Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Concubine Fang trembled for a long while before stammering, "What does Your Highness mean by this? This servant does not understand."

"If you confess everything about what Noble Consort Yun did, I might spare your life."

"If you do not wish to speak, I am not the type to force anyone."

With that, Prince Jing rose to leave.

Concubine Fang's mind flashed back to the words Noble Consort Yun had once cautioned her about.

For the first time, she had selfish thoughts.

Gritting her teeth, she grabbed Prince Jing's leg. "Your Highness, I'll talk—I'll tell you everything!"

"It started at the Princess's birthday banquet, when Princess Su's younger sister offered the opportunity."

"My mistress did nothing but tell Princess Su's sister that Noble Consort Xie had a former lover before she married into the household, and that she had once eloped with him, and when the elopement failed, she got so angry she jumped into the lake."

"Everything else... was all Princess Su's doing!"

Prince Jing stopped, gripping Concubine Fang's chin and lifting it, his dark eyes staring hard at her.

"Your mistress is clever and cunning. If she were involved in something, would she have stopped at just this?"

Concubine Fang was so scared she could barely breathe.

Before she knew it, tears were running down her face.

"My mistress... the plans against Noble Consort Xie were all thought up by my mistress and passed to Princess Su. It was also my mistress who got a message out, telling Princess Su when Noble Consort Xie would give birth..."

Prince Jing listened to Fangse's words, his face showing no surprise at all.

Fangse had served Noble Consort Yun for a long time.

In truth, from the moment Noble Consort Yun started training Fang Cao to be a concubine, she'd figured Noble Consort Yun's plans were probably out in the open, and that she was just fighting for her last hope.

The day Prince Jing chose her to serve him, Noble Consort Yun's words were telling her to make a choice.

To abandon her old mistress, swear loyalty to Prince Jing, and confess everything.

She could step over Noble Consort Yun's dead body to survive, and she could also protect Princess Ruyi for Noble Consort Yun.

Having said everything, Concubine Fang closed her eyes, exhausted.

Prince Jing looked at her with a cold stare. "After all, you and your mistress were close once. I know all about your mistress's schemes."

Concubine Fang's eyes flew open, and she couldn't hide her shock.

Prince Jing said without emotion, "Tell your mistress that Ruyi's future is in her own hands."

Fangse looked totally confused.

But Prince Jing left anyway.

Prince Jing saw through all of Noble Consort Yun's schemes.

Noble Consort Yun had arranged for Fang Cao to serve him—first, to give Princess Ruyi someone to rely on in the future, and second, she must have had a tight hold on Fang Cao's life, leaving behind a pawn to annoy him.

Unless something unexpected happened, Fang Cao probably couldn't have kids either.

Noble Consort Yun had served Prince Jing for so many years that he knew her character inside and out.

Yet Prince Jing simply refused to do what she wanted, which was why he chose the maidservant Noble Consort Yun cared about most to serve him.

As long as this girl had even a little loyalty to Noble Consort Yun, she would definitely treat Ruyi well in the future.

If not, Prince Jing would not mind picking a new foster mother for Princess Ruyi later.

Secondly, when Fangse had been a maidservant, she would have obeyed Noble Consort Yun without asking.

But if Noble Consort Yun died, and Fangse became a mistress with her own wants, then things might not be the same.

Prince Jing didn't want Noble Consort Yun's shadow lingering in the household to annoy him after her death.

Concubine Fang did not understand Prince Jing's meaning, and the next day she passed on his words to Noble Consort Yun.

Noble Consort Yun understood.

She stared blankly at Concubine Fang, her fingertips trembling slightly, a trace of fear in her heart, but more than that, she felt calm, like she'd accepted it.

Like someone with a knife at her throat, finally waiting for death to come.

She raised her hand and put it on Concubine Fang's shoulder. "You did well!"

"From now on... Ruyi is in your hands."

Concubine Fang was so frightened she started crying. "Mistress, what does His Highness mean by this?"

"Has His Highness known all along about everything you did? Did you... also figure it out?"

"Go back." Noble Consort Yun's face was calm, and she added, "Take Ruyi with you when you go."

"Tell her you're taking her out to play—she'll be happy."

Concubine Fang cried, "Mistress..."

Noble Consort Yun said coldly, "Silence!"

"I am not your mistress. Your only mistress is His Highness!"

"Remember this: from this day forward, you must give all your loyalty to His Highness, and only then will you survive in this household!"

Concubine Fang stood there, stunned, and just nodded blankly.

After sending Concubine Fang away, a newly arrived maidservant brought in the tonic prepared for Noble Consort Yun.

Noble Consort Yun glanced at it without interest. "Leave it. I'll drink it myself."

The maidservant nodded and left.

Noble Consort Yun stared blankly at the medicine bowl on the table, then pulled a pill from her clothes and crushed it.

Fine white powder fell little by little into the bowl.

Gazing at the bowl of medicine mixed with arsenic, she suddenly thought of the ginseng soup laced with poison that Fang Yuaner had been given during her difficult childbirth.

That poison was arsenic too.

Everyone assumed that the ginseng soup laced with arsenic, intended to kill Fang Yuaner, was the work of Consort Chen in the palace.

In reality, Consort Chen had indeed arranged for someone to tamper with the soup.

But the arsenic on the rim of the bowl was smeared there on Consort Yun's orders.

It was just that the person Consort Chen sent was too foolish, revealing themselves too soon and drawing everyone's attention.

Naturally, no one would suspect that the poison inside the bowl and the arsenic outside it were placed by different people.

Consort Yun harbored resentment toward Xie Run, and during Xie Run's childbirth, she had already devised two vicious plots. How could she spare someone as high-profile as Fang Yuaner?

She placed her spy Xiao Ci next to Xie Run and even plotted to cause her to nearly fall on the very first day Xie Run moved into Half-Mountain Pavilion... Fang Yuaner had faced similar situations too.

But Fang Yuaner was not as cautious as Xie Run, and many things could never be traced back to Consort Yun. She could only swallow the bitter pill in silence and secretly suspect those within the household.

And then there was Concubine Li.

She was pregnant and nearly miscarried after a fall...

On careful reflection, Consort Yun realized that over the past half year or so, she had actually done quite a lot.

Her body had grown increasingly frail, largely due to the immense mental strain she had exerted.

When she told the maid Fangse that day that she had done too many wicked things, it was the truth.

But did she regret it?

Consort Yun had not a trace of regret!

She had fought fiercely her entire life to secure the rank of Consort and have an obedient, well-behaved daughter.

Even in death, she would be buried with the rank of a Consort.

A dramatic death was far better than a quiet life.

After pondering for a long time, Consort Yun raised the bowl of medicine and drank it all in one go.

Before long, the serving maid entered and saw Consort Yun lying on the bed with blood seeping from all seven orifices. She couldn't help but scream, "Mistress... something has happened to the mistress!"

Consort Yun's death was quiet and unremarkable.

The news was suppressed as soon as it left Autumn Maple Courtyard.

The Princess Consort seemed to have caught wind of it early and immediately had the body prepared and placed in a coffin, arranging a small mourning hall in Autumn Maple Courtyard.

Only Concubine Fang and Princess Ruyi were allowed to mourn, while no one from other courtyards was permitted to attend.

At the time, the court was locked in heated debates over disaster relief candidates and locations, so naturally, no one paid attention to the death of a Consort in Prince Jing's residence.

Prince Jing, after all, spared Consort Yun some dignity, not allowing her to die with a stained reputation.

To the outside world, it was simply announced that she had died of illness.