sbdcsierra Chapter 497 Jealousy
Chapter 497 Jealousy
Concubine An was still trying to force her way in, but the guards, because of her status as a concubine, did not dare to be too forceful in their words or actions, and they tried to stop her, half stopping and half begging her.
At this moment, a soft female voice suddenly came from behind: "Sister, don't make it difficult for them. They are just following orders."
Concubine An turned her head and found that the person who came was Su Yizhen, the person she least wanted to see.
The guards looked at Yizhen like they saw a savior and immediately looked to her for help. Yizhen knew that Concubine An didn't like her and that if she said too much, things would get out of control, so she lowered her head and walked up the stairs, wanting to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.
When Concubine An saw that the guards did not stop Yizhen, she became even more angry and rushed over to grab Yizhen's sleeve.
Yizhen shuddered with fear, and suddenly turned back to stare at her. The panic in her eyes gradually gathered, and finally condensed into a chill and evil spirit.
Concubine An was startled and her body suddenly froze. She vaguely felt that Yizhen was no longer the same Yizhen as before.
Yizhen said softly, "Sister, you look so unhappy. Even if you meet the emperor, it will only add to his troubles. For the sake of the emperor's health, please leave." It was still that light, weak voice, but the tone was a little firm, and she was no longer as timid as before.
Concubine An shook her head and glared at Yizhen resentfully. Her bright red lips trembled as she said, "Why, why... you are just the daughter of a county magistrate, why do you speak to me like this..."
Yizhen did not answer, but turned back gently, walked up the stairs and entered the bedroom.
Watching her back disappear at the end of the corridor, Concubine An almost fainted. Her unwilling eyes were almost burning with anger, and her whole body was shaking with anger. She subconsciously clenched her fists tightly, and her sharp fingertips pierced into her palms. She was bleeding but she was still unaware.
Ningshuang stepped forward to support her and said worriedly, "My Lady, let's go back."
Concubine An's eyes were dazed. After she was angry to the extreme, she lost her temper and felt weak all over. The strong jealousy almost devoured her mind. With the support of Ningshuang, she slowly walked down the stairs. Every step was as slow as an old man. In just a moment, Concubine An seemed to have aged by dozens of years.
I never thought that I would be inferior to the daughter of a county magistrate...
I never thought that the emperor would fall in love with such a lowly woman...
The more Concubine An thought about it, the angrier she became. She clenched her teeth tightly and finally bit the corners of her mouth until they bled. She would never forgive Yizhen, and would never forgive this woman who overestimated her own abilities.
A few days later, in the palace orchard, a figure suddenly flashed through the dense branches.
Huarong hurriedly walked through the orchard, heading straight for the agreed direction. Finally, she came to a peach forest, and saw a gorgeous figure standing under the largest peach tree from afar. Huarong's heart sank slightly, and she subconsciously slowed down her pace and walked over slowly.
"Empress." Hua Rong bowed gently to the figure, her tone extremely cold, as if the bone-chilling cold wind of the coldest days of winter.
The figure turned around with a cruel smile on his lips - it was An Ruoxuan.
"What does the Queen want to see me about?" Hua Rong lowered her head and asked. She hated everyone in the An family and wanted to cut them into pieces, but she had to kneel down to An Ruoxuan. Because since the Queen Mother died, Yuemao's life was in An Ruoxuan's hands.
"Huarong, raise your head." Concubine An gave the order arrogantly, glancing at Huarong coldly out of the corner of her eye.
Hua Rong took a deep breath, as if trying to calm herself down. Then, she slowly raised her head and bravely met An Ruoxuan's gaze.
Concubine An asked, "How are you two sisters doing lately? Are you sick? Don't look at me so coldly. I'm here to give you the antidote."
At that time, the Xi family was executed for offending the An family. Huarong and Yuemao were saved at the request of Princess Tianning, but An Yiru and An Ruoxuan secretly forced the two sisters to take poison, so as to control them and prevent them from having the intention of rebellion. However, the real Huarong cleverly took advantage of the fact that the two sisters looked the same and took poison twice to save Yuemao from being tortured by the poison. From then on, the identities of Huarong and Yuemao were exchanged. In other words, the Huarong standing here now was actually Yuemao.
"This bottle is the antidote to Caihuaxiang." Concubine An said as she took out a small sealed medicine bottle from her sleeve pocket.
The medicine bottle is made of porcelain, and the bottle body is about the size of the palm. The porcelain body is snow-white, and a wooden stopper is plugged at the mouth of the bottle. If this medicine bottle is full, there are about 30 pills in it, which can protect the beauty from the poison of the colorful flower fragrance for three years.
This was a good thing, but Hua Rong was not happy at all. Usually, Concubine An gave her the antidote one or two pills at a time, but this time she gave her a whole bottle, which made her wonder if there was a trap behind it.
Hua Rong stared at the medicine bottle in Concubine An's hand. She was clearly very eager for it, but she didn't dare to reach out her hand and stood there stiffly.
"What's wrong?" Concubine An smiled lightly and glanced at Hua Rong with contempt, "Why don't you dare take it?"
As he spoke, he brought the medicine bottle closer, and the cork at the mouth of the bottle had already lightly touched the back of Huarong's hand. Huarong dodged as if struck by lightning.
"You don't dare to take it. Do you suspect I have a conspiracy? Yes, I do need you to help me with something." Concubine An walked slowly and walked around Huarong.
"Empress..." Hua Rong lowered her head. Many guesses popped up in her mind and the uneasiness in her heart grew deeper and deeper.
"Take the medicine, you must take it." Concubine An stopped in front of Huarong, pried open Huarong's hand, and forcefully stuffed the medicine bottle into her.
Hua Rong hesitated for a moment, staring nervously at the medicine bottle in her hand. Suddenly, she felt it was very hot, but she didn't dare to throw it away.
When Concubine An saw Huarong holding the medicine bottle, the smile on her face became even more sinister. She leaned closer and whispered in Huarong's ear, "This bottle of medicine is life-saving medicine for you two sisters, so I'm using it to buy another life."
Hearing this, Hua Rong's hand holding the medicine bottle suddenly trembled, and she almost dropped the bottle. But Concubine An seemed to have anticipated her reaction. Before the bottle fell, she firmly held her hand, forcing her to tighten her five fingers and hold the bottle tightly in her palm.
Hua Rong closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly, she felt like she was doomed. This was not the first time that Concubine An had asked her to kill someone, so she quickly calmed down and asked expressionlessly, "Who does your Majesty want to kill..."
Concubine An leaned close to Huarong's ear and said, "Su Yizhen."
"Concubine Su Cong?" Hua Rong suddenly raised her head and stared at Concubine An in confusion. Before hearing this answer, she had always thought that Concubine An wanted to kill Zhao Ji.
Concubine An whispered viciously in Huarong's ear: "I asked you to poison Zhaoji before, but you failed, so I spared you. But if you can't kill Su Yizhen this time, don't blame me for being ruthless. You live with Zhaoji day and night, so I can understand why you can't do it. But Yizhen has nothing to do with you, and it was she who caused Prince Ming to be spurned by the emperor. You should just take revenge for Zhaoji and kill that shameless woman."
The voice became increasingly fierce, and when he finally said the word "kill", he was almost gritting his teeth in hatred.
Hua Rong was suddenly confused. She had indeed advised Zhao Ji to stay away from Su Yizhen more than once, but she did not hate Su Yizhen at all. At most, she was a little disgusted by her treacherous behavior. Now, when she suddenly heard Concubine An say that she wanted to kill her, she was suddenly at a loss.
Seeing Hua Rong's hesitation, Concubine An sneered coldly, "Hua Rong, what are you still hesitating about? Killing people is so easy for you. You even killed your own father. Who else can't you kill?"
The bloody wound was ruthlessly opened, and Huarong's heart began to bleed again. The scene before her father's death suddenly appeared in her mind, bringing a bloody dizziness. Her body shook violently and she almost fell to the ground.
"My queen, no... no, I can help you with anything, but I can't help you kill people..." Hua Rong used the last bit of her rationality to make a weak plea for mercy. That's right, ever since she stepped onto the execution platform and chopped off her father's head with a knife, her heart suddenly froze and she looked at everything with indifference. She just wanted to survive with her sister, and she just wanted to protect her sister who had endured the pain of Caihuaxiang for her so that she could live a peaceful and ordinary life.
However, such a small wish was shattered time and time again in this complex palace.
She increasingly found that she could not protect her sister, nor herself. From the beginning to the end, she was just a chess piece with no control over her own actions.
"My Lady, please don't force me..." Hua Rong was almost about to cry. She hadn't cried for a long time, so long that she almost forgot the taste of tears.
Concubine An stared at her coldly without any mercy and said cruelly, "Hua Rong, don't forget, you are my dog, you can only listen to me."
Hua Rong looked down at the medicine bottle in her hand and slowly loosened her fingers. She didn't want it and couldn't take it, but she didn't dare to refuse it because it concerned her sister's life.
"Do you really not want it?" When Concubine An saw Hua Rong slowly loosen her fingers and wanted to return the medicine bottle to her, she immediately lowered her eyebrows and threatened, "If you really don't want it, don't regret it." After saying that, Concubine An snatched the medicine bottle from Hua Rong's hand.
Hua Rong only had time to scream "Ah". Suddenly, Concubine An grabbed the medicine bottle and threw it forward.
There was a manure pit in front of him, and the medicine bottle fell right into the pit.
Hua Rong screamed and hurried after him, a foul smell hitting her face. As she squatted beside the manure pool, she watched the white porcelain bottle sinking into the dark yellow filth bit by bit. She felt as if she was hollowed out in an instant, looking at the bottle sinking bit by bit, as if she saw her sister's life slipping away bit by bit.
At this time, Concubine An came behind her and said coldly, "Hua Rong, I gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it. Do you think you are still the glamorous Miss Xi? You are wrong, you are nothing. You have no dignity, no choice, you can only listen to me. If you want to live, go down and fish it out yourself. I want to see how much your dignity and bottom line are worth."