Noble Lady Zhou crawled toward Zhao Xu, who immediately said, “Stay away from me.”


  Her body stiffened and her tears dropped on the obsidian floor. She pleaded, “Your Majesty, please believe in this concubine. This concubine loves you! Why would I want to harm you? How would this concubine benefit from harming you?”


  “This doesn’t make sense, Your Majesty!” Noble Lady Zhou felt a chill grip her body and she kowtowed to Zhao Xu, repeatedly slamming her forehead against the ground.

  “It doesn’t make sense? We are the one who wants to know why you would want to hurt us. Was that your purpose in coming to our side? Did you conspire with that dancer?” Zhao Xu’s tone was exceptionally grim. “We want to know why you did this! Have we not been good to you?”


  Noble Lady Zhou stared blankly at Zhao Xu. “The dancer? This concubine has no connections with that assassin.”


  “System, System! What should I do? What exactly is going on here?” Noble Lady Zhou mentally pleaded with the favored concubine system.

  She had ended up being accused of regicide without any prior warning.

  If this accusation was seen as truth, how could she possibly ever gain power over the inner palace anymore? Who was it that wanted to harm her?

  She had made the sachet personally. There was absolutely no poisonous ivy extract in it at all. She’d touched the flowers and plants in it herself and nothing happened to her when she did.

  Surely His Majesty’s sachet had been switched!

  “Your Majesty, if this concubine had touched the same flowers and plants that are in that sachet, then this concubine’s hands would definitely fester and itch! But see, this concubine’s hands are clear.” Noble Lady Zhou immediately raised her hands. They were as bright and clean as jade, as tender as green onions.

  “This pouch may not have been made by you,” Zhao Xu said. “You claim that you didn’t poison us? Then provide evidence of this.”


  “Your Majesty should provide the evidence that this concubine poisoned Your Majesty.” Noble Lady Zhou bit her lip tightly.

  “Impudent!” Zhao Xu thundered. He pointed at the ground where the sachet lay. “This is the evidence! We merely wore your gift. Trusting you so much was a mistake.”


  Noble Lady Zhou’s body trembled and she paled. In the candlelight, she looked nearly transparent.

  Ning Shu narrowed her eyes. She looked at Zhao Xu first and then at Noble Lady Zhou.

  This was fucking weird. She just stood there, watching the events unfold like a member of the peanut gallery. Zhao Xu wasn’t giving Noble Lady Zhou a chance to defend herself and quickly lay the criminal charges on her.

  Was he freaking directing the movie and playing the lead himself?

  “Your Majesty, this concubine has truly been wrongly accused! This concubine was framed.” Noble Lady Zhou was flustered and mournfully shouted, “Someone must’ve framed this concubine!”


  Noble Lady Zhou turned her head and saw Ning Shu and Consort Zhuang standing there. She immediately pointed at them. “You must have framed me! You saw me thrive with immense favor and wanted to eliminate me!”


  “Your Majesty, please thoroughly investigate. This concubine is truly wrongfully accused.” Noble Lady Zhou kowtowed to Zhao Xu while continuing her mournful cries. How sad, how awfully beautiful and moving. The tears gathering in her eyes were like dew on pear blossoms.

  “System, why won’t you speak up?” Noble Lady Zhou was torn with anxiety. She’d been yelling at the favored concubine system continuously. Yet there was no hint of its presence.

  It was leaving her alone to fight without support.

  Ning Shu’s eyes were still narrowed when she curtsied towards Zhao Xu. “Your Majesty, could there be a misunderstanding here? Why would Noble Lady Zhou poison Your Majesty?”


  “What misunderstanding could there be?” Zhao Xu sneered, pointing at the damaged fragrant sachet once more. “There lies the evidence.”


  Ning Shu fell silent, sensing the truth at last.

  He was still enamored before, yet he immediately became hostile and ruthless. This sort of change was enough to give her whiplash.

  Noble Lady Zhou was still the favored one in the inner palace earlier; the favored concubine who attended to him for the night for ten days in a row. She’d lost that status now. She was about to become a prisoner who had attempted to commit regicide.

  The sheer speed of the change was a feast for the eyes.

  O, the mind of a man!

  ?Chapter 1981: Wrongly Accused

  Noble Lady Zhou was a hundred percent sure that she was wrongly accused in this instance. She never thought that Zhao Xu would suddenly attack her.

  As Noble Lady Zhou knelt on the ground, the chill of the floor seeped into her bones.

  “Your Majesty, please believe in this concubine! This concubine is truly innocent!” Noble Lady Zhou mournfully shouted at Zhao Xu. At the same time, she mentally yelled at the favored concubine system. Despite her desperation, the system didn’t respond.

  Noble Lady Zhou’s current appearance was almost like an originally pristine, but now trampled petal: an incomparably poignant image. But Zhao Xu’s expression was as cold and detached as before. He exuded an air of ruthlessness, showing not even the slightest reaction to Noble Lady Zhou’s pleading.

  Their fallout was faster than turning the page of a book. How terribly shameless.

  Ning Shu contemplated the situation, then curtsied towards Zhao Xu. “Your Majesty, this subject wife will carefully interrogate Noble Lady Zhou and procure an explanation for Your Majesty.”


  “This isn’t just an ordinary inner palace incident! Noble Lady Zhou is affiliated with that dancing girl. She’s an assassin.” Zhao Xu’s expression was cold. He stared at Ning Shu and said, “I want to personally interrogate her.”


  “What does Your Majesty mean?” Ning Shu inquired with a dumbfounded expression.

  Zhao Xu said, “I suspect that Noble Lady Zhou is associated with the dancer. She deliberately saved me to gain my trust.”


  Ning Shu: … What a leap.

  “That’s impossible. Noble Lady Zhou suffered a real stab wound that night.” Ning Shu glanced at the similarly dumbfounded Noble Lady Zhou.

  “That’s precisely it-they killed two birds with one stone. While it would be good if they were able to kill me, they could still use the event to gain my trust if they failed.” Zhao Xu turned his head to his personal eunuch and said, “Have the imperial bodyguards detain Noble Lady Zhou. I’ll interrogate her personally. No one else should be able to visit her.”


  “Yes.”


  “Your Majesty, Your Majesty!” Though Noble Lady Zhou seemed still to be in a daze, she reacted immediately. She swiftly crawled to the bedside and grabbed the leg of Zhao Xu’s trousers as she shouted, “Your Majesty, this concubine was wrongly accused! Your Majesty, you must believe this concubine!”


  “This concubine had no dealings with the dancer! This is a misunderstanding…” For once, Noble Lady Zhou’s expression was absolutely sincere. She really was being framed.

  Why would Zhao Xu accuse her of something like this? She hadn’t committed regicide! She hadn’t…


  Two imperial bodyguards walked in. They grabbed Noble Lady Zhou’s arms and dragged her outside the room. Yet she struggled with all her might, dashing in front of Zhao Xu as a last-ditch effort. “Your Majesty, you have to believe this concubine!”


  “Take her away.” Zhao Xu waved his hand.

  “Your Majesty, Your Majesty…” Noble Lady Zhou kept shouting as she dissolved into tears. The imperial bodyguards dragged her off before finally gagging her.

  Zhao Xu’s expression was one of deep contemplation. His narrowed eyes betrayed no trace of his thoughts.

  Ning Shu glanced at Zhao Xu and lowered her head. This man is really…


  Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Xu had taken action.

  This was the true definition of having someone else’s life in the palm of his hand and toying with it.

  Framing a woman with the object that the woman gave him… He actually did something like this? Despite being the emperor, he had handled the situation immaculately. As the emperor, he could’ve just come with any random excuse to deal with Noble Lady Zhou…


  However, he chose this method.

  “Empress.” Zhao Xu’s voice interrupted Ning Shu’s quiet contemplation.

  Ning Shu immediately replied, “What are Your Majesty’s orders?”


  Zhao Xu kneaded his forehead, betraying a hint of exhaustion. “Don’t let the Noble Lady Zhou’s identity as a fox spirit spread throughout the palace.”


  “This subject wife understands.” Ning Shu curtsied. “Your Majesty, there is still some time before you need to depart for the morning court session. Please rest properly.”


  Translator: Kiara