Aah… Urgh! Huff… Arghhh… Ahhhh!
The screams of Empress Yunqing could be heard from miles away as she struggled to bring forth life. She pushed for several hours, unending as a palace maid was by her side, wiping away her sweat from time to time.
Wuah! Waah! Waah!
Finally, the cries of a newborn baby echo through the night. Empress Yunqing had finally given birth and that too to a healthy young prince.
The midwife who helped deliver the little prince cleaned him up and wrapped him in clean sheets before placing him on the bed beside his mother (Yunqing). Then she left, leaving the mother and child pair to rest.
Yunqing gave a weak glance at the little prince, a bit lost in thought as she wondered what her fate would be from now on.
As she was out in a daze, she didn't realise that a pair of hands had reached for the little prince by her side.
Wuah! Waah! Waah! The little prince felt discomfort from the sudden movement and cried out.
The cry of the little prince broke Yunqing out of her daze. Only then did she realize that her son was no longer lying beside her. She looked toward the sound of the cry and saw Hongguo handing the newborn little prince to Noble Consort Jinghua.
Yunqing abruptly sprung up from the bed, ignoring the pains she felt in her body, but she only fell to the floor with a thud sound.
Her face was contorted in agony and a little bit of contempt as she looked at Noble Consort Jinghua. She needed to get her son back from her.
"Give me my son back, please, Jinghua," she cried out pleadingly. This is what she has been reduced to, an empress who had to beg for her own son from a lower-ranking consort.
"You should not use that filthy mouth of yours to say my name," Noble Consort Jinghua before snickering at her plea. Then she mimicked the empress with a smirk plastered on her face before she said, "This little prince is now my son. I should give him back to you. Tsk! Why would I do that? You are nothing more than a lowly crazy empress, hmm no, more like a lowly… crazy… concubine... or just a regular old crazy b***h. Hmm, I am not picky, so I will let you chose." Then she clicked her tongue before attempting to leave.
Yunqing froze up when she heard Noble Consort Jinghua say that the little prince was now her son. So she cried out again, "No! No please, Jinghua, I will do anything you want. I'll give you anything, just… just give me my son back. Please." Her tear rolled down her checks in a steady rhythm like they were programmed to follow her current state of emotions.
It seemed no amount of begging would get her son back as Noble Consort Jinghua swerved around glaring at her ferociously as she insisted, "He is not your son! He is my son. Mine!"
Then she gave a lopsided evil grin as she bent over low enough to whisper to Yunqing while staring at her face, "Anything? (Scoffs) You were just an empress in name. Everything you own now belongs to me. And now I'm also going to take away your son as well as that so-called position you were so proud of."
"No… No… No! You can have everything else but not my son!" Yunqing said as he reached out towards her trying to take back her son but was pushed away from Noble Consort Jinghua by Hongguo. So she tried reaching for her son again.
This time around, Noble Consort Jinghua had noticed that the emperor was coming. So, she quickly signalled Hongguo not to make any move. Then, when the empress attempted to take back her son again, she quickly fell back before Yunqing could even touch her, making it seem like she was pushed by her.
Noble Consort Jinghua landed directly onto the emperor's arms with the little prince wrapped up in her arms. At the same time, Yunqing was ruthlessly shoved away by the emperor.
"Sister Yunqing, why did you push me? I was only trying to save the young prince from y-you. Boohoo! I can understand your grievance with the emperor and myself, but the little prince is innocent. Why were you trying to strangle him? Boo-hoo!!" Noble Consort Jinghua quickly feigned tears as she spoke in a subtle and aggrieved tone. She spoke with a soft and weak demeanour, quite the opposite of the previous act she had just pulled.
From the emperor's point of view earlier, Jinghua's back was faced towards him. Since he saw a bit of Yunqing's hand outstretched, he could only think that she pushed Jinghua. That got him even more furious with Yunqing.
He was already angered that Yunqing still did not give her evil acts a rest even at such a state. Not knowing that he was being hoodwinked by Noble Consort Jinghua all along.
"You still will not end your wicked ways, empress," the emperor snapped. He threw a voodoo doll at her before continuing, "Nui has already confessed to the crime. You must have made her do it. She's imprisoned and will be executed by dawn tomorrow. Look at yourself now. You not only dragged yourself down but also dragged down others with you." He said all that with a snide expression not leaving his face.
Yunqing was about to attempt reaching for her son again, but upon hearing everything, the emperor said she slumped back down to a kneeling position. But Nui could never do something like that, and she was so sure of it. After all, they grew up together.
And she was right to believe so. Nui only confessed to committing the crime on her own resentments that she had against Noble Consort Jinghua just to save Yunqing. She knew it was a grave offence and knew that Yunqing would not be able to defend herself, so she took the blame on herself to spare Yunqing's life. But unfortunately, that was what Jinghua was banking on when she plotted such a scheme. She used the closeness of the two to bring doom to them.
The voodoo doll was another one of Noble Consort Jinghua's wicked schemes. She had planted a voodoo doll in her courtyard and made it seem like it was Nui who had it buried there on Yunqing's instructions. Though Nui had never wronged her, but she still needed to get rid of her as well; after all, Nui was Yunqing's most trusted servant.
She needed to get rid of all the servants that worked for the empress's Palace (Yunqing's Courtyard). She had already shut Mo Lan up when tried to snooping around earlier for information. From all the servants who worked for the empress's palace, she had bribed those she could and got rid of the rest who did not accept the bribe. She could not risk anyone exposing her evil deeds or the emperor finding out the truth.
With all her planning, she had always wondered why the emperor still left Yunqing alive. 'If he still let her be this time, then I might have to take matters into my hand,' Jinghua thought with an unsettled look.
Emperor Jingli was beyond angry now, so he commanded ruthlessly, "Guards! Get her out of here. Take her to the Cold Palace, and I never want to see her again! If I do, I would have your heads for it."
Immediately he said that the two guards behind him came forward and grabbed hold of the dazed Yunqing and took her out of there.
Noble Consort Jinghua had successfully pulled the wool over everyone's eyes, and the only person that seemed to realize that was her, but what can she actually do in that sorry state of hers. Her bag of tricks seemed to be as vast as an ocean.