Chapter 223: The Death of Consort Jing

At the end of the rock garden, there was a long staircase and at the bottom of the steps, there was a female. There were large patches of blood pools below the female, making Shen Miao and the two maids behind stunned. When they went up forward to take a look, they were surprised that it was Consort Jing.

Consort Jing was holding on to her abdomen at the moment and her entire face was filled with sweat, while her face was as pale as paper. She was curled up to a ball and was moaning painfully. Shen Miao went up to take a look but saw that there were traces of scuffs on the steps, indicating that Lu Jing fell down from this staircase.

Upon seeing Shen Miao, Lu Jing made all effort to reach out and only manage to say two words, "Save me." Then she fainted.

Ba Jiao asked, "Furen. This…"

"Call people over." Shen Miao frowned, "She is after all pregnant with a Dragon seed. Moreover if a matter of do nothing to save another life is spread out, the one at the disadvantage would only be the residence of Prince Rui." Even though she was not willing to be implicated in such matters, she was also not willing for the residence of Prince Rui to bear the bad reputation.

Ba Jiao nodded her head and complied before rushing away. Hui Xiang looked around and shook her head, "There is no one else."

"Have long run away." Shen Miao frowned, "To actually harm another that openly like this in the Palace, the other party's guts is sure big." She then looked at Consort Jing who was barely perceptible breathing and sighed. Shen Miao saw those female in the Palace that miscarriage and with Consort Jing like this, one feared that the child in the womb could not be saved. Shen Miao did not pity Consort Jing but felt sorry for the unborn child. If this fetus was not in Lu Jing's womb, how would there be this calamity before one was born? Thinking about children, Shen Miao suddenly thought about that youth's face that she saw in the woods. Her heart shrunk. If that was truly Fu Ming, why was he unwilling to see her? If that was not Fu Ming… Then why did he look so much like Fu Ming?

As Shen Miao was thinking, since there were only limited people in the Palace that was coming and going, after the matter of Lu Jing had passed, she will then make a request to Empress Xian De or Xie Jing Xing to search for that youth. She did not believe that it was her illusion as she was sober.

The people that Ba Jiao called quickly came and jumped in shock upon seeing Consort Jing like this. Although Emperor Yong Le did not care about Consort Jing's pregnancy, but Consort Jing was after all carrying Emperor Yong Le's first child. At this moment, at such a state, discerning eyes could tell that this child could not be saved.

There was no need to speak much as these people quickly send Consort Jing to Jing Hua Palace, invited the Imperial Physician over and instructed people to inform Emperor Yong Le and Empress Xian De. As Shen Miao was the first person who saw Consort Jing, no matter if it was not related to her, she was also implicated and could not leave.

Hui Xiang felt somewhat uneasy. The matters of the Imperial family were the most complicated and especially when it comes to matters concerning on Dragon seeds. The most difficult thing was that Shen Miao was implicated and Hui Xiang even suspect if it was a conspiracy.

Emperor Yong Le and Empress Xian De rushed over quickly but Shen Miao discovered that Xie Jing Xing was not present and did not know where he went. She initially wanted to tell him about the matter but looking at the current situation, she could only let it be.

After Emperor Yong Le's arrival, he had questioned the people around and knew that there was not a single palace maid by Consort Jing's side at that time, otherwise they would not let her fall down the staircase and also no one helping her till she had to request Shen Miao. Empress Xian De asked with a frown, "Isn't Consort Jing in Jing Hua Palace chatting with the Young Lady of the Ye family? Why did she go to the Imperial Gardens? Where is the Young Lady of the Ye family?"

There was however no suspicions that was placed on Shen Miao.

Shen Miao was somewhat surprised and before she could speak, there was a sudden short scream from the room and afterwards from the sleeping chambers of Jing Hua Palace, a few of Consort Jing's palace maids ran out and knelt down in front of Emperor Yong Le and Empress Xian De and continuously kowtowed.

The Imperial Physician walked out from inside and wiped away his sweat before speaking lowly, "Emperor. This old official is incompetent. Her Ladyship Consort Jing is gone."

"Gone?" The one speaking was Empress Xian De. "How could Consort Jing be gone?"

The old Imperial Physician bowed and said, "Ever since Her Ladyship Consort Jing is pregnant, she has been taking tonic every day. This is actually too much for the child and with too much nutrients, the child is too heavy. The child could not be saved and Her Ladyship Consort Jing suffered from shock and lost too much blood so…"

Shen Miao could not speak of what kind of emotions she was feeling. Naturally Lu Jing was stupid but as the Dragon seed that she was carrying died, to her it was perhaps the biggest blow and she suffered from excessive shock before dying.

One was unable to see any emotions from Emperor Yong Le's face as he was not content due to the matter nor was he hurt by it. It was Empress Xian De that said solemnly, "Consort Jing was perfectly fine so how could she fall down suddenly? Where are the palace maids by her side?"

The palace maids in Jing Hua Palace quickly knelt down, "Her Ladyship was previously speaking to the Young Lady of Ye family in the palace when she suddenly mentioned to take a walk in the Imperial Gardens. Her Ladyship does not like servants following by the side so these servants dared not defy Her Ladyship's orders. Afterwards the Ye family's Young Lady did not return and Her Ladyship also did not return. When one saw Her Ladyship, it was when WangFei of First Rank sent her back."

This palace maid of Consort Jing was as eloquent as Consort Jing was and pushed the blame off from oneself cleanly. However since Consort Jing encountered such a matter, there was no escape from blame for those personal maids.

Empress Xian De did not have any trace of suspicion of Shen Miao and asked immediately, "Where is the Ye family's Young Lady? Someone come and search for that Ye family's Young Lady!"

It was a matter concerning the Imperial descendent, so naturally it was a major matter, moreover it happened in the Inner Palace. As Empress Xian De was the mistress of the six Palaces, naturally she had to investigate it thoroughly. Emperor Yong Le did not speak and let Empress Xian De give out instruction. From the time of the incident till now, she did not expose any emotions, making one unable to guess what did he thought of the matter.

Shen Miao was thinking where Xie Jing Xing was at such a critical timing and at the same time thinking about the possibilities of how the incident happened. Could it be that Ye Mei took action to kill Lu Jing? There was absolutely no reason for this. Even if Ye Mei wanted to enter the Palace, she would be here to enquire about information from Lu Jing and there was no need to kill her. Moreover Ye Mei was not one who would take action personally. She was vicious but most of the time she would made others take action to gain what she wanted but she would remain spotless. Even if Ye Mei truly want to kill Lu Jing, she would not use such a stupid method like this. Everyone knew that she left with Consort Jing so if anything happened to Consort Jing, wouldn't she be the first suspected?

This made Shen Miao somewhat puzzled.

Everyone in Jing Hua Palace was thinking about the matter in their mind and after a while, one could hear a flurried voice from the back, "Your Ladyship Consort Jing!"

Shen Miao turned around to look and saw Ye Mei was brought over by a few guards. Her expression was somewhat flustered but there were more expression of unbelievable. She took two steps forward but was stopped by Empress Xian De's guards. Empress Xian De looked at her and said coldly, "Where did Young Lady Ye went to that one only came over now? Before Consort Jing died, she headed to the Imperial Gardens with you. How is it that something happened to Consort Jing but you are not there?" These words were so aggressive and had the attitude of attacking the other party with condemnations. Empress Xian De usually looked calm and gentle but at this moment her fierce and severe appearance had an air of an Empress that made Ye Mei step back and shrank.

Shen Miao looked at her coldly.

Ye Mei lowered her head incredulously, seemingly recalling a memory and said, "This official's daughter was previously chatting with Her Ladyship Consort Jing in Jing Hua Palace when Her Ladyship Consort Jing said that the weather outside is cooling and wanted to have some air. Her Ladyship Consort Jing's palace maids also wanted to follow but Her Ladyship Consort Jing felt that it was not convenient with so many people around and since it is only walking around the Imperial Gardens, there would not be any danger and with this official's daughter at her side, there was no need for others."

Hearing this, everyone in the room had different expressions.

Lu Jing had a normally arrogant temper and it was intensified due to the pregnancy. Most likely upon seeing Ye Mei's beautiful appearance, her heart felt uncomfortable or maybe it was because of other reasons, she let Ye Mei come along with her because Lu Jing wanted to directly order Ye Mei like a maid so she did not call her palace maid along so that she could make things difficult for Ye Mei. This was indeed Consort Jing's character.

"Later when this official's daughter was walking in the gardens, Her Ladyship Consort Jing suddenly felt a little cold and wanted this official's daughter to retrieve a silk cloak for her. That cloak was not in Jing Hua Palace but with a Cairen. This official daughter is not familiar with the Palace's roads and wasted a lot of time searching for that location. When this official's daughter retrieved the cloak, one did not expect that Your Ladyship the Empress's guards would come and said that something had happened to Her Ladyship Consort Jing." Ye Mei knelt down, "When this official's daughter left, Her Ladyship Consort Jing was perfectly fine. This official's daughter truly does not know what actually went on!" She suddenly thought about something, "If Your Ladyship does not believe then do instruct someone to look for that Cairen. She can testify for this official's daughter as this official's daughter looked for her to retrieve the cloak. This official's daughter went to retrieve the cloak so how could one harm Her Ladyship Consort Jing?"

Empress Xian De frowned.

Everyone knew clearly of Consort Jing's temper ad knew that it was one of Consort Jing's tricks to instruct Ye Mei to retrieve a cloak from afar like a servant.

Empress Xian De said, "Tao GuGu, bring people to that Cairen and enquire carefully. If anyone is lying, one would be punished severely."

Ye Mei said hurriedly, "That Cairen's surname is Cao."

Tao GuGu complied and left.

The room suddenly fell into a deadlock situation again. Ye Mei was kneeing on the ground and her weak body was trembling with grievances on her face. When she smiled, it was like as charming as a cat that one could hook a soul over but when tearing quietly like now, it was like she was scared and looked pitiful. That teary eyes and trembling shoulders was also like a cat, making others feel pity and want to embrace her. The way her feet knelt down was in a particular position that when Emperor Yong Le look down, he could see her profile face and her weak and fragile side body.

Empress Xian De saw everything but her lips hooked up like a smile but not a smile. When Shen Miao saw it, she signed as she understood why she lost to Ye Mei in her previous lifetime. At such a critical and urgent situation like this, as normal, Ye Mei would make use of her beauty and charm to move other's heart. Shen Miao liked Fu Xiu Yi and would silently sacrifice and stupidly used her treasured things to exchange for him. However when Ye Mei liked someone, or it could be said that when Ye Mei want a person, she would show the most beautiful side of herself and attract another to sacrifice for her and use their treasure things to exchange for her. But… Shen Miao glanced at Emperor Yong Le. One feared that Ye Mei's plans would fall empty as Emperor Yong Le did not even look at Ye Mei's direction.

The two brothers of the Xie family were like two iron plates and beauty was not enough. Moreover as compared to Xie Jing Xing, Emperor Yong Le do not focus on female's beauty.

It just that before Tao GuGu arrived, the Lu family people came.

Lu Furen and Master Lu had come. The child in Consort Jing's womb is gone and Consort Jing was also gone. Other than already gone Consort Jing herself who was the angriest, one feared that the next one who were jumping were the Lu family. Lu Zheng Chun brought Lu Furen and arrived in Jing Hua Palace in anger. The people in the palace did not block them and Emperor Yong Le also did not bother to block them. Lu Furen sat on the floor and cried once she entered before crying and lamenting about her misfortunate daughter.

Shen Miao looked at Lu Furen, like she was watching a clown jumping up and down. If she really doted her daughter, then why would she not go and take a look at Lu Jing's corpse upon the first thing when entering the Palace to see her the last time then to cry in front of the Emperor and Empress. One feared that being distress of one's daughter was false but being heartache on the dragon seed that Lu Zhen was carrying after much difficulty.

Lu Zheng Chun was born with a ferocious appearance and at this moment he had a sullen face and his imposing appearance was like a devil from the Underworld. It made one feel that if it was not wrong, he would even dare to kill the monarch.

He said, "Emperor. Jing-er and the Dragon seed in her womb are harmed by other This matter is not a small one. This official has raised Jing-er till adult and one hope Your Majesty would understand this official's heart and give this official accountability!"

Shen Miao almost wanted to laugh out. From Lu Zheng Chun's words, it was like he was attacking Emperor Yong Le with condemnations. With such an arrogant attitude, was it truly only from a position of Emperor Shun Wu? One feared that from the very beginning Emperor Yong Le had never be placed in his eyes and for an official that did not have the heart, there would be some disrespect to the Monarch revealed in whatever one spoke or did.

Emperor Yong Le said plainly, "The matters of the Imperial descendants are important. It is an additional and not necessary move for General Lu to remind Zhen again."

Lu Zheng Chun signed. Previously Emperor Yong Le would always treat him with some traces of politeness but now did not even give him a little face. He also knew that the Imperial family had started to deal with the Lu family secretly and initially thought that with Consort Jing pregnant, the Lu family would have more leverage but who knew that now that the basket of eggs were smashed, so how could he not be mad? However he could no longer go against Emperor Yong Le like before. The initially toothless youth had become the Emperor and was now more resourceful that he had imagine and the Lu family's power has weakened.

There was such a type of people in the world where one would bully the weak and fear the strong. When you threatened him when he tried to act tough with one, they would give up. Lu Zhen was like this, and Lu Zhen Chun was also like this.

Coincidentally Lu Furen finished crying but looked towards Shen Miao to speak, "When Jing-er was in trouble, you were present. Did you see the culprit?"

Shen Miao shook her head.

Lu Zhen Chun said solemnly, "When you were there, Jing-er could still speak and it was not long after the person took action so how could one not see?"

Before Shen Miao could speak, Emperor Yong Le spoke first, "WangFei of First Rank was only passing by and it is not a crime not to have seen the culprit. General Lu did not investigate the culprit but blame those that should not be blamed. It is truly too much care had caused one's mind to be chaotic."

Shen Miao had not expect that Emperor Yong Le would speak up for her as she knew that Emperor Yong Le had always looked down on her.

Lu Zheng Chun laughed coldly, "Your Majesty, in this world, there are many matters where a thief can call others thieves."

Empress Xian De frowned, "WangFei would not do such a thing. BenGong is willing to use the Empress's position to guarantee it."

Emperor Yong Le and Empress Xian De took turns to speak out for Shen Miao so Lu Zheng Chun could not say anything and only smile. It was just that his smile was very fierce.

Shen Miao said, "Even though I saw Consort Jing in the accident, it is the Young Lady from Ye family that was accompanying Her Ladyship Consort Jing. General Lu can also question her." Who did not know how to divert the troublesome waters to the north? This matter was Ye Mei that created so Shen Miao was not willing to carry this blame for Ye Mei.

Lu Zheng Chun looked towards Ye Mei who was kneeling on the grown and there was a glimmer of light in her eyes but he did not speak.

Shen Miao was able to see clearly. This Lu Zheng Chun looked like a coarse person but he had his smarts. Now that the Lu family was being besieged by the Imperial family, and each day was more tensed than before, naturally one had to search for an ally. This Ye family was the best one. It was just that Ye Mao Cai was more intelligent than him and the Ye family had not decide where to stand at. Lu Zheng Chun naturally hoped that the Ye family would stand with him. Anyways his daughter and grandchild were all dead and the future was more important. Comparing both, he was more unwilling to let a dead person offend a potential ally.

In the face of power, a family could even sacrifice one's children in vain. One could still take consideration for sons but for daughters, there was no need to bother as she would belong to someone else's family.

Shen Miao had thought like this but she saw a guard walking over to Emperor Yong Le and spoke, "Emperor, someone had said that they had seen the culprit that pushed Consort Jing down the stairs."

When those words were spoken, everyone was in shock. Before Emperor Yong Le and Empress Xian De could speak, Lu Zheng Chun spoke, "Who is it? Did that person say who the culprit was?"

Lu Furen put her hands together and said heartbrokenly, "There is a God in Heavens. Finally one know who harm my Jing-er. When I find out who that person is, one will definitely make them pay in blood for blood!"

Lu family's behaviour was just too exaggerated. Emperor Yong Le said coldly, "Bring the person in."

Shen Miao looked at Ye Mei, who was on the ground.

Ye Mei was kneeling on the ground and her back was slightly buckled and she still had a look of grievance but Shen Miao noticed her hands. The long sleeves had hid her palms but her fingers were revealed. The fingertips were truly very beautiful but her left thumb and index finger was in a circle, gently rubbing against one another.

Shen Miao had been dealing with Mei Furen for an entire lifetime and naturally knew the meaning of her every action. Shen Miao knew very clearly what this action was. When Ye Mei was scheming against another, when her goal was about to be reached, she would involuntarily do this action.

Shen Miao's heart jumped. That witness that would be testifying is part of Ye Mei's scheme? She was going to achieve her gold? Or was it that Lu Zhen's death was really not related to Ye Mei? Why?

Afterwards a sound was heard from outside. It sounded like the wound of wheels rolling on the ground. Shen Miao's eyes narrowed as she looked over at the doors.

A servant entered while pushing someone in.

That person was sitting on a chair with wheels and there was a blanket covering one's legs as the pair of hands was folded on top of the knees. He did not seem to be able to walk and was pushed over by that servant effortlessly over.

Upon walking nearer, one could then see clearly that the person had an appearance of eleven or twelve years old and he had a delicate look. The person was a youth, wearing an ivory robes and seemed to be somewhat shy but his gaze was filled with traces of shock.

Shen Miao stood in shock on the spot and almost became a stone sculpture. Her eyes filled with tears in an instant and it almost overflow.

Fu Ming!

Time went on reverse and she could see through the beautiful youth on the wheelchair and saw that youth who was wearing bright yellow robes in the Inner Palace, holding a large bouquet of red plum blossoms, smiling and speaking very considerately, "Imperial Mother, ErChen (formal way of saying 'this son' that is used by Princes to their parents in the Imperial family) saw that the plum blossoms in the courtyard had bloomed and climbed up to cut a big bouquet. Now Imperial Mother can see this red plum blossoms every day in the room and one's heart will feel comfortable and will recover from one's illness faster."

He said, "Even though Older Sister is not here, ErChen will always be by Imperial Mother's side."

He said, "Rest assures Imperial Mother. ErChen will study well from Imperial Teacher and when ErChen become stronger in the future, no one will dare to bully Imperial Mother."

Now that beautiful and delicate youth was pushed by others to Ye Mei and he softly called out, "Eldest Sister."

Shen Miao eyes widen.

He was… That cripple Young Master from the Ye family that was born from a concubine and placed under Ye Furen, Ye Hong Guang.

The Ye family's people?

The servant pushed Ye Hong Guang to the front and Ye Hong Guang faced Emperor Yong Le. He was somewhat nervous and seemed not to know where to place his hands and feet in front of the Monarch of Great Liang, "Hong Guang greets His Majesty. Please forgive Hong Guang for being unable to perform the customary bows due to one's legs."

Emperor Yong Le waved his hands indifferently.

When Ye Hong Guang saw that there are so many people in front, he was somewhat afraid and could not help but move the chair's mechanism to be closer to Ye Mei.

When Shen Miao saw it, her gaze became ferocious.

How could Fu Ming be this close with Ye Mei? There was a sudden impulse from the bottom of her heart to pull Fu Ming over from Ye Mei's side. However she could not… Now she and Fu Ming were strangers.

It seemed that her gaze was too persistent that Ye Hong Guang noticed it. Ye Hong Guang glanced over with a curious gaze. Seeing Shen Miao's persistent and non-blinking stare, he seemed to have been shocked and lowered her head before rubbing the edge of the blanket that was on his knees.

"Young Master Ye?" Lu Zheng Chun frowned and asked, "You saw the culprit that killed Consort Jing?"

Ye Hong Guang was stunned and became shock upon seeing Lu Zheng Chun's ferocious appearance before looking over at Ye Mei for help. Every time he used that dependent gaze at Ye Mei, Shen Miao's heart was like stabbed with knives.

Empress Xian De spoke amiably, "Hong Guang, you said that you saw the person who pushed Consort Jing. Is it true?"

Empress Xian De seemed to have a good impression of Ye Hong Guang, thus she spoke to him warmly. Ye Hong Guang looked at Empress Xian De and he did not seem to be that afraid and thus nodded his head.

"Then who is the person?" Empress Xian De asked.

Ye Hong Guang lowered his head and seemed to be somewhat timid. After much hesitation, he then raised his head up and looked towards Shen Miao's direction and his gaze also landed on Shen Miao. Afterwards Ye Hong Guang slowly raised his hands and pointed towards her before softly speaking, "It is her."

Shen Miao seemed to have been stuck by lightning.

Empress Xian De's expression changed and she asked sharply, "Hong Guang, do you know that if you are lying, it is the offence of deceiving the Monarch. One's head will be lost!"

Emperor Long Ye also said coldly, "Are you sure you saw clearly?"

It was clear that the Emperor and Empress did not believe in Ye Hong Guang's statement of events. Ye Hong Guang looked timid but under the Emperor's and Empress's pressure, he became firmer. He looked at Shen Miao and said surely, "It is this Furen."

Shen Miao stumbled a step back as she almost could not believe her ears at all. This Furen. Fu Ming would actually address her as 'this Furen'. Her son would actually stand by her enemy's side and help her enemy to testify against her!

How preposterous!

When her actions were seen by others, it seemed to have confirmed her guilty conscience.

Lu Zheng Chun's eyes narrowed and without another word, he reached out to Shen Miao to drag her over in front of everyone. Ba Jiao and Hui Xiang saw it and immediately went in front of Shen Miao to protect her. No one had expected that Lu Zheng Chun would suddenly take action. The guards quickly protected Emperor Long Le and Empress Xian De first and Emperor Yong Le shouted out, "Lu Zheng Chun, you dare to take action in Jing Hua Palace. Are you rebelling!"

As Lu Zheng Chun was fighting with Ba Jiao and Hui Xiang, he spoke loudly, "Emperor, my Lu family has lost Jing-er and the culprit is in front. Let this Old Man take revenge for killing my daughter first! This old man's crimes can be determined later. Even if the matter is spoken to the entire world, one fears that the commoners would say that this old man is doing the right thing!"

This Lu Zheng Chun was truly an annoying troublemaker that Emperor Yong Le's face turned ashen due to anger.

Ba Jiao and Hui Xiang had to take into consideration their identities and Shen Miao but every move from that Lu Zheng Chun was vicious as they were all killing moves that the two females almost could not match for. Shen Miao's gaze was however fixed on Ye Hong Guang, who was by Ye Mei's side. Ye Hong Guang seemed to dodge her gaze and was not willing to look at Shen Miao and instead whispered to Ye Mei some stuff.

Just at this moment, Lu Zheng Chun's legs suddenly soften and he fell onto the ground. Everyone did not see clearly what was going on and only heard a 'pa-da' sound and two gold ingots fell onto the ground.

Lu Zheng Chun fell onto his knees on the ground.

A calm voice sounded from outside.

"Whatever dogs and cats can bully this Prince's woman when this Prince is not present?"

More brassy than Lu Zheng Chun and even more arrogant. In the calm voice, everyone could hear who was the person one was angry at.

Upon seeing Xie Jing Xing appearing at the doors with a gold ingot in his hand, obviously it was he that used it to injury Lu Zheng Chun's kneecap.

He strode over to Shen Miao, saw her pale look and thought that Shen Miao was frightened and became more aggravated. He turned around and looked at Lu Zheng Chun, who was being supported up, and said indifferently, "Master Lu, what are you dissatisfied with of this Prince?"

His looks were handsome and beautiful but his tone was so cold that it mad one's back shiver.

Lu Zheng Chun was not willing to show any weakness. Even though he was angry that Xie Jing Xing made him look shameful, he had reason at his side and did not let the other go. He said, "Jing-er was killed by other! The Young Master of the Ye family saw it personally that it was Shen Miao's doing. This old one is taking revenge for one's daughter. It is entirely justified!"

"The Young Master of the Ye family?" Xie Jing Xing's gaze swept the room and landed on the wheelchair Ye Hong Guang.

He slowly approached Ye Hong Guang and looked down at the other party.

Xie Jing Xing already had a pressuring aura to others thus when Ye Hong Guang was being stared by him, he uncomfortably dodged his gaze.

Xie Jing Xing looked at him with a smile but not a smile, "Which eye did see her killing another with?"

Not waiting for Ye Hong Guang to answer, Xie Jing Xing spoke indifferently, "Whichever eye you use, I will dig that eye out."