Song Zhiqing fell ill, developing a high fever in the night, and even started talking in his sleep. Since he was sleeping in his own small study, the page boy knocked on the door of the Plum Garden in the middle of the night to report it.

No matter how angry Madam Lu was with Song Zhiqing, upon hearing this, as the legitimate wife, she could not vent her anger on his body. She could only have someone summon the mansion physician, while she herself had people carry her over to the study.

Seeing Song Zhiqing drenched in sweat, his brows tightly furrowed, as if trapped in a nightmare he could not wake from, mumbling incessantly, Madam Lu’s brows creased as she leaned closer to listen.

"You were asking for death, you deserve to die, you can’t blame me for killing... get lost... bitch, liar..."

Madam Lu’s heart thumped wildly. Kill who?

She didn’t dare let too many people attend at the bedside, so she only brought Old Madam Zhou and Jixiang to serve by the side. When the physician arrived, took his pulse, wrote a prescription, and they boiled the medicine and forced it down his throat, only then did Song Zhiqing quiet down somewhat.

Yet even so, countless question marks still rose in Madam Lu’s heart. This sleep-talk sounded rather chilling—could there be some inside story? Who was that liar, Concubine Bai?

Madam Lu’s heart sank, then she let it go. What he wanted to say he would say naturally; what he didn’t want to say, she would not ask. In any case, she no longer had any expectations of this man.

The news of Song Zhiqing’s illness spread throughout the mansion. Outwardly, the explanation was that he had made himself ill from grieving over Madam Bai’s sudden death. But no one dared say much, because Song Ci had given an order that this person was not to be mentioned again.

And Song Ci’s reaction was: "He’s guilty, that’s what this is—scared sick."

He personally strangled the woman who had borne him two children. How could his conscience not bear any weight at all? Isn’t he afraid Concubine Bai will come for him at midnight? Scared himself into a sickness.

...

As the year’s end approached, every household in the capital was busy preparing New Year gifts and things for the festival. Yet this year’s twelfth month brought an extra piece of gossip to the homes of the nobility and meritorious families.

The gossip was: Have you heard? The Prince Min Mansion has been surrounded!

It was said that spies had infiltrated the residence and a thorough search was to be conducted. At the same time, the Xiazhi Foreign Trading Company, which dealt in imported goods, was also blockaded—it was directly raided and confiscated.

This was the explanation given publicly. But those who knew the inside story knew it was because the Empress Dowager’s illness was caused by some villain’s secret scheme.

Upon learning this inside story, people instead didn’t dare say more. After all, that involved the Empress Dowager, and to put it even more harshly, it involved the Emperor. These were nobles at the very pinnacle. Who would dare gossip? If they happened to be overheard, there was no telling when the Emperor’s side-blade would fall.

The Prince Min Mansion was suddenly surrounded, and everyone inside panicked. That timid Princess Consort Ji even fainted outright from fright. She woke several times only to faint again. When had she ever seen such a scene? Even when the late Emperor passed, she had not encountered anything so terrifying.

Now, all the womenfolk were gathered in her bedchamber, sobbing and wailing, completely at a loss.

Only the Princess Consort of Prince Min, thinking of the mansion being surrounded, then looking at a room full of crying women, shouted angrily, "All of you shut up. Stop crying."

The crying halted for a moment as everyone looked over.

"It’s only the Imperial Army surrounding the Prince Mansion, they’re not confiscating our property and exterminating the clan. What are you crying for?" the Princess Consort of Prince Min scolded impatiently. "Wait until they really come in to confiscate and wipe us out, then you can cry. No need to jinx us now."

Everyone: "..."

Could you not make it sound so horrifying? Things are still fine—how did it get to confiscation and extermination? This is the Prince Mansion.

Princess Consort Ji slowly came to, and upon hearing the words of the Princess Consort of Prince Min, she was almost so infuriated she couldn’t catch her breath, and nearly passed out again. She wanted nothing more than to simply faint and be done with it, but she forced herself to hold on.

"All of you shut up. This palace is not dead yet; it’s not your turn to wail for my funeral." Princess Consort Ji panted heavily and roared, "Princess, you come here."