"Courting death."
"???" Cui Yunchu was slightly startled.
She hadn't offended her cousin recently, had she?
Even her gaze toward Tang Qingwan became much clearer. Tang Qingwan shook her head, dipped her finger in tea, and wrote the word "me" on the desk.
Cui Yunchu's eyelids twitched fiercely.
Just then, a maid brought up fruits and pastries.
The grapes were crystal clear, arranged in a crystal bowl, each one plump. Just looking at them was enough to make one's mouth water.
Consort Liang said, "These are tributes from a vassal state. The Emperor specifically bestowed them upon me. Everyone, have a taste."
Liu Wanting slightly raised her lowered eyes, glanced at the bowl of grapes placed in front of Tang Qingwan, and immediately withdrew her gaze as if nothing had happened.
"The grapes the Emperor bestowed upon Her Highness Consort Liang, I have never even tasted them in the Fengluan Palace."
As soon as Liu Wanting said this, everyone's eyes turned toward her.
Was she flattering Consort Liang while stepping on the Empress for falling out of favor?
Everyone knew Liu Wanting wasn't smart, but she shouldn't be this stupid.
Consort Liang spat out the grape she was about to put into her mouth. She had survived in the harem entirely by being suspicious and cautious.
Could it be that her grapes were poisoned?
Lady Zhao whispered something in her ear. Consort Liang's gaze instantly turned dark and cold, and she soon pulled her lips into a cold sneer.
Unscrupulously, she picked up another grape and put it into her mouth.
Tang Qingwan also ate quite a few, but the more she ate, the tighter her brows furrowed. Cui Yunchu asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Tang Qingwan shook her head, picked through the crystal bowl, and continued eating.
Seeing that the banquet was about to end.
Tang Qingwan whispered, "Useless thing."
After speaking, she lightly tapped the wine in her cup with her fingertip.
Cui Yunchu watched with her own eyes as she dropped an unknown powder into the wine and drank it all in one gulp.
She was stunned.
Nowadays, to frame someone, you even have to poison yourself?
Liu Wanting looked at Tang Qingwan triumphantly. Her expression went from being suppressed at the beginning to clearly being unable to sit still later on.
She looked at the old maid beside her, and the old maid nodded. She was certain that the drug had absolutely been administered.
On the other side, Xiao Yi was warmly discussing betrothal gifts with Cui Yunfeng.
He would renovate Prince An's Manor into a layout similar to the Cui Manor, so she would be more accustomed to living there.
As for the bridal chamber, if she liked, it could be renovated to look exactly like her boudoir.
Actually, pink looked quite nice too.
Cui Yunfeng had favored pink since childhood. When they were young, Xiao Yi had also been forced by her to wear red robes. She said that wearing clothes of the same color made them look better walking together.
She said he was too cold and hard, and pink could add a bit of softness to him.
Wearing robes that completely clashed with his demeanor, he accompanied her running around the streets, being pointed at by everyone.
The robes formed a world of difference with his temperament. People looked at him with weird gazes, calling him a disgusting cut-sleeve and a sissy. The Crown Prince mocked him for a long time, but he didn't care.
But since then, he was also very resistant to pink.
Cui Yunfeng was about to speak when a strange noise suddenly came from opposite them. Tang Qingwan's lips and the desk in front of her were covered in black blood, a truly shocking sight.
"Cousin."
"Cousin."
She and Cui Yunchu screamed at the same time and rushed toward Tang Qingwan.
Tang Qingwan had her eyes slightly closed, collapsed on the desk, her breath already as weak as a thread.
Xiao Yi also stood up abruptly, his gaze immediately shooting toward Consort Liang at the head seat.
Consort Liang, "..."
Consort Liang looked at Lady Zhao.
Didn't she say the drugged grapes had already been swapped for fresh ones? How could she suddenly vomit blood?
Lady Zhao, "Your Highness, this old servant saw it with her own eyes and arranged it personally. There is absolutely no problem with the grapes."
Consort Liang shook her head at Xiao Yi.
At this critical juncture, even if she wanted to skin the Empress alive, she wouldn't make a move against the Central Palace, let alone target Tang Qingwan.
Could it be that Liu Wanting was merely a decoy, and the Empress had tampered with other dishes?
For the Empress to secure her position in the Central Palace, she was no ordinary person. How could she entrust the task of dealing with Tang Qingwan to an idiot like Liu Wanting?
But the truth was, the Empress had overestimated Liu Wanting.
Consort Liang knew the Central Palace was brewing wicked schemes. "What a good calculation by the Empress, to actually use me like this."
To the Crown Prince, Tang Qingwan could be said to have lost her usefulness. Getting rid of a useless Crown Princess while framing her at the same time was simply killing two birds with one stone.
Xiao Yi's voice was cold and fierce. "Summon the imperial physician."
Cui Yunfeng was frightened pale. Together with Cui Yunchu, she supported Tang Qingwan to Consort Liang's bedchamber.
It was requested by Consort Liang; otherwise, if the person went to the Fengluan Palace, she feared she would have an even harder time clearing her name.
"Cousin." Cui Yunfeng's eyes were full of tears, so scared she didn't know what to do.
Tang Qingwan held her hand and forced out a smile. "Don't be afraid."
But a sudden sharp pain seized her stomach, hurting so much that her body convulsed.
Seeing her in such agony, Cui Yunchu was also extremely anxious.
Her cousin was truly formidable, to be able to be so ruthless even to herself.
"Yunchu, my stomach... my stomach hurts so much." She curled up tightly, blood spilling from the corners of her mouth.
Cui Yunfeng suddenly said, "Blood, Big Sister, there's so much blood on Cousin's skirt."
Liu Wanting barely steadied her mind from her joy and said loudly, "Your Highness Consort Liang, how could the Crown Princess suddenly be poisoned?"
Consort Liang's eyelids twitched.
Why? Don't you know clearly yourself? The Central Palace was truly ruthless enough; for the sake of power, she could even lay hands on her own daughter-in-law.
"I am going to find the Empress Mother," she said, and then called for the palace servants to run toward Fengluan Palace.
"Lady Zhao, hold her down for me." Consort Liang was furious.
She had been suffocated enough these past few days. One after another, she had been tormented to this extent and they still wouldn't let her off. They were simply courting death.
A perfectly good banquet had been ruined like this.
Liu Wanting hadn't run a few steps before she was pinned to the ground by Lady Zhao. She struggled with all her might. "Let me go! I am a person of the Central Palace, how dare you touch me!"
