Granny Zhong and Zhang Chu stood silently in front of the palace gate, blocking the way. "By imperial decree of the Empress Dowager, Consort Hao is confined to Jiahan Palace today," Zhang Chu said coldly.

"Seeing this token is like seeing the Emperor! Granny Zhong and Lady Zhang, kneel down now!" Hao Shumei showed no fear of the Empress Dowager's decree, handing over the token and shouting sternly.

Granny Zhong and Zhang Chu exchanged a glance and could only kneel down, but they still refused to give way.

Hao Shumei drew the long sword from the guard's waist and pointed it at Granny Zhong and Zhang Chu, "If you don't step aside, I will show no mercy!"

"Does Consort Hao intend to defy the imperial decree?" Zhang Chu asked coldly.

"I will not disobey the imperial decree. I only wish to summon the imperial physician!" She finished speaking with a strange smile, then suddenly fell to the ground, her crotch instantly turning bright red. "If the Emperor knew that the Empress Dowager had allowed my child to be miscarried and left me to die, what do you think he would think? Don't you remember how Empress Yide died back then, Granny and Lady Zhang?"

After she finished speaking, her face turned pale with pain, unlike when she was faking a miscarriage. She lay weakly on the ground, struggling in her death throes.

As Zhao Shu approached, she became even more confused upon hearing this. When did an Empress Yide appear? The title Yide was clearly a posthumous title. She had never heard of the current empress being a successor empress. So, was she an empress posthumously honored? If so, she must have held a very high position in Emperor Mingde's heart.

Seeing Zhang Chu and Granny Zhong's expressions change, she knew things were going badly. She had Xiao Zhuzi and the others block Hao Shumei's people, stepped forward, grabbed Hao Shumei's hand, and gave her a strange look. "Even tigers don't eat their cubs. Aren't you afraid that your child will come to claim your life in the middle of the night, Your Highness?"

"It was the Empress Dowager who killed my son. If anyone is to be punished, it should be the Empress Dowager." She seemed to be willing to risk everything to achieve some goal.

Zhao Shu glanced back at Zhang Chu and Zhong Mama, whose faces were pale, and then turned to Consort Hao and said, "If you can't keep this child, you'll never have the chance to be a mother again. You don't have to believe me, but you'll regret it someday."

Hao Shumei looked at her mockingly, "Everyone says that Princess Jun is shameless and brainless. It turns out that the princess understands medicine. Since you understand medicine, you should know that what I said is not an exaggeration."

"You know, I hate being threatened the most." Zhao Shu stood up and addressed the soldiers, maids, and eunuchs around her: "It's cold and the roads are slippery. The Imperial Concubine didn't heed the Empress Dowager's advice and has now slipped and miscarried. Everyone saw it and is a witness. Please don't let the Imperial Concubine's miscarriage be blamed on us." She spoke loudly. The Imperial Concubine Hao's fall was so sudden that no one had noticed, and even if they had, they dared not speak out. Now that Zhao Shu had suddenly announced this, they were all alarmed. No wonder General Peng said that Princess Jun was not to be offended.

"What a silver tongue you have! But if there is even the slightest mishap to my imperial heir, the Emperor will not care about your eloquence. It seems that the Princess does not know how Empress Yide died." She said sarcastically to Zhao Shu.

"You're mistaken. I didn't mean anything bad would happen to your unborn child. What I meant was that Consort Hao slipped and miscarried, was heartbroken, fell ill, and passed away." She walked to Hao Shumei's side and whispered, then smiled faintly, "Do you know how your father died? I used a rusty knife to slowly slice him to death, and he was still screaming in pain as he died. Tsk tsk, I thought the Imperial Uncle was so tough, but I didn't expect him to be so easily tortured. If the Consort doesn't mind, I can return the Imperial Uncle's skeleton to you, hahaha."

She spoke softly, so only Hao Shumei could hear her. When she heard the last word, tears streamed down her face. She glared at Zhao Shu with hatred and said angrily, "You'll die a horrible death!"

"Before I die a horrible death, you will die a horrible death first. After you die, you will not be able to see whether I die a horrible death or not. If you dare to disturb my brother, the Crown Prince, from treating his leg today, I will dislocate your leg first. Don't think I dare not. I, Zhao Shu, dare to do anything. The only thing I dare not do is to treat myself badly."

Hao Shumei burst into laughter, clutching her stomach, then suddenly screamed hysterically, "Zhao Yi, remember this: what you owe me, what you owe my son, everything you have is built on my son's life, on my suffering."

She shouted with great force, and since Dayong had no soundproofing, everyone knew what day it was, so the entire hall was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Suddenly, a shrill voice rose up, breaking through all the barriers, and entered the left hall.

Physician Peng was telling jokes to amuse the Crown Prince and hadn't even started setting the leg when he suddenly heard Hao Shumei's voice. His relaxed brows furrowed again, and he took a jade pendant from his neck and handed it to Li Zhuo, saying, "Smash it for me, smash it at the door."

Li Zhuo's mind couldn't quite process it, but he still had to listen to the Crown Prince. He took the jade pendant and walked out from the left side of the hall. When he arrived at the main gate, he smashed the jade pendant in front of everyone. The mutton-fat jade shattered into several pieces on the ground, and the crisp sound attracted everyone's attention.

Zhao Shu whispered to Hao Shumei, "You already know it's a son before it's even born? What if it's a monster, just like you?" After saying that, she instructed Green Vine, "Go and fetch pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. You two help the Imperial Concubine back."

Consort Hao stared blankly at the shattered jade pendant scattered on the ground, her face changing little by little. Slowly, slowly, tears welled up in her eyes. She knew that she could not achieve her goal. The person who would comfort her when she was unhappy, accompany her when she was sad, and gently call her Meimei, was gone forever.

What does it matter if the child is gone? It wasn't what she wanted in the first place anyway.

She remained silent and let Granny Zhong and the palace maids carry her back to Jiahan Palace, but her gaze remained fixed on the shattered jade pendant fragments scattered on the ground as she smiled foolishly.

Seeing her like that, Zhao Shu very unkindly blocked her view, waved her hand, stepped on the jade pendant, and rubbed it hard a few times.

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