Empress Xie said angrily, "I had people watching you, and they discovered that you've been secretly taking contraceptive soup! Since you don't want to keep a child of the Xie family bloodline, why should Zhaozhao stay with a hypocritical liar like you!"

Zhou Shaoyu said angrily, "I did it for Zhaozhao. She is still young, and I want to spend my life with her. I don't want her to have a premature birth and damage her health."

"No matter how eloquently you speak, I will not believe you," Empress Xie said sadly. "Men are all liars and cannot be trusted."

Zhou Shaoyu said, "I don't need you to believe me. Zhaozhao and I are husband and wife. She understands what I am like."

"She was deceived by your sweet words and was unaware that she was caught in the trap, so I helped her out."

"Your way of helping her is to imprison her? To arrest her? Then may I ask Your Majesty, was it for her own good that you forced her to jump off the cliff? Do you know that she almost died at the bottom of the cliff?"

"I never expected her to jump off the cliff! My original intention was to keep her away from you and let her see your true character."

From the moment His Majesty showed you favor, I became suspicious. And sure enough, I wasn't wrong; you also share the surname Zhou! The surname Zhou, huh…”

When Empress Xie heard that Xie Zhaozhao had jumped off a cliff, she regretted it for a long time. Lan Feng and those who went to invite Xie Zhaozhao were all punished.

"That's just sophistry!"

The conversation between the group was overheard by Madam Xie, Xie Anfeng, and Xie Yu.

The three were both angry and terrified. Old Madam Xie pointed at Empress Xie and said, "You, you actually forced Zhaozhao to jump off a cliff? How could you become like this?"

Xie Anfeng closed his eyes, his voice sounding unfamiliar even to himself: "Your Majesty, if I had known earlier that you would control Zhaozhao like this, I would have preferred to let her grow up with her mother rather than hand her over to you."

Empress Xie laughed heartily: "I'm doing this for her own good! If you had let her have her way, I'm afraid you would have sold her out to the bone! You only think about marriage alliances to benefit your families. If I hadn't protected her, would you have wanted her and her niece to share a husband?"

Xie Anfeng shouted, "Shut up!"

Xie Zhaozhao's husband, His Majesty's most beloved son, is right in front of you, yet you utter such treasonous words. Xie Chunxi, you truly deserve to die!

Empress Xie looked at Emperor Hui, who remained silent with a chilling gaze. She smiled and said, "Since you don't appreciate it, let's talk about my fourth child!"

After suffering three miscarriages, she couldn't conceive again for a long time, and she gave up and stopped hoping. As a result, she became pregnant with her fourth child.

After becoming pregnant, she took great care of herself. Lan Lin often came to help her with checkups, and she withdrew from all social interactions in the harem.

She reached six months smoothly, and the baby was already quite active. Every day, as she stroked the baby in her belly, she felt that the resentment from the past few years had dissipated, and everything could be forgiven.

Her relationship with the Xie family improved considerably as a result.

The imperial physician told her that based on the baby's appearance and condition, this pregnancy was definitely going to be a prince.

Even if Zhou Jingrui is the crown prince, if the Xie family gives him their full support, their child will become a noble prince.

But that day, the sun was shining brightly, and she walked around the garden for a while when Consort Qing, the emperor's new favorite, returned from Emperor Hui's palace in a sedan chair.

Seeing Empress Xie taking a walk, Consort Qing ordered her servants to quickly get out of the sedan chair, but her legs went weak as she got out.

It fell in front of Empress Xie, startling her.

Empress Xie was furious and also felt uncomfortable seeing Consort Qing come out of her palace and ride in His Majesty's sedan chair. She said to the eunuch, "Give this wretch a good beating."

Consort Qing was furious, saying that she had only served His Majesty for one night, and that His Majesty was being too forceful, which caused her legs to give way and she to fall, and that it was not intentional.

You, Consort Qing, are deliberately flaunting your favor?

Empress Xie ordered her men to beat the women severely. The other concubines knew that Empress Xie's pregnancy had been difficult, so no one dared to approach her when she was beating them.

Empress Wei (Wei Yingzi) sent someone to inform Emperor Hui, who rushed over and gave Consort Qing a severe scolding.

He then helped Empress Xie back to the palace and said, "Why are you arguing with her? You are pregnant now, so you should prioritize the child."

Empress Xie was very displeased to see that he was still pleading for that vile woman.

Whether it was from being too angry or from being frightened by Consort Qing, Empress Xie experienced abdominal pain that very day, the pain stemming from the vigorous movements of the fetus.

It was kicking and punching inside my belly, bumping and jostling, extremely restless.

She was so frightened that she summoned the imperial physician to stabilize the pregnancy, but the imperial physician, Wen, was invited away by Prince Qi.

While shedding tears, she comforted the unborn child: "My dear child, your mother will never be angry with those scoundrels again. Don't worry, my child, your mother will always protect you!"

The imperial physicians used all their methods, and the child finally calmed down.

But now that the child has stopped fussing, he's become too quiet!

He remained so quiet that he slept soundly and never interacted with her again.

She summoned Imperial Physician Wen, who, after feeling her pulse, was horrified and knelt down, refusing to rise: "Your Majesty, the child... the child is gone."

"What do you mean by 'gone'?" Empress Xie was utterly terrified.

"The heartbeat is gone," Physician Wen said with difficulty. "The child will not survive..."

That means the baby died inside the womb.

The imperial physician said that the only option was to induce labor, as the baby was no longer viable and staying in the womb would be detrimental to the mother's health.

Empress Xie didn't believe it and insisted on not inducing labor. What if, just what if the child survived?

"Your Majesty, do you know? After that, I kowtowed to the heavens countless times, day and night, until my head bled and my knees were swollen from kneeling!"

I insist on eating every day, even if I can't eat anymore, I try my best to eat. I want to keep my body warm and keep my son warm. Isn't it said that a mother's warmth can bring a dead child back to life?

But half a month later, it still came out naturally. It was a stillborn child, a royal baby, with all its limbs intact. Although its face was swollen, it looked just like me. Does anyone know what happened? I almost cried myself blind..."

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