The concubine who first noticed this turned deathly pale.
She cast a frightened look at Consort Mi.
She wasn't the only one. The nearby concubines also realized something was wrong.
Cold sweat immediately poured down their backs. The muscles at the corners of their mouths twitched uncontrollably as they struggled to swallow. Only by summoning every ounce of their willpower could they force the scream rising in their throats back down. "...I was so caught up drinking with my sisters that I forgot Sang'er always clings to me around this time. It's my fault as her mother. A-Chuan, go check the side hall and see if Sang'er is making a fuss. Don't let that willful little demon hurt her hands and feet..."
She tried to keep her expression normal as she laughed and joked with her sisters. Then, turning her head as if casually, she told her personal maid to check the side hall, conveying a meaning only the two of them understood. The maid had grown up alongside her; they knew each other's thoughts without a word. The surrounding concubines also watched her closely, nervously clutching their handkerchiefs.
The maid rose to obey and headed for the side hall.
A few of them were just about to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ah—"
The sudden change came the instant one of the maid's feet crossed the threshold. A short, piercing scream rang out, and a crimson column of blood gushed from the wound in her chest. The maid's body pitched backward with the force of the blow. Her upper body had been cleaved in two at an angle, with only a little skin and flesh still holding it together. Her ruptured organs, freed from the confines of her body, spilled out through the wound with a wet rush.
Warm