Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 280

Menstrual blood is considered unclean and a grave taboo, absolutely forbidden to appear on sacred occasions like the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven. If someone were to see her menstruating there, it would be an unquestionable capital offense, and she wouldn't even be allowed to beg for mercy.

Consort Jing's mind raced, and she immediately realized that someone must have plotted against her!

Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence? Her usually regular period suddenly came so early, and it just so happened to be on the day of the sacrificial ceremony!

But now is not the time to investigate who harmed her or how they harmed her; what's deadly is the blood that keeps flowing out of her body!

She was wearing a light yellow imperial concubine's robe, a light color, so if the bloodstains seeped through, they would definitely be very noticeable.

Consort Jing's heart leaped into her throat, her whole body tensed, her hands clenched into fists inside her sleeves, and her gaze unconsciously darted around.

I don't know if the blood has seeped through my clothes yet, or if anyone has noticed...

Consort Jing's gaze met that of Lady Wen in the group of noblewomen behind her. Lady Wen's eyes widened, and a look of horror appeared on her face. Shen Lingjun, who was behind her, also saw her and her expression changed exactly the same way.

Consort Jing's heart sank.

really!

Blood is seeping out!

She was filled with panic, wishing she could just disappear on the spot, but she couldn't move an inch, standing frozen in place, unable even to look down at the dress she was wearing...

Just then, the ceremony of offering the gifts was more than halfway complete, and the final offering was about to begin. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau ordered everyone in the Temple of Heaven and Earth Square to change their positions.

Consort Jing followed the other concubines as they moved and changed positions, and happened to pass in front of a burning brazier.

She hesitated.

At this point, a solution came to her. If she used the brazier to set her skirt on fire, she could burn away all the bloodstains, and then leave without worrying about being discovered again.

While such an incident is not very auspicious, these kinds of minor accidents are always unavoidable. At most, one will be punished, which is far less serious than menstruating during a sacrificial ceremony, which is considered disrespectful to the heavens.

However, if her skirt were to catch fire, she could be seriously injured. After all, this was a sacrificial ceremony, and there wasn't a readily available water source to extinguish the fire quickly.

While Consort Jing was still hesitating, she saw an official from the Imperial Observatory not far away looking at her. He had obviously seen something, and his expression changed. He opened his mouth to shout.

At that moment, Consort Jing had no choice.

Even being seriously injured is better than being executed!

She steeled herself and subtly overturned the brazier with a flick of her sleeve!

The embers burning in the brazier spilled out all at once, most of them landing on her. Her clothes, being highly flammable, instantly burst into flames!

Consort Jing screamed in alarm, "Ah!—Help! Help!"

She appeared panicked, but in reality, she tried her best to remain calm. She frantically shook her burning skirt, seemingly trying to extinguish the flames, but actually trying to make the fire burn more evenly and burn away all the bloodstains on the skirt!