Chapter 104 - The Good News

The punishment is continuing until almost a week when Ni Qing has to suffer from a limited food. She is keeping busy with all the report and keep minimum contact with the outside work. 

Her body gets weird day by day. She got easily tired, and her face turns ashen. Lately, she doesn't have any energy to do continuous work. She will occasionally nap a few times during the day and enjoy eating corn rice congee or sweet potato rice congee.

The household department really cut her salary and gave her the cold shoulder to favour women in the palace. 

"Young madame, I am distraught with your condition," Xiao Nie is serving her hot tea.

"Do not worry. I feel tired lately. I can sleep nicely now in the night, and i do not have to fight our blanket," Ni Qing is blowing the hot tea before drinking it.

"Your body is getting thinner, and you look so pale," Xiao Nie is telling her concern.

"I am sorry that you have to work harder now. I will help with your core work later," Ni Qing is telling her before she is putting her tea on the table. 

"No need, your highness. I get used to working more in the barrack," Xiao Nie is massaging her young madame. 

Ni Qing can ask or afford to buy some food and smuggle it inside the palace, but she is well aware that the wall has an ear and eyes. She has to suffer a bit longer to get the emperor favour again.

She gets lead into the trail of her late sister poison. Apparently, it is a common medication for the palace of the empress dowager. She uses it for her daily beauty regime on the tonic. If anyone uses it in a small dosage mix with another ingredient, than it can be useful. However, awrong dosage can lead to poison.

She is reading the report and make a compilation of entry for timeline of her sister death. Her analysis and all the investigation evidence inside the book.  She will have enough evidence and analysis with this note.

Jin Yu is slaughtering everyone for the whole week and himself look tired. He could not sleep properly and everyone is irritating him.

"How dare her not ask for mercy and begging to me?" Jin Yu is smashing his tea cup.

"Do you want to summon the royal highness noble consort?" Eunuch Wang seems can read his master thinking.

"If she does not want to meet me than I am not going to give her mercy for her fault," Jin Yu is reprimanding the eunuch for his honest opinion to read his mind. Jin Yu is missing her so much and his heart is itching to hug her.

"I am sorry, your highness...." Eunuch Wang is slapping his own face for punishment while smilling to see his master honest request. 

The emperor is taking his rest to his bed chamber to smell the faint of her scent on his bed. He really cannot sleep and his head got a dreadful headache due to the exhaustion.

The news for the punishment on the favourite girl by the emperor travel all over the palace. The empress palace send her maid to give punishment of sutra book and some embroidery of the sutra. Ni Qing is not good to do some embroidery work. She is hurting her hand so many time even Xiao Nie already told her to stop. The main point of this punishment is the time limit make it harder. The maid will collect it every day and give them a new task. Ni Qing really can not rest at all. The concubine Rong and Long are trying to suck into the empress good side who is coming to Ni Qing palace to mock her and punishes her. The worst part is punishing Ni Qing to kneel in front of the palace gate to ask permision from the emperor for offending him.

Ni Qing is complying with their punishment as her senior to know their wicked plot. However, she does the kneel into the path of Jin Yu. She already measure her energy before she run out and pass out. Her body lately fell so tired and her eyes want to close all the time. She check her own pulse to find out something weird on her body but she is not sure about the condition. She is kneeling on the hard pavement. Xiao Nie is accompanying her young madame to kneel on the hard surface.

Jin Yu is finished from his court meeting and passing the same route when there is a big commotion in front of his convoy.

"Wang, check for the commotion in front of us!" Jin Yu is telling his loyal eunuch wo is running ahead of them.

He can see Xiao Nie is holding the body of her madame and asking help for her unconsious madame. Eunuch Wang is feeling shocked to see his emperor's apple get hurt and punish in the harsh condition with a thin layer of clothing. Noble consort face looks so pale and she look like loss some weight. Eunuch Wang is going back to the emperor to report it with stutter. As expected, the emperor goes down from his sedan and stride through to get closer to his lover.

He got scared as soon as he see her body on Xiao Nie arm without any movement. Xiao Nie is screaming for help but every maid and eunuch scares to offend concubine Rong and Long. They stand there and look at her misery without lending a hand.

Xiao Nie is surprised to see a strong hand carries her madame and take her body from her arm. As soon as she put her head up and she can see the aloof emperor.

"Wang, show me the way to the noble consort palace which is closer than my palace and call physician He to come," Jin Yu instructed him with his sterns voice. He cannot believe someone tries to hurt his love of her heart.

He is walking with his worry face to see her haggard and pale face. She looks so thin after almost a week and lifeless. If something happens with her, Jin Yu really cannot forgive himself to lost her.

They are arriving in the palace where Jin Yu can see the unfurnish palace with minimal old furniture. He lay her in her bed with a thin bed and thin blanket. She is using a tiny lamp to bright her room and make a do for her living condition. She is still her noble consort and yet they are making her living less than a beggar in the capital.

Jin Yu is sitting on the nearby table where there is stack of book to write sutra and a basket of sutra embroidery with blood stain on the silk. Xiao Nie is coming with her limping feet and serves the tea with a chip teacup.

"Hmmm… why you serve the emperor with such unpresentable teacup?" Eunuch Wang is surprised with the bravery of Xiao Nie.

"How do you want me to serve the tea with? This is our best teacup and Your highness royal noble consort Qing always use this cup," Xiao Nie is refuting eunuch Wang for his complain.

"Can you both stop bikers in this room? Where is physician He?" Jin Yu is scolding them. As soon as Eunuch Wang is going to find physician He, the person is stepping inside the bed chamber of Noble Consort Qing Palace.

He is directly going to check her pulse. His face is so serious and scares at the same time under the supervision of the emperor inside the room. He checks her pulse until three time before he is knelling down in front of the emperor.

"Congratulation, Your highness. Your highness noble consort Qing is pregnant. But she is in the verge of miscarriage due to exhaustion and malnutrition. Her weight also supports my suspicion about the malnutrition. I will write down some tonic to make her body stronger," Physician He is bowing to the emperor who cannot believes the good news.

"It means that I am going to have crown prince?" He still does not believe the news as his wife unconscious.

"Yes, your highness… Your highness royal consort Qing is pregnant," Physician He is telling him before he stands up and making a tonic recipe.

"He… I do not believe anyone. I want you to make all her tonic and medication. If something wrong with her because of the medicine, then your head is on the line. Why she still not wakes up?" Jin Yu is asking to him.

"Please, your highness. She needs to rest because of the exhaustion. She is sleeping at the moment," Physician He is reporting to the emperor before he is excusing himself to make the tonic for the pregnant consort. he cannot believe the emperor is putting his life for doing some menial job.