I insist

Chapter 259: Fainting from Anger

Song Miqiu's pupils shrank instantly; she hadn't expected the Empress Dowager to suddenly turn her attention to her.

She shrank back in fright, trying to avoid physical contact with the Empress Dowager so as not to be accidentally injured.

But the Empress Dowager failed to injure her the first time, so she tried again the second time.

Song Miqiu never expected the Empress Dowager to be so stubborn, but she accidentally stepped on a small pebble and instantly lost her balance.

She gasped in surprise and quickly grabbed a nearby wooden pillar for support. When she turned around, the Empress Dowager was already approaching her with the gold hairpin in hand.

Just as the hairpin was about to fall on her, Song Miqiu quickly closed her eyes, turned her head to the side, and used her arm to protect her neck.

But the expected pain never came. Song Miqiu slowly opened her eyes and saw the chief eunuch struggling to hold onto the Empress Dowager to prevent her hairpin from piercing him.

Song Miqiu felt her heart pounding wildly. She took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and quickly got up. She picked up the medicine box she had tossed aside and looked at the Empress Dowager with great vigilance.

Seeing that she had failed to stab anyone several times, the Empress Dowager was furious. She glared at the chief eunuch, too angry to know what to say.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!" The chief eunuch saw Song Miqiu coming with a medicine box and knew that Song Miqiu had come to treat the emperor.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager still intended to use the hairpin to kill Song Miqiu, the chief eunuch quickly advised, "The Emperor is now counting on Physician Song to treat his illness!"

"Nonsense!" The Empress Dowager laughed in anger. She looked at the chief eunuch and immediately questioned, "What illness of His Majesty's can only be treated by that vile woman Song Miqiu? Could it be that Ming Taicheng's aptitude is not as good as Song Miqiu's?"

"Or does this mean that Song Taicheng's thirty years as the Medical Sage was for nothing?" The Empress Dowager knew that her first impression was correct; she disliked Song Miqiu from the very first moment she saw him.

"But for His Majesty's current condition, only Physician Song has the necessary medicine!"

The Empress Dowager was furious. She felt that the chief eunuch was just flattering the powerful and belittling the weak. What did he mean by saying that only Song Miqiu had it and Ming Taicheng didn't?

It must be that Song Miqiu gave the chief eunuch some benefits, otherwise why would the chief eunuch keep speaking up for Song Miqiu!

Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager grabbed the chief eunuch by the collar and demanded sharply, "Did that bitch Song Miqiu give you some benefits that made you speak up for her like this!"

"No..." The chief eunuch tilted his head back, trying his best to explain that his behavior was not what the Empress Dowager thought.

But the Empress Dowager was already furious. She aimed at the chief eunuch's face and slapped him hard, stunning him completely.

The Empress Dowager forcefully pushed the chief eunuch away. Looking at the man on the ground, she said angrily, "I don't think you're any good!"

At this moment, the door behind the chief eunuch was opened, and the eyes of the three people present were all focused on the emperor.

Perhaps due to excessive grief, coupled with the fact that he had been confined to his room for the past few days, the Emperor appeared to be in very poor spirits.

His eyes were filled with gloom. Looking at the disheveled scene, the Emperor first helped the people on the ground up and said coldly, "Guards! Take the Empress Dowager back to Cining Palace for me. Without my order, no one is allowed to see the Empress Dowager, and no one is allowed to release her!"

"If I find out, you'd better wait and see!"

The Empress Dowager looked at the Emperor in disbelief; she still couldn't understand why the Emperor would treat her this way.

Seeing two guards about to drag her away, the Empress Dowager immediately broke free. She glared coldly at the Emperor and demanded in a deep voice, "On what grounds?!"

Why did they lock her up without asking any questions? She clearly wanted to kill the person who was trying to sow discord between them.

Everything she did was clearly for their benefit.

"Because I am the Emperor!"

This answer was clearly useless, and the Empress Dowager wanted to continue questioning.

Looking at the scene, Song Miqiu rolled her eyes, and as if remembering something, a smile appeared on her lips.

The moment she looked up, the smile on her lips vanished, replaced by panic. Song Miqiu lifted her skirt and strode up to the Emperor. She glanced at the Empress Dowager and quickly said...

"Your Majesty, the Empress surely did not do it on purpose. She is already so old. If you keep her locked up, no one will know what might happen to her."

The Empress Dowager stared blankly in Song Miqiu's direction, listening to what the other woman was saying about her. She angrily rebuked her, "What I do is none of your business!"

This comparison only fueled the Emperor's anger. He glared coldly at the Empress Dowager and reprimanded her in a chilling voice, "Imperial Physician Song is thinking of you, and you don't even appreciate it. When did my Empress Dowager become such a person?!"

This further enraged the Empress Dowager. She never imagined that the reason she had so happily made a pastry for her beloved was to cheer up the Emperor.

But in the Emperor's eyes, none of his actions were worth mentioning.

She wanted to continue the confrontation with the Emperor, but the Empress Dowager saw the Emperor walk up to Song Miqiu and speak to comfort him, "Imperial Physician Song, you don't need to take what the Empress Dowager said to heart. I know you are doing this for the Empress Dowager's own good."

Presumably to appease Song Miqiu, the Emperor generously bestowed upon her a treasure.

Upon hearing the word "treasure," Song Miqiu's eyes lit up instantly, but remembering that the Empress Dowager was still watching her closely, she knew she couldn't be too obvious.

She was overjoyed. If she were standing in an empty space, Song Miqiu would definitely burst out laughing.

Song Miqiu really didn't expect that she would receive such a treasure when she was just honestly on duty and doing her job as usual.

She instantly hoped that the Empress Dowager's madness would subside so she could enjoy the pleasures of money a little longer.

But with the Emperor still before her, Song Miqiu knew she had to play her part convincingly. She lowered her head and said softly, "Thank you, Your Majesty. If it weren't for Your Majesty and the eunuchs today, I imagine I would have already..."

At this point, Song Miqiu bit her lower lip hard, her shoulders hunched, looking weak and frightened.

This behavior further aroused the Emperor's protective instincts. He glared at the Empress Dowager, feeling angry at her ignorant behavior.

As a woman herself, the Empress Dowager could tell at a glance that Song Miqiu was doing it on purpose, but she was now speechless with anger. Her eyes rolled back in fury, and she fell heavily to the ground. If it weren't for the two guards supporting her, she might have had a close encounter with the ground.