Chapter 44 Meeting the Empress

Shuixian scooped up Xiao Tuanzi and took off. Ji Yuntang didn't waste any time and followed her with Tao Zhi toward Fengyi Palace.

The mute young eunuch, seeing Ji Yuntang leave with someone else, was like a cat on a hot tin roof.

Oh crap, oh crap—he was supposed to take Princess Ye to Consort Li, but now she had gone to the Empress instead. What the hell was he supposed to do?

Panicking, the eunuch suddenly realized he could talk again. He bolted in the opposite direction toward Weiyang Palace to report to Consort Li.

At the entrance to Fengyi Palace, Shuixian's eyes darted around as she stepped in front of Ji Yuntang.

"Wait here. I need to go in and tell the Empress you're here."

Once inside, she saw the majestic woman in a phoenix robe sitting in the main seat. Shuixian's face instantly turned tearful.

"Your Majesty, something happened to the Seventeenth Prince. Today, while I was taking him to play in the back garden, he suddenly had an epileptic fit. He fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and shaking. Just as I sent someone to call the imperial physician, some woman claiming to be a princess came out of nowhere, beat us up, and knocked the Seventeenth Prince out."

Hearing this, the Empress's gentle face tensed up as she stood.

"Bring An'er to me, now. Let me see him."

Shuixian handed over Luo Xianan, and where the Empress couldn't see, she gave the Seventeenth Prince's calf a hard pinch.

The little guy, who had been dreaming of eating chicken legs, suddenly burst out crying in the Empress's arms with a loud "Wah!"

His arms were too short to reach where Shuixian had pinched him, so he just looked at the Empress with teary eyes.

"Mommy, it hurts, it hurts…"

This crying tore at the Empress's heart. "An'er, where does it hurt, baby?"

Before the Seventeenth Prince could answer, Shuixian couldn't help stirring the pot. "Your Majesty, that woman must have poked the Seventeenth Prince with needles, that's why he's crying in pain."

"That woman is waiting at the palace gate right now. Do you want to call her in?"

"Bring her in." The Empress's eyes went cold as she held the little guy and kept comforting him.

"An'er, be good, stop crying, stop crying."

When Ji Yuntang walked in, she caught Shuixian's eye and saw the smug, gloating look on her face.

It was like she was saying: You're screwed. Just wait and die!

Ji Yuntang frowned and, as protocol required, bowed to Empress Su Xiangwan.

"Your subject, Ji Yuntang, pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live the Empress."

Hearing the name Ji Yuntang, the Empress knew who she was.

"So you're Ji Yuntang, Prince Ye's new princess?"

Ji Yuntang replied, neither flattering nor afraid. "Yes, Your Majesty, that's me."

The Empress narrowed her eyes, sizing up Ji Yuntang with a scrutinizing look.

"Shuixian says you beat my son and that's why he's crying and fussing?"

"She's lying. The Seventeenth Prince had an epileptic fit, and I stepped in to save him. How could I have hurt him?"

Facing the Empress's intimidating authority, Ji Yuntang stayed calm, her expression as cool as ever.

"If you don't believe me, the needle marks on the Seventeenth Prince's chest are proof. Just now, Imperial Physician Sun also checked his pulse in the back garden. You can call him in to ask."

The Empress glanced at Nanny Shen beside her, who got the hint and immediately left through a side door.

Just then, a soft, tearful voice spoke up. "Are you the fairy sister?"

Ji Yuntang didn't answer. With how she looked right now, who would mistake her for a fairy sister?

The little guy sniffled, tears the size of beans about to fall, his eyes shining as he looked at Ji Yuntang.

"Are you the fairy sister who came down from heaven? When I was about to die, the fairy sister saved me."

The Empress was slightly startled. This was completely different from what Shuixian had said. She looked at her son with suspicion.

"An'er, is what you say true? This lady didn't hurt you?"

The Seventeenth Prince shook his head. "No, Mother. Earlier, I felt dizzy and couldn't breathe. The fairy sister pressed a few spots on my back, and I felt much better."

"But then I fell asleep and don't know what happened."

The Empress's expression softened, and she felt a bit embarrassed. "Princess Ye, I wronged you. Thank you for saving my son. Whatever reward you want, I can give it."

Ji Yuntang hadn't expected the lofty Empress to apologize to her, and her attitude toward the Empress warmed slightly.

"Your Majesty, saving the Seventeenth Prince was just a small effort. I came here to ask you to do me justice."

"While I was applying acupuncture to the Seventeenth Prince, two of your servants injured my maid. Her face is now swollen and bruised. I want to seek redress for her."

With that, she called Tao Zhi in and had her stand in Fengyi Palace for the Empress to see clearly.

It was Tao Zhi's first time entering the palace and meeting the exalted Empress, so she was timid and nervous.

Ji Yuntang quietly comforted her, "Don't be afraid. Lift your head. The Empress will do you justice."

Tao Zhi slowly raised her head. Her once delicate and pretty face was now swollen and bruised, her eyes puffed like a panda's, and there was still dried blood at the corners of her mouth.

Seeing the severity of the injuries, the Empress knew how vicious the attackers had been and immediately grew angry.

"Guards! Take the servants who struck the maid of Prince Ye's residence, give them fifty heavy lashes, and assign them to the stables to feed the horses. They are forbidden from setting foot in Weiyang Palace again."

After speaking, she had a maid bring a thousand taels of silver and a gold jade dragon bracelet.

"Princess Ye, this is a small token of my gratitude. Please accept it as thanks for saving An'er. Also, have a physician properly tend to your maid's facial injuries."

Ji Yuntang accepted without any hesitation, taking it generously.

"Then I thank Your Majesty. However, I have one more question I'd like to ask for your guidance."

"While examining the Seventeenth Prince, I found his seizure to be strangely induced, as if deliberately triggered. May I ask what Your Majesty fed the Seventeenth Prince this morning?"

At these words, the Empress's expression changed drastically. "Are you saying that An'er's epilepsy was deliberately caused by someone?"

Ji Yuntang shook her head, then nodded. "Yes and no."

"The Seventeenth Prince's epilepsy is congenital, but from his pulse, it wouldn't be easy for it to manifest so early. I suspect someone poisoned him to induce an early onset."

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