Regent's Palace.
In Qingning Pavilion, in the courtyard where the noble concubine lives.
Aunt Sizhu came over from the corridor holding a cup of tea, and saw the concubine's personal maid Luo Shui walking out in a hurry.
"Luo Shui, why are you in such a hurry?" asked Aunt Sizhu.
Luo Shui replied, "The noble concubine asked me to meet with the old lady in the prime minister's residence."
Aunt Sizhu was startled, her eyes somewhat dim, "Go ahead."
The Luo River flows away in a hurry.
Aunt Sizhu held the tea and was silent for a long time. She turned back and after a while, she came back with the tea, but this time there was an extra cup.
The retainer Ah Fu had just finished talking to the noble concubine, and when he saw Aunt Sizhu coming, he went out.
The noble concubine was half lying on the couch, squinting her eyes. Aunt Sizhu put the tea on the coffee table and asked softly, "Does your head still hurt?"
"Hmm." The noble concubine suddenly opened her eyes and said angrily, "Why do all the people in this world come to bully me? In what way am I inferior to her?"
Aunt Sizhu gently sat beside her and rubbed her forehead. "No one wants to bully you, isn't it good now? You can live whatever life you want in this mansion. As for the position of Empress Dowager, is it so important? I'm afraid it's lonely up there!"
The noble concubine slapped her hand away and stared at her, "Sizhu, you have changed."
Aunt Sizhu smiled stiffly, "Maybe I am old and feel that fighting is meaningless. Everyone has only one destination in the end."
"Yes, but the process must be brilliant. You used to agree with me to fight for it."
Aunt Sizhu sighed softly, "Yes, that's because you wanted to fight before, and I would do my best to help you, but since you attacked the prince, I know that this fight will hurt others and yourself in the end, and it's not worth it. Even if one day you sit on the throne of the empress dowager, but there is no family affection, will you be happy?"
"Sizhu, you are so brave!" said the noble concubine in a cold tone.
"I shouldn't have said these words. Perhaps I was wrong in the past. I have always fulfilled your dream. However, in the past, it was mostly just intrigue in the harem, and no real knife was used. This time, you want to take the prince's life. He is your own son. I still remember when he was young..."
The noble concubine interrupted her and said angrily: "I don't remember anything, don't tell me about the past!"
Aunt Sizhu's hand paused on her forehead, then gently pressed it down, smiling sadly, "Yes, if you don't like to hear it, I won't tell you."
The noble concubine sat up and looked at the tea tray on the tea table. "Why did you pour two cups in?"
"One cup is chrysanthemum and wolfberry tea, and the other cup is the rain-previous Longjing tea that the prince sent at the beginning of this year. It's your last one." A trace of panic flashed in Aunt Sizhu's eyes.
The noble concubine opened the lid, took a look at the cup of Longjing tea, and suddenly threw it to the ground in anger. The cup broke into pieces, and the tea soup and tea leaves poured out. The green tea soup flowed along the cracks in the floor, forming mottled cracks.
Aunt Sizhu had a sad face and two tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes. She held her breath and watched Concubine Gui pick up the wolfberry tea.
The noble concubine brought the tea to her lips, blew on it, and was about to drink it.
Aunt Sizhu dared not breathe, her heart was beating very fast, and many memories flashed through her mind. The noble concubine could forget those memories, but she could not.
The noble concubine took a sip slowly, looked at Aunt Sizhu, and then her eyes slowly became disappointed. She spat out the tea in her mouth and threw it on the ground.
Aunt Sizhu was trembling all over, kneeling on the ground, her face as pale as death.
"If you had stopped me when I drank it, I would have spared you. At least I would have known that you cared about our friendship. But you really wanted to kill me, Sizhu, Sizhu, do you think I could still forgive you?"
"You know?" Sizhu's lips trembled slightly, but the panic in her eyes was gone, and she looked calm instead.
The noble concubine's eyes were full of rage, and she said sternly, "Since the day you spoke up for him, I have been keeping an eye on you and ordered people to monitor you. Just now, you asked Luo Shui outside, and then you came back with tea, and Ah Fu followed you. Before you came back, Ah Fu informed me, Sizhu, you have disappointed me so much, and it hurts so much!"
Aunt Sizhu's eyes were silent. "In that case, I will leave it to the Dowager Concubine to deal with."
The noble concubine stood up, her long skirt dragging on the ground, the hem of her skirt swept over the tea soup, which was stained with dust. She turned her back to Sizhu, and her tone was full of unspeakable disappointment and grief. "Before you die, I will let you become Ajie's stepmother, which can be regarded as fulfilling your love for him."
Sizhu's face changed drastically, "No, no, I don't have this blessing!"
The noble concubine turned around to look at her, then slowly squatted down and helped her up, her voice extremely gentle, "You deserve it. He has been close to you since you were a child. When you were in the palace, it was either you or she who took care of you. My biological mother is not as good as you. Ajie now respects her as the queen mother, but you are still a slave. How can this be fair to you? You are his adoptive mother. After you die, he will mourn for you. His biological parents mourn for three years, and you, his adoptive mother, mourn for one year. It is enough to express his grief for you."
"No, no..." Aunt Sizhu said with a horrible expression, "Please don't do this, Concubine Dowager. I don't want to delay the prince, I don't want to..."
"Don't be silly. Even if you don't become his stepmother, he will still mourn for you when you die. I'm just helping him so that he can do so legitimately."
Aunt Sizhu collapsed to the ground, covering her face and crying bitterly.
The noble concubine sat down slowly, looked at the water stains on the ground, and laughed sarcastically, "If I had chosen Longjing for these two cups of tea, they would not be poisonous. Are you also testing me? Sizhu, you are so stupid, why do you have to test me? It's not that I don't care about the mother-son relationship, but I have no choice. He forced me to do everything, do you understand? You made these two cups of tea, but you are deceiving yourself. The day I took ruthless action against him, there was no way back. Your test is unnecessary."
The noble concubine half-lying on the chaise longue ordered woodenly: "Come on!"
Two guards came in from outside the door and said, "Your Highness."
The noble concubine didn't even look at Aunt Sizhu, and ordered in a cold tone, "Take her away and give her a promotion."
Aunt Sizhu knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times to her, and wept bitterly, "I bid farewell to your Majesty the Concubine!"
"Tie Jia Guan" was a form of punishment for palace maids and concubines, a death penalty.
The victim's limbs are tied up, and soaked papers are used to cover his face. As the papers become thicker, the person will suffocate to death. This way of death is very painful for the victim because the process is long.
The guard dragged Aunt Sizhu away. The retainer Ah Fu was at the door and said to her coldly, "You should never betray your master."
Aunt Sizhu shook her head, "You will regret it one day."
Ah Fu shook his head, "No, never!"
(End of this chapter)