176 Poison IV
The Empress Residence –
Yang Lingxin was resting in her chamber and having a cup of tea along with some fresh seasonal fruits after her afternoon meal.
While sipping on her tea, she looked at her maid indifferently who was kneeling on the ground, and asked coldly, “Did you do what I asked you to do?”
To talk to her maid in private, she sent all the servants outside and asked them to close the door. At the moment, she was alone in the chamber with her personal maid who is like her right hand at the palace and does all kinds of tasks for her.
“Yes, Your Majesty. As you had ordered, I have handed the scented incense stick and natural oils to the guard who was guarding His Majesty’s chamber.”
“He said that he will ignite the incense stick in the chamber and will also put the natural oil in the hot water. I have seen him going inside His Majesty’s chamber myself.” The maid answered while still kneeling on the ground.
The corner of Yang Lingxin’s lips curled up in a pleased smirk after hearing her maid’s report. “Good. I like how you never disappoint with your work.” She smiled and praised the loyalty of her maid who has been following her around since the day she came into the palace as His Majesty’s Concubine and later became the Empress of the Empire.
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After Zheng Liang released an order and banned everyone from meeting His Majesty or even entering his chamber, she was worried that her plan would fail and that he would catch onto the situation soon.
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However, she cannot let him know the truth. Never!
For her to become the Empress Dowager and for her son to take charge of the throne, the current Emperor who is also her dear husband needs to leave the world for her dream to come true.
Because he will never let anyone else take that position, other than Zheng Liang. Even if hundreds of ministers stood against him and opposed Zheng Liang’s position as the Crown Prince and as the next ruler of the Empire, she was dubious that His Majesty would ever change his decision.
There might be a cold wall standing between the father and son, however, she knows how much Zheng Huang worries about Zheng Liang and wants him to become a great ruler of the Empire after him. Because Zheng Liang is his firstborn and dearest to him. More than that, in his eyes, Zheng Liang has all the qualities that an ideal ruler should have.
He never will let her son, Zheng Xiang, who is also deserving, take over the throne and become the next Emperor. It’s because he favors Zheng Liang the most and to safeguard him from all future complications, he has sent her son away from the palace and made him live in a private residence outside the palace.
How can he do that to her? She is not only his wife but also the Empress of the Empire. Shouldn’t the firstborn of the Empress become the Emperor of the Empire and not the firstborn of the late empress?
If he cannot respect her as his wife and the Empress of the Empire, then she cannot support him as his wife and companion either. She is her son’s mother first and his wife later. As a mother, she will do anything to support her son’s dream and ambition.
Even if she has to go against her husband for that!
Everything was going perfectly according to her plan until Zheng Liang banned everyone from visiting His Majesty so that he could receive the proper treatment under the strict supervision of Master Jiang and that bitch Yu Ling.
Yu Ling is just a mere court lady yet Zheng Liang treats her with more respect than her, who is the Empress of the Empire. How can he allow a mere court lady to enter His Majesty’s chamber and take care of him while stopping her, who is His Majesty’s wife, from going inside his chamber?
However, while controlling everyone, it looks like he forgot to control the actions of his so-called wife.
Even though she cannot enter her husband’s chamber, the other day Yang Ning helped her to send the incense stick and natural oil to the Emperor’s chamber which is under strict vigilance.
This way Yang Lingxin did not need to go to his chamber anymore and her work would be done while still resting in her chamber and no one would object to her intentions.
Before this, she used to cover her mouth and nose with a cotton cloth that was soaked with the antidote to the poison to protect herself from inhaling the poison and getting affected by it. By doing this, she used to stay with him almost the whole day so that no one would doubt her intentions and she would be able to slip away from the situation easily.
However, she does not need to do that anymore.
Since that day, she has been sending her maid to hand over the incense stick and natural oils to the guard almost every day.
Not only that, her maid could only return to the chamber after making sure that the guard entered His Majesty’s chamber to change the incense stick and natural oil.
As she had planned, if Zheng Huang inhales the slow poison induced in the hot steaming water every day and won’t get the antidote of the poison, his condition will deteriorate sooner, and one by one, his organs will start to fail, leading to his death, just like the late Empress.
If things continued like this, it won’t take much time for her plan to become successful. If that happens, then no one can stop her from taking over this Empire and her son from returning to the palace and becoming the next Emperor.
Because it is only right for her son to become the Emperor of the Empire so that she will get the title of Empress Dowager.
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“Here! Take this pouch and buy some clothes and makeup for yourself. As the personal maid of the Empress, you cannot look shabby with your appearance.” The Empress said and threw a small pouch to her maid that was filled with gold coins.
The maid’s face lit up when she saw the pouch filled with gold coins and excitedly bowed in front of her once again. “Your Majesty, thank you for your generosity. I will always serve you with my utmost loyalty and sincerity. Thank you so much for this reward.”
“If you’re done with your thanking routine, then come and massage my shoulders. My shoulders have gotten sore from lying in bed all day long.” Yang Lingxin ordered her maid to massage her sore shoulders.
After His Majesty has fallen ill, she has been scooped inside her chamber to show her loyalty towards her husband and how depressed she has gotten because of her husband’s deteriorating condition.
The palace is all about lies and people wearing fake masks.
To showcase her sorrow to the people and the ministers, she cannot have tea parties with other ladies of noble families and spend time in the garden to brighten her mood. If not lying around on her bed, what can she do while staying inside her chamber all day long anyway?
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The maid stood up and went to stand behind Yang Lingxin and started massaging her sore and aching shoulders and neck muscles.
“Yeah! That’s right. That was the right place.” Yang Lingxin closed her eyes and moaned in relief as her maid continued to give her a relieving massage.
While she was getting a massage and was on the verge of falling asleep, she heard some noise from outside which disturbed her rest. The door of the chamber was closed and she could not see what was happening and why there was so much noise coming from outside.
She frowned and her nose scrunched up in irritation. She gritted her teeth and stopped her maid before shouting, “What the hell is going on outside? What chaos are you guys cooking that you can’t stand outside silently?”
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