Chapter 28 Natural Disasters
Not long after the prince left, the imperial physician arrived and carefully took Fengyi's pulse. He said, "Your Majesty's pulse is stable. I think there should be nothing serious. Just take good care of yourself."
"Do you need to continue taking the pregnancy-maintaining medicine?" asked Nanny Sun.
The imperial physician stroked his beard and pondered for a moment: "Your Majesty is weaker than ordinary women. Please eat for a while. I will keep an eye on your condition."
Liang Hanzhang remained dazed, answering the imperial physician's questions only half-heartedly. Second Matron Sun Liu suspected she was tired from waking up, so after the physician left, she prepared to make the bed more comfortable for her.
At this moment, a child's voice as loud as a silver bell came from outside the palace gate: "Aunt!" Before he could continue to shout, he was interrupted by the woman's scolding.
Li Luohua patted her son's chubby hands, her face full of disgust: "Your aunt is pregnant with a baby, don't make any noise. If you keep shouting, I'll send you back."
This naughty monkey is like a crazy person who will tear off the roof if he is not punished. We were all fine before, but as soon as he arrived at the palace gate, he was like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins and could not be stopped.
When Liang Hanzhang heard the voice, his calm expression changed, and he said in surprise, "Is the princess here? Ma'am, please invite her in quickly." As he spoke, he was about to stand up.
Nanny Sun looked at Fengyi's face, which was still as pale as snow. She wanted to let her have a good rest, but was afraid of neglecting the princess. After hesitating for a moment, she went out in person to welcome her in.
Zhao Yu broke free from the princess's hand and leaped up, revealing a pair of adorable little fangs. He opened his arms and was about to pounce on her, but Princess Changping quickly intercepted him. She angrily scolded him, "If you continue to act so recklessly, I'll really send you back!"
Zhao Yu paused awkwardly, finally remembering the princess' instructions along the way. Cautiously, she approached Liang Hanzhang, her large eyes filled with curiosity. "Aunt, my mother said you're pregnant. Is that true?"
Liang Hanzhang smiled and got down from the couch, and told the servants to look after the seats. He took Zhao Yu's hand and walked over and said, "Yes, brother Yu will have a brother or sister soon. Are you happy?"
"Happy!" Yu Ge'er nodded like crazy and said in childish words, "I want a little brother. When he comes out, I can teach him how to play with a slingshot and climb trees to get bird eggs. I don't want a little sister. My little sister only knows how to cry. When I touch her little face, she feels so wronged that she goes back to complain. Humph!"
When Liang Hanzhang and the princess heard this, they looked at each other and laughed.
Li Luohua explained: "He has several cousins who usually come back to the old house during holidays. When they see that my sister is fair-skinned, they tease her with bad intentions. As a result, when my sister hears the name of Brother Yu, she is so scared that her legs tremble." Then he pointed at Zhao Yu and scolded him with a smile: "You are really a bastard born by me."
Zhao Yu made a face at his mother, took the pink fruit handed to him by Liang Hanzhang and ran away.
Fengyi replied with a smile: "Children are not all like this."
The princess looked at the woman leaning on the soft pillow in front of her. Her face was pale and she looked as weak as a willow. Although she had a smile on her face, her whole body was shrouded in an indescribable sadness. She couldn't help but ask: "Mother Zhang, are you feeling unwell?"
Liang Hanzhang shook her head. "I'm so grateful to the princess for coming to see me." Li Luohua sat down beside her, poured himself a cup of tea, and said nonchalantly, "What's there to be grateful for?"
As he spoke, he frowned again: "Originally, the Queen Mother also wanted to come, but no matter how much we said good things and bad things, the Royal Brother refused on the grounds that it disturbed your rest. Yu Ge'er and I came here secretly while the Royal Brother was away."
Her relationship with Li Cheng was not like that of siblings who grew up together, not to mention the fact that she had accidentally interfered in his affairs in the backyard last time. She was afraid that her behavior would go too far and anger her brother.
Princess "Zhang Niang" asked several times in a row, and the woman who was twisting her fingers unconsciously next to her finally came to her senses. Her eyes seemed to be covered by dark clouds, and she was confused.
Li Luohua couldn't help but worry: "Zhang Niang, are you worried about something? If you trust me, you might as well talk to me."
Liang Hanzhang smiled bitterly inwardly. How could she tell others about her inner distress? Was she supposed to tell the princess that she didn't want to have the prince's child? How could she have the courage to do that?
After calming herself down a little and adjusting her breathing, she shook her head seriously: "No, I just suddenly found out that I was pregnant, so I was inevitably surprised for a moment."
The princess looked at her repeatedly, but her eyes showed no emotion, and she wondered if she believed it or not. She comforted her softly:
"Don't be afraid. I was like this when Huaiyu was a child. I couldn't eat well and felt that everything had no taste in my mouth. I couldn't sleep at night because of the noise. Sometimes I even had the urge to not have this child."
Liang Hanzhang was shocked. He did not expect the princess to say this.
"But the moment Yu Ge'er was born, his little body nestled in the prince consort's arms, murmured like a cat. My heart couldn't help but soften. He is my blood relative in this world. Since he chose me as his mother, it is a kind of fate."
The princess was open-minded and rarely spoke such heartfelt words to her. Liang Hanzhang knew that she had good intentions. However, her situation was different from the princess's.
The child in her belly would bear the hatred between the two dynasties. As a mother, how could she bear to force the hatred of adults on a child?
"Mother Zhang, it's best to relax and take good care of your pregnancy," the princess patted her shoulder gently. "You must know that our brother is already quite old. If the Crown Prince still doesn't have an heir, the court officials will definitely discuss it privately. Can you bear to see him suffer such rumors?"
Judging from the emperor's brother's attitude towards her, he probably had a bit of the attitude of "only taking one scoop from the vast sea of water". If the child didn't come from Zhang Niang's belly, would there be another choice?
Although he was on good terms with Zhang Niang, he also knew that a pregnant woman would suffer a lot. However, since she was a concubine in the Prince's house, she would soon be granted the title of Liangyuan.
To put it bluntly, this was her mission. After all, in terms of kinship, the Crown Prince was her brother. Her entire connection with Feng Yi was because of the Crown Prince.
Liang Hanzhang also sensed the subtle hint in the princess' words and felt secretly annoyed that his emotions were indeed a bit obvious.
She raised her hand and gently stroked her belly, like an ordinary mother, anticipating the birth of her child. She smiled and said, "This child is what Your Highness and I have been waiting for. As a mother, I am always delighted by his arrival." She simply couldn't bear to see her child suffer.
The woman's eyes were gentle, her movements reverent and solemn. That was an innocent child. If she had a clean background, how could she be in such a dilemma right now?
The other party is the heir apparent of a country, and his status is noble. If you give birth to his child, you will surely have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life.
Li Luohua knew her words weren't quite right, but after hearing Liang Hanzhang's words, she completely put aside her strange worries. She grabbed Zhao Yu's hands, which were covered in grease from eating, and wiped them with a handkerchief.
She smiled and said, "Pregnant women tend to be thoughtful. If you feel bored in the future, you can send someone to the princess's mansion to tell her that Yu'er and I can come and accompany you."
As he said this, he pulled his son's ear in disgust and said, "This kid has heard a lot of fantastic stories recently, and he talks a lot. It's just right for him to come here to kill time."
Zhao Yu covered his ears in pain and glared at his mother angrily: "Mom, it hurts!"
"It's normal that it hurts. I told you not to learn your lesson. I clearly told you not to eat these snacks before we left. Look, you didn't take my words seriously."
Zhao Yu snorted, Dada broke free from her arms, hugged Liang Hanzhang's arm, shook his head and said, "Let it go, Yu'er took it seriously. But you eat with your mouth, I didn't put it in my mouth, and for a moment I forgot my mother's instructions." The smug little face was cunning.
Watching the interaction between the mother and son, Liang Hanzhang stroked Yu'er's round head and couldn't help but smile. The princess then chatted with her for a long time, giving her detailed instructions on the various taboos for pregnant women.
Finally, under the constant glances of the nanny, she looked up at the sun outside and finally realized that it was getting late. She had to go back quickly, otherwise she might bump into her brother who was returning to the palace.
Liang Yuan's face was also tired, she must have been holding back and not being able to speak. Knowing that she was disturbing him, she raised her hand to let the servant put down the gift she had brought with her, and left with Yu Ge'er reluctantly.
Liang Hanzhang covered his mouth and yawned softly. He saw that only Madam Sun and Madam Liu were around him. He hadn't even seen Chunfen and the others. He couldn't help but ask, "Where are Chunfen and the others?"
Chunfen was furious because she had neglected her duties yesterday and failed to observe the ceremonial rituals properly. His Highness, in a rage, punished her with ten strokes of the cane. Finally, he specifically instructed the maids, who were young and ignorant of the importance of the task, to be assigned to the outer courtyard to do some housekeeping.
Liang Hanzhang sighed inwardly upon hearing this. If she had been surrounded by a few Chunfen women, her plan might have had some chance of success. But the two of them had been sent away, leaving her with only two older, more stable maids. Not to mention secretly buying abortion pills, even if she wanted to go out in the future, it would probably be difficult.
"Your Majesty, it's getting late. How about I go and serve lunch?" After all, she needs to take pregnancy-maintaining medicine after the meal.
Liang Hanzhang felt depressed, but she knew that worrying wouldn't solve the problem. She had to think carefully and find a way to abort the pregnancy without letting the imperial physician know.
When Liang Hanzhang thought about how to avoid being discovered by those skilled imperial physicians, he felt a headache again.
This child must not be kept. Leaving her would only create hidden dangers. It would not only harm her and the Crown Prince, but also implicate my brother. If the Liang rebels used the child as a target of rebellion, things would get even more out of control.
She held the jade chopsticks tightly and made up her mind secretly.
The gifts from the palace were screened by the nanny and Li Fu, and the little gadgets that were suitable for her to play with were sent to Zhilan Residence like water.
Liang Hanzhang sighed inwardly as he gazed upon the dazzling array of valuables. Stuffed within the various sandalwood boxes were Ruyi longevity locks, Hetian jade bracelets wrapped in red silk, and even children's toys like rattles and windmills. It was clear that the Emperor and Empress both cherished the Crown Prince's firstborn child.
Liang Hanzhang thought again of the man who had held her hostage yesterday and behaved dissolutely. She couldn't help but frown. Intuitively, she felt that he must have a hidden secret. Presumably, that secret was directed at the Crown Prince.
But what was he planning when he secretly went to Beijing?
Qianyuan Hall.
Emperor Hui'an was filled with worry. He threw the memorial in his hand to the ground, his chest heaving with anger. He shouted, "This group of parasites! They take the salary I give them, but do such unscrupulous things! The memorials submitted for months are almost full of praise, but each one of them is like a tiger, a rhinoceros, a bird of prey, or a demon from Fengdu, slaughtering the innocent people under my rule like this. Hateful! Hateful!"
He slammed his palm heavily on the imperial desk, his face flushed red, and he was so angry that he was unsteady. His attendants were so frightened that they hurried to support him.
This was the scene Li Cheng saw when he walked in. A group of his confidants knelt before the imperial desk with their heads bowed, while the emperor sat there, trembling with anger.
Catching sight of that elegant figure from the corner of his eye, the emperor suppressed his anger and sat down again before the throne. He instructed his attendants to present the urgent report to the crown prince in detail.
The Crown Prince's face suddenly turned cold after hearing this. The joy on his brows before entering the door was instantly covered with ice. Even the usually solemn man couldn't help but curse: "What a bunch of useless officials!"
The imperial court sent 300,000 taels of disaster relief silver to Jiangnan Province. Just as it was about to be distributed, a group of officials reported that the silver was intercepted by a group of bandits and has been missing to this day.
It sounds better than singing. Didn't the silver go into their pockets? They only thought of reporting the incident after so many years. This group of parasites in Jiangnan Road really look down on the emperor more and more.
"Jiangnan just suffered from floods and now there is a plague. This money can be said to have saved the people from danger, but now it has disappeared out of thin air. Even if all the officials are beheaded, it will be difficult to eliminate the people's resentment!" Emperor Hui'an was so angry that he gritted his teeth.
"The situation in Jiangnan is urgent right now. There's a fear of riots among the disaster victims. Your Majesty must send a highly respected individual to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of government funds." Li Cheng stood out from the crowd of officials, his tall, slender figure solemn and composed.
"But who should we send?" Li Gu frowned.
"Your Majesty, I have a candidate." His voice echoed in the hall, sonorous and powerful:
"I feel that Wei Zhaosheng, the Minister of Works, is capable of this important task. He has been handling military farming and water conservancy affairs in the Ministry of Works for many years, and his ability to act and manage subordinates is outstanding. Most importantly, he served as the governor of Jiangnan for decades, and he knows Jiangnan very well. Therefore, I believe that Minister Wei is capable of this important task."
Emperor Hui'an had a few candidates in mind, but he was hesitant for a moment. Once the Crown Prince's words came out, judging by the Emperor's reaction, the matter was probably finalized. However, the Emperor still asked his ministers symbolically: "Do you think that Minister Wei is capable of this important task?"
As soon as the words fell, there was naturally no objection.
Wei Zhaosheng looked to be in his forties or fifties, with a fine beard framing his cheeks. Clad in purple official robes, he stood tall and straight, a hint of the youthful spirit he possessed. He stepped out of the ranks and kowtowed, "I will dedicate myself wholeheartedly to the service and live up to the high expectations of Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, plague is rampant in Jiangnan. We must arrange for imperial doctors who are good at treating plagues to rush to Jiangnan as soon as possible. In addition, the floods have just subsided, and many crops have been submerged, leaving the people unable to eat enough. The court must allocate grain for disaster relief as soon as possible to ensure the safety of the country."
Emperor Hui'an nodded in agreement and said: "The Crown Prince is now the regent, and all matters are left to him."
After all the details were discussed one by one, the emperor on the throne sighed deeply and said: "I hope the people in the south of the Yangtze River can get through this smoothly."
Some officials knelt down and agreed: "Your Majesty is blessed with great fortune and is majestic. The prince has the talent to hold up the sky and steer the sea. The people of Jiangnan will surely be able to overcome the difficulties smoothly."
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