Chapter 71: Gobble Up

  "How did you end up like this?" Zhang Ya asked in surprise.

  "Hehe? How did I end up like this? Following the Queen Mother, it's not that I wanted to be like this, but I have no choice." Li Cui said a strange sentence and turned around to walk towards the back of the hall, her footsteps making no sound.

  Zhang Ayi pulled me along, the oil lamp in the corner of the wall casting a dim yellow light. Li Cui didn't ask anything and just walked ahead, the long corridor ending in endless darkness.

  Li Cu wore a loose palace maid uniform, walking down the corridor without making a sound. She walked ahead, and at some point, she had a lantern in her hand, its dim light stretching her shadow very long.

  Zhang Ayi held my hand tightly, both of our palms were sweating, the people in front of us swayed under the flickering light like fierce ghosts, swaying back and forth, swaying back and forth...

  At the end of the corridor, Li Cui opened a door and we went in. The light inside was still dim, with only one oil lamp lit on the table.

  The room was very cold, with a gloomy feeling. As soon as I entered the room, I felt danger lurking all around me, and I stuck close to Zhang Mama.

  Zhang Ayi felt something was off and couldn't help but look around nervously.

  I feel like those three ghost babies are in this room, with their low, distant and near baby cries.

  "Where is Her Majesty?" Zhang Ya asked anxiously.

  "You're still thinking of her, aren't you?!" Li Cui pointed to the bed.

  Behind the bed? Behind the bed should be a wall, right?

  Zhang Ayi pulled me to the back of the bed and walked away. It turned out that there was a secret door on the wall, and after walking through it, I entered a hidden room. As soon as I stepped inside, a musty smell hit my face, but what really stunned me was the scene before my eyes.

  The princess was locked in a narrow iron cage, which was so small that she couldn't even stand up straight, it seemed to be a cage used for locking animals.

  And the three ghostly shadows crouched on the cage, their eyeless eyes staring at us with a gloomy and deadly gaze. Zhang Niang couldn't see them, nor could Li Cui who was following behind.

  Here, only I can see them, the three of them are smiling at me, hanging in an iron cage, revealing sharp teeth, crunching and munching, with bloodstains flowing from the corners of their mouths, as if they're eating something.

  "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, how did you end up like this?" Zhang's eyes were filled with tears as she subconsciously reached out to grab the hand of the woman in the cage.

  "Ah......" The queen was so frightened that she cried out incoherently, quickly withdrawing her hand. It was only then that we appeared, and her hand was left with almost no flesh on the back, with blood and flesh blurred together, almost revealing white bones.

  Originally, those three ghost babies were chewing on their birth mother's flesh and blood.

  "How could this be, Li Cui? Why didn't you call for the imperial physician!" Zhang YaYa gritted her teeth.

  Li Cui burst into tears: "Is it useful to call the imperial physician? Does the imperial physician care? Now, even the candle oil and household items are not provided, will the imperial physician come? Tomorrow is the Double Ninth Festival, tonight's dinner has not been delivered, people in the Golden Phoenix Palace have either left or died or gone mad, only I am left, I don't know how long I can hold on..." As she spoke, Li Cui cried even more sorrowfully.

  "Why didn't you tell His Majesty?" Zhang Ya grabbed Li Cui's arm.

  "Tell the Emperor? This iron cage was prepared by the Emperor for the Empress, and if I dare to be disobedient again, she will have no way out but death!" No one takes care of the Empress, she can't even eat a meal.

  In just two short months, that elegant and noble empress has become like this. Who could have such great ability? A ghost? A demon? It's probably a person!

  I stared fiercely at the three ghost babies, without the wet nurse to support them, they would come to eat their own mother. If Her Majesty the Queen knew that the souls of her own three children were right next to her, what would she do?

  "Miss, have something to eat, tomorrow is Double Ninth Festival, it's your birthday!" Zhang's wife said while crying.

  My tears were also swirling in my eyes, I squatted down, reached into the basket and took out an egg, rolling it on the ground, this is a local custom, rolling eggs on birthdays means good luck.

  "Mother, I'm Mei Lingxue, I've come to see you!"

  The queen heard this and couldn't help but pull open the hair on her face, looked at me with one eye. I and Zhang Mama saw that face, scared to almost fall to the ground, a piece of flesh was missing from her face, amidst the blurred blood and flesh, two eyes emitted a bright light.

  "Are you still human? She's your birth mother!" I suddenly burst out, crying and shouting.

  The three ghost babies heard this and laughed even more happily, their mouths still chomping away with a "crunch crunch" sound.

  "Your Majesty!" I want to reach out and touch her, is she normal now or has she gone mad? I don't know! But the empress who once wanted to protect me and not let me be implicated, I will always remember.

  "You've come! I knew you would." The queen's voice was weak and powerless.

  "Mother! The children are right next to you, they're here!" I revealed this message to her.

  Zhang Ayi and Li Cui were startled, then they understood why I shouted that sentence.

  "I knew they'd come for me!" The queen's bloodied face turned to me, terrifying but I wasn't afraid.

  I stretched out my hand and handed the egg in my hand to hers, she turned her hand over and grasped mine tightly, the blood on her hand stained my palm, I felt something thud against me, I knew in my heart that she was giving me something.

  The queen was afraid others would find out, so she deliberately grabbed my hand and gave me something.

  "You all live well, I may not be able to, thank you for coming to see me before my death, I'm going to see my children now, I can finally go see them..." After finishing speaking, the queen retreated backwards, without looking at us, and continued saying some disorganized words.

  Li Cuilian's eyes changed because of what I said earlier. She originally wanted to say something else but closed her mouth and didn't speak.

  I returned to the bedroom, Xuan Yuan Mu had not come back yet. I nervously closed the door and opened my palm, inside there was a piece of cloth with several words written in blood "Human Skin Book Scroll"

  What is the human skin scroll? What does the queen want to tell me? Is the secret of this palace related to her child's death and this human skin scroll? Was someone drugging the queen to madness also because of this human skin scroll?

  That night, I had a strange dream. In the dream, I was lying on something white and fluffy, very soft and comfortable. Many people were competing with me for that thing, but I refused to let go of it, hugging it tightly and pressing down on it, not allowing anyone to take it away. Later, I realized that it was actually a human skin.

  The queen passed away on her birthday, which coincided with the Double Ninth Festival, a day of national celebration. The palace was bustling with activity, and no one knew she had died. I, along with Zhang Mama, couldn't even go see her, and could only burn some paper money for her in an out-of-the-way corner where no one would notice.