Where does that wicked woman get her conscience?

Chapter 268 Leisure Chapter

"His dantian is completely shattered... How is this possible? This is impossible!!!"

Cuihua went berserk, shoving the doctors with all her might towards Zhuge Yunzheng's bedside, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Save him! Save him now! If you can't cure Yunzheng today, you'll all be executed!"

The doctors were pushed around, staggering and trembling with fear. They quickly steadied themselves and gathered around the bed, frantically searching for medicine and frantically trying to provide emergency treatment.

Meanwhile, Cuihua sat to the side, wailing incessantly. Her cries were urgent and hoarse, echoing in the doctor's clinic, revealing an indescribable anxiety.

The heavy atmosphere grew increasingly tense, making it hard to breathe.

Just then, Uncle Fu, dressed in brocade robes and with white hair, rushed in, his footsteps pounding on the ground, his face full of anxiety.

Cuihua spotted him immediately and quickly stood up from her chair. She stumbled slightly in her haste, her heart pounding.

It must have been the Palace Master who sent Uncle Fu to check on Yun Zheng's condition; he might even have brought a solution!

She didn't even bother wiping away her tears, and strode forward to greet him. Her eyes unconsciously darted back and forth behind Uncle Fu, and her voice trembled as she asked, "Uncle Fu! Did the Palace Master send you? Did you bring a way to save Yun Zheng?"

"Tsk." Uncle Fu frowned, his movements were very impatient, and he completely ignored Cuihua's question. He only glanced at her hurriedly and said, "Oh dear, no!"

As he spoke, he waved vigorously to one of the physicians, signaling him to come over quickly, and then urgently instructed, "Madam fainted on her way back from the Holy Vanguard Selection Conference. Please come with me to the side hall to take a look at her!"

As soon as he finished speaking, without even glancing around, he hurriedly turned and left with the doctor who had been called out.

Upon seeing this scene, a chill suddenly rose from the bottom of Cuihua's heart and instantly spread throughout her body.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at Uncle Fu's departing figure. The handkerchief in her hand was crumpled into a ball, almost to the point of tearing the fabric. She gritted her teeth and muttered to herself, her voice full of resentment and unwillingness: "It's one thing for him to accompany that woman to the Holy Edge Selection Conference, but now that Yun Zheng is seriously injured like this, he didn't even come to see her once after returning to the palace!"

"It was just a simple fainting, but he treated it like the biggest thing in the world, and didn't even bother to ask about Yun Zheng's condition!"

Thinking of this, she stomped her feet in anger, her eyes filled with resentment, and she kept repeating, "Xiao Yueluo! Xiao Yueluo! It's all because of you!"

Her chest felt tight and suffocated, but she couldn't move her feet. Yun Zheng was still seriously injured and lying in bed; how could she dare to leave?

Filled with worry, she clung tightly to Cuihua, suppressing her surging anger and grievances. Just as she was about to turn back to the bedside, the whispers of several passing maids drifted into her ears.

Outside the doctor's clinic.

Chunxue was carrying a food tray containing pastries and warm tea that she had just taken from the dining hall, and she was walking briskly towards Guiyun Courtyard.

They happened to bump into several maids who were also hurrying towards the canteen, their faces showing a hint of excitement at watching the spectacle.

The maids' eyes lit up when they caught sight of Chunxue, and they quickly surrounded her, chattering excitedly, their voices rising high: "Sister Chunxue! What a coincidence, we actually ran into you."

"Didn't you accompany Madam to the Saint Peak Selection Conference today, sister? You just came back from outside. Did you also hear the big news?"

Surrounded by people, Chunxue stopped in her tracks and asked with a smile, "What big news? Why are you all so anxious?"

One of the round-faced maids leaned closer, her tone mysterious and excited: "Sister, don't you know yet? Everyone's saying that the Palace Master and his wife brought someone back from the Holy Edge Selection Conference! They say... they say it's our True Inheritance Palace's long-lost eldest daughter!"

Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes! It's said that everyone thought the baby was stillborn after the lady had a difficult childbirth, but the child was incredibly lucky and survived! It was fortunate that someone found the baby after it was abandoned, and it was raised in a remote place for many years until it was found at this conference!"

"That's right!" another maid nodded repeatedly, her tone certain. "I heard that the young lady even brought a token, confirming that she is indeed the madam's own flesh and blood, the true eldest daughter! Our palace is going to be quite lively now!"

The group chatted amongst themselves, their voices filled with curious gossip, their eyes sparkling, eager to share all the news they had just heard with Chunxue.

Listening to their chatter, Chunxue smiled faintly and nodded calmly, seemingly unsurprised: "How could I not know about what you're talking about?"

As she spoke, she waved the food plate in her hand and said, "Guess who I was going to deliver this food to?"

The maids were slightly taken aback. After exchanging glances, their eyes widened instantly, and they asked in unison with surprise, "Could it be... could it be the young lady we just found?"

“That’s right.” Chunxue replied with a smile, “I just led Miss to Guiyun Courtyard to rest. She’s incredibly beautiful, and her personality seems gentle and polite. She’s very likable.”

After saying that, she stopped talking and waved her hand, saying, "I have to hurry and take the food to the young lady so it doesn't get cold. We can chat again when we have time."

Before he finished speaking, he picked up the food tray and walked quickly forward, his steps even more hurried than when he came.

Seeing that the person was leaving in a hurry, the maids stood there looking at each other with a hint of envy on their faces: "How wonderful, to be able to see the young lady in person, Sister Chunxue is so lucky..."

"I also want to see just how beautiful the young lady really is..."

After a few words of reflection, the topic suddenly shifted, and the atmosphere became somewhat sour.

"Speaking of which, Young Master Yunzheng was never favored by the Palace Master. Now that the young lady has returned, he will probably have even less status in the palace."

"That's right." Someone lowered their voice, with a hint of schadenfreude. "I heard he was seriously injured this time, his dantian was destroyed. It was a backlash he caused by recklessly using a secret technique. Now he's practically a cripple!"

"Look at the doctor's clinic over there, it's a complete mess."

"This is truly a case of reaping what you sow."

"It's actually quite a pity. Young Master Yunzheng was so talented, and suddenly he ended up like this..."

"It was truly his fate, a fallen genius..."

The group whispered a few more words, then shook their heads and left with sighs on their faces.

……

The maids' gossip bloomed like terrifying flowers in Cuihua's ears, and she shuddered, her blood seemingly freezing instantly.

"No...impossible!"

She screamed, her voice hoarse and broken, clutching her chest tightly with both hands, and threw the crumpled handkerchief to the ground.

He stumbled and his back slammed heavily against the wooden pillar with a dull thud.

Her face was deathly pale, her eyes were bloodshot, and her pupils were dilated with horror. She stared at the direction the maids had left, her teeth grinding together, and even the corners of her mouth twitched uncontrollably: "Absolutely impossible!"

Disbelief filled Cuihua's contorted face, and a surge of resentment welled up in her eyes, mixed with a panicked and terrified look, making her look like a vengeful ghost.

"Back then...back then I clearly told someone...how could they still be alive? It must be that bitch Xiao Yueluo's doing! It must be her...a lie! A lie!"

She was trembling all over, clearly terrified and furious at the sudden turn of events. She was so engrossed in the fact that her nails dug deep into her palms until they bled, but she didn’t even notice. All she could do was scream “Impossible!” as if she wanted to devour this “young lady” who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Madam! Madam!"

Seeing Cuihua's state, Granny Li behind her felt that Cuihua had lost her mind.

She rushed forward, calling out repeatedly, but she couldn't suppress Cuihua's surging emotions at all. She could only shout with all her might, "Madam!"

Cuihua suddenly turned her head, her eyes burning with fear and malice. She grabbed Granny Li's shoulder, her voice trembling uncontrollably: "Granny Li, did you hear that? Did you hear what those maids were saying? That stillborn baby of Xiao Yueluo... the child she had a difficult childbirth with, it's been found! It's actually been found!"

"Impossible! How could this be?" Granny Li's shoulders ached from being pressed down, but she didn't bother to struggle. Her voice, filled with disbelief, rang out in a sharp, incredulous tone.

She had been so focused on the doctor and young master Yunzheng that she hadn't paid any attention to what the maids outside were saying.

Upon hearing Cuihua's words, a flash of panic crossed Granny Li's eyes, but she was a woman who had seen it all and quickly regained her composure.

She clenched her hands tightly together, her fingertips digging into the lines of her palms, her breathing unconsciously becoming softer as she asked urgently in a low voice, "Madam, are you sure you didn't mishear?"

Cuihua shook her head vigorously, her tone certain: "I couldn't have misheard! Absolutely not!"

Granny Li's brows furrowed instantly, a cunning glint in her eyes. She quickly glanced around, and seeing no one was paying attention, she tiptoed closer to Cuihua's ear, her voice low and chilling: "Madam, I personally took that child out to have him disposed of! That person assured me personally that he had him killed and thrown into the mass grave long ago; even the bone fragments have probably been devoured by demonic beasts!"

She paused, her eyes darting around, and another thought occurred to her. Her tone became more hesitant: "Could it be... that the Palace Master has now recognized an imposter?"

Upon hearing this, Cuihua's tense shoulders relaxed slightly for a moment, realizing that there was some truth to what she was saying.

It was no secret that Xiao Yue had given birth to a stillborn child when she was in trouble, so it's not entirely impossible that someone with ulterior motives would use this as an excuse to impersonate her.

She frowned and pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, her tone becoming more serious: "But I just heard the maids talking about how that woman recognized her daughter with a token."

"A token?" Granny Li murmured subconsciously, her brows furrowing even more tightly. She quickly searched her memory, racking her brains to recall if there were any special objects in the swaddling clothes when she took the baby away.

Before she could even make sense of it, Cuihua suddenly trembled all over, as if struck by lightning, and her face turned deathly pale.

She gripped Granny Li's shoulders even tighter, and exclaimed in alarm, "I remember now! When Yunzheng went to pay his respects to her, he mentioned it to me on his way back. He said he saw a portrait of a baby in that woman's room, and the child in the painting was wearing a black bracelet on his wrist! Could it be... could it be that the token is this?!"

Grandma Li exclaimed in surprise, as if she had been doused with a bucket of cold water, "Oh! I remember now, there was such a bracelet."

"At that time, I was thinking of taking the bracelet off, but it seemed to be stuck to the child's wrist, and I couldn't pull it off no matter what I did." Her voice was filled with lingering fear. "When time was too tight, I was also very panicked and didn't continue."

Cuihua's face drained of color instantly. She stared intently at Granny Li, her voice suddenly rising: "Why didn't you tell me about something so important back then?!"

Startled by her appearance, Granny Li shrank back, lowering her head even further. Her voice, timid and flustered, betrayed her unease: "But...the situation was too urgent. I...I panicked and forgot..."

"Snapped!"

Cuihua's face darkened, and the panic in her eyes instantly turned into ruthlessness. She raised her hand and slapped Granny Li hard across the face.

She was originally a maid who did heavy work such as moving bath tubs, but she had a strong hand. This slap made Granny Li stagger and fall to the ground.

Then, ignoring the person on the ground grimacing in pain, he just kept pacing around in circles, clutching his handkerchief: "What should I do? What should I do?"

Granny Li covered her burning cheeks and got up. Although a hint of resentment flashed in her eyes, she dared not show it at all. She lowered her voice and leaned forward to offer a suggestion: "Madam, why don't you let this old servant take a few people over to take a look? That way we can find out what's going on with that girl and maybe make her suffer a little."

"How to say?"

"As you know, the Palace Master values ​​the reputation of the True Inheritance Hall the most. That girl has just returned. If she causes any trouble at this critical juncture, the Palace Master will definitely not let her off the hook. He might even kick her out directly."

"Otherwise, if she were to act so arrogantly the moment she entered the house, with all the servants fawning over her, where would you put your face?"

Upon hearing this, Cuihua's panic subsided slightly, a sinister glint flashed in her eyes, and she gritted her teeth as she ordered, "Alright, do as you say. Take a few capable maids and go over there to cause her some trouble. I'll stay here and watch over Yunzheng until he's settled down before going over to check on him."

"Remember, you must teach her a good lesson, but don't make it too obvious. You need to make her suffer a bit, but also find out what's really going on!"

"Yes, madam!" Granny Li replied readily, not daring to delay for even a moment.

She quickly bowed in agreement, then turned and strode out, her back view exuding a fierce intensity, clearly intending to take out the slap she had just received on the newly returned "young lady."

Before long, she led several burly maids and hurried towards Guiyun Courtyard.