MY PRINCE HUSBAND HAS SEVEN WIVES AND I AM HIS FAVOURITE!

The world blurred at the edges as Hua Jing felt herself being dragged across the cold, damp floor. Every breath she took burned in her lungs, the low oxygen suffocating her. Her head lolled to the side, dizziness threatening to consume her. If she remained in this place any longer, she would surely die.

Then—

She was lifted.

Two pairs of hands. Strong, unyielding. She tried to move, to resist, but her limbs were weak, unresponsive. Her mind screamed for air, air, air!

Just as she took a desperate gasp—

SPLASH!

Her entire head was plunged into freezing water.

The shock ripped through her system, her body instinctively struggling, but the iron grip on her shoulders held her down.

She thrashed. She kicked.

But the hands didn’t let go.

Just as her lungs screamed for relief, she was yanked out. She coughed violently, choking, her throat burning from the sudden lack of air.

Then, a voice roared beside her ear.

"Tell me—who told you to poison the Prince?"

Hua Jing’s blurred vision barely registered the massive figure seated before her, but the voice alone was enough to strike fear deep into her bones.

The Emperor.

Her breath hitched.

The golden robes, the sharp gaze filled with unrelenting fury, the sheer presence of the man before her—it was unmistakable.

"Poison...?" Her voice was barely a whisper, sluggish, weak. "What... what are you talking about...?"

SPLASH!

Once again, she was plunged beneath the surface.

Her body convulsed, panicked, struggling to breathe, to fight, to live.

A minute passed.

Two.

She was yanked back up, gasping, coughing out the water that filled her throat.

The Emperor’s voice was cold, filled with nothing but rage and judgment.

"You still deny it?"

Hua Jing blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision.

Her surroundings became clearer now.

They were in a large chamber, torches casting ominous shadows along the walls. Imperial guards lined the sides, their expressions impassive.

A group of noble officials stood behind the Emperor, watching the spectacle unfold.

And at the very back—

Her fellow consorts.

The First Consort sat elegantly, her hands folded in her lap, her smug smile barely hidden. The Third, Fourth, and Sixth Consorts sat beside her, their expressions filled with satisfaction and cruelty.

Hua Jing felt rage surge through her veins.

This was their doing.

The First Consort’s voice was sickeningly sweet as she spoke.

"Seventh Consort, you must confess now. His Majesty will show mercy if you tell the truth."

Hua Jing glared at her.

"I did nothing!"

The Fourth Consort scoffed.

"Lies! You were the one who went on the honeymoon trip with the Prince. You sat beside him when he collapsed. Who else would have poisoned him?"

The Emperor’s fist slammed onto the armrest of his chair.

"You will answer me!" he bellowed.

"Did you attack my son?"

"No!"

"Who do you work with?"

"No one!"

"Why did you do it?"

"I didn’t!"

SPLASH!

The water engulfed her once more.

The burning in her chest intensified.

She was drowning.

She was dying.

But—

Even as her body screamed for release, her mind sharpened.

She refused to give in.

She refused to break.

Her hands clenched into fists.

This was a setup.

She had always known the First Consort wanted to get rid of her, but she hadn’t expected this level of malice.

They were truly trying to kill her.

She would not let them win.

As she was yanked out, her eyes, sharp and burning, met the Emperor’s.

"I did not poison the Prince."

The First Consort’s smile faltered slightly.

For a moment, just a moment, the Emperor hesitated.

Then, his fury returned.

"Then explain this!"

A servant stepped forward, holding a neatly wrapped cloth.

"This was found in your chamber," the First Consort said smoothly. "The poison on this cloth matches the traces found in the Prince’s system."

Hua Jing’s blood ran cold.

"That’s not mine," she said immediately.

The Fourth Consort sneered.

"Then why was it in your room?"

Hua Jing’s eyes darkened.

So that’s what they were doing.

This was never about truth.

It was always about framing her.

Her voice was dangerously calm.

"I only arrived at my chambers today. You expect me to believe I poisoned a cloth, gave it to the Prince, then conveniently left it behind in my own room? How does that make sense?"

The Emperor hesitated again.

The officials exchanged uncertain glances.

The First Consort’s fingers twitched.

Hua Jing smirked despite her state.

She had planted doubt.

She had to keep going—

Or she wouldn’t survive.

But before she could speak again, the doors to the chamber burst open.

---

Elsewhere in the Palace...

In the secluded medical quarters, Zhao Yan’s body remained motionless.

The physician, hunched over his patient, pressed two fingers to his wrist.

Then—

He froze.

The pulse...

It had returned.

A shaky breath left the old man’s lips as he exhaled in relief.

He turned to his assistant.

"His condition is stabilizing."

But his face remained grim.

Zhao Yan was still unconscious.

Still locked somewhere between life and death.

A sudden commotion outside made him turn sharply.

He stepped out—

Only to find the Second Consort, disheveled and breathless, struggling against the Imperial Guards blocking her way.

"Let me through!" she demanded.

The physician narrowed his eyes.

"How insolent! How dare you—"

The Second Consort dropped to her knees in front of him, her voice trembling.

"Please! The Seventh Consort will die if I don’t see His Highness!"

The physician’s eyes widened.

"What do you mean?!"

The Second Consort clenched her fists.

"They’ve taken Hua Jing to the Lower Prison."

The physician’s breath caught.

The Lower Prison.

A place of suffocation, suffering, slow death.

"They’re torturing her," the Second Consort continued, her voice urgent. "They claim she poisoned the Prince."

"Poison?" the physician whispered, his hands trembling.

He was the one who had been treating the prince ever since the attack and also since he fainted at the banquet.

He had not seen any traces of poison so why?

The Second Consort nodded furiously.

"If we don’t wake the Prince now—Hua Jing will die!"