102 Concubine
◎ Jin Cui became the concubine so that she could give birth with peace of mind◎
Yu'er skipped off to pick up the jade butterfly balls. Cui Rumei pulled Huaxue over, covered her face with a handkerchief, and whispered to her, "Follow him closely."
"yes."
Liu Chunyan was so lucky to have a son that she felt superior to everyone else and even tried to take away her special favor. She would eliminate anyone who stood in her way, whether it was a concubine or a prince.
When her son was born, he became the eldest prince.
As long as she can regain favor, Rong Qianyu will lose favor, and Fu Hua will get tired of her sooner or later. Then there is no need to worry about not having a chance to become the empress.
Hua Xue took Yu'er to pick flowers, but the child suddenly became rebellious and pulled Hua Xue's skirt to be held.
"Aunt Hua, my handkerchief fell. Can you help me find it?"
"What handkerchief?" Hua Xue asked. She hadn't seen him holding any handkerchief along the way.
Yu'er leaned on her arms and said, "My mother embroidered it. Please help me find it!"
She was so young, and the adults would listen to whatever she said. Besides, he said his handkerchief was missing, so in order to prevent him from feeling uncomfortable and affecting his plans, she had to help him find it.
Hua Xue was a little impatient. She was a military supervisor, and if she left at this time, she was afraid that something would happen and she would not be able to explain it. She didn't want to go at all, but the little ball in front of her was too cute, and there was nothing she could do as he kept pestering her and acting coquettishly.
"Okay," Hua Xue put him down and gave him special instructions, "Then I'll go look for it for you. Don't run around alone."
A smile appeared on Yu'er's rosy little face. "Well, aunt, go early and come back early!"
"Handkerchief, what handkerchief?" She walked along the way she came several times but didn't see any handkerchief. She walked around a few times and searched carefully at the rockery, but still couldn't find anything.
She walked around stealthily, and from a distance she looked like a thief.
After searching for a long time, she was sweating and panting, but she didn't see anything that had fallen. "Where is this handkerchief?"
She was afraid that she was being fooled, but Yu'er was less than three years old, still a little kid who couldn't even walk properly, and didn't even have many teeth. How could she be fooled by a two-year-old child?
But the more she thought about it, the weirder it became. Why was he pestering her to find a handkerchief for no reason?
"Hua Xue, why are you here alone?"
Tan Lu passed by and saw her doing something in the melon field.
She had something on her mind and was startled by the call, "Empress Jing!" She quickly ran up to her and greeted her.
Tan Lu looked around and felt strange. She was Cui Rumei's personal maid. Since she was here, Cui Rumei would naturally be nearby. But why didn't she take care of Cui Rumei, but was acting suspiciously alone?
Seeing this, she also asked a few questions, "Your master is pregnant, why are you wandering around here instead of serving her?"
Hua Xue explained that the prince's handkerchief had fallen off and asked her to find it.
As soon as these words were spoken, Tan Lu felt something was amiss. The eldest prince had his own people to serve him, so when would it be her turn as a personal maid of the Zhaoyi to serve him?
"You are someone close to Cui Zhaoyi. Why are you looking for a handkerchief if you don't take care of Cui Zhaoyi?"
Hua Xue was a girl who couldn't stand the trouble. She lost her composure after being asked about it in just a few words. Tan Lu found her look strange, but didn't ask any more questions.
"Where is His Highness now?"
Hua Xue lay on the ground, lowered her eyes and replied, "Your Highness is playing alone in the Imperial Garden."
Tan Lu was surprised that she actually let Yu'er be outside alone. She really didn't know how she could do her job. She was so careless that she even came out to look for a handkerchief.
"You left such a young child alone? Go find him quickly. If something happens, you'll have several heads chopped off!"
"yes."
At that time, Yu'er leisurely picked a large handful of jade butterfly balls and ran to Cui Rumei to give them to her, "Empress Zhaoyi, these flowers are for you!"
"Your Highness!" Cui Rumei didn't dare to answer and kept backing away. "Please take the flowers away. I'm feeling a little uncomfortable right now."
His clothes were scented with flowers, which was likely to attract bees and butterflies, so she naturally didn't dare to accept it.
"What's that sound?"
Suddenly, a buzzing sound was heard not far away. A group of bees smelled the scent of the Jade Butterfly Ball, and a group of them appeared out of nowhere and headed straight for the flower in Yu'er's hand.
"Bee, bee!" Cui Rumei was frightened. She wanted to run, but because she was too scared and her body was heavy, the more anxious she was, the more scared she became.
A swarm of bees rushed towards her. She dodged backwards but slipped and fell. As the bees flew towards her, she could only protect her face first.
"Your Highness!" At this time, Feixu ran out from somewhere, quickly took off Yu'er's coat and threw it next to Cui Rumei.
"Aunt Xu, Aunt Xu!" Yu'er was also frightened by the sight of so many bees and threw herself into her arms and burst into tears. Fortunately, she fought hard to protect Yu'er from being stung by the bees. "Don't be afraid, Your Highness, lie down quickly!"
Cui Rumei was not so lucky. She was stung by bees several times. She set up a trap but ended up hurting herself. "Help! Help!"
She touched her stomach and wailed, "Help, my stomach hurts, it hurts!"
Hua Xue rushed over and drove away the bees, but the three people present were scared half to death, especially Cui Rumei, whose dress was already stained with blood.
"My Queen! My Queen, are you okay?"
"My stomach..." Cui Rumei covered her face and kept shouting that her stomach hurt. It seemed that she was having a miscarriage and was about to give birth.
"Someone, call the imperial physician! Quickly call the imperial physician!"
The news spread quickly in the palace. Rong Qianyu knew as soon as Cui Rumei was brought back to the palace. "Your Majesty, Cui Rumei is about to give birth. She has already seen blood."
Rong Qianyu only knew that she was about to give birth, and she had no idea about the bee sting. "It's so soon, shouldn't it be a few days?"
Rong Pan said, "It is said that Concubine Cui fell down when she encountered a bee in the Imperial Garden. The High Prince was also in the Imperial Garden. Fortunately, the palace maids around the High Prince tried their best to protect her, so nothing happened."
"Did Yu'er encounter a bee, or was he with Cui Rumei?"
Putting these pieces of information together, Rong Qianyu realized that she had been tricked by her before, and her sensitive nerves were quickly tensed.
Tan Lu said casually, "When I saw Hua Xue today, I felt that there was something strange about this matter."
After a moment's deliberation, Rong Qianyu quickly took action, "Let's hurry over there. Have you notified His Majesty?"
Rong Pan nodded, "I've already sent a message. They said it's at Liu Xiuyi's place."
Rong Qianyu and Tan Lu went to Cui Rumei's palace together. It was heard that she was carried back from the Imperial Garden. She didn't take a sedan chair, but was carried back all the way with blood on her lower body.
"Your Majesty!"
As the Queen, Rong Qianyu politely advised, "Your Majesty, please don't worry. Concubine Cui's pregnancy has always been stable. Nothing will happen again."
Fu Hua sat aside in silence, while Liu Chunyan was crying loudly.
Rong Qianyu asked Liu Chunyan, "Liu Xiuyi, how is Yu'er?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Chunyan threw herself before Rong Qianyu and said, "Your Majesty, have mercy on me. I am a humble person with little influence and my words carry no weight. I am truly terrified. Please, Your Majesty, help me make the decision!"
She has always been very sensible, and this time she lost her composure so much, I think Yu'er must have been very scared.
"Where did you get this from?"
She knelt at the feet, tears streaming down her face, and choked as she recounted what had happened today, "Yu'er went to play in the Imperial Garden today. The bee attack wasn't accidental; it was man-made!"
Liu Chunyan fainted several times while speaking. Feixu helped her up and added, "Your Highness wore a new dress today, made by Consort Cui. It was that dress that attracted butterflies recently. Consort Cui happened to be in the Imperial Garden as well, so they encountered bees together."
Fu Hua didn't say a word, but Rong Qianyu knew that he probably knew the situation. Otherwise, given his partiality towards Cui Rumei, he would defend her whenever there was hearsay and no real evidence. But he didn't do that this time, which showed that he knew about it as well.
Rong Qianyu glanced at him and deliberately asked, "Is this accurate?"
This time, Fu Hua finally spoke, "This dress was indeed made by Mei'er for Yu'er, but I didn't expect..."
Liu Chunyan told Rong Qianyu that she wanted her to come forward to solve the problem, but she didn't expect Rong Qianyu to comfort Fu Hua abnormally.
"Your Majesty, please be at ease. Let's not discuss this for now. I think we should wait until Concubine Cui gives birth safely before making any final decision."
Seeing her speaking for herself, Fu Hua also said something unrelated to change the subject, "Why has it been so long? Three hours and still no movement?"
The midwife came out from the inner room and reported, "Your Majesty, Concubine Zhaoyi is in premature labor. The baby's head hasn't yet fully entered the pelvis, and this is a first birth, so it's definitely more laborious. We've already given you medicine to hasten labor. Birth is a serious matter, Your Majesty, please don't rush. We'll make sure it's done as quickly as possible."
Rong Qianyu held Fu Hua's hand and comforted him, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Giving birth is like walking through the gates of hell. You must relax."
"Pan'er, go and convey my imperial decree to promote Consort Cui to allow her to give birth with peace of mind." When these words came out of her mouth, everyone was shocked. The discord between the Queen and Consort Cui was a secret known to everyone in the harem, but this time it was the Queen herself who appointed her as Consort.
Whether out of gratitude or something else, Fu Hua turned to look at Rong Qianyu, his eyes filled with affection like never before.
He was so gentle for another woman. Rong Qianyu was always willing to fulfill her wishes, but it was boring to get even a little respect for her.
Although it was the Queen's decree that appointed her as a concubine, Rong Qianyu still had to investigate today's incident and would never let it go. This was also an explanation to Liu Chunyan.
"Also, His Majesty will definitely thoroughly investigate today's matter. Yu'er is His Majesty's eldest son, and the incident with Shu'er is still fresh in our minds. Anyone who dares to lay their hands on the royal heir in the future will be damned!"
Fu Hua seemed to be somewhat numb, or perhaps because she could no longer hear anything after being named a concubine, she simply cooperated, "Yes, I will definitely handle today's matter impartially."
They waited for another hour, and it was already dark.
In the room, Cui Rumei started shouting at the top of her lungs, and then fell silent for a long time. Her wet hair stuck to her forehead, her eyebrows were twisted into a ball, her eyes almost popped out of their sockets, her nostrils flared, and she was breathing rapidly.
His voice was hoarse, and he made unpleasant groans from time to time. His hands were tightly clutching the bed sheets that had already been soaked with sweat.
Fu Hua was also running around anxiously outside, his heart was burning with worry and his palms were full of sweat.
As a baby cried, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Fu Hua couldn't stop smiling. This was not his first time being a father, but it was the happiest time for him. In contrast, most of the concubines present were forcing themselves to smile.
Soon after, the midwife, holding the newborn baby, couldn't hide the smile on her face, and knelt down in front of Fu Hua, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, Concubine Cui has given birth, both mother and child are safe, and it's a little prince!"
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