Chapter 56: Poisonous Food

  The queen's words shocked Pang Luoxue, as the empress of the inner palace, she didn't have the heart to let her son fight for the throne, it's just a pity that this imperial palace is not a place where you can stay away from if you want to.

  "Prince Yu is Snow's nominal older brother, no matter what he says. Snow will definitely take care of it, Your Majesty can rest assured."

  The queen stroked the hairpin on Xue'er's head and said, "This hairpin suits Snow very well. My son also has a good eye for beauty, at least better than his mother."

  Pang Luoxue looked puzzled, the empress stroked her head and said: "This blood jade must be kept well, never let others discover it, especially the emperor and the noble consort, you know."

  Xue Er knows, mother can rest assured.

  "Good child, the empress knows you're a sensible one. From now on, be sure to come to the palace often to keep the empress company, for the empress is lonely here by herself. It seems that the imperial palace will soon become the domain of Consort Wang, and who knows how much longer the empress can hold onto her position."

  "Empress Dowager, don't worry, the wheel of fortune will turn around, it's also good to see clearly early on. Xue Er will always be by your side, with me here, this position will definitely always be yours, Queen Gui Fei can forget about it."

  "You silly girl, as long as you have this kind of heart, I'm satisfied. But Mother still hopes that you can live a good life."

  Pang Luo Xue didn't say much either, her own power gradually grew, and when the time came to help the Empress Dowager stabilize her position, it would be easy.

  "After giving birth, I will let Dr. Du come over and give you a pulse diagnosis personally. If it's possible, having one more child is still guaranteed, so don't worry about this, mother."

  "It's not easy being a child, even if you take good care of your body, what can you do? The Emperor doesn't come here at all now, since the Peony Banquet, he hasn't come once." The Empress said with a sad face.

  "Empress Dowager, don't be too anxious, everything will come in due course. You should take care of your body first, I have some connections with the imperial physician, so please rest assured."

  "You're fine just as you are, there's no rush for these things. I heard Xue'er likes peach blossoms."

  "Yes"

  "Hmm, this flower is also delicate and beautiful, blooming brightly, the fruit is good too. It's truly a good flower, with a beginning and an end, not bad. My daughter is a lucky person."

  "Ruofang, you arrange for someone to move some of these peonies out and have the gardener plant some peach trees, so next year we can also eat some sweet fruit."

  Pang Luo Xue also put down her mind, it seems that the life in the palace also made the empress see clearly the true and false of this feeling. The emperor's feelings have always been closely linked with interests.

  "Xue Er can come and eat with me next year, Mother should save some for me." Pang Luoxue said coquettishly.

  "You, you're definitely a gluttonous ghost." The queen pointed at Pang Luoxue's head and said.

  Standing beside her, Ruofang also felt comforted in her heart. She had seen how deeply the young lady from their household loved the emperor, and she had also witnessed her nightly tears, feeling the same pain. Unfortunately, men were often unfeeling, and the empress dowager refused to believe it. Now that she had come around and was willing to believe, it was for the better. This Pang Luoxue was indeed a kind-hearted person, brave enough to speak the truth despite risking offending the empress dowager. It was clear that the empress had not misjudged this adopted daughter. It was right of Prince Yu to give her the Phoenix Blood Rain Hairpin, and unexpectedly, the empress was magnanimous enough to give her own dowry to her as well. This young lady was certainly no ordinary person.

  "Your Ladyship, Prince Yu's palace just sent over a lot of food. You and the young lady must have talked for a while, you should be hungry by now."

  "If Fang said it right, I was too excited and said so much. Let someone bring things over, have dinner before going back."

  Everyone listens to Mother later." Pang Luoxue nodded and said

  Ruofang ordered the palace maid to bring out all the dishes and personally served the two of them, washing their hands clean, standing beside them to serve the food.

  The queen was in a good mood today and ate a bit more. Pang Luo Xue accompanied her to serve the queen dishes, suddenly the queen picked up a green vegetable that looked like cabbage and said: "This dish is from outside tribute, I didn't dare to taste it at first, but I heard the emperor say that his consort had eaten it and it was very refreshing, so I brought some over. Originally, I also didn't dare, Yu Wang had tried it and said it was good, Xue Er also ate some, later I'll have someone send some to Gong Guo Fu."

  "Xuē ér duō xiè, mǔ hòu, Páng luò xuě jiā qǐ yī kuài fàng zài zuǐ lǐ jiáo chù dào: 'de què shuǎng kǒu' tū rán Páng luò xuě zhòu méi, zuì jìn yī zhěng zài zuān zhòng yī shù, mǐn ruì de tā jiàng cài tǔ chū dào pà zi shàng."

  Translation:

  "Thank you, Mother," said Snow. Pong Luo Xue picked up a piece and put it in her mouth to chew, saying "It's really refreshing". Suddenly, Pong Luo Xue frowned, having been studying medicine recently, her keen senses causing her to spit the food out onto her handkerchief.

  The queen said: "Doesn't Xue'er like it? Why...?"

  Pang Luoxue picked up the handkerchief and examined it carefully, originally it should have been a light green color but after being chewed in her mouth it had turned into a deep green, this was also too mysterious. Pang Luoxue glanced at one of the palace maids standing beside the empress with a tense expression, and she began to think of a plan.

  "Xue Er was just startled by the stones in this dish, please forgive me, Mother. Xue Er has lost her manners."

  The queen glanced at the dish and then at Pang Luoxue, smiling: "This silly child, didn't the imperial kitchen not clean this dish properly? Fortunately, you spat it out. If you had eaten it, your body would have been ruined. Alright, Yifang, take this dish away and let's eat something else."

  It turned out that the queen was also a shrewd one. When Yu Fang took away the dishes, she also took away Pang Luoxue's handkerchief, which wrapped up the vomited food.

  Pang Luoxue said: "If Fang's aunt didn't say that the palace had brought many interesting foods, Xue'er would like to try some."

  "You little glutton, I was originally going to wait until after dinner to give you some snacks, but now that you mention it, I'm also getting a bit hungry. Alright, let's go try some first, and you guys can take these things away."

  Yes

  Pang Luoxue pulled the empress's hand, and the mother-daughter duo walked warmly to the empress's bedroom. As expected, the dish was placed on the table in the empress's chamber, and Pang Luoxue's handkerchief lay quietly on the table.

  At this time, Yu Fang's face showed a shocked expression, and the empress was also quite surprised. Yu Fang had been with her for decades, and she was one of her dowry maids. Over the years, they had gone through thick and thin together, and she had long been unmoved by praise or blame. What could have caused Yu Fang to show such a shocked expression?

  "Ruofang, what's wrong? Why are you looking like you're about to die?"

  "Princess, county lord's daughter, you'd better come and take a look yourself."

  The queen glanced at Pang Luoxue and saw her calm expression, also surprised: "Why isn't Snow curious?"

  Pang Luo Xue smiled slightly and said: "Of course, the truth will be revealed soon."

  "Oh? Then let's take a good look at this wonderful gift." The queen said with great interest.

  Xue'er thinks this gift is too big, the empress dowager should still prepare a return gift to maintain her imperial majesty. Pang Luoxue smiled at the empress with a deeper meaning.

  The queen raised an eyebrow, as if to say that this was certain, and Nan Gong Jing wasn't someone to be trifled with either.

  The queen smiled with a benevolent face, while Pan Luoxue smiled with a warm and gentle face. The only thing they had in common was that there was a hint of ill intention in both of their eyes. Yu Fang sighed and thought to herself, indeed, people from the same family don't enter the same door.