Chapter 57: You’re Full of Shit!
As a mere maidservant, how could Ruyue withstand Empress Lin’s scrutiny and appraisal?
She was so nervous that her toes were practically digging into the floorboards.
She could only bury her head as low as possible, trying her best to ignore Empress Lin’s roving gaze.
Then, Empress Lin strode into Qihua Hall.
Li Qinghe shot Ruyue a look, signaling her to follow immediately.
Ruyue understood the signal and quickly scrambled up from the ground to follow.
Inside Qihua Hall, thanks to Ruyue’s advance arrangements, the interior was now bright and airy.
It even carried a faint scent of orchids.
It was nothing like the dim, sour-smelling place it had been for the past few days.
Everything had been polished to a shine.
Even the bed Jun Mo slept on had been replaced with a fine golden silkwood bed.
The quilt covering him had also been swapped for a top-quality blue silk brocade quilt.
Entering the hall, Empress Lin looked at the surrounding decor and the brocade quilt covering Jun Mo.
A momentary flash of satisfaction appeared in her eyes.
However, when her gaze fell on Jun Mo lying on the bed, she immediately frowned again.
“What is going on here?”
As she spoke, Empress Lin hurried towards Jun Mo.
“Mo’er, Mo’er, what’s wrong with you?”
One could hear the deep concern for her son in Empress Lin’s voice.
After not seeing him for a while, Jun Mo, lying on the bed, had become much thinner.
The flesh on his face had disappeared, and even his eye sockets were sunken from weight loss.
The veins on the back of his hands were protruding from hunger.
A flicker of nervousness crossed Li Qinghe’s eyes.
She hadn’t expected that in just five or six days, a lively person could be starved into such a state.
At this moment, she suddenly regretted the order she had given Jun Mo a few days ago.
“Princess Qinghe, don’t you owe This Palace an explanation!”
Empress Lin, whose face had been full of pity for her son just a moment ago, instantly changed her expression when she looked at Li Qinghe.
Her eyes were filled with hatred, and the anger on her face looked as if she wanted to eat someone alive.
Gloomy and terrifying.
Panic flashed in Li Qinghe’s eyes, and she tried hard to make herself look less flustered.
However, when she looked up and met Empress Lin’s hateful face, she couldn’t help but be a little frightened.
“Snake Empress, this matter… Qinghe can explain this.”
Li Qinghe tried her best to steady her mind and spoke calmly, “Because the Second Prince is a man, he just conceived a Phoenix Clan child, and he might not be able to accept it psychologically for a while.”
“So… that’s why he became like this.”
Empress Lin’s face twisted as she cursed loudly, “You’re full of shit!”
Li Qinghe’s nervous expression instantly turned ugly.
Her hands were clenched white with anger.
She never expected the seemingly noble and elegant Empress Lin would use such vulgar language in front of so many people.
And to say such disrespectful words to a princess like her.
Wasn’t this deliberately trampling her dignity as a princess into the ground?
“Mo’er is clearly like this because of starvation.”
Empress Lin pointed at Li Qinghe’s nose and accused, “Tell This Palace, have you been mistreating my Mo’er behind my back?”
If so, she certainly wouldn’t let this wretched girl off easily.
Li Qinghe panicked. “Snake Empress has misunderstood.”
She hurriedly lowered her head, maintaining a good attitude as she gritted her teeth and persisted:
“Qinghe wouldn’t dare. The Second Prince really became like this because he couldn’t accept it for a while. Qinghe really didn’t mistreat him.”
At this time, Li Qinghe didn’t dare tell the cause and truth of the matter in front of Empress Lin.
Empress Lin was not someone to be trifled with.
Li Feng’s attitude towards her at the welcome banquet today was enough to show that she also had some scruples about this Empress Lin.
Li Qinghe didn’t dare tell the truth at this critical juncture.
Unless she really didn’t want to live.
Seeing Li Qinghe’s sincere words, Empress Lin felt she didn’t look like she was lying.
The suspicion against Li Qinghe in her heart was gradually dispelled.
But she felt even more pain for her son, Jun Mo.
How could her son be so foolish?
One’s body, hair, and skin are gifts from one’s parents. Even if he couldn’t accept it, he shouldn’t torture himself like this.
Did he want his mother to die of heartache?
Empress Lin’s eyes were now filled with both pain and regret.
After all, her son could have returned to the Snake Clan to live a good life with her.
But now everything was ruined because of this wretched girl, Li Qinghe.
Empress Lin looked at Li Qinghe’s face now as if she were looking at the murderer of her father.
She truly looked as if she wished she could eat her flesh and drink her blood.
When had Li Qinghe ever been looked at with such a sinister gaze?
Empress Lin’s gaze was like a snake’s tongue, making her spine chill uncontrollably.
Yet she could only lower her head, pretending to know nothing.
After a long while, Empress Lin withdrew her gaze, took a deep breath, and continued to ask with restraint, “Then why hasn’t my Mo’er woken up yet?”
Empress Lin was not a naive youngster.
Nor was she someone who would believe whatever the other party said.
Jun Mo lying motionless on the bed like this was obviously wrong.
If he had fainted from hunger, he should have woken up long ago with them speaking so loudly.
But now that some time had passed, he was still lying motionless on the bed.
There could only be one explanation for this: he had been drugged.
Thinking of this, Empress Lin dared not maintain her empress’s airs and hurriedly reached out to check Jun Mo’s breathing.
It was truly one wave after another.
Li Qinghe frowned, never dreaming that just after explaining the reason for Jun Mo’s weakness, she would now face the problem of his unconsciousness.
She glanced indifferently in Ruyue’s direction.
Although she had instructed Ruyue early on to drug Jun Mo and make him sleep to confuse Empress Lin and muddle through.
But facing someone like Empress Lin who loved her son eagerly, Li Qinghe’s trick was useless.
Instead, it would only make Empress Lin suspect her again.
“Where are the maids serving Mo’er? Where have they all died to?”
Empress Lin checked his breathing and found Jun Mo was fine, then turned her gaze to Li Qinghe and raged:
“Princess Qinghe, is this how you arrange for people to take care of my son?”
“Someone, go invite an imperial physician for This Palace.”
Seeing the other party standing still, Empress Lin became even more angry.
This wretched girl Li Qinghe was really something.
To dare treat her son like this.
Later, she must go to Li Feng and say a few words, to make the other party give her an explanation.
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