Rebirth: So what if my husband is a little crazy? He loves me.

Chapter 51 Consort Zheng is Half Dead

Before long, Anhua Palace was in complete chaos. Shen Li stood by the window listening to the commotion, with Zheng Youwei's corpse at her feet. His face had visibly turned pale and stiff, and there was no trace of life left in him.

"Knock knock." Two soft knocks came from outside the window.

Shen Li then lifted Zheng Youwei by the waist with one hand, like picking up a chick, and opened the window, handing him out horizontally with one hand.

"Help him."

Peony was mentally prepared, but she was still taken aback by the brutal way it was done. Zheng Youwei's half body was just casually handed out the window, as if it were a weightless doll rather than a living person.

She realized what was happening and quickly straightened the body to prevent it from falling.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shen Li climbed over the window and asked, "Is there an opening?"

"Yes, I pried open the third window on the east side. There's no one guarding it from the back, but are you sure you can go alone, Miss?" Peony asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, go help catch the snake, but don't go back to your room until you see the signal," Shen Li instructed.

"Yes."

Under the cover of night, the two went their separate ways. Peony ran towards the main hall, while Shen Li went around to a side window of a side hall, pushed it open, threw Peony in, and then climbed in herself, closing the window tightly.

This side hall had one more item than the last time she came. She looked up and saw the picture of the goddess hanging in the center. Under the light of the pearl, every detail was clearly visible, and in the hazy glow, it looked like a real goddess flying in the sky, which was beautiful and magnificent.

Shen Li stood quietly in front of the painting, took out a tinderbox from her sleeve, and lit it.

"Go."

The flames gradually engulfed the goddess painting, burning up the ropes to the roof beams and igniting the precious sandalwood that was usually kept away from open flames.

The painting's remains fell to the ground, and the floor instantly burst into flames, quickly engulfing Zheng Youwei in a sea of ​​fire.

The green snake, seemingly provoked, charged straight towards Consort Zheng's bedchamber. Consort Zheng was terrified and pulled her maidservant to block the snake's advance. The snake bit two maidservants to death but did not leave. It continued to pounce and weave through the crowd, still heading straight for Consort Zheng.

Almost all the palace maids and eunuchs arrived in a short time, but the green snake was so fast that they couldn't hit it no matter what they did, and it almost bit Consort Zheng several times.

In the end, the imperial guards outside were alerted, and several of them worked together to kill the snake.

The disaster subsided, and Consort Zheng was so frightened that her legs went weak. Her eyes were unfocused, her hair was disheveled, and she was only wearing her undergarments. She looked completely dazed.

While she was frightened by the snake, she could never forget Shen Li's words: the King of Hell would use the green snake to punish the person who harmed her.

Retribution has come, this is retribution...

She may not be afraid of people or snakes, but she cannot be unafraid of retribution.

"Huh? Why is Wanbaoge so unusually bright today?" A eunuch guarding Wanbaoge was about to continue his duty in the main hall when he noticed something strange about it.

"Have you forgotten? Her Majesty added five pearls to the new painting, so of course it's even brighter." Another eunuch followed up and said, "From now on, we must guard this Wanbao Pavilion even more carefully. Her Majesty looks at this painting like her own eyes, and she won't allow even the slightest flaw."

“Liang, I know it’s Dongzhu. But what about the smoke?” The first eunuch pointed to the smoke rising from the roof and twitched his nose.

The aroma of agarwood wafted out with the smoke, extremely fragrant but also very pungent.

"Smoke?" The second eunuch stood there dumbfounded, completely stunned.

"Let's go...the fire's started..."

"Wanbaoge... has caught fire..."

The two shouted at the top of their lungs, summoning all the eunuchs and palace maids in the main hall. Everyone was stunned by what they saw.

Agarwood truly lives up to its reputation as the finest fragrance material; within moments, flames burst forth from the window, and smoke filled the air from all sides.

"Fire! Quick, put out the fire!"

The Anhua Palace, which had just quieted down, became noisy again, this time even more so than before.

"Wanbaoge? What's wrong?" Consort Zheng, who was sitting blankly on the ground, was suddenly awakened and rushed out while asking the question.

She could live without Wanbaoge, but she couldn't live without it; that was her life.

"Your Majesty, please don't be impulsive, Your Majesty." Even Su Mei couldn't stop her, and watched as Consort Zheng rushed out and saw the Wanbao Pavilion billowing thick smoke.

At this time, the palace staff and imperial guards were trying to put out the fire, but the sandalwood was very flammable and the fire could not be extinguished at all. In fact, it was getting bigger and bigger and had even spread to the surrounding side halls.

"Miss..." As if she had suddenly thought of something, Peony suddenly ran towards the side hall where Shen Li lived.

In the side hall, Shen Li had already taken off her outer clothes and thrown them on the bed, then took a thin quilt and wrapped herself up.

Peony breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Shen Li: "Miss, I'm so glad you're alright. I was so worried about you."

"Take the important things with you, let's go." Shen Li said, taking a bamboo tube from beside her pillow and carrying it with her.

Peony quickly packed a bundle of gold and silver valuables and helped Shen Li run out.

"Let go of me...don't hold me back..." Shen Li came out and saw Consort Zheng desperately trying to rush into the sea of ​​fire. If it weren't for the people around her stopping her, she would have really risked her life.

Peony snorted, "You brought this on yourself."

They were already preparing to leave. If it weren't for tonight's scheming, Miss would only release snakes and would never have burned the painting.

Overnight, Anhua Palace and the three palaces to the east were almost completely burned down. Even the Imperial Garden was half burned. If it weren't for the Imperial Garden blocking the fire, who knows how many more places would have been burned given the palace's almost entirely wooden structure.

The people from Anhua Palace and the other three palaces were taken to Fengxiang Palace by the Empress. It was the first time the Empress had seen Consort Zheng, who was usually so flamboyant, looking ashen-faced, as if she had lost her soul.

"Shen girl, Shen girl?" the Empress called softly.

"Your Majesty," Shen Li managed to reply, but couldn't say anything more.

"Please forgive my mistress for her rudeness, Your Majesty. My mistress has been pampered since childhood, and she almost lost her life in the fire today. It was truly terrifying," Peony apologized from the side.

"Poor child, I've ordered the kitchen to make some ginger soup. Give it to your young lady later so she can get a good night's sleep," the Empress said softly.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Peony thanked Shen Li on her behalf and helped her back to her temporary room.

As soon as the door closed, Shen Li snapped out of her reverie and looked at Shaoyao: "Ginseng soup alone won't do. Go to the kitchen and get a few more dishes. Tell them I'm weak and need to replenish my energy."

Peony looked at her young mistress again, and there was no trace of fright she had shown. She seemed even more lively than before the fire.

That's true, no one would dare to do something so big without such boldness. When she heard about the plan, her hands and feet went cold and she broke out in a cold sweat.

Even the most ruthless bandits wouldn't dare to commit murder and arson in the palace.

"I'll go right away."

"By the way, it will be dawn soon. When we go to court, we will receive news of the fire outside the palace. You must inform Father or your family as soon as possible that I am alright."

The peony departed in response.

Shen Li looked at the sky and calculated the time. By now, they should have already discovered the remains of the Wanbao Pavilion.