Meng Jianghe was, after all, a shrewd man.

Although he had already established a relationship with the Second Prince, he still sent a lot of things to the Yan family.

It is said that he was not at home when Meng Junxian and Yan Jinsi got married, which was considered a breach of etiquette.

He arrived with a smile, so the princess naturally couldn't give him a cold shoulder.

Back when Yan Nan returned to the Meng family, the Meng family had never experienced such a day.

Since Yan Jinsi had also returned to her parents' home, it was only right and proper for her to visit her second sister, Yan Jinxiu.

Yan Jinxiu's face had actually healed; it was just covered in pustules, which scabbed over after one dose of medicine.

After another dose of medicine, the scabs all fell off.

But it's never the same as before.

From a distance, you can't tell, but up close, her face is covered in pockmarks.

The pores are rough, and in some areas you can see many pits and uneven depths.

The face was slightly better after using the medicine given by the imperial physician, but the exposed hands were like old tree bark.

It was still white, but with a dark red tinge that looked really disgusting.

The same goes for the neck.

She even suffered some damage to her eyes, and her vision became somewhat blurry when she looked at people.

She could have gotten better, but she's been crying too much lately... It would be good if she didn't get worse.

With such an appearance, even if she were born into a family of geese, she would probably have no hope in this life.

Yan Jinsi only stood there briefly before leaving; they hadn't really had any friendship to begin with.

In the past, it was nothing more than Yan Jinxiu currying favor with them. Just coming to visit and bringing some tonics was considered more than enough.

Since the accident, Yan Jinxiu has rarely spoken. She doesn't need to look in a mirror; she can tell what her face will look like just by looking at her hands.

She had anticipated Yan Jinsi's ruthlessness.

At this moment, filled with resentment and helplessness, all I could do was sit there listlessly.

She has become like this, and even her own mother no longer treats her the same way, let alone others.

The father didn't even personally see it once.

I heard that my mother is now planning to bring her two half-sisters to live with her.

This kind of family is utterly heartless and ungrateful.

The Crown Prince's residence was unaware of these matters.

Jiyue Pavilion remains unchanged.

After the fifteenth day of the month, Shu Chengfeng will have to attend court again.

All three pregnant women in the household are resting and preparing for childbirth.

Logically, since a balance can be maintained for the time being, then all of them should be able to be born.

But then, an unexpected event occurred.

Shu Chengfeng has been resting in Su Liangdi's room every night for the past few days.

This night was no exception.

Because it was late spring, the night of the seventeenth was overcast, and not a single star could be seen.

By morning, it started snowing in small particles.

Shu Chengfeng had just gotten up when Yun Ji arrived. The maids of Wangchun Pavilion were helping him and Consort Su with their toilette.

With some snowflakes on his shoulders, he greeted the doorway and said, "Your Highness, something has happened in the main courtyard."

"What's wrong?" Shu Chengfeng frowned.

"They say the Crown Princess slipped and fell..." Yun Ji said.

There's no need to say anything more; if it were just that, things wouldn't have gotten into this mess.

"Have you called the imperial physician yet?" Consort Su asked hurriedly. "Shall we go and take a look?"

Fortunately, there was no court session today; all I needed to do was go to the inner cabinet. At this point, I had no choice but to send someone in to ask for leave.

In the main courtyard, the imperial physician had not yet arrived, but the Crown Princess had already been bleeding for quite some time.

The physician and the nannies advised that the medication should be taken as soon as possible, as it was too late to save the baby. The remaining contents in the body would be harmful to the adult.

The Crown Princess remained calm and simply kept silent.

When the imperial physician arrived, he gave the same explanation, wrote down the prescription, and went to wait in the side courtyard.

Everyone who came to pay their respects was quite shocked to hear about this.

No one expected that the Crown Princess's miscarriage was actually caused by slipping...

Shu Chengfeng looked at the people who came to pay their respects and said, "Go back now. There's no need to pay your respects for the next few days."

Everyone agreed, and no one insisted on staying.

Yan Nangui glanced at Shu Chengfeng a few times and felt that this guy had a temper that was being suppressed.

After everyone left, Yun Ji came in and drove the servants out.

"How is it?" Shu Chengfeng asked.

"Nothing has been found yet, since most of the people in this main courtyard are from the Ning family. However... the imperial physician's opinion is that this is more like taking medicine..."

"Oh? Taking medicine?" Shu Chengfeng raised an eyebrow.

"The imperial physician said it seems like she took an abortion pill, but because the dosage was small and Her Highness the Crown Princess's pregnancy is still in its early stages, it's not very obvious. But that's how imperial physicians always talk; if they say so, then it must be true. I just don't understand, if she really was harmed, why would Her Highness the Crown Princess hide it?"

Yun Ji asked, puzzled, "Also, if it's medicine, it couldn't have been taken so quickly. It must have been taken last night or sometime ago, right?"

"This is truly an interesting matter." Shu Chengfeng sneered, "Fine, let's go to the palace."

"Ah? Your Highness, aren't you going to take a look?" Yun Ji asked.

“If I were to go now, she would be even more anxious. Never mind. The Crown Princess just had a miscarriage; it's best not to disturb her.” Shu Chengfeng spoke these words with gentle affection, but his voice…

In the main courtyard, just as the Crown Princess was finally able to lie down in peace, Lady He, with red eyes, said, "Your Majesty..."

"I never imagined that the Ning family would try to make me miscarry. Am I, a mere Crown Princess, less capable than their schemes? The women of the Ning family are expected to serve their clan, but I am already the Crown Princess!"

Madam He was speechless. Had the Ning family gone mad?

"I'm afraid it's not the old master's or the master's intention, there are so many people in the Ning family..."

She had taken a special pregnancy-preserving medicine made by the Ning family, a medicine that couldn't be found anywhere else. Otherwise, why would she have remained silent?

She couldn't make a scene, otherwise the Crown Prince would find out that it was someone from the Ning family who poisoned her with this medicine.

What use is she, a daughter of the Ning family? Couldn't she just die of illness as well?

She was truly afraid, afraid of reaching a point of no return.

Other things aside, the secret recipe for these pills is in my grandmother's hands. Who but the Ning family could possibly find it?

Even if she had misunderstood the Ning family at this moment, she didn't dare to bring it up.

Everything must be kept secret.

She closed her eyes in anguish: "I hate it."

Madam He quickly comforted her, "Your Majesty, please don't be like this. Your health is the most important thing. Perhaps someone is trying to harm you. What if it's not the Ning family? Even if they have ulterior motives, they wouldn't be so foolish. If you give birth to the Crown Prince's eldest son, you'll be in a better position. No matter who they favor, they're not powerful enough yet, so they have no reason to harm you, right?"

The Crown Princess gripped the bedsheet tightly, then let go after a long while: "You're right. Even if there's another way out, it wouldn't be my family harming me. It doesn't make sense."

“Yes, so there must have been some mishap. I’ll go back myself. You can’t have this kind of estrangement from your family,” Madam He said.

At first, they were all shocked and frightened, and everyone thought that the Ning family had given up on the Crown Princess.

But upon closer reflection, it becomes clear that this won't happen. Who would complain about having too many chips?