Chapter 1786: Insisting on Protecting Ling Xue at All Costs
Bai Ruozhu felt somewhat guilty, thinking that if she had often come to the Palace instead of staying angry with the Concubine Le and the Emperor, perhaps Concubine Le wouldn't be in this state?
But the situation was already like this, and curing Concubine Le was the most important thing now.
She stepped forward to check Concubine Le's pulse, which was very weak, as if her life was about to be lost.
After a long while, she withdrew her hand, signaling Gao Zhou to continue.
Gao Zhou also checked Concubine Le's pulse, his expression equally solemn.
"Her situation is not very good. I haven't seen her when she was awake, but with this deficiency in Qi and Blood and malnutrition, she must have lost her appetite for meals earlier. Her emotions must have been quite poor every day," Gao Zhou sighed and said.
"Now, we can only replenish her Qi and Blood; the heart disease is hard to cure," Bai Ruozhu agreed.
The two discussed a few sentences and then walked out together.
The Emperor asked anxiously, "How is it?"
Bai Ruozhu remained silent; the medical saint was more reputable than her and was senior, so it was sure to be the medical saint who spoke.
"Reporting to the Emperor, Concubine Le has lost too much blood and needs good care, but her previous mood was incorrect, leading to frequent disturbances in appetite and nutritional imbalance, so..." he stretched his tone, "the heart disease still requires Heart Medicine."
"Heart Medicine?" Tang Yin sighed, "Concubine Le misses the late Empress Dowager excessively, and I have already ordered people to persuade her extensively."
"Concubine Le has depression, which won't be caused by just one thing leading to such sorrowfulness. She might even overthink and become pessimistic about trivial matters," Gao Zhou said.
Tang Yin glanced at Bai Ruozhu; Bai Ruozhu had mentioned "depression" before, and he had neglected it.
If today's discovery was any later, his Wenwen wouldn't be in the world anymore. Thinking of Wenwen lying in a pool of blood, he felt a chill all over his body.
Having been through so much together, and having a child, how could she be willing to abandon him and the child by committing suicide?
Tang Yin's accumulated anger finally exploded, "Someone, arrest all those serving beside Concubine Le and punish them with twenty strokes each!"
No one dared to plead, considering Tang Yin's punishment to be light, as they had failed to notice Concubine Le's wrist-cutting, deserving penalization for negligence.
Suddenly, a sound came from the inner room, where a maid exclaimed, "Madam, you shouldn't get up!"
Concubine Le had awakened!
Tang Yin hurriedly rushed into the inner chamber, Bai Ruozhu hesitated for a moment and followed him inside.
"Emperor, please spare my close servant Ling Xue; I deliberately sent her away to fetch bird's nest for me; she shouldn't be punished," Concubine Le's voice was weak, yet she bravely pleaded with the Emperor.
Bai Ruozhu looked towards Jiang Yichun; this Ling Xue truly had great skills to brainwash Concubine Le this way.
Tang Yin signaled to the maid beside him, who promptly ran out, soon bringing Wenwen's nurse holding him over.
Wenwen probably woke up abruptly and was very displeased, crying loudly.
"Wenwen, look at our son crying there, do you want to hold him? Can you bear to abandon such a young child?" Tang Yin asked, looking at Concubine Le.
Concubine Le glanced at her son, her eyes filled with reluctance and pain.
"Emperor, please spare Ling Xue, or I will not be at peace," Concubine Le saw the guard taking her servants out and turned to Tang Yin in tears.
Tang Yin frowned, was Ling Xue more important than Wenwen? He didn't understand Concubine Le's shielding of Ling Xue, and Bai Ruozhu's earlier remarks about Ling Xue being a problem flashed in his mind.
At this moment, Ling Xue was brought up, and she fell to her knees with a thud.
"This servant deserves to die for failing to take good care of the Madam, and willingly accepts punishment; please don't worry, Madam," Ling Xue said, intending to go out for punishment, but Concubine Le frantically tried to get up and pull Ling Xue.
"No, you can't be punished. I said you can't be punished; does no one listen to me?" She suddenly screamed hysterically.
This struggle caused the bandage on her wrist to loosen, the wound tore open, and blood started gushing out.
"Concubine Le, stop making a fuss!" The Emperor grabbed her arms, not caring about the blood splattering on his dragon robe, while his gaze towards Ling Xue grew even colder.
Concubine Le, held by the Emperor, struggled desperately but quickly calmed down due to exhaustion.
The Emperor softened his tone, "Wenwen, listen, Ling Xue is a Martial artist; twenty strokes are nothing to her. Without rules, society can't function, so she must receive the punishment and be temporarily detained afterward."
"No!" Concubine Le screamed, her eyes turning bloodshot, resembling a madwoman, "Why don't you listen to me? I'm about to die, can't you just listen to me once?"
"Stop fooling around! You will not die; you will live well and accompany me into old age!" The Emperor shouted angrily.
She was the only one he wanted to grow old with. Previously, he had too many restraints, not daring to let people know how much he cared for her. But now, with fewer reservations, she had become like this.
Seeing Concubine Le's wrist bleeding more and more, Gao Zhou quickly moved around to the back and pressed Concubine Le's sleep pressure point, quickly putting her to sleep.
"Emperor, the Madam can't bleed anymore. Let her sleep for a while first," Gao Zhou pointed at Concubine Le's wrist.
The Emperor was shocked, "Quick, bandage her up."
"Yes." Gao Zhou didn't let Bai Ruozhu help because he feared Bai Ruozhu, who was pregnant, might become nauseous. He swiftly applied the needle to stop the bleeding and began stitching up the wound.
Bai Ruozhu looked at Concubine Le and then at Ling Xue kneeling nearby. If she didn't know that Concubine Le deeply loved the Emperor, she would believe Concubine Le and Ling Xue were Bai He, with Concubine Le fiercely protecting her lover.
But this situation seemed strange no matter how viewed. Does a madam need to risk everything to protect a maid? If they had grown up together like sisters, that would be understandable, but Ling Xue was later arranged by the Emperor for Concubine Le, how long could they have been together? How deep could their relationship be?
Wenwen was still beside her, though too young to understand anything, he was frightened by the shouting around him and kept crying. Yet, Concubine Le was not considering to comfort her only child, only thinking about saving Ling Xue. Isn't this situation too strange?
Tang Yin laid the unconscious Concubine Le back on the bed, gently tucked her in, then stood up and stared at Ling Xue, asking, "Ling Xue, what did you do?"
Ling Xue lowered her head, appearing not too frightened, yet tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Ling Xue failed to comfort the Madam properly, guilt deserving ten thousand deaths, but the Madam is such a good person, she truly can't continue suffering like this. I only beg Bai to save Wenwen, as long as Wenwen is well, it will resolve Concubine Le's issue," Ling Xue spoke, her voice not weak, even carrying some heroic spirit, seeming very strong.
Bai Ruozhu squinted her eyes, "Ling Dark guards imply I'm unwilling to save Wenwen, hence causing Concubine Le to be like this?"