Chapter 205 - 203. Her Majesty Empress is Poisoned! I

Third-person POV

At that time, Li Zhenzhen (Imperial Concubine Li) decided to visit Xu Tingfeng. But when she was about to arrive at the entrance of the dungeon, she saw a dozen of black-clothed men standing at the entrance.

She quickly hid behind a nearby wall with one of her most trusted maids. She didn't bring anyone else with her except her closest maid as she was going to meet her ex-fiancé in secret.

She stared at a man that stood in the middle of the group. Somewhat, she felt familiar with that particular guy. Then she gasped when she finally recollected the memories from two decades ago.

Li Zhenzhen: 'Xu Yongzheng?!'

After contemplating for a while, Li Zhenzhen shook her head. She still doubted the man was Xu Yongzheng because she attended his funeral. Moreover, she guessed his identity just by looking at his body proportion and his conduct.

Li Zhenzhen: 'The only way to confirm it is by looking at his eye color.'

Li Zhenzhen peeked at the man once again and instantly disheartened when she saw his eyes were black colored.

Li Zhenzhen: 'Anyway, I must call for the guards.'

Li Zhenzhen told her maid to call the guards while she went back to her chamber and pretended like she never went there.

Unknown to her, Xu Yongzheng had long noticed her presence and purposely let her watch them as much as she wants. Furthermore, sooner or later the Palace guards would notice that they escaped from the dungeon. Therefore, by killing Li Zhenzhen would only cause them much more trouble in the future.

Xu Yongzheng always uses a spell to change his eye color whenever he is outside of their base. He turned around and saw Xu Tingfeng came out from the dungeon. Every step Xu Tingfeng took, the snow around him melted.

Xu Yongzheng jogged to Xu Tingfeng's side and quickly gave his coat to Bai Huiqing.

Xu Yongzheng: "Is sister-in-law fine?"

Xu Tingfeng: "En, she is fine. Her body temperature is back to normal, just need a little rest."

Xu Yongzheng: "We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Li Zhenzhen saw us and had gone to call the guards."

Xu Tingfeng: "En."

Bai Huiqing: "Put me down. With you carrying me would only slow you down."

Xu Tingfeng: "Qing er, please be quiet."

Bai Huiqing looked up and her heart instantly shuddered in fear when she saw Xu Tingfeng's expression. Xu Tingfeng's eyes were wide open and filled with rage, he couldn't contain his killing intent anymore.

Xu Tingfeng: "I'm about to kill someone."

Xu Yongzheng sighed and tapped Xu Tingfeng's shoulder.

Xu Yongzheng: "We have to arrive at Xi An before they get us."

Xu Tingfeng turned around and left with Bai Huiqing on his arms.

Xu Tingfeng: "Let's go."

.

.

Hong er was walking around her garden that was covered with a thick layer of snow. She blankly stared at the sole flower that managed to grow despite the harsh weather. Hong er reached out her hand to touch the flower, but as soon as her fingertip touched the flower, the flower shattered like a piece of ice.

Hong er: 'It seems fine but it is not.'

Hong er sighed and walked away. Ming Yu closely followed Hong er as she noticed that Hong er started to stagger in her walk.

Huayun: "Your Majesty Empress, how about rest for a while?"

Hong er: "En."

Ming Yu stretched out her hand for Hong er, Hong er placed her left hand on Ming Yu's palm while she massaged her head with her right hand. Ming Yu carefully guided Hong er to a nearby bench.

But before they could reach the bench, Hong er suddenly gasped when she felt a liquid stream down her inner thighs. Her stomach hurt so bad that her legs went weak. Fortunately, Ming Yu managed to catch her before she fell onto the ground.

Ming Yu: "Your Majesty Empress!"

The servants around them panicked and some of them ran to call Shu Zhiruo and mid-wives in case she was going to give birth.

Hong er's face drastically paled and her breathing also became unstable. Ah Tong and Ah Xi appeared out of nowhere and Ah Tong scooped up Hong er in one move. They ran as fast as they could to Hong er's chamber as it was closer to Shu Zhiruo's lab.

Ah Xi ran alongside whilst closely watched over Hong er to make sure that Hong er was still breathing. Shu Zhiruo who just arrived at Hong er's chamber shouted at Ah Tong.

Shu Zhiruo: "Quick put her on the bed!"

Ah Tong: "Yes!"

When the midwives were waiting for Hong er, they had prepared every necessary thing for the labor so they could immediately proceed with the labor. Ah, Tong gently yet swiftly laid Hong er on the bed.

Jin Momo: "Men, get out!"

Ah Tong and Ah Xi turned around and walked out of the room to guard the door. While the midwives were taking off Hong er's outer clothes so that she could breathe easily, Shu Zhiruo checked Hong er's pulse and clicked her tongue.

Jin Momo: "Physician Shu! The baby can't come out if Her Majesty Empress doesn't push!"

Shu Zhiruo: "Her Majesty Empress is poisoned with lethal poison! I'm checking what poison it is so I can know how to treat it! Do whatever it takes to make Hong er stay awake!"

Shu Zhiruo couldn't-care-less to use honorifics because what matters right now is Hong er's endangered life. Shu Zhiruo checked Hong er's tongue, eyes, and a quick blood test with a silver needle.

Shu Zhiruo: "Ming Yu, what did Hong er eat?"

Ming Yu: "Guan Yin tea and confectionaries. I had checked the ingredients with the maids who made it beforehand to make sure nothing could harm Her Majesty Empress. In addition, I also checked everything that Her Majesty Empress consumed with the silver needle that you gave me and there is nothing in i-"

Ming Yu abruptly stopped her words.

Ming Yu: "It wasn't in the food nor the drinks…"

Shu Zhiruo: "Find the poison and bring it to me! Quick!"

Without any delay, Ming Yu stormed off the room and pulled Ah Xi together with her. She explained every detail to Ah Xi while running to find the maid that served the tea. After Ah Xi got the information that he needed, he ran ahead of Ming Yu by using qinggong.

He hoped that the culprit hasn't erased any of the evidence or kill themselves, or else, it would be hard for them to find out the mastermind. It didn't take that long for him to catch the maid and knock her out.

He scrutinized the cups and plates on the tray that the maid was holding. From what Ming Yu told him before, Hong er used her hand to eat the confectionaries which didn't contain any poison on it. Ming Yu also mentioned that Hong er licked her fingers.

Ah Xi swept his finger on the sugar powder on top of the confectionaries and lightly tasted it with his tongue.

Ah Xi: 'Not the powder sugar. If the poison was on Her Majesty Empress's finger, that means she touched a surface that had poison on it. Her Majesty Empress is right-handed, so the most possible place is….this!