My Beloved Consort - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When I woke the next day, Shen Shen was already gone.

And so was that little box.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

Xiao Rong came in from outside. “Your Highness is awake? This servant will help you wash and dress.”

…

Shen Shen was the same as always. No matter how I probed or hinted, he showed nothing unusual.

But the cloud of suspicion in my heart only grew heavier.

Half a month later, Jinxiu Villa sent over the Empress’s crown robes from outside the palace. Inside the robes, I found a slip of paper.

“Tonight at midnight. Xihua Gate. Gui Li.”

Below it was a tiny seal mark from Feiyun Pavilion.

I suppressed the excitement in my chest and carefully burned the note.

Plump Auntie was reliable after all!

At last! These days of living in constant fear were finally over!

This old lady could finally retire in glory!

That night, Shen Shen came to my courtyard just as usual.

I lit the drugged incense, and before long, his eyelids began to droop.

With his eyes closed, he held me very tightly. “My beloved consort, I have realized I truly cannot be without you. Will you stay by my side forever?”

“Of course.” I soothed him softly as I slowly peeled his hand away from my waist.

Shen Shen was already fast asleep.

I swiftly changed into my night clothes, shouldered my bundle, and before leaving, I looked back at Shen Shen one more time.

His sleeping face was peaceful, only his brows were faintly furrowed, as though he had dreamed of some troubling matter.

I sighed. In the end, I could not help stepping forward to smooth the crease between his brows, then bent down and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Shen Shen, take care.”

I was glad my qinggong had not deteriorated too much.

The journey was dangerous but uneventful, and at last, I arrived at Xihua Gate right on time at midnight.

I crouched at the agreed spot and imitated a cuckoo’s call twice, but there was not the slightest response from the other side.

What was going on?

The person Feiyun Pavilion sent was completely unreliable.

Seeing that the imperial guards’ shift change was about to end, I had no time to worry about anything else. I leaped over in a flash.

In the shadowed corner outside Xihua Gate, a black figure stood perfectly straight.

I frowned and hurried over. “I just gave the signal. Why didn’t you answer? Which branch of Feiyun Pavilion are you from? Why are you-”

I reached out and patted his shoulder.

The person’s body was rigid. At the lightest touch, he toppled straight backward onto the ground.

His face was ashen. He was clearly already dead.

A knife was lodged in his chest, and the bloodstains had long since dried.

I was horrified.

The operation had been exposed!

I reacted quickly and turned to run, but a ring of hidden guards had already surrounded me without a sound.

Damn it…

A chill shot from my head to my feet. I saw the hidden guards all step aside, and someone slowly strolled forward.

He was still wearing the bright yellow inner robe I knew so well.

Over it, he had only thrown on an outer robe.

Shen Shen looked at me from afar, his expression dark and unreadable.

“My beloved consort.”

I heard him call me.

What had once been a sweet, indulgent sigh now sounded like the whisper of an evil ghost.

My entire body went numb. I froze where I stood.

Shen Shen beckoned to me. “Come to me.”