"Noble Lady Snow, in light of your sincerity, I shall let you see the emperor. Your clothes are wet. Go change into something clean, then come with me!"
The Empress Dowager gave the instruction mildly.
Noble Lady Snow murmured her assent, letting her hand hang at her side, numb with pain, as Chunhua helped her up.
She turned to go change.
But just then, as Chunhua rose, she accidentally stepped on a shard of the shattered teacup and pitched forward, nearly knocking Noble Lady Snow over!
The Empress Dowager's eyes flashed, and she gave Nanny Wei a look.
Nanny Wei snapped, "How dare you! How can you be so careless while serving Her Ladyship? Guards, drag her out and slap her twenty times!"
At once, two nannies stepped forward and seized Chunhua.
Noble Lady Snow froze briefly. Her gaze flickered for a moment, and she decided there was no need to plead for a palace maid.
So she apologized to the Empress Dowager, then had two palace maids help her away to change.
Once she was gone.
The Empress Dowager smiled leisurely. "Speak. You deliberately stayed behind. What do you have to tell me?"
Chunhua sighed inwardly. The Empress Dowager truly was clever.
"I don't want to be used by Noble Lady Snow, so I didn't tell her that Noble Lady Snow was poisoned mute a few days ago. She spoke as though it were perfectly natural. She is a false Noble Lady Snow."
"The real Noble Lady Snow wasn't actually poisoned mute either. Before she left, she instructed me to stay here and pretend she was still in Falling Snow Hall. But when this Noble Lady Snow appeared just now, I realized that the original lady intended to leave a false lady in the palace in her place."
"Your