Chapter 345 Ye Susu Induces Labor

Ten days later, he was confined to the Cold Palace.

Ye Susu's due date has arrived, but there is still no sign of pregnancy.

Ever since midwives started coming into the Cold Palace to examine her body ten days ago, Ye Susu has been very nervous. During the months she spent in the Cold Palace, she kept getting acupuncture needles inserted into her body, hoping that the baby would be born a month early, but the baby just wouldn't come.

In the end, she had no choice but to take a desperate gamble and prepare for induced labor.

Su Tingwan watched from the side, even more nervous than Ye Susu, "Will this work? Will it allow you to give birth to the baby ahead of schedule?"

“We have to give birth now, whether we want to or not. The Empress has already sent people to check on us, and Jiang Fenghua will be coming too. They have all calculated the due date accurately. If we delay any longer, they might become suspicious. At least now the Empress is secretly helping us. If the Empress finds out the truth, none of us will survive. I have already been diagnosed with a boy. As long as I give birth safely, the Empress will be very happy.”

The baby was premature, but only a month short. She had already deduced that this child was conceived during her second time with Su Xuan. So, that time, she pretended to reject Su Xuan, and Su Xuan thought she was being manipulated by him. She just couldn't find a suitable opportunity to get pregnant.

Even without labor-inducing drugs, she knew how to use silver needles to stimulate the acupoints to induce labor.

This excruciating pain made her wish she were dead.

Su Tingwan noticed the fine beads of sweat on her face from the pain. "What does it feel like?"

Ye Susu glared at her coldly, "The feeling of being worse than dead is something every woman has to go through when giving birth. Whether I can leave the Cold Palace today depends on you. When my pregnancy starts, you should send someone to invite the Crown Prince and the Empress. After all, I'm giving birth to his child, and the Crown Prince won't just ignore it."

Just then, Granny Wang, Jiang Fenghua, and others arrived at the Cold Palace.

Midwives and imperial physicians had been coming and going for some time, and the gates of the Cold Palace had been reopened. All of this was the Empress's doing, and no one dared to disobey her. There was a pregnant woman living inside, and no one dared to joke about the imperial heir, so naturally no one dared to actually stop her.

Hearing footsteps, the person inside the room said to Su Tingwan, "Quickly go find the imperial physician, my stomach hurts so much, I think I'm about to give birth."

At this moment, Granny Wang suddenly pushed the door open, and the palace maids and eunuchs stood on both sides. Granny Wang respectfully said, "Please, Crown Princess."

Jiang Fenghua was wrapped up completely in a gorgeous and exquisite cloak, exuding a chilling aura that was intimidating. Her face was cold and stern, and her eyes were fixed on the two old friends she hadn't seen in a long time.

She smiled slightly and said in a deep voice, "I just heard some noises inside the room. Could it be that Consort Ye is about to give birth?"

Seeing Jiang Fenghua's aggressive demeanor, Ye Susu still pretended to get up and bow. "Why has the Crown Princess come? This concubine greets the Crown Princess." As long as she and her child could leave the Cold Palace, she could endure anything. She was certain that even Jiang Fenghua wouldn't dare to do anything to her child.

However, she did not know that Jiang Fenghua simply wanted her to give birth to the child safely.

Jiang Fenghua noticed that Ye Susu still had silver needles inserted into her body. "What are you doing with these needles?" She didn't recognize the acupoints, but she guessed that she was inducing labor.

Ye Susu glanced at the silver needles, then abruptly pulled them out, panting, "I was in so much pain, so I used the silver needles to stop it." This wasn't unprecedented.

At this time, Su Tingwan had become extremely disheveled, and the word "slave" was very conspicuous on her face. There were servants in the cold palace to serve Ye Liang's concubine, but the conditions were still harsh, especially now that it was the dead of winter, which made it even more difficult to endure.

Su Tingwan stared at Jiang Fenghua, who was dressed in wealth and luxury. She still hated her and still believed that the dream she had was real. She was ready to strike and wanted to take the opportunity to kill her.

She was thinking: Did Jiang Fenghua come at this time to harm Ye Susu's child? She had to think of a way.

Before she could make any move, Ao Xue and her men had already dragged Su Tingwan aside like a dog.

Su Tingwan shouted, "Your Highness, do you not want Ye Liangfei's child to be born? Ye Susu is carrying Xie Shang's child. If you want to harm her, Xie Shang will definitely not let you off the hook."

"You'd better not have any bad ideas. Her Majesty the Empress has already sent someone to inquire. Ye Susu is about to give birth. If the child dies, I wonder how you'll explain it to the Empress."

"Slave Su is so concerned about the child in Concubine Ye's belly!" Jiang Fenghua said deliberately.

Su Tingwan was stunned for a moment before she realized what was happening and said, "I don't have the heart of a vile person like you. After all, it's a little life..."

Hearing her curse, Ao Xue slapped Su Tingwan across the face twice. "If a lowly slave's mouth isn't clean, I don't mind cleaning it for you."

"You..." Su Tingwan clenched her fists, wanting to hit someone. During her time in the Cold Palace, she had also been practicing martial arts.

However, she had barely made a move when Ao Xue subdued her and made her kneel before Jiang Fenghua. "Apologize to the Crown Princess, or I don't care if you are the daughter of a general or the sister of a general. I'll beat you to a pulp first. His Highness the Crown Prince wishes you were dead, so don't expect him to still care about you now. If the Crown Prince finds out that you insulted the Crown Princess, it won't just be a matter of being demoted to a lowly slave. He'll probably order your execution."

Su Tingwan was only relying on the fact that Jiang Fenghua wouldn't dare to do anything to her, since Xie Shang had only locked her up.

Now that Aoxue is so fierce, she doesn't dare to be reckless anymore. She only wants to save her life. "I'm sorry."

Granny Wang also stepped forward, saying, "She hasn't learned any manners at all after studying them for so long. The Crown Princess asked me to teach her some more manners."

Su Tingwan was truly frightened and quickly said, "This servant..."

Ao Xue coldly reminded her, "She is a lowly slave."

Su Tingwan gritted her teeth, "This lowly servant apologizes to the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess is magnanimous and will not hold a grudge. I am sorry."

Looking at Su Tingwan now, she thought of her aggressive face in her previous life, but she would not turn herself into such a hateful person. There was nothing to be proud of in kicking someone when they are down.

"Take her away, don't let her interfere with Ye Liang's childbirth." Jiang Fenghua didn't even bother to look at her.

Just as Aoxue was about to take Su Tingwan away, Jiang Fenghua said again, "Forget it, let her go and let her serve Ye Liang's concubine while she gives birth."

Although Ao Xue didn't understand the Crown Princess's intentions, she still pushed Su Tingwan to the bedside. "Behave yourself. If I see you having any more wicked thoughts, my sword won't be as easy to deal with as the Crown Princess's."

Su Tingwan rushed to Ye Susu's side and asked, "Is she about to give birth?" This child is the most important thing right now. She originally thought that Jiang Fenghua was there to prevent Ye Susu from having children, so she wanted to say something to provoke her so that she wouldn't hurt the child in Ye Susu's belly. She didn't expect that the maidservant beside her would be so fierce.

Ye Susu's forehead was covered in cold sweat. She was in excruciating pain and didn't even have the strength to speak. She said intermittently, "Not...not yet."