Having transmigrated into a book, who would still want to be a secondary wife?

Inside the room, Consort Duan lay on the ground, her expression filled with terror. Her face was covered with bluish-purple veins, so dense that they looked like countless insects crawling on her face.

Consort Duan's eyes also oozed a little blood, making her look particularly eerie.

"Oh my god! What happened?"

The more timid concubines immediately covered their eyes; such a terrifying sight would give them nightmares just by looking at it, and they dared not look any longer.

"Consort Duan's face is terrifying. What kind of poison has she been given to cause so many insects to appear on her face?" Consort Liu asked in shock.

In this harem, there are countless underhanded methods. Even if one hates Consort Duan the most, it would be one thing to simply poison someone to take their life, but to use such a vicious method is unacceptable.

In this imperial harem, if your face is ruined, your life is completely over, and there is no turning back.

Consort Zhong's eyes widened as well. She had only known that Consort Duan would be the scapegoat, but she hadn't expected the situation to be so serious, far more serious than she had imagined.

The Empress's heart sank even further, and she felt a chill run down her spine. If Ruozhen hadn't reminded her that day, she would have been the one to end up like this if she had really been attracted.

Once her appearance is ruined, she will have no chance of holding onto the throne.

Although deposing an empress is not easy, and even if she has lost favor, the emperor would not easily depose her for the sake of the greater good, but if she becomes like this, then there is truly no chance left...

Consort Zhong, what a vicious heart you have!

When the Empress turned to look at Consort Zhong, Consort Zhong's expression changed. Could it be that Her Majesty the Empress already suspected her?

How can this be?

Such a bizarre method is probably something no one has ever seen before. Even Song Ruozhen might not be able to figure it out, so the Empress could not possibly know it!

"What kind of poison is this? The person who poisoned us is incredibly ruthless!"

The Empress Dowager's expression was grave. Such methods were truly terrifying. If the person behind them wasn't caught, the entire palace would be thrown into chaos, which would be a terrible thing!

"Go and report this matter to the Emperor. Since it happened in the inner palace, the Emperor should make the decision!"

"Yes, Queen Mother."

After seeing that everyone had arrived, Consort Duan hurriedly crawled to the Empress Dowager's side and cried, "Empress Dowager, someone wants my life! Please save me! I can't take it anymore!"

"Guards, tie Consort Duan's hands. If we let her continue grabbing, even if we find the antidote, her face will be beyond saving," the Empress Dowager ordered.

The maids rushed forward and tied Consort Duan's hands behind her back. However, her ferocious face looked like a ghost to anyone who saw it; it was truly terrifying!

Looking at Consort Duan's face, Song Ruozhen unconsciously frowned; the situation was more serious than she had thought.

Logically speaking, Consort Zhong could have kept the peony fairy worship for quite a while, and it would have taken at least two months before she shifted the blame onto Consort Duan after things went wrong.

However, it has only been a short time since then, so there is only one explanation.

Consort Zhong was too eager for quick results and used her own blood to offer to the Peony Fairy, which caused the backlash from Consort Duan to occur prematurely!

She scrutinized Consort Duan's face; the situation was clearly already quite serious, and logically speaking, changes should gradually emerge before problems arise.

For example, her skin might have deteriorated, she might have developed sores or pain. She hadn't heard anything about Consort Duan's condition these past few days, nor did she know if there had been any prior signs.

Looking at Consort Zhong's perfectly fine face, it's likely that Consort Duan has recently been favored by the emperor, so Consort Zhong is anxious and wants Consort Duan to get into trouble sooner.

However, this was not good for Consort Zhong either. The longer she worshipped and the more sincere she was, the better her complexion would become, and the more beautiful she would become, eventually undergoing a complete transformation.

But now, that's clearly impossible.

Seeing that Zhen'er was secretly observing everything, Chu Junting also kept silent. He was determined to investigate this matter thoroughly, as Consort Zhong would certainly be held responsible.

Take this opportunity to warn those behind the scenes!

The Emperor was quickly summoned, and upon seeing Consort Duan's appearance, his face immediately darkened.

"Who exactly poisoned Consort Duan? Have all the people around her been investigated?"

"Your Majesty, I have already inquired, and they say that Consort Duan has been eating the same things as usual recently. The imperial physician has also examined today's food and some leftovers from yesterday that hadn't been thrown away yet, and found no poison," Eunuch Zhang hurriedly reported.

"Have the palace servants all been questioned?"

The Emperor frowned deeply. Such a thing happening in the harem must not be tolerated!

"Your Majesty, there are no new faces in Consort Duan's palace, especially since those in charge of food are all trustworthy people."

This servant inquired around but found no problem. Furthermore, Consort Duan's personal maid also ate her food, and there were no issues.

The palace maid was brought over immediately. She knelt down with a worried expression. "Your Majesty, the Empress has been in a good mood these past few days and has given us a lot of food. We've all eaten it without any problems. We don't know what vicious method that person used to harm the Empress."

The emperor's mood grew increasingly heavy as he searched the area but found nothing amiss, not even the method of poisoning.

"Can you see anything amiss?" the Emperor asked the imperial physicians.

The three imperial physicians looked at each other, feeling the emperor's gaze was extremely oppressive. However, they still couldn't figure out what kind of poison it was and couldn't come up with any countermeasures.

The only thing they can do right now is to treat it as a common form of poisoning, but as for the effectiveness... they're not entirely sure.

"A bunch of useless trash!" The emperor's face turned ashen, his anger evident.

The three imperial physicians knelt down in terror; they truly had no idea!

At this moment, Consort Liu suddenly said, "I have heard that Princess Chu's medical skills are extremely superb. Back then, the doctors in the entire capital were helpless when the eldest and second young masters of the Song family fell ill. It was thanks to Miss Song's help that they were cured. I wonder if she has any other methods?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze turned to Song Ruozhen.

They had heard of this, but they didn't know exactly how skilled she was.

"Princess Consort of Chu, if you have a solution, please tell us. If you don't, that's fine too," the Empress Dowager said.

Seeing this, Song Ruozhen bowed and said, "I think Consort Duan's face may be related to the peony fairy that is worshipped."

"The Peony Fairy?" The Empress Dowager and the Emperor exchanged a glance, both puzzled. "Is there something wrong with this?"

"Wasn't this something Consort Duan insisted on getting? Consort Zhong also has one, but Consort Zhong didn't do anything wrong with it!"

The concubines looked at each other in bewilderment. These days, they envied Consort Zhong and Consort Duan the most. Seeing that they had regained the Emperor's favor, and that the Emperor had recently bestowed many good things upon them, they could only watch enviously. What could they do when they didn't have any of these things?

If it really was caused by the Peony Fairy, then it would be a good thing for them!