Chapter 3585: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (4)
Chapter 3585: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (4)
Having the imperial kitchens brew her medicine was simply asking for death.
The inner palace had not only a hundred or so consorts but also so many palace servants. Managing it was no less exhausting than running a large corporation.
No wonder Tan Yuxin’s body had deteriorated to this state.
Ning Shu swallowed a hundred-flowers pill and then drank a large bowl of bitter medicine.
This kind of conditioning medicine would not take effect after just one bowl. She needed to rest, and she was going to rest. Ning Shu had no desire to be a model worker right now.
“Massage this empress’s back,” Ning Shu said to the palace maid. The palace maid immediately came over to massage her. Ning Shu gently closed her eyes while cultivating the Unsurpassable Martial Arts.
Compared to the massive power in her previous world, the spiritual energy in this world was like individual threads of silk. It completely lacked the thrill of gulping down massive amounts like a whale, and she missed feeling the sensation of having a surging ocean in her internal core.
The sun went down, and the entire world plunged into darkness. Lanterns were lit everywhere in the palace.
After a period of dressing and applying makeup, Ning Shu put on the airs of an empress and stood at the door, waiting for Ao Tianze’s grand arrival.
Ao Tianze was slow in arriving, making Ning Shu stand until her legs were swollen.
Ao Tianze was wearing casual clothes, but he still had defined eyebrows and bright eyes. His eyebrows slanted sharply toward his temples, and he carried the imposing aura of an emperor.
Ning Shu bowed in greeting to Ao Tianze. Ao Tianze symbolically offered a hand to support her, but their hands never touched.
He was already starting to preserve his purity for Fu Min. The women in this inner palace were all Ao Tianze’s enemies, and he avoided them like the plague. If it wasn’t for the sake of stabilizing the outer court, he would’ve had these women thrown out of the palace like trash long ago.
Ning Shu pulled her lips into a grin and followed Ao Tianze into the hall. She said, “Your Majesty, dinner has been prepared. Please have your meal, Your Majesty.”
As Ning Shu spoke, she released her spiritual consciousness. She saw shadow guards surrounding the palace. These shadow guards could not see the light of day. They followed by the emperor’s side to protect his safety.
Right now, aside from protecting the emperor and doing shady deeds for him, the shadow guards had a new mission. That mission was to sleep with the consorts of the inner palace in Ao Tianze’s place.
They were not the emperor, yet they enjoyed the treatment of an emperor. They enjoyed the beauties of the inner palace. Every single one was a beauty, and they came in all sorts of different styles.
Their lives were practically fulfilled.
And they had even slept with the mother of the nation.
Whenever she thought of this, Ning Shu felt extremely annoyed. Furthermore, Ning Shu saw that a shadow guard squatting on a tree branch had actually ‘pitched a tent’ down below.
Holy crap, you’re certainly eager, aren’t you?
Ning Shu directly used her spiritual energy to kick the shadow guard out of the tree. With a loud thud, it could be heard clearly even from inside the room.
“What was that? Xi’er, go out and take a look,” Ning Shu said hastily. Ao Tianze’s expression shifted slightly. He changed the subject, twitching his nose as he asked, “Why is there a smell of medicine?”
Ning Shu replied, “This woman’s body feels incredibly fatigued, so I had the court physician prescribe some medicine to soothe the nerves and calm the mind.”
“Since the empress is feeling unwell, you should rest more. Aren’t you tired wearing such a grand outfit?” Ao Tianze saw Ning Shu’s head full of dazzling, eye-piercing gold hairpins and her bright red dress. In such hot weather, just looking at this color made him feel even hotter.
She had fiery red lips and an unknown amount of powder patted onto her face. Why was she still putting on the airs of an empress in front of him? Had she put the cart before the horse? She was his woman first, and then the empress.
She was incredibly foolish. Her brain was completely dim, and she was beyond saving.
Ning Shu seemingly did not realize Ao Tianze’s displeasure. She smiled and said, “This woman had to welcome Your Majesty. I couldn’t possibly appear disheveled and commit a breach of etiquette in front of Your Majesty.”
When the person was wrong, everything they did was wrong.
What was Ao Tianze supposed to say to that?
Could he really tell her to come out looking disheveled?
She was rigid, dull, and entirely lacking in romantic charm. If he were with Fu Min, it would definitely be much more comfortable than being here.
There was even less need to mention poetry, songs, and literature.
In any case, it made Ao Tianze feel suffocated. He was angry but couldn’t find a reason to be angry. Smelling the faint, bitter scent of medicine in the room, Ao Tianze felt rather uncomfortable. He stood up and said, “Since the empress is unwell, you should rest well.”
“Is Your Majesty leaving already?” Ning Shu asked foolishly. “Are you not staying for dinner?”
“…Empress, you eat. This emperor is not very hungry.” Ao Tianze flicked his sleeves, stepped over the threshold, and left.
Ning Shu chased after Ao Tianze. “Your Majesty, I will see you out.”
Ning Shu escorted Ao Tianze to the entrance of Jiaofang Palace and then bowed. “Take care, Your Majesty.”
Xi’er watched anxiously from the side. However, the masters were speaking, and it was inappropriate for a servant like her to interrupt.
“The empress should go back.”
Go back and drink your medicine.
Ao Tianze left without pausing for even a moment.
Once Ao Tianze was a good distance away from Jiaofang Palace, Ning Shu’s hand, hidden within her sleeve, released a needle as fine as a strand of cow’s hair. Under the cover of the dark night, the fine needle, controlled by Ning Shu’s spiritual energy, shot accurately into the dimples of Ao Tianze’s lower back.
Ao Tianze suddenly felt as if his lower back had been struck by something massive. He collapsed flat on the ground without a shred of dignity. The eunuch beside Ao Tianze was stunned and shrieked, “Your Majesty!”
Ning Shu had just been planning to turn around and return to the hall. Hearing this sound, she exchanged a glance with Xi’er. She quickly walked over and said to the eunuch, “Hurry up and summon an imperial physician!”
“Yes, yes.” The eunuch ran off in a panic.
Ning Shu struggled to help Ao Tianze up. Just as she got him up, her hands slipped, and Ao Tianze flopped back onto the ground with a thud.
“This woman deserves to die. This woman deserves to die.” Ning Shu then said to the little eunuch who was frozen in panic, “Why aren’t you helping this empress carry His Majesty into the room?”
Ao Tianze sucked in a breath of cold air. He felt that his waist had already gone numb. What the hell? What kind of thing had slammed into him?
Ao Tianze was carried back into Ning Shu’s palace and laid face-down on the bed.
Ao Tianze’s face was a bit pale, and his eyebrows were furrowed tightly. Ning Shu comforted Ao Tianze, “Please wait a moment longer, Your Majesty. The imperial physician will be here shortly.”
The imperial physicians were a bit different from the court physicians. They were exclusively served the emperor.
Ning Shu wrung out a cloth and wiped the slightly yellow beads of sweat hanging on Ao Tianze’s face. She asked, “Did Your Majesty encounter an assassin?”
He hadn’t encountered an assassin. If it were an assassin, how could there not be a single trace of them? He had been struck by something invisible.
The imperial physician soon arrived carrying his medical box. Just as he was about to bow, Ao Tianze, his face sallow, said, “Skip the formalities and take a look at this emperor.”
Ao Tianze felt that his entire lower body had gone numb. He could no longer feel the existence of his legs.
The imperial physician checked Ao Tianze’s pulse. The room was deathly silent, making the atmosphere feel very oppressive.
“How is it?” Ao Tianze asked.
The imperial physician lifted Ao Tianze’s clothes and examined his lower back. There were no obvious external injuries on his lower back, which put the imperial physician in a difficult spot.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty is a little deficient in kidney qi. You will need to take good care of your body from now on,” the imperial physician said while wiping his sweat.
There was a problem with his kidneys?
Ao Tianze blanked for a moment. A man relied entirely on his kidneys to keep him going. He rarely slept with the women in the inner palace anymore, so how could there be a problem with his kidneys?
His kidneys had a problem, alright, fine—but why had his lower body lost all sensation?