Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: She Seems to Be 100,000,000% Dead

The Empress Dowager was furious. She could not accept being backstabbed by her own child.

She gave Xiao Jin life, raised her, and even made her the Emperor. But Xiao Jin refused to listen to her, and now she was colluding with others to backstab her. It was a crime worthy of a thousand deaths!

Xiao Yang looked at the Empress Dowager, who was standing before her, enumerating all the ways she was rebellious and unfilial. She had only one word for her: ’Psycho!’

So the magistrates could burn down villages, but the peasants couldn’t even light a lamp.

What kind of twisted logic was it to relentlessly abuse your own child simply because you were their mother, then get triggered the moment they showed the slightest resistance?

’So what if they were related by blood? I’m not the original owner of this body. She can forget about trying to guilt-trip me.’

"Empress Dowager."

Xiao Yang interrupted her, her gaze calm and chilling. "You have three days left."

The Empress Dowager frowned. "What three days?"

Xiao Yang said no more. She turned and went back to lie down. This body was already being tormented by poison, and a significant amount of blood had been let from it. She was so weak she didn’t have an ounce of strength left.

The Empress Dowager hadn’t given up. "Shi Xu took the poison too. You like him so much, can you really bear to watch him be tormented as well?"

Xiao Yang sneered. "You said it yourself—he ’also’ took the poison, and is ’also’ being tormented. I don’t even spare myself, so what makes you think I’m in the mood to pity someone else? You, the culprit, feel no guilt. Why should I feel any pity?"

’Having someone to keep me company while I suffer... I think it’s quite nice.’

Xiao Yang lowered the screen, ignoring her further. But after the Empress Dowager left, she spoke slowly. "If you let the Empress Dowager in again, you can get lost."

Bi Fang: "...This servant understands."

-----

Xiao Yang was determined to endure these seven days. With Doctor Han’s medicine, her confidence soared.

On the fifth day, however, the tingling numbness suddenly transformed into a searing pain, as if thousands of needles were piercing her flesh and blood, making her wish for death.

"THUD!"

Xiao Yang was in so much pain she thrashed about on the bed until she fell right off.

"Your Highness."

Bi Fang hadn’t yet arrived; Rong Yin was the one who entered first.

He saw the person who had fallen to the floor and was still rolling around in agony. He hurried forward, scooped him up, and put him back on the bed.

"Summon the Imperial Physician!"

Doctor Han arrived quickly. Seeing the Little Emperor drenched in sweat and pale as a sheet from the pain, he wanted to help but was completely at a loss.

This poison was too strange; it was simply beyond his capabilities.

All he could do was try to detoxify the body based on the symptoms and alleviate the pain.

"This subordinate will go prescribe some pain-relieving powder and add a sleeping draught. If Your Majesty can fall asleep, perhaps you will feel better."

Doctor Han hurried off to prepare the medicine.

Rong Yin stood before the bed, his brow tightly furrowed as he watched the Little Emperor tremble in pain.

’Is the Empress Dowager trying to kill her own son? If the Emperor dies, what’s in it for her?’

Xiao Yang bit down hard on the quilt, her body drenched and her consciousness fading. She knew Rong Yin was standing by the bed and that she must look a complete mess, but right now, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

On the fifth day, Xiao Yang literally passed out from the pain. Doctor Han’s medicine was never used.

Rong Yin didn’t dare to leave again. He stayed and kept watch with the Imperial Physician, having bowl after bowl of medicinal decoction brewed. The entire Zichen Palace reeked of medicine.

"No more! I can’t drink anymore!"

Xiao Yang had barely eaten anything, but she felt like she was about to be stuffed to death with medicine.

Right now, her body ached, she was in pain, her mouth was bitter, her stomach was sour, and she had no energy.

It wasn’t just one kind of discomfort, but a whole combination of miseries. It made her start to doubt Doctor Han’s skills. ’Is this stuff working or not?’

’It feels like I haven’t been spared a single ounce of the suffering I was meant to endure.’

"BLEAGH—"

’I never want to drink medicine again.’

Rong Yin watched her, frowning, and asked Doctor Han, "Are you sure this will cure the poison?"

’He seems... just a tad bit close to death.’

’I’m here to save the Emperor. If I end up saving the Emperor to death, that would be a real problem.’

Doctor Han sighed with admiration. "His Majesty is incredible, enduring what no ordinary person could. As long as he can get through these seven days, he will surely turn this crisis into a blessing."

He had never experienced the effects of the Mandarin Duck Knot poison himself, but just looking at the Emperor’s state made him feel the pain. And as far as he knew, there was no precedent in the records of anyone surviving the seven days.

Rong Yin had his official memorials brought over. He began to process them while keeping watch over the Little Emperor.

His trusted guard, Qing Yu, came in. "Your Highness, Xiao Lv has visited the General Mansion again. Prince Jing met with the Assistant Minister of War and a steward from the Ministry of Revenue."

It seemed Prince Jing’s Mansion and Li Wei were plotting something. Rong Yin couldn’t ascertain the details at the moment, but he could grasp the general direction of their movements.

He glanced toward the screen. The Little Emperor was still lying weakly behind it, looking like he had one foot in the grave.

’Is this related to him, or is Prince Jing simply getting impatient?’

’If it were just Prince Jing’s doing, Li Wei would never get involved.’

’So, has the Little Emperor, that wolf cub, finally learned how to use his fangs?’

"Rong Yin... can you just knock me out...?"

Xiao Yang had been jolted awake by the pain. Even Doctor Han’s medicine couldn’t alleviate her body’s agony.

It was the sixth day. It was as if the poison knew she was about to win and was launching a final, desperate counterattack, battering her body with all its might.

’Honestly, I’m tempted to just stab myself and end it all. One clean death. Whether I can go back or not doesn’t even matter anymore. It’s just too painful.’

Rong Yin looked over. The Little Emperor was draped pitifully over the edge of the bed. Though it had only been six days, he seemed to have lost a considerable amount of weight. His chin had sharpened, his cheeks were deathly pale, his eyes were bloodshot, his hair was a mess, and his clothes were in disarray. He looked like a vengeful spirit, a ghost formed from an unwilling death.

Rong Yin gestured with his eyes for Doctor Han to go take a look, but Doctor Han just gave him a helpless look. He had already used every method he knew.

He didn’t dare use stronger medicine, terrified he might actually kill the Emperor. Unless the Regent King were to stage a rebellion, no one would be able to protect him.

Rong Yin walked to the bedside. "If Your Majesty survives this, will you perhaps consider studying properly?"

Xiao Yang, who had straightened her neck, flopped back down. Her whole body was trembling with pain, but her will was firm. "The Dragon Throne is over there. The Jade Seal is in a hidden compartment behind the vase on the left side of the Imperial Study Room. Go on, make your move!"

’I’d rather die than suffer through studying.’

Rong Yin: "..."

He raised his hand and brought it down in a sharp chop, a hint of resentment in the blow.

’This good-for-nothing brat!’

The Little Emperor passed out, falling silent. Rong Yin glanced down at him. ’Just as I thought. He’s much easier on the eyes when they’re closed.’

A stray strand of hair fell across Xiao Yang’s face. Rong Yin stared at it for a moment before reaching out to brush it away.

His palm could cover the Little Emperor’s entire face. He looked more and more like a child.

In truth, he was young.

"You really are audacious."

’To defy the Empress Dowager, you’d entrust yourself to me, the Regent King? Are you really that reckless?’

’Rash, yes, but your courage is commendable.’

’Let’s just see what kind of trouble he can stir up.’

While Xiao Yang was suffering a pain worse than death, the Empress Dowager was not idle.

After realizing the Emperor was dead set on betraying her, the Empress Dowager began to prepare her countermeasures.

’Even without the Emperor, my Chen Family’s power remains.’

’If the Little Emperor wants to die, then let her. I will make sure her death serves its purpose—to consolidate my power. Then I’ll choose a male heir from the Royal Family to adopt, and I will still be the most noble Empress Dowager.’

’And by replacing her with a male heir, I will no longer have to live in constant fear and anxiety.’

The more the Empress Dowager thought about it, the more resolute her gaze became. ’I should have done this long ago...’