CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 82: DEEP RESENTMENT

When Qiong Hua was barely holding onto her last breath, Consort Zhao timely shouted "Stop," barely saving Qiong Hua’s life.

But Qiong Hua was beaten so severely that she was now covered in wounds and barely alive.

At this moment, she was in so much pain that she lay sprawled on the ground, struggling even to get up.

It was a few fellow vegetable growers who took pity on her, helped her up, and supported her to the room where she usually slept, allowing her to lie there and rest for a while.

They also brought her clean water to wash her face and hands.

"Ah Hua, who did you offend? Why did they treat you so harshly?" asked a woman named Cai Wei, who had been abandoned by the Emperor as well.

Qiong Hua shook her head with difficulty, "I don’t know."

Suddenly, a sweet metallic taste surged up in Qiong Hua’s throat, and she spat out a mouthful of blood, her face turning even paler.

"Ah Hua, what are we going to do?" Cai Wei was anxious, "Your injuries are severe; you must have an Imperial Physician take a look, or else you might be in mortal danger."

Qiong Hua, enduring the acute pain in her injured hand, grabbed Cai Wei’s hand and comforted her, "Cai Wei, don’t worry about me. I’m fine, just some external wounds, they’ll heal in a couple of days."

"You’re like this and still say you’re fine, do you think I’m a fool?" Cai Wei’s eyes reddened with urgency, "No, I’ll find a way to get out and find you some medicine; you must take medicine to have a chance at survival."

"No, don’t go out," Qiong Hua struggled to get up to stop Cai Wei, "People in the Cold Palace can’t leave; if you’re discovered outside, you’ll lose your life. Promise me you won’t go out, okay?"

Qiong Hua, with her face swollen from the beating, looked pleadingly at Cai Wei.

She absolutely couldn’t let Cai Wei get into trouble because of her.

If that happened, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.

But Cai Wei replied, "This Cold Palace, Jun Ning can go out, I can too."

"No, Jun Ning is different from you," Qiong Hua explained, "Jun Ning is the Emperor’s child, even a tiger does not harm its cub. Even if he secretly leaves the Cold Palace, as long as he doesn’t make a grave mistake, he will be fine."

"Ah Hua, speaking of Jun Ning, I have something to ask you."

Qiong Hua asked weakly, "What is it?"

"Since the Emperor knows Jun Ning is his child and has taken him out of the Cold Palace, I heard Jun Ning has been disguising as a girl and gained the Emperor’s favor. Why hasn’t he taken you out then?"

"You are his mother, after all. Has he forgotten the mother in the Cold Palace once he’s blessed with wealth given by his father?"

Cai Wei was visibly upset.

"What kind of ungrateful child is that!"

"It’s like raising him for nothing, might as well have not raised him."

"Ah Hua, it’s a waste that regardless of gnawing on tree bark until bleeding, you still nursed him when you first brought him to the Cold Palace."

The observers of Qiong Hua’s experiences over the years in the Cold Palace, though in despair from being there, tending to pass their days idly without much concern, were moved by her dedication to her child.

It wasn’t easy for Qiong Hua to bring up Jun Ning under these conditions; surviving with Jun Ning was even harder.

That’s why today, when Jun Ning has good days but neglects his mother, these observers criticize him so harshly.

However, Qiong Hua pulled a smile, "Cai Wei, you don’t have children, so you can’t understand a mother’s heart. I don’t expect anything from Jun Ning, just hope he grows up safely and soundly."

"Ah Hua..."

Cai Wei really couldn’t understand Qiong Hua’s sentiment.