Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable-Chapter 924 - 835: Unwilling to Be a Slave 55

In Furong Palace, the Empress Dowager had regained consciousness from her fainting. As soon as she awoke, she realized her right arm was in excruciating pain, the kind that pulled at the entire right side of her body, causing her to twitch.

The Empress Dowager let out a series of painful groans. Nanny Tang, who had been keeping watch at her side, immediately noticed her awakening and rushed forward to check on her. In doing so, she accidentally bumped the Empress Dowager’s left hand, prompting another bout of painful screams.

It turned out that the Empress Dowager’s face and left hand were covered in beesting welts. In fact, everyone today had been stung by bees—Jing Jieyu, Nangong Shuangshuang, Lan Ying, even Nanny Tang at the Empress Dowager’s side, as well as the older women of the court, Nanny Sun, and the palace maids; no one was spared from the welts.

However, the others had managed to wave their outer garments or other items to ward off the bees, protecting themselves in the process. The welts on their bodies numbered only three or four less in count, at most six or seven more.

As for the nobility, because they were protected by their servants, they had even fewer beestings on their bodies. The Empress Dowager, however, was most unfortunate. Having fallen from the pavilion, she had no servants to help fend off the bees. Unable to ward them off herself, she became their primary target, stung mercilessly wherever there was exposed skin.

Although the stingers left by the bees were promptly removed by the medical woman and ointment applied, the medicine didn’t have enough time to work, and the Empress Dowager was soon delirious with pain again, fainting from the agony not long after awakening.

After guarding the Empress Dowager for several hours, the Emperor and Empress, tired from their vigil, had just gone for some rest. They had rushed over upon hearing from the servants that the Empress Dowager was awake, only to find that she had fainted again upon their arrival.

Following this, the Empress Dowager drifted in and out of consciousness, kicking at several Imperial Physicians in pain, overturning servants, and smashing every piece of porcelain and jade she could reach.

In her rage, the Empress Dowager not only broke things, attacked servants, and kicked the Imperial Physicians, but she also repeatedly cursed the Emperor and Empress for being unfilial, demanding the punishment for Jing Jieyu who had supposedly malicious intentions of harming her by having broken her arm.

Perhaps having lived a life of comfort for too long, the Empress Dowager’s strength during these outbursts was immense, leaving all the servants and physicians, including the Emperor and Empress, at their wits’ end. The Emperor, in particular, was burning with a seething frustration fueled by the Empress Dowager’s antics.

The Empress Dowager accused him of being unfilial. Those who understood might attribute it to her pain-induced delirium, but to those unaware, her words could easily be misconstrued to imply that the Emperor was truly unfilial—especially since she was not his biological mother—making such gossip even easier to believe.

The Emperor was particularly angered by the Empress Dowager’s accusation that Jing Jieyu, who lost her own child while trying to save the Empress Dowager, intentionally harmed her simply because Jing Jieyu grabbed her hand in desperation, causing her arm to fracture.

The Emperor thought the Empress Dowager was being unreasonable and ungrateful. She blamed Jing Jieyu for breaking her arm, yet it wasn’t Jing Jieyu’s fault. During the emergency, Jing Jieyu could only hold onto whatever she could.

Jing Jieyu did break the Empress Dowager’s arm, but if she hadn’t, the Empress Dowager might just as well have broken her neck instead.

The more the Emperor thought about it, the angrier he became. Recently, he had been in favor of Jing Jieyu, especially after she risked her life to save the Empress Dowager, averting the chaos that might have ensued from her unexpected death. The Emperor was truly fond of Jing Jieyu.

Now, Jing Jieyu had sacrificed herself, even losing her child, paying such a great price to save the Empress Dowager, who, instead of appreciating her filial intent, chose to vent her frustrations on her because of the pain in her arm, which was simply senseless.

The Emperor suddenly felt a rush of sympathy and distress on behalf of his concubine. While the Empress Dowager was unconscious again, the Emperor left Furong Palace directly, personally drafting a decree, instructing Song Lin to bring a grand procession of rewards to Yingyue Palace, announcing that Jing Jieyu had meritorious contributions in saving the Empress Dowager, and promoting her to Lady Jing.

This elevation bypassed the Second-Rank Princess Consort, directly making her a First-rank Lady. The Emperor made such a grand gesture of promoting Jing Jieyu to Lady Jing also to publicly declare the cause of the Empress Dowager’s incident, to prevent people from believing in the rumors that his concubine intentionally harmed the Empress Dowager.

The Emperor had already issued rewards, and by the time he returned to Furong Palace to see the Empress Dowager, the Empress had also taken the opportunity to issue an edict confirming Jing Jieyu’s title promotion. However, given that the Empress Dowager was still recovering, the ceremony for promoting Lady Jing would have to wait some time.

In Yingyue Palace, having received two consecutive pieces of news of promotion from the Emperor and the Empress, but still waiting on the Empress Dowager’s decree of rewards for a long while, it was quite peculiar since the Empress Dowager’s recognition should have arrived first, given that it was Jing Jieyu’s merit in saving her.

Logically, the rewards from the Empress Dowager should have arrived first before those from the Emperor and Empress. Why hadn’t the Empress Dowager’s rewards arrived yet, while those from the Emperor and Empress had already reached and confirmed her promotion? This was equivalent to not giving the Empress Dowager face.

Nangong Shuangshuang, upon seeing Lan Ying take away the two decrees to display them for worship, looked at the already promoted Lady Jing and said with a smile, "Madam, it seems the Empress Dowager is confused by this turn of events.

The Empress Dowager might have spoken ill of you in front of the Emperor, stirring his anger to the point where he disregarded waiting for the Empress Dowager’s decree and hastily issued a promotion decree and rewards for you. This clearly shows the Emperor’s dissatisfaction with the Empress Dowager.

This is a rare boon. The Empress Dowager is someone with deep schemes and smooth dealings, one who would release the concubines sent to the Cold Palace by the late Emperor to gain reputation. It seems her injuries were severe enough to impair her judgment, revealing her true emotions in front of the Emperor."

Lady Jing showed a faint cold smile, "The Empress Dowager is truly muddled, but if she indeed spoke ill of me, it works to my advantage. Without this incident, I would have feared whatever the Empress Dowager might do in the future, bracing to swallow grievances. But now, if the Empress Dowager attempts anything against me, I can present my grievances before the Emperor without fear of disbelief."

Lady Jing and Nangong Shuangshuang were unaware that the Empress Dowager had further incensed the Emperor by openly cursing him and the Empress for being unfilial. Knowing this would certainly add to their gloating. The Emperor already harbored unresolved resentment toward the Empress Dowager, knowing that his confidant, Xiao Chun, was suffering in the Violence Room due to her.

As the Crown Prince, the Emperor had faced considerable hardships at the hands of the Empress Dowager. Her present good fortune was entirely due to her reputation and the position of being the nurtured mother, coupled with the Emperor’s careful maintenance of his filial reputation, allowing her to quietly remain behind the closed doors of Furong Palace. Only thus had there been peace with the Emperor.

In truth, the Emperor bore no goodwill toward the Empress Dowager, but her actions left no leverage against her, meaning he found no opportunity to vent his anger even if he desired to.