her gratitude, Ji Mei and Jiang Weilan expressed their gratitude on her behalf.

The Minghua Palace had been uninhabited for a long time, so it was only a short stay. The emperor then ordered that Qi Ning be sent back to the Mingyue Pavilion to recuperate.

Before leaving, the emperor glanced at Consort Shu and Gao Xi.

"Consort Shu, although Xi'er was misled by Madam Feng in today's incident, you, as her mother, are not without fault. You must properly educate the princess and prevent such incidents from happening again."

Consort Shu knew that the Emperor was referring to what Jixiang had said, so she quickly lowered her head and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. I will certainly teach the princess well."

The emperor said no more and left with Qi Ning and the others.

Gao Yan stood there, watching the scene of the emperor personally escorting Qi Ning back.

He stared at it for a long time, silent, seemingly lost in thought.

"Yan'er, what are you looking at?"

It was only when Consort Shu called him that Gao Yan turned his gaze away.

"It's nothing," he said casually.

"Let's take Xi'er back with us."

Minghua Palace has been uninhabited for a long time, it's deserted and chilly, and you can't stay here for long.

Gao Yan responded and escorted Consort Shu and her daughter back.

Back in the palace, with no outsiders around, Consort Shu said with some guilt, "I never expected things to turn out this way. I originally thought... we had wronged Consort Qi."

As she spoke, Consort Shu couldn't help but scold Gao Xi a few times: "You child, why did you listen to Consort Feng and frame Consort Qi? You almost got yourself into trouble, do you know that? If Consort Qi hadn't jumped into the water to save you, you would have been in grave danger."

Gao Xi pouted and said aggrievedly, "Mother, I saw that you and my brother also dislike Consort Qi, so I wanted to make her be punished by Father and make you happy."

Jixiang also spoke up for Gao Xi: "Your Majesty, the Ninth Princess is still young. She was bewitched by Consort Feng. It's all my fault. I didn't take good care of the princess, and someone took advantage of the situation."

Consort Shu knew, of course, that Gao Xi had been used by Consort Feng.

Ultimately, it was her fault for carelessly letting Gao Xi overhear her conversation with Gao Yan last time.

Seeing her daughter's sickly appearance, Consort Shu couldn't bear to say anything more.

Gao Yan remained silent and did not say anything.

After falling into the water, both Gao Xi and Qi Ning fell ill.

Gao Xi fell ill because she was young and had been frightened, and also caught a chill.

Qi Ning, on the other hand, was completely faking illness.

However, no one else knew that Qi Ning was faking illness, especially Consort Shu and the Emperor, who both felt quite guilty towards her.

The day after this incident, Consort Shu visited Qi Ning at Mingyue Pavilion with various gifts to apologize on behalf of Gao Xi.

“Consort Qi, what happened yesterday was all because Xi’er was ignorant and was bewitched by that Feng woman, almost harming you. We are the ones who have wronged you, yet you still didn’t hold a grudge and saved Xi’er. We are truly ashamed.”

"Now that the truth has come out, I hope you will consider Xi'er's young age and not hold it against her. Once she is better and can get out of bed, I will have her come to apologize to you in person."

Qi Ning already knew about Gao Xi and Feng Jieyu's scheme and was simply playing along. By doing this, she was essentially using Gao Xi in return, thus breaking the deadlock in her relationship with Gao Yan.

Not only that, Qi Ning also used this incident to get promoted, so of course she wouldn't blame Gao Xi.

Qi Ning smiled and said, "Your Highness, you flatter me. The Ninth Princess is still young, so of course I won't hold it against her."

Seeing that Qi Ning was so magnanimous and did not blame Gao Xi, Consort Shu gained a new understanding of Qi Ning.

Previously, she had no contact with Qi Ning and was not familiar with her at all. She only knew that Qi Ning was someone arranged by Gao Yun's faction to be by the emperor's side and often helped Gao Yun deal with them.

When Consort Shu heard that Gao Xi and Qi Ning had fallen into the water together, her first reaction was to suspect Qi Ning. Later, she realized that she had been judging a gentleman by her own petty standards. Qi Ning not only did not harm Gao Xi, but also saved her.

Regardless of whether they are opposed in other matters or on other standpoints, at least in this matter, they owe Qi Ning.

After offering her apologies and thanks, Consort Shu took her leave as soon as she saw that the Emperor was still in Mingyue Pavilion.

After Qi Ning "fell ill," the emperor did visit her frequently. To outsiders, it seemed that Qi Ning had regained favor and even been promoted in rank through this incident.

However, the emperor's health was indeed deteriorating day by day. In order to take care of his health, even when he came to Mingyue Pavilion to visit Qi Ning, he would only have a meal and talk with her, and rarely stayed overnight.

To uphold the dignity of men, the emperor could not let Qi Ning know that he was physically weak, so he simply told Qi Ning to rest and recuperate.

Both Qi Ning and the Ninth Princess had been ill for quite some time.

It took about half a month for the Ninth Princess to fully recover.

Qi Ning, who was pretending to be sick, saw that Gao Xi, who was really sick, had recovered, so he was naturally embarrassed to continue pretending and soon followed suit and also "recovered".

However, as the weather gets colder, even though Gao Xi has recovered from her illness, Consort Shu dares not let her go out easily anymore, for fear that she will cause trouble again.

When Gao Yan had free time, he would visit his younger sister while paying his respects to his mother.

Whenever he saw Gao Xi, he would subconsciously think of Qi Ning.

Thinking of the scene of her sitting on the couch that day, pale-faced, defending herself, although she looked very weak, she spoke clearly and logically, not at all like a vase.

When they first met at the horse farm, Qi Ning's first impression on Gao Yan was simply that she was beautiful. However, he soon began to doubt Qi Ning's identity and purpose based on Gao Yun's words.

So much so that on their second meeting, he made sarcastic remarks to her without any politeness.

When he heard news of her again, she had become one of his father's concubines and began working for Gao Yun and the Jiang family.

This further convinced Gao Yan that Qi Ning was a pawn arranged by the Jiang family and Gao Yun.

Gao Yan originally thought she was just a woman who could use her looks to please men, but her prediction of the disaster relief riots made Gao Yan realize that she was not so simple.

Looking back now, Gao Yan feels increasingly that he can't quite figure out Qi Ning.

Thinking about it carefully, was everything she did before really to help Gao Yun?

Why did she seemingly help Gao Yun obtain a Ferghana horse during the hunt, but in reality make Gao Yun a laughing stock?

Why did she give Gao Yun the opportunity to participate in disaster relief and help him quell the rebellion, only to have Gao Yun's achievements overshadow the emperor and arouse his suspicion?

It feels like everything has backfired.

Before he praised Gao Yun to death, the things Qi Ning did and his actions to praise Gao Yun to death seemed to have a similar effect.

He wondered if he was overthinking things.

When Gao Yan came to his senses, he realized that he had unknowingly left his mother's palace and had unknowingly walked to the vicinity of Mingyue Pavilion.

Gao Yan suddenly stopped in his tracks. He didn't know why he had come here. This was clearly not the way back.

He was about to turn and leave when he looked up and saw Qi Ning leading palace maids out of Mingyue Pavilion.

Qi Ning heard from the system that Gao Yan was outside, which is why she specifically told Ji Mei that she wanted to go out for a walk.

Gao Yan was caught off guard and Qi Ning saw him in the act.

If he left now, it would make him seem guilty, so Gao Yan had no choice but to stand there with a stiff upper lip, maintaining a calm and composed demeanor on the surface.

He hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward.

"Consort Qi."

This was the first time Gao Yan had spoken to Qi Ning on his own initiative.

He glanced at Qi Ning's face and noticed that she still looked slightly sickly. He didn't know whether her illness was cured or not, and she also seemed to have lost weight.

Qi Ning looked somewhat confused, seemingly not expecting Gao Yan to take the initiative to speak to her.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Fifth Prince?"

Gao Yan stood with his hands behind his back: "It's nothing, it's just that I apologize to you on behalf of Xi'er for what happened last time."

Qi Ning chuckled inwardly.

"Fifth Prince, Consort Shu has already apologized to me. Why do you need to say these things again? Besides, I didn't mean to blame the Ninth Princess at all. Your words make it seem like I'm being petty."

"I……"

Gao Yan wanted to say that this was not what he meant.

Actually, he didn't come here specifically to apologize on Gao Xi's behalf; he just couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, so he made up an excuse.

But Qi Ning had no intention of listening to his explanation: "Fifth Prince, I'm going to take a walk around the area, so I won't say any more. Farewell."

Her words and tone were somewhat evasive towards Gao Yan, a stark contrast to when she deliberately appeared before him.

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