Chapter 480 The Death of the Third Prince is Suspicious

Upon hearing the word "murder," the wet nurse's heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She knelt on the ground, repeatedly begging for mercy, "Your Majesty, spare me! I did not kill the Third Prince. He has always been sickly. If anyone is to blame, it's Your Highness. She liked to take the Third Prince out, and the weather outside was cold, which is why he never recovered. It has nothing to do with me. It's all because Your Highness loves to show off and disregards the Third Prince's illness by taking him out. He has been coughing constantly, which is why he drank licorice soup to treat it... It really has nothing to do with me, Your Majesty, please investigate!" The wet nurse kept trying to exonerate herself.

Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "I personally witnessed the birth of the Third Prince. He was born in good health. During the month that Consort Tang was in confinement, the Third Prince also grew well. Why did the wet nurse say that the Third Prince was sickly from a young age? Just now, Zhang Mama said that it was you who encouraged Consort Tang to feed the Third Prince licorice soup. What exactly is your purpose?"

"I'm innocent! I've been taking care of the Third Prince with all my heart. It was Consort Tang who complained about his noise and that's why she fed him licorice soup for so long. Licorice soup can cure the Third Prince's illness. I didn't know that drinking too much licorice soup could be fatal!"

Jiang Fenghua walked up to Tang Qianran and saw that she was in a daze. She said coldly, "Your child is dead. You killed him because of your own actions. Are you satisfied now?"

Tang Qianran knelt before Jiang Fenghua, tears streaming down her face. "He is not dead. Please, Your Majesty, save him. He was in labor for three days and three nights and couldn't give birth. I thought both my child and I were going to die. It was Your Majesty who saved me and my child. Now Your Majesty can surely save him too. I am willing to give my life for the life of the Third Prince."

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have failed to take good care of the child. I thought that by gaining the Empress Dowager's favor and currying favor with her, I could secure my place in the harem. It's all my fault." Tang Qianran was now deeply remorseful: "It's all because I failed to take good care of the Third Prince."

She pushed aside the nanny and maid and rushed to the child, hugging him tightly in her arms. "The Third Prince must be asleep. He's usually so noisy. Why has he slept for so long today? Your Majesty, look, he's asleep. It's not even dawn yet. The Third Prince will wake up when it gets light."

"Mother will hold Xuan'er and let him sleep peacefully. Mother will never disturb you again. Xuan'er, be good, Mother's good baby." Tang Qianran held the child and her voice became gentle. "Shh, keep your voices down. The Third Prince is afraid of being disturbed. The Third Prince is coughing again. Wet nurse, quickly bring the medicine and tell him to stop crying. Why is he crying and crying? Tell him to stop crying. After giving him the medicine, he will be quiet and stop crying. The Empress Dowager likes quiet and obedient children. Mother will take you to see the Empress Dowager."

Tang Qianran, holding the child, was about to walk outside again. "It's almost dawn, Xuan'er, wake up quickly. Your mother will take you to pay your respects to the Empress Dowager. Xuan'er is a prince, so his status must be extremely noble."

Xie Shang then ordered people to stop Tang Qianran, to prevent her from running around erratically with the child in her arms.

He turned to Jiang Fenghua and asked, "What is the Empress's opinion on this matter?"

"I don't know if there are other reasons," Jiang Fenghua said. "The Third Prince was perfectly fine, and then he just died like that. I think we should investigate thoroughly before drawing any conclusions."

Xie Shang nodded, "Then investigate! Summon everyone in Changchun Palace for questioning."

Jiang Fenghua said, "That's the only way for now."

After quickly asking around, the conclusion was that neither the wet nurse nor Consort Tang knew that drinking too much licorice could cause infant death, and the child had always been cared for by the wet nurse.

The Tang family had been blessed with good fortune all the time, and Tang Qianran gave birth to a prince, which made her proud and want to show off. Unexpectedly, this led to the death of her son. Tang Qianran was a new mother and knew nothing about anything. She did not know that drinking too much licorice soup could kill a child. The wet nurse was also ignorant and only thought that licorice soup was for treating coughs, without paying attention to the dosage.

The licorice soup was prescribed by the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital, who also instructed them on how much to drink, but they did not follow their instructions.

Jiang Fenghua was also a mother. Looking at the mentally unstable Tang Qianran, a soft feeling rose in her heart. As a mother, she sympathized with her. What mother would want to watch her child die in front of her?

Tang Qianran ended up like this because she was too greedy. Her greed killed her son, so she deserved it. She is not pitiful at all; the only one who is pitiful is her child.

Jiang Fenghua quietly observed everyone. She calmed herself, put aside all her emotions, and analyzed the situation rationally: This explanation was flawless and reasonable.

Jiang Fenghua couldn't detect a trace of conspiracy. Tang Qianran wanted to win favor with the Empress Dowager, and the licorice made the child sleepy and quiet. She unknowingly killed her child.

But what if a third person tempted her to do that?

She knew that the Third Prince's wet nurse was hired by the Tang family. Surely the Tang family wouldn't send a woman who specifically plotted to harm Tang Qianran's son into the palace!

Granny Zhang was also brought into the palace by Tang Qianran from the Tang family.

Xie Shang kicked the wet nurse, knocking her to the ground. "You're trying to shirk responsibility for not serving the Third Prince well? Drag them all away and beat them to death so they can be buried with the Third Prince."

In an instant, all the palace maids, eunuchs, and matrons in Changchun Palace begged for mercy.

Chunlan said, "Your Majesty, spare our lives! We did not plot against the Third Prince. In fact, Zhang Mama and the wet nurse have always had a bad relationship."

The two exchanged a glance, as if there was something else going on.

Granny Wang approached them and said in a deep voice, "Tell me everything in front of the Emperor and Empress, what exactly happened?"

Chunlan and Chunxiang were originally assigned by Granny Wang to serve Tang Qianran. Tang Qianran was generous and well-behaved, and did not cause any trouble. Unexpectedly, such a big incident has occurred now.

Chunlan continued, "Actually, everyone usually competes to take care of the Third Prince. Zhang Mama and the wet nurse have never gotten along well because Consort Tang's rewards were not fair. Everyone felt resentful and jealous of each other. Could it be that they harmed the Third Prince in their struggle to win Consort Tang's favor?"

Because Chunlan and Chunxiang were sent by Granny Wang, they didn't even have a chance to get close to the Third Prince, also because they were wary that the Third Prince might be the Empress's people.

Jiang Fenghua stared at Zhang Mama, "Just now, Zhang Mama kept saying that the wet nurse wanted to harm the Third Prince. The Third Prince has always been cared for by the wet nurse, and Consort Tang has given her more rewards. Mama is not convinced. I suspect that you deliberately wanted to harm the Third Prince to frame the wet nurse."