Chapter 715: Sacrificing a Salute!!!

“Who should attend to her?”

Gu Changning had just returned from Qianqing Palace, and before he could even settle into his seat, Aunt Xing from Fengyi Palace requested Xie Jinyun to attend to the Empress. Gu Changning asked with a chilly tone.

Aunt Xing replied, "Reporting to Your Royal Highness, the Empress Consort's headache has flared up. She has summoned all the imperial concubines to Fengyi Palace to attend to her. Even Consort Hua has gone, so the Crown Princess must naturally go too."

Xie Jinyun looked up at Gu Changning. Just as Gu Changning was about to erupt and reject the Empress Consort's unreasonable demand, Xie Jinyun spoke first, "Since that is the case, then naturally I cannot refuse. Attending to the ill is something I am quite skilled at."

She slowly rose from her chair. Huaxi helped her, carefully reminding Xie Jinyun about the steps. Xie Jinyun descended the steps. Gu Changning also stood up and walked towards her, taking Xie Jinyun's hand. Xie Jinyun gently patted the back of Gu Changning's hand, gave him a subtle look, and softly said, "Your Royal Highness, I will go see Mother Empress first. Don't worry."

"Hmm," Gu Changning narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze chillingly sweeping over Aunt Xing. He spoke in a strange, mocking tone, "Once I finish my current tasks, I will then go to Fengyi Palace to see Mother Empress." He raised a hand to adjust the hairpin in her hair.

Seeing the Crown Prince and Crown Princess dawdling, Aunt Xing urged in a low voice, "Crown Princess, please go quickly. Her Majesty the Empress is still waiting for you in the palace."

Huaxi spun around, glaring at Aunt Xing, her heart ablaze with anger. Why the hurry? It was clear the Empress Consort was deliberately bullying the Crown Princess. Xie Jinyun, however, was not angered by Aunt Xing's rudeness, knowing that a servant's confidence stemmed from their master. Soon, Empress Shen would regret tormenting Xie Jinyun under the guise of attending to her illness.

Fengyi Palace.

When Xie Jinyun entered Fengyi Palace, she saw no other imperial concubines attending to the Empress. She calmly walked to the imperial bed and bowed to Empress Shen, "Your humble child greets Mother Empress. I heard from Aunt Xing that Mother Empress's headache has flared up, so your humble child specifically came to attend to you."

Empress Shen leaned against the bed, her hair ornaments removed, her forehead wrapped in a headscarf. Without any makeup, she indeed looked somewhat weak and sickly. She turned to look at Xie Jinyun, her voice barely a whisper, "Jin'er, you've come. You are truly a thoughtful child. Aunt Xing, who told you to go to the Eastern Palace and tell the Crown Princess about my illness?"

"Your Majesty, this servant deserves death." Aunt Xing immediately knelt before the Empress, "It was this servant who saw Your Majesty suffering greatly from the headache and being at a loss. I thought perhaps the Crown Princess could offer some advice on how to relieve Your Majesty's headache."

Xie Jinyun quietly watched the master and servant act, then played along, "When Mother Empress is ill, it is only proper for your humble child to show filial piety by her bedside. Aunt Xing took the trouble to come to the Eastern Palace to inform me; how could she be punished?" She walked over to Aunt Xing and had Huaxi help her up. Aunt Xing hastily thanked Xie Jinyun, "Many thanks, Crown Princess."

Xie Jinyun slightly lowered her gaze, then walked to the Empress's bedside and sat on a stool. Just then, a palace maid entered, carrying a steaming bowl of medicine. Xie Jinyun stood up from the stool again and walked to the palace maid carrying the medicine, "Is this medicine for Mother Empress to drink?"

The palace maid was startled and glanced nervously at Empress Shen. She stammered in reply, "Re-reporting to Your Royal Highness, this is indeed the medicine for Her Majesty the Empress."

"Then I will serve the Empress her medicine," Xie Jinyun said, raising her hands to take the bowl of "medicine" from the tray. The palace maid's eyes widened, and she instinctively recoiled. Unfortunately, Xie Jinyun's hand was resting on the tray. As the palace maid stepped back, the tray was pressed down, causing the bowl of "medicine" to fall to the floor.

The bowl shattered, and the liquid spilled everywhere. A few plums lay in the spilled liquid. The palace maid, seeing the "medicine" about to be exposed, knelt heavily on the shards, conveniently covering the plums. She then hastily began to clean up, not forgetting to apologize to Xie Jinyun, "Your Royal Highness, please forgive me! Your Royal Highness, please forgive me!"

"Fanzhi, you good-for-nothing!" Aunt Xing slapped the palace maid Fanzhi across the face. Fanzhi dared not speak further, enduring the pain in her knees as she silently collected the broken pieces of the bowl. Aunt Xing was angry at her lack of foresight, for accidentally knocking over the Empress's sour plum soup.

Xie Jinyun did not expose them. "Aunt Xing, Mother Empress is still ill. Do not shout loudly in the bedchamber and disturb her rest."

"Yes, yes." Aunt Xing, seeing that the Crown Princess did not inquire about the sour plum soup, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, assuming Xie Jinyun hadn't noticed. However, Xie Jinyun's next sentence made both Aunt Xing and Empress Shen's faces change dramatically.

Xie Jinyun then turned and instructed Huaxi, "Huaxi, go quickly to the Imperial Hospital and find Imperial Physician Sun. Have him prescribe a new remedy for Mother Empress's headache, and bring the decoction here once it's ready. I will personally feed Mother Empress the medicine."