Long Xuan was convinced that the woman in front of him had gone mad. He pushed Consort Chang away and and tried to walk out of the Buddha Hall.
“Luo Wei killed my son! He killed so many people!” Consort Chang was lying on the ground and shouting loudly, “He killed them all! Killed them all! Luo Wei deserves to die, he deserves to die, he deserves to die!…” Consort Chang’s raving eventually trailed off into just three words: “deserves to die”.
“Guards!” Long Xuan shouted towards the entrance of the Buddha Hall.
Fu Dao swiftly entered with several eunuchs and palace maids, their heads bowed.
“What’s going on with her?” Long Xuan pointed at Consort Chang on the ground.
The two palace maids attending to Consort Chang in Dongfo Hall hurriedly knelt down and said, “We don’t know, Your Majesty. Consort Chang has always been well.”
“Well?” Long Xuan exclaimed, “You call this well? Have you all gone blind?!”
“Blind, yes, that’s right,” Consort Chang, upon hearing Long Xuan’s words, clapped her hands with a manic laughter, “Long Xuan is blind. Despite Luo Wei’s wickedness, he still likes him! Isn’t he blind?! Luo Wei deserves to die, he deserves it! The Empress Dowager said, this bastard deserves to die!”
“Silence!” Long Xuan sternly rebuked Consort Chang, “Madwoman!”
After being scolded by Long Xuan, Consort Chang seemed to regain a bit of her senses. She looked at Long Xuan and said, “Your Majesty, how could I be mad? I am the Empress, I have been waiting for Your Majesty to return!”
“Go summon the imperial physicians,” Long Xuan ordered Fu Dao.
Fu Dao nodded and was about to run outside the Buddha Hall.
“The physicians all listen to Luo Wei!” Long Xuan’s mention of the imperial physicians sent Consort Chang into another frenzy as she screamed at him, “They took away my Ling’er! Ling’er…” Consort Chang looked around as if her second son was truly present in the Buddha Hall, “Ling’er? Where are you? Come to your mother quickly!”
Changshi sat on the ground, shouting, “Your Imperial Father is back, he hasn’t seen you yet. Come quickly and let your Imperial Father see you, Ling’er!”
Fu Dao was so startled by Consort Chang’s desperate cries that he couldn’t move a step.
“What are you waiting for?” Seeing Fu Dao’s hesitation, Long Xuan angrily ordered, “Hurry and summon the imperial physicians!”
“Ling’er,” Consort Chang stood up from the ground at this point, looking around, “Elder brother,” upon hearing the name Ling’er, she remembered her elder brother, Chang Ling, “Elder brother, come quickly, come quickly, Ling’er is missing, come and kill Luo Wei for me,” she rambled incoherently, “Kill Luo Wei for me. If he doesn’t die, none of us can live. Brother, why haven’t you come yet?”
Long Xuan stood there, unwilling to reason with a madwoman. Yet, her incessant calls for Luo Wei’s death made it hard for him to turn a blind eye.
The two palace maids attending to Consort Chang knelt on the ground, trembling. Who would sincerely serve a disgraced former favorite of the harem? Even those who had been loyal to Consort Chang before were all killed in the massacre at Yannian Hall. Over the years, the palace servants only knew that Consort Chang didn’t speak to them but often would often mutter to herself. They found her easier to serve like this and thus paid her little mind. As long as she did not cause trouble and could eat and sleep, the maids did not think too much of it. None of them ever considered that Consort Chang might be mad.
Consort Chang continued to mutter about Luo Wei deserving to die as she wandered around, seemingly looking for something.
Long Xuan had never had any affection for this woman, but she was still his former Empress. He could not bear to watch any longer and turned to leave the Buddha hall.
“Don’t go!” Seeing Long Xuan about to leave, Consort Chang chased after him and hurriedly shouted, “Give my Ling’er back to me!”
Long Xuan pushed Consort Chang away, not wanting to look at her any longer.
“You killed my son!” Angered by Long Xuan’s push, Consort Chang seemed enraged, “Both Long Xuan and Luo Wei are not good people!”
“Watch over her!” Long Xuan commanded the two kneeling palace maids.
Long Xuan did not want to engage with her any further, but Consort Chang had waited for Long Xuan for a long time and would not let him go. She rushed over and grabbed his sleeve, “Why won’t you kill Luo Wei?! Why?!” She demanded loudly, “He took away my Xiao’er and Ling’er! Why won’t you kill him?!”
“Let go!” Long Xuan said, “The imperial physician will be here soon to check on you. Quiet down!”
“Your Majesty,” Consort Chang pleaded with clasped hands, “save Ling’er! Please, I beg you. You are the Emperor, you can surely kill Luo Wei, right?”
“That’s enough!” Long Xuan tried to shake off Consort Chang, but her strength at this moment was surprisingly strong. Despite his attempts, he could not shake her off.
“You are not a good person either! Long Xuan, give me back my elder brother’s life!” Hurt by Long Xuan’s actions, she opened her mouth and bit his right forearm.
This time, Long Xuan used all his strength and flung Consort Chang forward forcefully.
Consort Chang, propelled by Long Xuan’s strong push, staggered back several steps, lost her footing and fell to the ground.
“Imperial Mother!” At this moment, Long Xiao rushed into the Buddha Hall.
Consort Chang’s body slammed straight into the Buddha’s niche. The white jade Guanyin statue, under Consort Chang’s impact, toppled forward and crashed into her forehead, while the back of her head struck heavily against the edge of the niche.
Everyone in the Buddha Hall, including Long Xuan, was stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Consort Chang lay on the ground with the white jade Guanyin statue. Her limbs twitched, blood gushing from the wounds on the front and the back of her head, quickly forming a large pool on the floor.
“Imperial Mother!” After a moment of shock Long Xiao let out a piercing scream that did not sound human.
Long Xuan grabbed Long Xiao, who was trying to rush to Consort Chang’s side, and ordered the stunned palace servants and eunuchs, “Quick, go check on her.”
One of the bolder eunuchs crawled over to Consort Chang’s side, “Your Highness?” he called out to her first. Seeing no response from her, he tremblingly checked her breathing. After checking, the eunuch collapsed to the ground, rolled over, and faced Long Xuan, kowtowing frantically, “Your Majesty, Consort Ling has passed away!”
“Aargh!” Long Xiao let out an injured animal’s howl and struggled in Long Xuan’s grip, “Let go of me, I want to see Imperial Mother! Let go of me!”
For a moment, Long Xuan was stunned, but he soon regained his composure. As he released Long Xiao, he slapped him hard across the face. “Insolent! Who is your Imperial Mother?!”
But now Long Xiao seemed to have gone mad like his birth mother, glaring at Long Xuan, he said, “It’s you, you killed my mother!”
“You…” Long Xuan flinched but then sternly said to Long Xiao, “Do you not want to live anymore?!”
“I never wanted to be your son!” Long Xiao shouted at Long Xuan before rushing to Consort Chang’s side. His birth mother’s face was covered in blood and no longer recognizable. “Imperial Mother!” Long Xiao wiped the blood from her face with his hands, crying out, “Imperial Mother, Xiao’er is here. Imperial Mother, please don’t die. Imperial Mother, please look at Xiao’er! Imperial Mother!…”
Boundless Dao 
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