Chapter Seventy: The Legend of Zhen Huan, Nian Shilan 8

It was naturally the Empress who orchestrated Consort Fang's death. Raising Consort Fang under the care of the Empress, who was her mother's killer, the Empress Dowager wasn't that heartless.

Moreover, with the Empress Dowager's care and upbringing, she could find a good marriage when she grew up, be named a Princess of the First Rank, and marry out, which would be no worse than being raised under the Empress's care.

When An Lingrong's father was imprisoned, Nian Shilan did not intervene. After all, An Bihai had not colluded with Jiang Wenqing, and with the Empress's intervention, he was eventually released from prison safely and remained a county magistrate.

Leisure Moon Pavilion —

"What on earth happened? How could Consort Hui have miscarried!"

When the Emperor arrived with Nian Shilan, all the concubines had already arrived.

"It was Consort Cao who pushed Consort Hui. Consort Cao has had some mental problems since her miscarriage and has been recuperating in Chuxiu Palace. She came with me to Yuanmingyuan this time."

Unexpectedly, after entering the Yuanmingyuan, Consort Cao's illness worsened, and she began to mistake Jiahe for her own daughter, feeling that Consort Jing had stolen her daughter, and harboring resentment in her heart.

Consort Cao is out of favor, and those around her are not attentive enough, so I haven't heard a thing about my illness worsening.

At this point, the Empress sighed, feeling deeply remorseful.

"Consort Cao overheard that Consort Jing would occasionally take Jiahe to see the lotus flowers, so she waited by the lake, wanting to report back to Consort Jing. However, Consort Jing did not go, but Consort Hui did."

Consort Cao mistook Consort Hui for Consort Jing and walked over. Consort Hui assumed Consort Cao wanted to greet her, since Consort Cao seemed perfectly normal.

"Who would have thought that without warning, Consort Cao would push Consort Hui into the water. The palace maids and eunuchs reacted and rushed into the water to save Consort Hui and subdue Consort Cao."

But Consort Hui was pushed into the water and was also frightened, resulting in a miscarriage.

The empress outwardly appeared saddened by the child's passing, but inwardly she was overjoyed.

Cao did indeed have mental problems after her miscarriage, but that was caused by medication. Originally, Cao was preparing it for Fang Pin.

She was afraid that Consort Fang was pregnant with a prince, so she drugged Consort Cao in advance. If it turned out to be a princess, she would make sure that something went wrong during her childbirth.

If the diagnosis reveals it to be a prince, then Consort Fang will be fine, but Consort Cao will cause the prince to miscarry, and then Consort Fang will manipulate the situation to make him infertile.

As it turned out, Consort Fang was pregnant with Princess Jiahe, so Consort Cao was essentially abandoned. Her medication was stopped, and Consort Cao's illness was almost cured.

This is why Consort Cao came to the Yuanmingyuan; otherwise, she would have continued to recuperate in the Chuxiu Palace.

When they arrived at the Yuanmingyuan, Consort Hui became pregnant again. She then remembered this abandoned child, who had a previous illness, and thought that if it recurred, no one would notice anything amiss.

Of course, Consort Hui had come into contact with things that could harm the fetus beforehand, and the person who did this was naturally Consort An.

Consort An was tormented by Consort Min and repeatedly sought help from Consort Hui and Noble Lady Wan. Consort Hui and Noble Lady Wan also approached Consort Min.

But Consort Min didn't care at all, so she knew that Consort Hui and Noble Lady Wan couldn't help her, so she could only seek help from someone who could.

Consort An ultimately chose the Empress, after all, she had a grudge against Nian Shilan, and Nian Shilan would not help her.

With the Empress's intervention, Consort Min indeed stopped targeting her. Originally, the Empress had instructed her to take action against Consort Hui, but she was still hesitant.

However, after Consort Hui and Noble Lady Wan promised to help her gain favor and offered to assist them, but nothing came of it for almost a month, she harbored resentment and chose to help the Empress.

The reason why there was no further news for a month was because Consort Hui and Noble Lady Wan had both mentioned Lady An to the Emperor.