After killing four concubines, the queen was sentenced to death and reborn

"My queen, are you feeling unwell?" Zi Rui asked with a worried look on her face.

Zheng Xiyan slowly sat up straight, tried to calm herself down, and said calmly: "I'm fine, don't worry!" Then she withdrew her hand, looking calm and composed.

Zi Rui slowly stood up from the ground and stared at her face for a long time. Only after she was sure that she was okay did she feel relieved.

"All of you go out, I want to be alone." Zheng Xiyan said in a deep voice.

"Yes." Biluo spoke first, then winked at the few of them, and they retreated together.

Zheng Xiyan sat upright on the couch and closed her eyes tightly...

Two months passed in a flash. The Empress Dowager's condition worsened and the imperial physician was helpless. Zheng Xiyan began to arrange for everyone in the harem to take turns to care for her.

Princess Xuanhua went into the palace every day to accompany the Empress Dowager, and Zheng Xiyan and Xiao Chengji also went to Shoukang Palace to visit her every day.

Shoukang Palace

Concubine De stayed by the side of the Grand Empress Dowager. Since the Grand Empress Dowager suffered a stroke, she often came to visit. When Concubine De entered the palace as a child, the Grand Empress Dowager took good care of her. After she entered the palace as a concubine, the Grand Empress Dowager often thought of her and loved her son very much.

Concubine Dowager De felt very uncomfortable when she looked at the current Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager was lying on the bed. Her face was pale and lifeless, without a trace of blood. Her breathing was very weak. The imperial physician said that she might not survive for more than a few days.

Concubine Dowager De took the handkerchief and wiped the Empress Dowager's body, wiping her tears as she did so. Soon, her eyes became swollen.

When Zheng Xiyan came in, she happened to see this scene. Her face darkened slightly, and then immediately changed. She slowly walked forward, and the palace servants hurriedly saluted, "Greetings to the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother be blessed with good health!"

Concubine De's movements paused for a moment, and she turned around slowly, bowing and greeting nonchalantly, "Your Highness the Empress Dowager, I pay my respects to you. May you be blessed with good health!"

Zheng Xiyan sat directly beside the bed, took the hot towel from the basin, and carefully wiped the Empress Dowager. After a moment, she said calmly: "Get up!"

"Thank you, Her Majesty!" Concubine Dowager De whispered.

After Zheng Xiyan finished wiping, she threw the handkerchief into the basin, slowly turned around to look at her, and said softly: "You are the most dedicated among those who came to take care of the sick these days. Your filial piety to your mother is very rare."

Concubine De remained calm and replied calmly, "This is my duty. The Empress Dowager is my elder. Over the years, I have been deeply cared for by her. This is all I can do for her. I only hope that she can recover soon."

"Yes, mother is blessed by heaven and will recover soon." Zheng Xiyan echoed, but there was a sharp gleam in her eyes.

Concubine Dowager De inadvertently revealed a hint of coldness in her eyes when she looked at Zheng Xiyan.

"I'm guarding here, you can go back and have a rest first!" Zheng Xiyan ordered in a deep voice.

Concubine Dowager De paused for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Yes, I will take my leave!"

Zheng Xiyan looked at her leaving back, the expression on her face was very intriguing. Until her back disappeared from her sight, she withdrew her gaze and looked at the Empress Dowager with a complicated expression.

"What did the imperial physician say?" Zheng Xiyan suddenly spoke.

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician said that the Empress Dowager's condition is not good. I'm afraid..." Zi Rui didn't dare to say the rest of the words directly.

Zheng Xiyan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, with complicated emotions in her eyes. She sat there looking at her motionlessly, wondering what she was thinking.

……

One night three days later, the Empress Dowager was in a bad condition, and all the people in the palace rushed to Shoukang Palace. Xuanhua stayed by her bedside all day long.

The princes of the royal family were also guarding outside.

In the bedroom, the Empress Dowager leaned in Xuanhua's arms, her eyes wide open, her sallow face had an ominous deathly gray color, her eyes were sunken, with obvious black in her eye sockets, and she stared at Zheng Xiyan intently.

"Mother... Mother..." Xuanhua cried with tears streaming down her face. Suddenly, the Empress Dowager suddenly grabbed her hand with strength from nowhere, "Ah... Xuan..."

Zheng Xiyan's hands tightened unconsciously, her expression froze, and she became nervous.

"Grandma, your grandson is here!" Xiao Chengji stepped forward and held her hand tightly, "Grandma..." Xiao Chengji's eyes were filled with tears and his voice was choked.

The Empress Dowager's chest rose and fell, she breathed with great difficulty, faint sounds of phlegm and weak groans came from her throat, and her thin hands kept struggling.

"Mother..." Xuanhua's eyes were bloodshot and he cried in despair.

"Xuan...ah..." The Empress Dowager's lips were extremely dry. She moved with difficulty and let out a painful and helpless groan. A tear fell from the corner of her eye.

There were tears on Zheng Xiyan's face. At this moment, her sadness and pain were real.

Concubine De and the others knelt on the ground, crying intermittently, but few of them sounded sincere.

"Mother, I am here... Mother..." Xuanhua's face was pale and blue, his lips had long lost their blood color, and his hands were shaking constantly.

"Ah..." The Empress Dowager let out a heavy breath, a hot tear fell from her sunken cheek, then she closed her eyes and leaned weakly in Xuanhua's arms.

"Mother..." Zheng Xiyan was the first to react and shouted with sobs.

Xuanhua's panicked eyes revealed an unconcealable despair. He exhaled heavily and shouted in fear, "Mother...Mother..."

"The Imperial Grandmother..." Xiao Chengji shouted loudly, "The Imperial Grandmother..."

The others reacted instantly, "Grand Empress Dowager..." In an instant, except for the three of them, everyone knelt on the ground and burst into tears, "Grand Empress Dowager..."

"Mother!" Xuanhua cried out in despair, "Ah..." She cried out miserably and desperately, "Mother..."

Xiao Chengji was inexpressibly sad, tears streaming down his face, and he cried out in a sobbing voice, "Grandmother..."

Zheng Xiyan slowly knelt on the ground, tears blurring her vision. Her mind flashed back to the day when her mother decided to enthrone her as queen on the spot, and when she gave birth to Ji'er, she supported herself and personally named him Chengji...

"The Empress Dowager has passed away..."

Soon, the funeral bell rang throughout the entire palace. On the next morning, the entire palace was filled with solemnity and sorrow.

Inside the main hall of Shoukang Palace, candlelight flickered.

The coffin of the Empress Dowager was placed in the center of the hall. Xiao Chengji stood in front of the coffin, dressed in plain clothes, with a solemn face and a look of strength in his eyes that he had to endure as an emperor.

Xuanhua had fainted several times. His face was pale, his eyes were red and swollen, and he was lying on the ground weakly.

Zheng Xiyan could not hide her sadness, her eyes were swollen from crying, she clasped her hands together and knelt down devoutly.

Outside the hall, all the officials knelt and in the dark crowd, only the sound of crying could be heard.

The wind blew, bringing gusts of coolness, but it also seemed to blow away some of the depression in people's hearts, allowing people to find a little comfort in this sadness.

The entire palace seemed to be shrouded in a faint sadness.

……

On the last day of the wake, Lu Chuyi fainted, so Zheng Xiyan sent someone to send her back to Shou'an Palace.

On the way back to the palace, Lu Chuyi was sitting in the sedan chair. She was awakened after walking a few steps. "Yun'er..." Lu Chuyi called weakly. Her face looked very bad. She had to kneel all the time to keep vigil for the past few days, and she had not even had a drop of water while kneeling. Her body could not hold on any longer.

"My queen, are you awake?" Yun'er asked worriedly.

"What's wrong with me?" Lu Chuyi held his forehead, feeling dizzy and without any strength in his body.

"Your Majesty has fainted. The Queen Mother sympathizes with you and exempts you from the wake. Let's go back to the palace and rest first! Hurry up!" Yun'er said in a deep voice.

Lu Chuyi leaned on the armrest, her body swaying, her chest felt nauseous and uncomfortable, her face looked worse and worse, and she said in a trembling voice: "Stop... Stop!"

"My queen, what's wrong with you?" Yun'er said in panic.

"Let...them stop!" Lu Chuyi said intermittently, feeling a tightness in his chest and a bit nauseous.

"Yes, get off the sedan!" Yun'er ordered hurriedly.

After the sedan chair landed, Lu Chuyi couldn't help but dry heaving a few times. She hadn't eaten anything today, and now she couldn't vomit.

"My queen, what's wrong with you?" Yun'er shouted.

Lu Chuyi stood up with difficulty and said softly, "It's okay, I just feel like vomiting. It will be fine after a while."

"Your Majesty, let's go back first and let the imperial physician take a good look at you!" Yun'er was so scared that she was about to cry.

"Yun'er, don't worry. It's just that my body is not strong enough. I can't hold on after kneeling for a few days. It's okay." Lu Chuyi forced a smile to comfort her.

At this time, Lu Moyu passed by and saw that Lu Chuyi looked so bad. He felt nervous and walked forward quickly. His expression was even a little flustered. After he walked in front of her, he realized that he had lost his composure and knelt down quickly to salute, "I pay my respects to Concubine Lu!"

Lu Chuyi subconsciously avoided his gaze, sat up straight, and whispered, "No need to be polite!"

"Thank you, Concubine Lu!" Lu Moyu said in a deep voice.

"Yun'er, let's go!" Lu Chuyi whispered, covering his chest.

"Yes. Lift the sedan!" Yun'er lowered her head, not daring to look around.

Lu Moyu and his guards made way. Although he lowered his head, his eyes were closely following the sedan chair, and his eyes were filled with unconcealable worry.

Lu Chuyi tilted her head slightly, her eyes drooped slightly, revealing a hint of sadness.

Every time the two of them meet, there is actually a very subtle feeling surging between them, but because of their status, they can only abide by the rules and etiquette, and they can only meet as strangers.

Yun'er saw all of this and turned her head to glance at him nonchalantly, with a look of regret in her eyes. If the girl had not entered the palace that year, then Guard Lu and their girl could have really been together.

Unfortunately, they are not destined to be together. In this life, they can only be concubines of the late emperor and there is no possibility for them to be with Guard Lu.

Lu Moyu's face darkened slightly, and he turned around with a dejected look and continued patrolling, but he still inadvertently asked about what happened in Shoukang Palace today, just to know how she was doing now.

The imperial physician took Lu Chuyi's pulse and found that there was nothing serious. He just fainted because he had been overworked in recent days and had not had enough rest. He would recover after taking a few doses of medicine.

……

Three days later, the funeral of the Empress Dowager was over.

That morning, Zheng Xiyan came to Shou'an Palace. After visiting the eldest princess and the second princess, she went to Lu Chuyi's bedroom.

Seeing this, Yun'er hurried in to announce, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is here!"

Lu Chuyi quickly got down from the bed and greeted, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to the Empress Dowager. May the Empress Dowager be blessed with good health!"

Zheng Xiyan walked up quickly, smiled at her gently, and helped her up. "Okay, don't be so polite. Are you still sick?"

"Thank you, Her Majesty!" Lu Chuyi whispered.

Zheng Xiyan helped her lie back on the bed and asked gently, "How are you? Are you feeling better?"

"In reply to the Empress Dowager, I am much better now. I am sorry to have caused you trouble." Lu Chuyi replied cautiously.

"What are you talking about? You've been weak to begin with. The late emperor passed away last year, and you took care of him from beginning to end. After the funeral, you fell seriously ill. It hasn't been long since then, and your mother is... Your body hasn't fully recovered yet. Take good care of yourself this time, and don't worry about anything else!" Zheng Xiyan soothed softly.

"Yes, I will obey the Empress Dowager." Lu Chuyi replied obediently.

The corners of Zheng Xiyan's mouth rose slightly, and a complex look was revealed in her eyes. She really couldn't bear it. She really couldn't bear to hurt a girl as innocent and simple-minded as her.

"I heard that you seem to have some friendship with Guard Lu in the palace?" Zheng Xiyan's face darkened slightly, and she asked her tentatively.

Lu Chuyi's face suddenly changed, but she immediately realized that there was nothing between them and they had no relationship at all, so there was no need to panic.

"What do you mean, Your Majesty? I don't quite understand." Lu Chuyi clenched her hands unconsciously and asked calmly.

Zheng Xiyan smiled meaningfully and chuckled, "Nothing, just a casual question. I suddenly remembered that last year, when we were riding horses together in the palace, he seemed to be there too!"

"Really? It was so long ago that I have long forgotten about it." Lu Chuyi looked normal, with no emotion on her face.

"That's right. It's been almost a year. It's normal that you don't remember it." Zheng Xiyan said in a deep voice. The next moment, she stood up and said, "You take good care of yourself. I will go back first."

Seeing this, Lu Chuyi immediately stood up to see him off. Zheng Xiyan held her shoulders and said gently, "Okay, stop seeing him off and take a rest!"

"Yes, I will respectfully send off Her Majesty the Queen Mother!" Lu Chuyi responded respectfully.

Zheng Xiyan left Shou'an Palace. On the way back, her eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, and her face was very hesitant. "Biluo, what do you think if I help them get together?"

"Your Majesty means..." Biluo lowered her voice, but there was no obvious surprise on her face.