Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Yes, friends, Young Guard Sun-the man so deeply devoted to Anping, who had spent the morning comforting her and exchanging vows of affection-abandoned her in the afternoon when his own life was on the line.

I never doubted Sun Hanzhou’s sincerity toward Anping.

But the sincerity of mortals is a complex thing, always weighed down by too many considerations.

He was willing to sacrifice a great deal for Anping, even his future prospects.

Yet, he had a bottom line he would not cross: his own life.

I suppose Anping and I simply overestimated his character.

Regardless, the next time I saw Anping was the morning after the Dragon Boat Festival. She was already lying on the bed in her chambers, a cold corpse.

I was stunned, having no idea what had happened.

After much inquiry, I finally learned a maddening truth from an old slug living outside Jingyi Palace.

Anping had been poisoned with oleander by Consort Shu.

After the poisoning, her body had been quietly returned to her room.

Even Princess Anning knew nothing of this. When a servant reported Princess Anping’s death the next morning, she was genuinely startled.

When the news reached King Liang’s ears, Consort Shu arrived immediately afterward, bringing a palace maid to confess her guilt.

Without a word, the maid dropped to her knees.

“At the palace banquet yesterday, Princess Anping was tipsy after half a cup of wine,” the maid sobbed. “I tried to help her back to rest, but the Princess scolded me and forbade anyone from following her.

“I had no choice but to follow from a distance. I saw the Princess snap off a flower branch halfway and happily tuck it into her mouth.

“I didn’t know the branch the Princess snapped was oleander. I was too far away to see clearly. Later, when we reached her chambers, I saw the Princess already asleep behind the bed curtains. I didn’t dare disturb her, so I quietly withdrew…”

When Anping died, she was indeed holding a branch of oleander in her hand, just as the maid described.

The branch was no longer fresh; it had clearly been snapped the night before.

Furthermore, the guards on duty testified that they had witnessed Princess Anping returning to her chambers the previous night.

Coupled with Consort Shu’s tearful eyes as she knelt before King Liang, the case seemed airtight. “It is my fault,” she wept. “I knew the oleander was poisonous, but because the blossoms were so beautiful, I allowed many to be planted in the palace. I have always told Jingning that these flowers are only for viewing, not for playing with. Every servant knows this, but I never expected that Anping, having just come out of the Cold Palace, would be unaware.

“Anping must have suffered much, for she harbored deep resentment. Since arriving at Jingyi Palace, she often vented her anger by beating and scolding the servants. The maids were all terrified of her and didn’t dare cross her. This is also my failing; I feared she would feel slighted, so I never admonished her… But since she came to Jingyi Palace, Ning’er and I have truly treated her with nothing but sincerity.”

Consort Shu wept with such genuine emotion, and with both witnesses and physical evidence present, even a man as suspicious as King Liang could find no fault in her story.

After all, Consort Shu truly had no motive to kill Anping.

Concubine Zhen sighed from the side, “So, it seems Princess Anping effectively poisoned herself.”

King Liang’s brow furrowed as he delivered the final verdict, snapping angrily, “As stupid as a pig!”

His gaze then fell upon the kneeling maid. “Since the Princess snapped that branch right under your nose, you shall be buried with her.”

The maid’s face turned deathly pale as she looked up in horror.

Consort Shu acted swiftly. She shot a sharp look toward the side, and a nearby eunuch immediately stepped forward, muffled the maid’s mouth, and dragged her away.