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

Chapter 281

The scalding heat and excruciating pain surged through her. Consort Jing used all her willpower to grit her teeth and endure it until she saw that her skirt was burned beyond recognition and all the bloodstains that had seeped out were burned away. Only then did she seem to finally come to her senses, collapsing to the ground and rolling around, trying to extinguish the flames on her body.

At this moment, Shen Lingjun, Wen Shi, and Shen Wei also rushed forward first.

Shen Lingjun shook off his heavy cloak and covered Consort Jing with it, and Lady Wen followed suit. Shen Wei, who was incredibly strong, went to the side and carried over a large vat filled with water, pouring the water over Consort Jing's head, finally extinguishing the flames completely.

Consort Jing's clothes were burned black and torn to shreds. She lay on the ground, almost fainting from the pain.

The commotion also drew the attention of others, with the emperor and his entourage turning to look in their direction.

The emperor had not yet ascended to the throne, and with this mess, the final offering ceremony could not proceed normally. The emperor walked over to Consort Jing with a displeased expression.

"What's going on?" The emperor's voice was filled with anger.

Consort Jing gritted her teeth and knelt on the ground, enduring the pain, and said with difficulty, "Your Majesty, I deserve to die... Just now, when I walked to that brazier, sparks flew out and landed on me. I was in pain and frightened, and I accidentally knocked over the brazier... It was all my clumsiness that interrupted the sacrificial ceremony. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

When the emperor saw Consort Jing's miserable and disheveled state, his expression softened somewhat, and he did not fly into a rage.

The sacrificial ceremony to Heaven is far too long and complicated to be performed flawlessly every year; minor mishaps occasionally occur. The current emperor is not particularly harsh, and unless the matter is serious, he usually does not impose severe punishments.

The emperor frowned and reprimanded, "You are an old hand in the palace, and you already have a prince, yet you are still so unruly! You are hereby punished with a year's salary, confined to your quarters for three months, and you are not to attend next year's sacrificial ceremony!"

Consort Jing, with tears in her eyes, kowtowed and expressed her gratitude: "Your Majesty, I accept my punishment! Thank you!"

She was truly relieved; the punishment was already quite lenient, and the emperor was probably showing special mercy because she had just given birth to a prince.

The emperor said to Lady Wen in a bad mood, "Send Consort Jing back to the palace and find the imperial physician to examine her."

Lady Wen quickly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Shen Lingjun originally wanted to ask to go along, because Consort Jing looked like she had been burned quite badly, and it would probably be difficult to treat her.

But then, she saw Empress Chu's expression from afar.

Consort Jing is not such an unreliable person. Shen Lingjun had long suspected that Consort Jing's menstruation was a setup. The two most likely people in the palace to target her are Consort Yu, who also has a prince, and Empress Chu, who is even more likely to do so.

Now, looking at it, although Empress Chu was still waiting for the emperor in the same spot, without coming over or saying a word, and seemed completely indifferent throughout, her eyes still revealed intense resentment and unwillingness, which she was trying her best to suppress.

His expression was so obvious that it was clear who had framed Consort Jing.

Now that Consort Jing has only suffered minor injuries and been lightly punished, and has not been executed for menstruation, Empress Chu must be extremely disappointed.

But she dared not do anything to stir up trouble. Because the emperor had already become suspicious of her, if she jumped out now, it would be an admission of guilt, and she could easily be outmaneuvered by Consort Jing.

Shen Lingjun immediately changed his mind.