My elder sister forced me to become a concubine; I was reborn and remarried into the emperor's

Strangely enough, Empress Dowager Jiang's headache came on suddenly and went away just as quickly.

I tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep. This morning I woke up with a splitting headache, but I didn't even wait for the imperial physician. I just walked around the palace a couple of times and the pain was gone.

Just then, Jiang Qiongzhi went back to instruct the palace maids to prepare the medicine. Recently, she had been in charge of the Empress Dowager's medicine, personally handling every step from prescribing and preparing the medicine to testing it.

I forgot before leaving, so I had to put the guests down first, as the Empress Dowager's medicine was the priority.

"Such things can be handled by the servants next time; there's no need for you to make the trip."

"Qiongzhi oversees all of my great-aunt's medicine; she doesn't trust anyone else to take care of it."

"It's strange, this headache has suddenly gotten better again."

Jiang Qiongzhi helped her sit down and thought for a moment before saying, "Perhaps it's because you've been too devout in your worship of Buddha lately, always sitting cross-legged or kneeling without getting up and moving around, which has caused some poor blood circulation."

She was a talented woman, knowledgeable and well-read, even familiar with medical books and classic texts, and she spoke about them eloquently.

Empress Dowager Jiang thought this made sense: "That must be the reason. Alright, I'm fine now. I won't keep you young people from having fun."

“Your great-aunt is still young. Since your headache is gone, why don’t you go out for a stroll? It might be more effective than taking medicine or getting a massage.”

"I've heard that the flowers are blooming beautifully. Wouldn't it be a pity if you didn't go and take a look?"

Empress Dowager Jiang was intrigued by their words. After hesitating for a moment, she glanced at the bright sunlight outside and said, "Then let's go for a stroll and join in the fun."

Who would have thought that as soon as they entered the Imperial Garden, they heard a series of exclamations.

The two continued walking briskly towards the direction of the sound without stopping.

Then they saw Wei Mingzhao lying in a pool of blood, her body covered in large pools of bright red blood.

Empress Dowager Jiang was no innocent woman who managed to secure her position in the ruthless and treacherous palace. In fact, quite a few concubines and imperial offspring died at her hands.

But as people get older, they become more and more afraid of death and increasingly unable to bear seeing these things.

She would suffer from headaches from time to time, and all the famous doctors she consulted said that there was nothing wrong with her body. She then suspected that she had committed too many killings when she was young, which is why she chanted scriptures and recited Buddhist prayers every day and went to a Buddhist temple to recuperate every year.

To see such glaring blood, and lying in a pool of blood was her granddaughter-in-law, carrying her great-grandson.

Suddenly I felt dizzy and my limbs went weak.

"What on earth happened! What kind of servants are you? You can't even serve a person properly, letting this happen to her!"

Empress Dowager Jiang was a woman of great power and influence. With a single shout, the palace maids, who had been in a state of chaos, instantly knelt on the ground.

"No, it wasn't us servants. It was the Crown Princess who heard that Seventh Lady Wei was resting upstairs and insisted on going to talk to her. Then the two seemed to have some kind of argument, and Seventh Lady Wei pushed the Crown Princess downstairs."

Jiang Qiongzhi gasped in astonishment, “How could this be? Seventh Sister and the Crown Princess are sisters, and their relationship has always been the best. Why would she plot against her elder sister?”

Empress Dowager Jiang clearly did not believe such an explanation, saying, "That girl doesn't seem like that kind of person."

Moreover, coming to the palace to kill someone is either stupid or foolish.

Wei Nanxun seemed like a smart person; she would never do something so foolish.

"Yes, we saw it with our own eyes!"

Jiang Qiongzhi didn't even look at them, but turned to her maid and said, "I won't listen to your side of the story. You must be afraid of being punished for not taking good care of the Crown Princess, so you're framing Seventh Sister. Ruotao, you tell me what really happened."

Empress Dowager Jiang instantly understood the intricacies of the situation. It was not impossible that the palace maids, in order to protect themselves, would fabricate evidence to frame Wei Nanxun.

She also looked at Ruotao. This was not a palace maid serving the Crown Princess, so she had no reason to lie.

Ruotao hurriedly knelt down and said, "This servant dares not deceive the Empress Dowager and the young lady. What this servant saw was the same as what they saw. When the Crown Princess arrived at the pavilion, she said that she was going to find Wei Qiniangzi to reminisce, and she insisted that the palace maids not be allowed to follow her."

"Perhaps there's some misunderstanding. This servant overheard the Crown Princess repeatedly apologizing to Seventh Lady in a low voice, and then..."

"Then, in front of all of us, he pushed the Crown Princess down."

"It's all my fault for not rushing to save the Crown Princess immediately."

"Before the Crown Princess fainted, she was still thinking about Seventh Lady, saying she didn't blame Seventh Lady..."

Empress Dowager Jiang's expression was grave; this matter was shrouded in mystery. What was Wei Nanxun trying to achieve by doing this? Pushing the Crown Princess to murder the imperial heir in front of everyone in the palace—was he courting death?

But she couldn't think about that much. The emperor was still in a coma, and recently there had been a lot of noise both in the court and in the palace.

Some say that the Crown Prince was forced to retire to the Eastern Palace by the Regent, and since he has not appeared in public for many days, he is probably in grave danger.

Some say the regent is aiming for the throne, and the Great Yan will soon change hands.

To her, both sons were equally dear to her. On one hand, she didn't believe her younger son would rebel, but on the other hand, she was afraid that he would be unwilling to accept having such a powerful army. On the other hand, she was even more worried that her eldest son would never wake up again.

No matter who it is, it is the Pei family's empire, and the most important thing is for the empire to be stable.

She thought about it even more. The rumors hadn't died down yet, and the Crown Princess's child had been lost. If it was a son, he would be the eldest grandson of the Emperor.

Ironically, the person who caused the child's death was Wei Nanxun, who had an ambiguous relationship with Pei Ji.

Is all of this true?

Was he harboring resentment towards his mother, the Empress Dowager, or towards the Emperor, that he would go so far as to harm his own siblings and his unborn grand-nephew?

Empress Dowager Jiang turned pale instantly, and her whole body was covered in cold sweat.

Seeing that something was wrong with her, Jiang Qiongzhi quickly helped her up: "Grandmother, what's wrong?"

Empress Dowager Jiang had seen it all before. She slowly raised her arm and said, "Go and arrest the murderer who plotted against the imperial heir."

She was surrounded by capable palace maids and matrons. Upon hearing this, they rolled up their sleeves and replied without hesitation, "Yes!"

Then he strode upstairs, the door was tightly closed, and the person outside was pounding on the door.

But all their efforts were in vain; no matter how much they knocked or banged, the people inside refused to open the door.

"If they won't open it, we'll break it down."

Having received the order, the group exchanged glances, and then together exerted all their strength, ramming into the not-so-sturdy door.

"Who...who are you? Let...let me go..."

Empress Dowager Jiang felt dizzy and disoriented upon hearing the woman's shrill voice: "Have you informed the Crown Prince and the Regent?"

"We've already sent someone, so what should we do with Miss Wei?"

"Drag him out and beat him to death." After saying this, Empress Dowager Jiang called for a halt: "Wait a minute, let's wait for the Crown Prince to arrive before we decide what to do."

No one noticed that Jiang Qiongzhi, standing at the back of the crowd, was spotless. Unlike everyone else's panic and fear, she had a faint smile in her eyes.

Just as everything was about to settle down, a timid voice sounded behind everyone: "What happened?"

This sound...

Jiang Qiongzhi turned her head sharply and saw Wei Nanxun, who should have been captured by the palace servants, standing prettily in front of her.

She blinked her innocent almond-shaped eyes, looking harmless, yet simultaneously giving one a chill down their spine.

"You, why are you here?"

Wei Nanxun tilted her head, puzzled, and asked, "If I'm not here, where should I be?"