Zhou Liangliang

Chapter 459 - 255: The Former Empress and Her Majesty the Empress_3

Chapter 459: Chapter 255: The Former Empress and Her Majesty the Empress_3


"Money is not as important as life. Let’s just try to live well in the palace for now." One was a medical eunuch, the other a medical woman; in this palace, their status was lowly, and they could only live cautiously.


"You’re right, I’ve been greedy." The eunuch also wanted to make more money, so their days could be better.


The woman understood the eunuch’s thoughts, held his hand with a gentle expression, and said, "I think our days are quite good now."


The eunuch heard the woman say this and smiled slightly: "It’s getting late; we should go back."


"Mm."


The eunuch took the woman and left the rock garden.


After they left for a while, Zhao Yao and Tong Xi finally walked out.


Tong Xi looked surprised: "They are Cao Wu and Xue Mei from the Imperial Hospital." Tong Xi had a good memory and could remember the names and faces of most eunuchs and palace maids in the palace. "Cao Wu is the eunuch in charge of medicines at the Imperial Hospital, and Xue Mei is a medical woman."


Zhao Yao thought of what Cao Wu and Xue Mei had just said, furrowed his brows, and said, "I didn’t expect that Princess Consort Dai became pregnant because of forbidden medicine, and even more so, that the forbidden medicine took her life."


"Your Highness, is there really such potent medicine in this world?"


"There should be." From where did Princess Consort Dai obtain the forbidden medicine to conceive, was it given by her sister?


According to the storybooks he often read, Princess Consort Dai’s younger half-sister had always been jealous of Princess Consort Dai and was determined to replace her. Upon learning that Princess Consort Dai was troubled about pregnancy, she sought out a forbidden medicine for conception and presented it to Princess Consort Dai. She knew, once Princess Consort Dai died, her younger half-sister would certainly marry Prince Dai and become the Heir Princess Consort.


"Who could be so cruel, to give Princess Consort Dai such a sinister medicine, isn’t it essentially sentencing her to death?" Tong Xi said sharply, "And it wouldn’t even be detected, as everyone thinks Princess Consort Dai died from complications after giving birth to the young prince."


"This has nothing to do with us, let’s go back." Zhao Yao hadn’t expected that, out of mere curiosity, he not only witnessed something incredible but also overheard something astounding.


"Your Highness, what should we do about Cao Wu and Xue Mei’s secret relationship, should we inform Mr. Sun?"


"We didn’t see or hear anything just now." Zhao Yao was aware of the secret relationships between eunuchs and palace maids. "Tong Xi, do you have a secret relationship?"


Tong Xi was startled by Zhao Yao’s question and shook his head vigorously: "Your Highness, I do not, I truly do not." Although many palace maids approached him for a secret relationship, he had refused them all.


Zhao Yao sized up Tong Xi, teasingly saying: "There must be quite a few who approach you for it, right?" Tong Xi was fairly handsome, tall, and skilled in martial arts; surely many palace maids liked him.


"There are quite a few, but they were all refused by me." They sought him for a secret relationship partly because he looked decent, and partly because he was the prince’s personal eunuch. Although the prince was not favored by ministers, he was still liked by eunuchs and palace maids. One reason was that the prince had a good nature, treating those with lowly status kindly. Another was that once the prince came of age and was granted a fiefdom, those around him could leave the Imperial Palace and accompany him to the fiefdom.


Leaving the Imperial Palace was the dream of many eunuchs and palace maids. Although palace maids could leave once they turned twenty-five, most were still very young and far from that age. Moreover, when they did leave, they were likely to struggle without support outside the palace. However, if they followed the prince to the fiefdom, they might be matched by the prince with one of his guards or someone else, ensuring their future.


Eunuchs were not as fortunate as palace maids and could not leave at twenty-five. They could only leave if they made a mistake and were expelled, or if they became old and useless.


The Chief Eunuch could live well outside the palace, but lower-ranking eunuchs had a hard life once outside. To live well, following a prince out of the palace was the best choice.


"If there’s someone you like, I won’t stop you from being in a secret relationship with her," Zhao Yao teased.


"Your Highness, I have no one I like, nor will I engage in secret relationships." A eunuch’s body was incomplete, lacking the right or privilege to harbor affections.


"Oh, then forget it."


Tong Xi secretly heaved a sigh of relief.


After walking for a while, Zhao Yao suddenly said, "I hope I don’t get a sty."


Tong Xi: "..." Even though His Highness is only eight years old, he has already witnessed such an unseemly scene; that Cao Wu has really gone too far.


"I’ll go back and rinse my eyes with saltwater." He didn’t want to get a sty and be ridiculed by everyone.


"Your Highness, you definitely won’t get a sty," Tong Xi comforted Zhao Yao, "If anything, I would be the one to get it."


"You should rinse your eyes too when we get back."


Back at Kunde Hall, Zhao Yao clamored to rinse his eyes with saltwater.


Liang Zhaoyi thought Zhao Yao’s eyes were uncomfortable and hurriedly asked Gui Xing to prepare the saltwater. She then carefully and cautiously rinsed Zhao Yao’s eyes with it.


Zhao Yao asked Liang Zhaoyi to rinse his eyes several more times.


"What’s wrong with your eyes?" Liang Zhaoyi meticulously examined her son’s eyes, finding no swelling or redness. "Do they hurt, or is your vision blurry?"


Zhao Yao sighed and said, "Mother, I saw something I shouldn’t have and am afraid of getting a sty, so I’m rinsing my eyes."


Upon hearing this, Liang Zhaoyi’s expression turned a bit unpleasant.


"What did you see?"


Zhao Yao recounted the scene he had witnessed and the things he had heard to Liang Zhaoyi.


Liang Zhaoyi was shocked after hearing.


"So Princess Consort Dai died because of taking forbidden medicine?!"


Zhao Yao said meaningfully, "Mother, don’t you find the matter of Princess Consort Dai somewhat familiar?"


"Familiar?" Liang Zhaoyi initially did not understand Zhao Yao’s meaning, but soon realized. A look of shock appeared on her face, "Are you referring to the late Empress and the current Empress?"