Chapter 416: Full of Mysteries

"Master, I heard something in the palace today. Madam Biao said that when the Empress was young, she was weak and had difficulty having children. Later, it was Doctor Zhong who restored her health, and only then was she married into the Eastern Palace."

Madam Feng lowered her voice and said, "The Empress was married to His Majesty for several years before she became pregnant with the Prince of Qi. Logically, given the Empress's frail health, it's not surprising that she'd have difficulty conceiving. However, after hearing what they said, I remembered an old incident and became suspicious."

Master Feng frowned: "What's the matter?"

"Do you remember what happened in the temporary palace twenty years ago?" Madam Feng said, "The Concubine Shu wanted to divide the Empress's power and schemed against the Empress's maidservants."

Mr. Feng's mother and Mrs. Lin are cousins, and if you look closely, they are relatives because they belong to the Xianwang faction.

The Lin family was wiped out, Concubine Shu fell from power, and the virtuous king was demoted back to his fiefdom. The virtuous king's power was greatly impacted, and a small number of people sought other ways out, secretly joining the King of Qi, or perhaps Zhao Yi.

Another small number of people have become quiet, not taking sides with any party, and trying to survive in the cracks.

The remaining people were still waiting for the opportunity, and when the King of Qi and Zhao Yi were both defeated, they would take advantage of the situation to support the virtuous king to take the throne.

The Feng family belongs to the last category. They are not only the party of the wise king, but also have close ties with the wise king. When the new emperor ascends the throne, he will definitely not reuse them.

It is foreseeable that their family will decline from now on.

When Mrs. Feng heard the conversation between the two ladies in the palace, she immediately thought of what happened in the palace twenty years ago. The more she thought about it, the more doubts she felt.

The reason why Concubine Shu chose to plot against the maidservant beside the Queen was because this maidservant was brought by the Queen from her natal family.

This palace maid is extremely capable and was carefully trained by the Shou'an Marquis Mansion to help the Queen solve her problems.

The queen was in poor health, so most of the affairs in her hands were handled by her trusted confidants.

This palace maid was one of them, and she was highly trusted by the queen.

Concubine Shu intends to cut off the Empress's right-hand men and then use the palace maids to stop the Shou'an Marquisate from sending people to the Empress, leaving the Empress alone and achieving the first step in decentralization.

Madam Feng continued, "The Concubine Shu didn't catch the maidservant and the guard having an affair, so she suspects the Empress got wind of it first and broke the conspiracy."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Feng remembered this incident and asked, "Why are you bringing it up again after so many years?"

"Since I've brought this up again, I naturally have my reasons." Madam Feng gave Mr. Feng a sullen look and slowly recounted, "At that time, Consort Shu had lost the initiative, had no evidence, and couldn't find the guard. She even thought the guard was in the hands of the Empress. She was terrified for a while, fearing the guard would betray her. Unexpectedly, a month later, news came from the palace that a guard had drowned in a pond."

"The Concubine Shu sent someone to secretly investigate and only then discovered that the guard was the one who died. She suspected that the guard had succeeded. Otherwise, the Empress would have pried the guard's mouth open and exposed her crimes. But the Empress didn't do that. Instead, she silenced the guard."

"The Concubine Shu was not prepared to give up. She even planned to capture the maidservant for a virgin examination. If she wasn't virgin, she would fabricate an affair and bring it before Your Majesty. However, at this moment, news came that the maidservant had fallen ill and passed away."

At this point, Madam Feng's tone was a little subtle: "The Queen's pregnancy was announced when the palace maid died."

Master Feng's face suddenly changed, realizing what Madam Feng was trying to say. Before he could open his mouth to reprimand her, he heard Madam Feng continue, "I hadn't thought of this before. After all, Your Majesty stayed in the Empress's room during your time at the temporary palace. Perhaps the Empress conceived the Prince of Qi in the temporary palace, and the Empress silenced the maid to prevent her from falling into Concubine Shu's hands. But then I remembered another thing. The female physician who delivered the Empress was a skilled doctor, serving as her full-time physician. Shortly after the Empress gave birth to the Prince of Qi, she retired."

Mr. Feng fell into deep thought.

Madam Feng said, "As long as we find this female doctor, we can solve the mystery. If I'm overthinking it, it won't make any difference. If the Prince of Qi is really not the Queen's son, then the virtuous Prince will be able to turn things around."