FBC – Chapter 85 The Empress Dowager’s Summons

Gu Hua curled up on the bed in pain, her forehead soaked in sweat.

Shen Li took her pulse, then scolded angrily, “You’re completely ruining your body! Taking medicine to hasten maturation on one hand, and medicine that damages the womb with intense cold on the other. No wonder your periods are irregular and so painful each time that it’s unbearable!”

Lately, Shen Li had been doing everything she could to help her recuperate, but it was difficult—her body had been utterly wrecked from the start.

Gu Hua said nothing.

None of it had been her choice.

In her previous life, she’d been surprised to even get pregnant after being assaulted by Mu An.

Concubine Pei had raised her to be seductive to men, causing her to start menstruating early, and at the same time had force-fed her countless strong contraceptive decoctions.

Her body had been tormented by alternating heat and cold, resulting in chaotic menstrual cycles—sometimes missing for months, sometimes lasting half a month, each time nearly taking her life.

Shen Li quickly prescribed a medicinal bath. Dong Hua rushed to brew it, gave her two acupuncture points, and after Gu Hua drank a bowl of hot decoction and hugged a warming bottle, she finally felt somewhat better.

Looking at the young girls bustling around her, Gu Hua’s eyes turned red.

Just then, Dong Qing saw a maid from the front courtyard enter the gate. She lifted the curtain and stepped out to speak with her in hushed tones before returning, face grim.

“What is it?” Gu Hua had a bad feeling.

“Someone from the palace has come. You’ve been summoned.”

Gu Hua froze. “Me? Into the palace?”

In both lifetimes, she’d never imagined she’d have the chance to enter the imperial palace.

“She can barely stand, how is she supposed to enter the palace?” Shen Li said, dissatisfied.

Dong Qing looked helpless. “The Empress Dowager’s personal attendant came with the order herself. The carriage is already waiting at the door—we have to leave immediately. Lady Shen, is there any way to ease her pain quickly? Dong Hua, let’s get her dressed and ready.”

Shen Li frowned deeply, stamped her foot, and hurried off to prepare medicine.

Gu Hua endured the pain and got out of bed, cooperating with Dong Qing and the others to get dressed and made up.

She was very aware—this summons from the Empress Dowager had to be because of Jiang Ruoxi.

“I’ll go see if the Master is around.” Dong Hua couldn’t hold back and ran out.

Gu Hua didn’t think it would matter.

Even Mu Junyan couldn’t defy an imperial decree.

Wasn’t Jiang Ruoyun given in marriage by decree too? Mu Junyan didn’t want to marry her, but he had to.

In her past life, Mu Junyan never married Jiang Ruoxi—probably because he soon returned to the battlefield and died three months later. There wasn’t time.

But this life… there was her, an unexpected variable.

Jiang Ruoxi was losing patience.

She knew very well that Mu Junyan was using her to fend off other women, so she would do her best to play that role well.

Even if she got battered and bruised, he might at least remember her kindness. This kind of practical mutual aid was more solid than any romantic fluff.

Sure enough, Dong Hua came running back, breathless: “The Master was also summoned into the palace by the Emperor.”

Gu Hua understood at once—this must be about Jiang Ruoxi’s marriage.

At the old matriarch’s birthday banquet, Jiang Ruoxi had been so humiliated—was the Empress Dowager summoning her to restore Jiang Ruoxi’s honor? Or to force Mu Junyan to accept a marriage decree?

She didn’t know, but one thing was certain—today would not be easy.

Just as she was about to leave, Shen Li handed her a bowl of decoction and then a pill. “Take this when the pain is unbearable. But it causes dizziness and drowsiness, so avoid it if you can. Also, don’t eat anything cold, and avoid contact with cold water.”

“Alright.” Gu Hua nodded obediently.

The Empress Dowager’s personal attendant had come in person—no maids were allowed to accompany her. Gu Hua had to board the carriage alone.

The carriage smelled harshly unpleasant, like it had been used for livestock. The seats were bare wooden planks, and cold air leaked in from all sides.

Fortunately, Dong Hua had wrapped her in a thick cloak.

Gu Hua clutched it tightly.

The carriage galloped wildly, jolting so much it felt like she would fall apart. Already unwell and having drunk two large bowls of medicine, her stomach churned violently, and she felt like vomiting.

At last, the carriage stopped. Gu Hua could hold it no longer and quickly covered her mouth with the cloak, vomiting until the world spun.

This was a palace carriage—she dared not dirty it.

But the cloak was now unusable.

When the eunuch saw her climb down with a pale face, clutching the cloak and trembling, he looked at her with disgust.

“What happened to you?”

Gu Hua forced a polite smile. “I wasn’t feeling well and vomited just now.”

The eunuch frowned and pinched his nose, motioning for the driver to take the cloak away.

Thankfully, the cloak was thick and had kept her clothes clean.

“Let’s go.”

She glanced up at the plaque.

Right Auxiliary Gate.

Gu Hua frowned slightly.

She’d never entered the palace before, but she’d seen layout maps sold in the markets. She knew the Right Auxiliary Gate was a side gate near the very front—by Xuande Gate.

The Empress Dowager resided deep within the inner palace, in the Hall of Benevolent Mercy. Without a palanquin, walking there would feel like her feet would fall off.

Clearly, this was intentional torment from the Empress Dowager.

At this moment, no one would help her. She could only grit her teeth and endure.

The eunuch drawled, “Move quickly. If you delay the Empress Dowager’s schedule, you might not walk out of this palace alive.”

Gu Hua had no choice but to follow.

She walked for a full half an hour.

Her legs had gone numb; she pushed herself forward on sheer willpower.

Everything she’d drunk had already been vomited up. Her stomach was empty, and the piercing pain in her lower abdomen had returned.

Gu Hua thought she might not make it out of this palace alive today.

The eunuch led her to the Hall of Benevolent Mercy, circled around two large halls, and stopped at the rock garden behind the floral viewing pavilion.

Yellow gauze curtains fluttered around the pavilion, where three or four women sat, their laughter drifting out.

Gu Hua immediately recognized one of them as Jiang Ruoxi.

“Wait here. I’ll go announce you,” the eunuch said.

Gu Hua hid beside the rock garden and respectfully bowed low.

The eunuch was gone for a full fifteen minutes without calling her in. Gu Hua, clutching her belly, was trembling from the pain, cold sweat soaking her forehead.

She bit her lip hard to stay conscious.

She couldn’t embarrass Mu Junyan. She had to endure.

At last, the eunuch returned, glancing at her disdainfully. “Do you understand protocol?”

Gu Hua forced a smile. “This common girl understands.”

“If you misbehave in front of the Empress Dowager, you’ll be given fifty strikes.”

He looked her up and down, his brows furrowed so tightly they could pinch a mosquito to death.

“I will strictly observe the proper decorum,” Gu Hua said, struggling to stand upright.

She entered the floral pavilion, head bowed, and kneeled to give a formal greeting.

“This humble woman pays respects to the Empress Dowager.”

A long silence passed. No one told her to rise, so she remained prostrate on the stone floor, listening as the Empress Dowager and Jiang Ruoxi chatted and laughed, as if she didn’t exist.

Gu Hua’s head was spinning. Her legs had gone completely numb before she finally heard—

“Raise your head.”

Gu Hua obeyed, keeping her gaze lowered and not daring to look directly at the Empress Dowager.

“So it really is a fox-faced seductress. What kind of daughter did the Marquis of Wenchang raise?” the Empress Dowager said sharply.

Jiang Ruoxi looked at Gu Hua with malice, her face still wearing a gentle smile. “She’s just a concubine brought in by my sister’s husband’s household—meant to serve with her looks. If she’s charming, that’s expected. But if she starts seducing every man she sees, that’s unforgivable.”

Gu Hua abruptly raised her head. “Replying to Your Majesty, I am not a concubine. I followed my elder sister to the Duke’s estate to study household affairs. The Duke allowed me to stay only because my handwriting resembled that of his late wife, so I was asked to copy her writings.”

The Empress Dowager’s smile vanished. “Did I give you permission to speak? How impolite!”

Jiang Ruoxi put on a pitiful expression. “Great-aunt, she even mocked me in public, saying I was ignorant and uneducated. You personally taught me since childhood—was she implying you lacked proper upbringing?”

So this was the little vixen trying to block her imperial marriage to Mu Junyan!

The Empress Dowager’s expression darkened. “Outrageous. Someone—slap her fifty times!”

Jiang Ruoxi straightened proudly.

Just looking at that sickly girl—she probably wouldn’t last more than a few strikes.

Once she fainted, they could toss her into some remote well. Claim she fell in while leaving the palace—problem solved.