Reborn Divine Doctor: The Abandoned Girl's Legend-Chapter 765 - 632: The Empress’s Nightmare Arrives
Within the Beiqing Imperial Palace, Empress Qing Shuang sat before a dressing table exquisitely carved from ivory.
Before her was a mirror polished from crystal, almost as tall as a person, with several female officials attending to her, preparing for the morning court session.
Empress Qing Shuang examined her reflection in the mirror, her face free of wrinkles, smooth as a peeled lychee.
Upon realizing that in a few days, she would don the auspicious wedding attire, and standing opposite her would be Feng Lan, the one she had longed for many years, her heart could not help but surge with emotion.
She took from the female official a Beauty Pill and swallowed it with warm water.
The hand of the female official behind her trembled slightly, pressing a bit too firmly with the horn comb as it slipped through her hair.
"Rouxiang, what’s the matter with you? So clumsy," Empress Qing Shuang’s face, normally composed and regal, took on a sharper edge.
"Your Majesty, please spare my life, this servant deserves to die a thousand deaths," came the timid voice, causing the Empress to slightly frown.
It then dawned on Empress Qing Shuang that she had already executed Rouxiang.
Rouxiang was the female official who had "served" Feng Lan in Chuyun Palace; she was once the Empress’s favorite, attentive and capable, who could also arrange very exquisite hairstyles.
Sadly, she should not have coveted Feng Lan, and even became Feng Lan’s woman.
The Empress felt some regret for the lost talents of that female official, skilled in hairdressing.
Touching her hair, which was not as smooth as she preferred, Empress Qing Shuang felt displeased. However, thinking of the forthcoming marriage she was meticulously planning, her eyes shimmered with anticipation, and she decided not to fuss over the new female official’s lack of finesse.
The Empress put on her Dragon Robe and went to court.
The female official knelt there trembling on the ground, before being helped up by another female official who was familiar with her.
"How could you be so careless? Fortunately, Her Majesty has been in a good mood lately; otherwise, even ten heads wouldn’t be enough for you," listening to her colleague’s constant chattering complaints, the new female official secretly tucked the horn comb in her sleeve.
These past few days, as she combed the Empress’s hair, she noticed that the Empress’s hair was falling out severely. The Empress had an almost pathological severity about her own appearance and demeanor. If the Empress were to find out, it would likely bring trouble upon everyone in the sleeping quarters.
Feeling uneasy, the new female official hid a large clump of black hair that was wrapped around the horn comb.
Filled with joy, the Empress went to court, but she returned to the sleeping quarters with a belly full of anger.
Feng Lan did not attend court; however, the rarely seen Chen Tuo, who had long been feigning sickness to avoid court, came with a group of military generals from Beiqing, requesting to resign from their positions.
His intentions were clear—he obviously disapproved of the Empress’s upcoming nuptials.
Not only that, but the Empress’s two sons, along with their supportive old officials, knelt down in the hall, boldly remonstrating; they argued that Feng Lan could not be the Imperial Consort, as he was the husband of the Empress’s sister and had offspring. It was inappropriate and against social norms for a younger sister to marry her brother-in-law.
All this talk of social norms and propriety—ultimately, those unfilial sons were afraid that after Empress established Feng Lan as the Imperial Consort, she might confer the title of Crown Prince upon Feng Xun, threatening their future rights of succession.
Moreover, Chen Tuo and the group of military generals also collectively requested to resign from their military posts.
The pressure from her offspring and opposition from civil and military officials deeply irritated the Empress.
Looking upon the assembly of civil and military officials at court, during her many years of rule, these faces were the ones she faced every day, familiar to the point of being second nature.
Yet today, not a single one stood by her side.
How desolate the Empress felt in her heart.
She recalled Feng Lan’s resolute departure, and her own hand in forcing her biological sister to leap from a cliff...
These scars, deliberately buried in the deepest recesses of her heart, on this day’s morning court session, suddenly ripped open, oozing blood and festering, leaving a grotesque scene.
Lately, the Empress had been feeling somewhat stagnated in her vital energy, and on being so enraged, she felt an oppressive blockage throughout her body. Upon returning to the sleeping quarters, she unleashed her temper.
She already understood that it was now impossible for her to give up on Feng Lan.
For her, Feng Lan had become the last matchstick in the cold.
She couldn’t abandon him, and she wouldn’t.
Only by having Feng Lan accept her and regaining the support of Feng Residence could she stand again and be that peerless Empress.
"Your Majesty, about your marriage to Prince Feng?" The Ritual Officer reported the steps of the wedding with a face full of nervousness.
These were tasks that Feng Lan should be doing, yet now, he was unwilling to even glance at her.
"Proclaim to all, the wedding will proceed as planned. Tell those waiting outside that if anyone dares to utter a single word of objection, I’ll behead them."
The Empress rubbed her temples, leaning against the Dragon Couch, feeling a wave of dizziness.
Lately, she had become increasingly prone to exhaustion; after reading through a few memorials, she couldn’t help but close her eyelids and fall asleep.
The female officials dared not disturb her and, after closing the door slightly, the room was cast in darkness.
A butterfly-like moth flew in and landed on the Empress’s Dragon Robe.
The moth’s wings trembled, spreading fine scale powder into the air, seeping in under the Empress’s nose.
There was a murky grey expanse ahead, and something whisked past her side.
The Empress shockingly found herself standing alone on the edge of a cliff.
It was a cliff of immense height, with knife-like cold winds blowing in front of her.
Suddenly, a person appeared before her.
It was a woman, with a pregnant belly.
The woman’s face was as delicate as a flower, and it was one the Empress Qing Shuang could never forget until her death.
It was her sister, Qing Feng’s face.
"Qing Feng, how could it be you? Aren’t you dead?"
The Empress took a small step back in shock, causing a piece of mountain stone to fall off the cliff behind her.
The Empress’s face paled instantly; she tried to keep her composure and threw a punch at Qing Feng.
Qing Feng’s figure vanished, but soon reappeared in front of her.
"Qing Feng, you were no match for me in life, and you think you can plague me in death? Let me tell you, you’ll never be my match. Feng Lan is to marry me, and whether you’re aggrieved or not, it is futile."
In front of her, the bloodied Qing Feng was only inches away.
Her abdomen had been stabbed, with blood pouring out from the wound, staining her legs and garments. She stepped closer to the Empress, her voice sorrowful yet chilling.
"Sister, Empress Qing Shuang, why did you harm me? You killed my child. That was your niece, look how adorable she is, she looks just like you did when you were little." As she spoke, Qing Feng’s pale, lifeless hands reached towards her bulging belly.
The hand plunged into the belly, and after a horrifying sound of flesh and blood, Qing Feng’s hand emerged with a bloody and indistinct fetus, so small, so grotesque.
Qing Feng laughed maniacally, hurling the child at Empress Qing Shuang.
"Ah!" Upon touching the vaguely formed bloody fetus, the Empress woke from her nightmare and tumbled off the Dragon Couch.
She gasped for air, her limbs ice cold, when suddenly, the Empress felt something light fall from above her head, something dropping before her eyes.
