chapter 4
We really did remain in the palace. They lodged us in a side hall of Jiaofang Palace so we would be ready whenever Noble Consort Song needed us.
Dongye Pengpeng broke into a cold sweat.
One moment she was smiling as she saw the attendant out. The next, she spun around and hammered her little fists against me as if she meant to beat smoke from my body.
“Wei Anyi, do you have a death wish? Is that it? Do you want to die?”
I laughed.
“Did we or did we not get to stay in the imperial palace?”
Pengpeng frowned. “We did, but Noble Consort Song…”
I sat down. “She has been cursed by a demon.”
“Don’t joke about that.”
Who was joking?
“Did you not see her chamber? What noble consort sleeps in a room like that?”
Under her breath, Pengpeng muttered, “Perhaps someone has a guilty conscience.”
I glanced at her.
She looked away. “Don’t say such things in the palace. His Majesty does not believe in any of this.”
Li You’s birth mother, Empress Bai, had been falsely accused of using witchcraft to curse the previous emperor. The subject was taboo to him.
Very well. If she told me not to mention it, I would not.
That very night, Noble Consort Song began to thrash and scream.
Pengpeng and I were summoned in haste.
The woman who had lain unconscious that afternoon seemed completely transformed. She flung herself from the bed and clawed at everyone within reach.
She was slight, but six palace maids together could not restrain her.
“Your Highness, please! You will hurt yourself!”
“Get away from me!”
The noble consort caught one maid and sank her teeth into the woman’s flesh.
The maid dared not dodge or struggle. Even as blood poured from the wound, all she did was beg for mercy.
“What are you standing there for?” Pengpeng shouted. “Pull her off!”
I flicked my hand.
The woman who had possessed the strength of an ox abruptly went limp, and the maids dragged her away.
The chamber was in such chaos that no one noticed me.
“Hold her down on the bed!”
They pinned Noble Consort Song to the mattress. Her strength had waned, but she continued to writhe.
Blood covered her mouth. She kicked and laughed wildly.
“I won’t spare any of you! You will all die! Every last one of you!”
Pengpeng had no idea what to do. She had never seen anything like this.
I nudged her. “Stick a few needles in her. Anywhere.”
She stared at me in disbelief.
“Go. You cannot have them hold the noble consort down and then do nothing.”
Inside, she was probably panicking beyond words.
She hid it well.
She stepped forward and drove in two needles—jab, jab.
The raving noble consort went still. A moment later, she was fast asleep.
Pengpeng looked utterly lost.
The maids sagged to the floor, their strength gone.
“You… You are a miracle physician!”
Pengpeng could only stare.
Not long after, Li You’s former wet nurse, Lady Pingyuan, hurried in.
Pengpeng reacted the moment she saw her. I hooked a foot around Pengpeng’s ankle. She stumbled, then came to her senses.
Interesting.
Lady Pingyuan’s deeds were famous among the common people. When Empress Bai was deposed, this woman had fled east with the young prince and raised him to manhood.
Fortune later turned. The boy became emperor, and his wet nurse received the title Lady Pingyuan.
From Pengpeng’s expression, they had not only known each other. Pengpeng had loved her dearly.
Once Lady Pingyuan understood what had happened, she called Pengpeng aside for questioning.
“What ails the noble consort? How will you treat her from now on?”
Pengpeng thought quickly. “Her Highness’s condition is exceedingly complex. This commoner will prepare a full medical record tonight and present it for Your Ladyship’s inspection tomorrow.”
Lady Pingyuan ordered her to submit it to the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Then she warned us with particular severity:
“His Majesty loves the noble consort deeply. If you cannot cure her, you may pay with your lives.”