Shen Wei asked, "Has Consort Shu's health improved?"
Cai Lian replied, "The imperial physician examined her. After childbirth last year, Consort Shu's body suffered severe damage, compounded by prolonged melancholy. Now, even medicine can no longer save her—her days are numbered."
Since the Lu family's downfall, Lu Xuan had been drowning in sorrow, her spirit broken, her body growing weaker by the day.
Perhaps out of lingering sentiment, Emperor Li Yuanjing had not stripped Lu Xuan of her title but instead confined her to Changxin Palace, leaving her to wither away.
Lu Xuan's two-year-old son had been entrusted to another childless concubine for rearing.
"My lady, do you wish to see Consort Shu?" Cai Lian whispered.
Shen Wei shook her head, her voice calm. "No."
Whatever schemes Lu Xuan harbored, Shen Wei had no interest in meeting her.
She would only see Lu Xuan at her funeral.
