In Prince Ji’s study
"Prince Ji, I have analyzed Consort Rou’s blood. Just as I suspected, she has been infected with the wolf poison. If you want to expose her true colors to your father, you need to find a way to put this new potion I’ve developed, which can induce the wolf poison to act up, into Consort Rou’s food. Once she ingests it, her poison will erupt on the spot. At that time, lure your father into hiding beforehand to witness Consort Rou’s true nature, and you will succeed."
As Leng Ruo Li spoke, she took out a small bottle of potion from her sleeve and handed it to Prince Ji.
"Alright, to avoid any further complications, I will act tonight," Prince Ji said solemnly.
Although he did not have deep feelings for his father, the Emperor was his biological father after all. He did not want his father to be in constant danger, cohabiting with a bloodthirsty demon without realizing it.
"May I ask Prince Leng and Princess Leng for another favor? Would you accompany me to deal with this bloodthirsty demon?" Prince Ji sought their assistance.
Upon hearing this, Leng Ruo Li glanced at Jun Mo Han. To her surprise, Jun Mo Han spoke up and agreed.
"Li'er, let's accompany Prince Ji to the palace. I am also very curious to see what a woman infected with the defective wolf poison looks like when her poison acts up," Jun Mo Han said calmly.
"Alright, then we shall accompany Prince Ji to the palace," Leng Ruo Li agreed.
Afterward, Prince Ji summoned a trusted shadow guard and instructed him to take the potion and infiltrate the palace immediately. The guard was to contact his informants within the palace and have them place the small bottle of potion into Consort Rou’s food.
Once the shadow guard had arranged everything and returned to report the situation in the palace to Prince Ji, Prince Ji then led Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han’s couple to secretly sneak into the palace.
At this moment, Consort Rou was sitting in a pavilion in the imperial garden, gazing at the starry sky in a daze. She couldn’t understand why Prince Ji had hidden a dagger in his sleeve and used it to injure her.
Did Brother Yun Xiao detest her that much?
As she was pondering, a young palace maid approached, carrying a dessert that Consort Rou usually favored.
"Your Ladyship, this is a pastry that His Majesty specially asked this servant to bring for you," the young palace maid said in a low voice.
"Place it there," Consort Rou said casually.
Following her instructions, the young palace maid directly placed the pastry on the stone table in front of Consort Rou and then withdrew.
After the young palace maid retreated, she immediately hid in a corner, carefully observing Consort Rou’s actions.
Meanwhile.
After Prince Ji brought the Prince Leng couple into the palace, he bribed a young eunuch serving Consort Rou. The eunuch was to falsely convey Consort Rou’s order to lead the Emperor to the imperial garden.
Then, the three of them, having calculated the timing, arrived at the imperial garden. They found the young palace maid who had delivered the pastry to Consort Rou earlier and asked her to report the situation in the imperial garden to them. The young palace maid then withdrew.
Not long after, the Emperor indeed arrived with a large entourage, heading towards the imperial garden.
Consort Rou was slightly stunned by the Emperor’s sudden arrival. She had been feeling that the Emperor had been acting particularly strangely lately, often making surprise visits. She wasn’t sure what his intentions were.
Although this dog emperor was foolish and incompetent, his mind was not entirely muddled. If he discovered that a woman in his harem had betrayed him, his methods of punishment would be extremely cruel.
Seeing the old Emperor approaching her, Consort Rou immediately rose from the stone bench and bowed to him.
The Emperor immediately helped her up, took her hand, and guided her back to sit on the stone bench. Then, he waved his hand to Eunuch Yu and the others behind him, signaling them to retreat.
"My beloved concubine, I heard from those servants that you were enjoying the stars alone in the imperial garden, so I put down my work to come and accompany you," the Emperor said fawningly.
"Your Majesty, state affairs cannot be delayed. Otherwise, those ministers will call me a treacherous concubine who brings ruin to the nation," Consort Rou said, feigning anger.
"Don't be afraid. I can handle those matters later. Accompanying my Rou is more important," the Emperor said, sporting dark circles under his eyes, looking listless. He then grinned, chuckling.
For some reason, whenever he smelled the floral scent emanating from this woman, he felt a sense of blissful intoxication. Especially when his Rou rode on him, it was truly exhilarating. He wished they would never be separated. (In reality, these were all hallucinations induced by the Emperor’s excessive inhalation of Consort Rou’s floral scent.)
Upon hearing this, Consort Rou lowered her head coyly and said in a sweet, saccharine voice, "Your Majesty, you are so annoying!"
"Hahaha…"
The Emperor laughed heartily.
Leng Ruo Li, who was hiding in the shadows, heard the conversation between Prince Ji and Consort Rou. She then whispered to Prince Ji with a teasing tone, "Prince Ji, I didn't expect your father, at his age, to still be a master at pleasing women. Prince Ji and Prince Leng, you two should learn well."
Prince Ji, Prince Leng: "…"
Afterward, the Emperor noticed a pastry on the table and picked one up to offer to Consort Rou, saying, "Beloved concubine, don't be angry. I'm not joking with you anymore. Here, have a bite of this pastry."
Consort Rou glanced at the Emperor, casually accepted the pastry he offered, and placed it at her lips, taking a small bite. Then, she put down the pastry in her hand.
Witnessing this scene, Prince Ji and the Prince Leng couple, who were hidden in the shadows, instantly tensed up. Although Consort Rou had only taken a small bite of the pastry on the table, that single bite was enough to trigger her wolf poison.
Just then, Consort Rou’s skin suddenly began to itch. At first, she stubbornly suppressed the itching sensation and did not scratch herself.
Later, she could no longer bear it and scratched her neck twice. However, the more she scratched, the more her body itched.
Thus, Consort Rou directly took off her outer garment, leaving only her inner wear, and reached inside her clothes to scratch her itch continuously.
The Emperor, seeing her in this state, assumed she had been given an aphrodisiac. With a lecherous smile, he narrowed his eyes and also reached his "salty pig hand" inside Consort Rou's garment to help her scratch.
As a result, the more he helped Consort Rou scratch, the more he felt that her skin was becoming very strange. Immediately, he opened his eyes and looked at the woman beside him. He was startled to find that Consort Rou in front of him had transformed into a shriveled, wrinkled, ugly woman, no longer the fair-skinned, delicate beauty he usually saw.
Upon discovering this, the Emperor immediately pushed Consort Rou aside and fled, stumbling in fright.
He kept shouting, "Monster, monster! Come quickly, Consort Rou is a monster!"
At this moment, Consort Rou, who had been pushed to the ground by the Emperor, looked at her wrinkled hand and finally realized that her wolf poison had acted up again. She then glanced at the pastry on the stone table and understood that she had been trapped.