The Queen Mother looked slightly annoyed, "You are simply unreasonable. How is this the same?"
The noble concubine snorted, "What's the difference? Your son is of noble status, he is the current emperor, he cannot let a woman treat him, he has to be proud of his status, so I don't need to do that? You can't lose face, you can't lose face, and so can I. Although you are the empress dowager, when the late emperor was alive, he favored me more than you, and the son I give birth to will not be inferior to your son."
Murong Zhuangzhuang heard this and became furious, "Taifei, no matter how anxious you are, you must not talk nonsense. Apologize to the emperor's sister-in-law."
The noble concubine said coldly: "Princess, she is your sister-in-law, so I am not? I have had enough. For so many years, I have been respectful to her, but how does she treat me? In name, we are sisters and have a deep sisterly love, but everyone knows that she has always wanted to suppress me."
The Empress Dowager's face turned very pale, and she kept looking at the Noble Concubine, as if she couldn't believe that these words came from her mouth.
After a long while, she slowly stood up and said with a gloomy look, "Okay, I won't say anything more. You can think whatever you like."
The noble concubine had a cold face and turned her head away, but her anger did not diminish in the slightest, as if she was the one who had the most right to be angry.
Prince An looked at this scene and was not surprised.
In fact, the struggle between the two sisters had begun a long time ago, since the time when the late emperor was still alive. However, the Empress Dowager did not know about it. She always thought that her sister was truly respectful to her.
However, given the temperament of the noble concubine, and the fact that she was so favored by the late emperor, how could she truly submit to the empress dowager? It was just that she could not take away the position of empress, and later when the empress dowager's son ascended the throne, she had to submit to the empress dowager.
Later, the emperor became seriously ill, and Ajie ascended the throne and was named regent. She could still endure it at first, after all, the emperor had not yet passed away and there was still a possibility that he would get better.
However, Ajie's life is hanging by a thread now. If Ajie dies, she will never be able to control the Empress Dowager again in her life. This time, she has already thrown away her hope and wants to be glorious for once.
She could imagine that if nothing had happened to Ajie, and if the emperor passed away, the noble concubine would be the first person to turn against the empress dowager.
She took out all the bad feelings in her life on the Empress Dowager.
Murong Zhuangzhuang didn't expect it to be so profound. Seeing that the noble concubine was so disrespectful to the empress dowager, he thought she was crazy and anxious.
She stood in front of the Empress Dowager and angrily said to the Noble Concubine, "If something happens to the Seventh Prince, it's not just you, his biological mother, who's worried. We're worried too. He's your son and my nephew. Who wants him to get into trouble? Don't act like my sister-in-law and I want to hurt you. You're barking at everyone you see. I think you're crazy."
The noble concubine raised her eyes, looked at Murong Zhuangzhuang arrogantly, and said sarcastically: "That's right, you only recognize her as your sister-in-law, but you don't take me seriously at all. If that's the case, why did you come to the palace? Follow her back to Shouning Palace to feed her."
Murong Zhuangzhuang's face changed drastically. This kind of words were no longer something a noble concubine could say. She grabbed the empress dowager and said coldly, "Sister-in-law, there's no need to get angry with her. Let's go."
When the Queen Mother heard these words, she was angry and shocked, but more than that, she was disheartened. "I will assume that you are worried about Ajie. I can pretend that I didn't hear what you said today. After Ajie gets better, we will still be sisters."
The noble concubine raised her stubborn and arrogant face, "The Queen Mother is really extraordinary. You can think whatever you want. Anyway, I will be inferior to you for the rest of my life."
The Queen Mother was extremely embarrassed and wanted to turn around and leave immediately, but when she saw Murong Jie lying on the bed, her heart ached because this child had grown up under her care.
But if he didn't leave, he would be hated here. In a dilemma, Prince An said, "Mother, you go back first. I will stay here."
The Queen Mother had no choice but to say, "Okay, you watch him, keep an eye on him, and don't let anything happen to him."
These last words were said with sobs.
When the Empress Dowager left, she looked at the Noble Concubine. The Noble Concubine bowed, but her face was defiant, "Farewell, Empress Dowager!"
The Empress Dowager was so angry that her face turned blue and she stormed out.
Murong Zhuangzhuang looked at the noble concubine, "Why are you doing this? The queen mother has no bad intentions, she came to see the seventh brother..."
"Is she here to see the Seventh Prince? She is here to plead for Xia Zian. If she really cares about the Seventh Prince, she should give the precious medicinal herbs in her palace to the Seventh Prince, but she came empty-handed." Concubine Dowager Gui said coldly.
Murong Zhuangzhuang was stunned. "What precious medicinal herbs? The palace has them, and the prince has them too. Why are you fussing over them?"
"Really?" The noble concubine sat on the bedside, her face cold and she didn't talk to Murong Zhuangzhuang, "You should go out too."
Murong Zhuangzhuang left angrily, but did not leave. He sat in the yard and worried.
Murong Jie's condition took a turn for the worse at night. He had a high fever, convulsions, and vomited blood. His breathing gradually slowed down.
The judge pointed out that the prince should not be moved because his injuries were too severe. Moving him would cause some of his wounds to open and become seriously infected.
The Taoist priest retorted coldly, "That day at the General's Mansion, the doctor from the Welfare Bureau said there was no way, and that he could not survive more than twelve hours. But it has been two days since I came back to the mansion. This is because my medicine powder has taken effect."
"Then why is it not working now?" The judge was very suspicious of this Taoist priest, because he had also participated in the treatment in the past two days and had been giving the prince some kind of magic medicine.
When the judge came, Prince An gave him a prescription, which was written by Zi'an before. After seeing the prescription, the judge quickly hid it in his sleeve pocket, then turned around and wrote the same prescription as Zi'an's for the noble concubine to review. In the past two days, the prince has been taking the medicine on the prescription.
The court judge believed that this prescription was the key to extending the prince's life for two more days.
The Taoist priest looked at the sad-looking Noble Concubine and said righteously, "Noble Concubine, please forgive me for having to guess like this. Xia Zian gave the prince acupuncture that day, and the situation became serious after the acupuncture. I seriously suspect that it was Xia Zian who did something to the prince, causing my magic medicine to be ineffective."
As he spoke, the Taoist priest pulled the noble concubine away and whispered in her ear, "I heard that the Empress Dowager came here to plead for Xia Zian. It was the Queen's order. Why did the Queen plead for Xia Zian?"
The noble concubine recalled that Murong Zhuangzhuang deliberately led her away that day and let Xia Zian give her the acupuncture. There must be something fishy going on. Moreover, the queen would not plead for Xia Zian. Now the prince of Liang's illness has improved a lot. Even without Xia Zian's treatment, he would still recover.
Could it be that... she thought of the prince's party
Thinking of this, she said hatefully, "It must be her."
She is a member of the prince's party. She wants Ajie to die so that the prince can smoothly ascend to the position of regent. When the emperor dies, he will naturally ascend to the throne.
She couldn't let Xia Zian go easily and couldn't let Xia Zian become an accomplice of the Prince's Party. If she killed Xia Zian, she could give the Queen a hard slap in the face.
(End of this chapter)