CHAPTER 1789: CHAPTER 1796: SCHEMING (3)

She instinctively thought about what her man would do with this woman later, how he would dote on her, and a surge of jealousy instantly filled her heart. The intense jealousy almost drove her to rush over and give her a lesson, but fortunately, reason prevailed. She remembered what Helan Hao had just said, telling her not to squander the little bit of affection he had for her and expressing his disappointment in her. If she did anything to displease him now, he would surely never forgive her!

Lady Flower Bud was taken aback when she saw Hanna, and immediately showed a look of terror.

Everyone in the Imperial Harem knew that Hanna was extremely jealous and would go to any lengths. If she found out she was being favored, wouldn’t that mean great trouble for her?

However, Hanna only glared at her hatefully for a moment. She neither hit her nor scolded her, just glared fiercely for a while and then left angrily!

Lady Flower Bud worried for a while but quickly let go of her concerns. No matter how fiercely jealous and domineering Hanna was, she feared His Majesty. As long as she served His Majesty well and had his protection, she believed Hanna wouldn’t be able to do anything to her!

...

Zhao Gui awoke in excruciating pain. She didn’t know what had happened; she just felt intense pain all over her body. When she opened her eyes, they felt dry, and her throat was parched as if on fire.

"...Xiao... Man..."

She struggled to speak, and as soon as she did, she realized her voice was terrifyingly hoarse. Dong’er, who was serving by her side, was both surprised and overjoyed, shedding tears as she said, "Amitabha Buddha, thank goodness, Queen Consort, you’re finally awake. You scared me to death, sob sob sob..."

At the moment, Xiao Man wasn’t there; she had gone to bandage her own wounds and change clothes. Earlier, she and Dong’er had been busy tending to Zhao Gui. After the female doctor had applied medicine and bandaged Zhao Gui’s wounds, they took turns handling their own injuries because they didn’t trust others to care for Zhao Gui, so one of them had to stay by her side, even if it meant dealing with their wounds separately.

Seeing Dong’er cry, Zhao Gui forced a smile and said intermittently, "Why are you crying? Aren’t I... just fine?"

Dong’er wiped her tears and said, "Please, don’t talk. Look at how hoarse your voice is; you must be thirsty. I’ll get you some water." Saying this, she hurriedly got up to fetch water to soothe Zhao Gui’s throat.

As she turned, Zhao Gui noticed the streaks of bloodstains on Dong’er’s back and was instantly startled: "Dong’er... you... what happened?"

Dong’er froze for a moment, just remembering the wound on her back. But now was too late to hide it, so she hesitated and said awkwardly, "It’s nothing. I fell from horseback while chasing you during the day; it’s no big deal!"

How could a wound from a fall be in streaks? Zhao Gui, being clever, wasn’t fooled by Dong’er’s clumsy excuse. She looked at Dong’er, who was fetching water for her, with sadness and hoarsely said, "You... were beaten?"

Dong’er brought the water back, sat down by her couch, helped her sit up, and softly said, "It’s nothing. I was only whipped a few times. The servant has thick skin; it will heal soon!"

Hearing this, Zhao Gui slowly curled her fist, struggling to hold back the eruption of her breakdown. After a long moment, she painfully said, "I’m sorry, Dong’er, it’s my incompetence. I... can’t protect you..."

Dong’er choked with tears and said, "Don’t say that, Queen Consort, it’s us who are useless. We couldn’t protect you, causing you to be whipped by that vicious Hanna while you were in a coma..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Gui finally understood why her body was in such agony. It turned out that she had been beaten by Hanna while in a coma!