After Consort Xuan entered the hall, she discovered that not only were the emperor and empress present, but there was also an unfamiliar young woman.
She had never seen her before.
But the official robes the young woman wore gave Consort Xuan some idea of who she was.
Although she lived in the inner palace and knew very little about court affairs, she had heard about this.
The news that the emperor had disregarded the opposition of all his civil and military officials and decreed that Minister Shen's daughter be granted an official post had spread like wildfire.
This must be Minister Shen's daughter, Shen Yuxi?
Consort Xuan bowed and offered her greetings as usual.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Xuanzhao and the empress dowager did not tell her to rise as they normally did.
Only after a long while, when Consort Xuan's legs had begun to tremble slightly, did Emperor Xuanzhao say flatly, "Rise."
Consort Xuan's lower abdomen trembled as she held her personal maid's arm and slowly took her seat.
A trace of resentment flashed through her lowered eyes.
The empress dowager did not miss the resentment that flickered through Consort Xuan's eyes.
She could not help reflecting on herself. She had spent more than half her life in the palace, yet she had failed to see through Consort Xuan's vile tricks. She really was growing more foolish with age.
It was her own fault for trusting this delicate niece of hers too much.
"Your Majesty, as I just said, I can cure your poisoning. Would you be willing to trust me this once?"
Shen Yuxi returned to their earlier conversation.
Clatter-
Consort Xuan accidentally knocked over the teacup on the table.
Noticing their gazes fall on her, Consort Xuan suppressed her panic and immediately put on a look of shock and concern.
She asked urgently, "Aunt has been poisoned? Why did no one tell me?"
The empress said without a change in expression, "If not for Third Miss Shen, Mother herself would not have known she had been poisoned."
Third Miss Shen?
Consort Xuan looked at Shen Yuxi.
Her words hid needles in silk. "Third Miss Shen, we have never met, and I have no wish to make things difficult for you."
"On what grounds do you conclude that my aunt has been poisoned?"
"Not even the entire Imperial Medical Academy can cure my aunt's illness. You are merely a young, unmarried girl, yet you declare that my aunt has been poisoned and even propose to treat her."
Consort Xuan changed tack, assuming an air of concern for the empress dowager.
She urged earnestly, "Aunt, you must think this through."
"Your Majesty, you cannot entrust my aunt's life to a little girl. If anything goes wrong, it will be too late for regret."
Consort Xuan thought the emperor and empress dowager would at least heed some of her words.
To her surprise, neither of them paid her any attention.
Both kept their eyes on Shen Yuxi, treating her as though she were thin air.
Consort Xuan grew puzzled. Why did the emperor and her aunt seem like entirely different people today?
"Yuxi, I trust that you can cure my poisoning. Even if you cannot, it does not matter. Whatever the outcome, neither the emperor nor I will blame you."
Shen Yuxi browsed through the antidotes in the shop.
[Host, buy this white bottle. It's economical and good value-effective without being expensive.]
Shen Yuxi checked the price: eight thousand points.
She casually clicked to purchase it, and a white porcelain bottle instantly appeared in her space.
The unfamiliar voice that suddenly rang out made Consort Xuan's heart tremble.
Who-who was speaking?
She looked toward Emperor Xuanzhao and the other two, only to find their expressions unchanged, as though they had not heard that voice.
Could she have imagined it?
"Your Majesty, I need a private space to cure your poisoning."
Naturally, the empress dowager did not refuse, and she went with Shen Yuxi to the side chamber behind the screen.
Consort Xuan was frantic.
Reason told her that a little slip of a girl still wet behind the ears could not possibly cure the poisoning. She had bought those poisons from a poison-making practitioner, and even the Imperial Medical Academy could do nothing about them.
Yet for some reason, her heart kept pounding, and she could neither sit nor stand at ease.
"Consort Xuan, what is wrong? Your forehead is covered in cold sweat. Shall we have an imperial physician examine you?" the empress asked.
Consort Xuan was lost in her own world. Only after the empress called her several times did she respond, a beat too late.
She forced a stiff smile onto her lips.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I am simply too worried about my aunt."
"On that count, you can rest assured. Third Miss Shen does nothing without confidence. When the epidemic suddenly broke out in Qingzhou, she was the one who provided the prescription to treat it."
"Her medical skills are no worse than those of the imperial physicians at the Imperial Medical Academy."
The empress spoke with such conviction, every word ringing firm, that she almost believed it herself.
Although Third Miss Shen did not understand medical principles, she could buy an antidote, which in a roundabout way counted as knowing medicine.
To make her treatment appear more credible, Shen Yuxi told Emperor Xuanzhao that she needed to go to the palace gates and instruct her maid to return to her residence for some items needed to cure the poisoning.
Liuying returned to the residence, fetched the "treasure chest" from Shen Yuxi's room, and brought it to the palace.
"Your Majesty, drink this first. Once the medicine takes effect, you will fall into a deep sleep. Then I will administer acupuncture."
Time ticked away, second by second.
The three waiting in the outer hall were extremely anxious.
Nearly four hours later, Shen Yuxi emerged.
"How is the empress dowager/Mother?" the emperor and empress asked impatiently.
"Her Majesty is out of danger, and the poison has been neutralized. But the toxins had accumulated in her body for too long for her to recover overnight. She will still need gradual restorative care."
At last, Emperor Xuanzhao's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, settled.
Consort Xuan, by contrast, was taut with tension, her eyes full of disbelief.
"Third Miss Shen, all those imperial physicians at the Imperial Medical Academy were helpless against my aunt's condition, yet you cured the illness that had plagued her for a year in just four hours?"
"Could you be deliberately... just to please His Majesty and my aunt?"
"Shut up!"
Emperor Xuanzhao's furious shout frightened Consort Xuan into dropping to her knees with a thud.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty. I misspoke."
With the ghost of a smile, Shen Yuxi said, "Anyone who didn't know better might think you were terribly afraid of the empress dowager's poisoning being cured, Consort Xuan."
"Nonsense! I was merely concerned about my aunt. In my anxiety, I spoke without thinking."
Shen Yuxi changed the subject, her gaze falling on the sachet at Consort Xuan's waist.
"Your sachet is exquisitely embroidered, Consort Xuan. Would you let me take a look? I would like to have an embroideress make me an identical one."
"No."
Consort Xuan refused without hesitation.
Realizing that her reaction had been too strong, she hurriedly searched for an explanation. "Do not think me stingy, Third Miss Shen. I dislike others using things similar to mine, especially personal items such as this."
Shen Yuxi did not expose her immediately. After all, Consort Xuan was the empress dowager's niece.
"Your Majesty, the empress dowager is now safe. The most important thing is to find the culprit who tried to harm her."
The empress said, "To be frank with you, Lord Little Shen, an imperial physician once suspected that Mother had been poisoned. But designated attendants inspected her food and clothing and found nothing unusual."
"If the objects were normal, what about the people?"
Shen Yuxi glanced unobtrusively at Consort Xuan and said slowly, "Whom does the empress dowager come into contact with every few days?"
"And who would have the opportunity to harm her without arousing suspicion or being discovered?"
"The empress dowager's life is at stake. Your Majesty must investigate carefully."
The emperor and empress were both intelligent people. With this reminder, they would surely have some thoughts on the matter.
An hour later, the empress dowager gradually awoke.
For the first time in a long while, she felt an unprecedented lightness and ease in her body. The sluggish heaviness that had weighed on her for days had completely dispersed.
Even her breathing felt much easier.
Watching the emperor and empress gathered around the empress dowager in a picture of family harmony, Consort Xuan dug her nails deep into her palms.
Emperor Xuanzhao was greatly pleased and rewarded Shen Yuxi with a heap of gold, silver, jewels, antiques, paintings, and calligraphy.
Not to be outdone, the empress dowager spared no effort in selecting fine things from her private treasury to give her.
If not for the little girl, she might have died without ever knowing that her own niece had poisoned her.
The little girl had saved this old woman's life.