The lady returned to her residence and told her husband about what had happened at the flower-viewing banquet that day.
The old man frowned. This shouldn't be the case. How come nothing happened?
The noblewoman said dejectedly, "It's all your fault. Our daughter didn't even get to say a word to the Empress Dowager."
The master was also somewhat annoyed. Although no one said it out loud, everyone knew that the future emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty was the fifth prince, Zhu Dan.
The Fifth Prince's Consort is the future Empress!
After returning to her residence, the Third Prince's wife was exhausted. After taking a bath, she used some simple remedies and went to bed early.
The next day, just past noon, a servant came to report that the Third Prince had already entered the city gate and would arrive shortly.
The Third Prince's Consort hurriedly ordered someone to wash and groom her again, and put on a peach-colored dress that Zhu Chen liked the most. Looking at herself in the mirror, her face was as beautiful as a peach blossom, bright and charming.
The Third Prince's Consort was already beautiful, and this attire made her even more stunning. Just then, she heard a servant outside say, "Third Prince's Consort, His Highness is almost here. Please hurry."
The Third Prince's wife hurriedly helped the old woman by the hand and headed outside.
She had just arrived at the gate of the mansion when Zhu Chen got off the carriage.
Upon seeing the person she had been longing for, the Third Prince's wife's eyes reddened: "Your Highness."
Zhu Chen quickly took two steps forward, pulled the beautiful woman into his arms, and walked inside: "Did you miss me?"
The Third Prince's wife nestled in his arms: "Yes, I miss you terribly."
Zhu Chen kissed her and whispered something in her ear, making her blush and her heart race.
The Third Prince's wife blushed and pushed him away, saying, "Your Highness, you haven't had lunch yet. I'll have someone prepare the meal."
"Alright, I am indeed a little hungry." Zhu Chen's face was full of tenderness as he gently pecked the Third Prince's wife on the cheek before letting her go back to her room to bathe and change.
In addition to his third prince's wife, Lady Xie, Zhu Chen also had two concubines, and at the end of the year, he took in Lady Xu, the daughter of a merchant from Huainan.
Madam Xie was extremely strict with the three of them. On occasions like today, when her husband returned from a long journey, she absolutely forbade them to go to the main entrance to greet him.
At this moment, the three of them watched with bated breath as Zhu Chen embraced Xie Shi and headed towards the main house.
Not long after, Zhu Chen came out after his bath, and the Third Prince's Consort helped him get dressed. The two then headed towards the flower hall.
The servants had already set out a table of food, a variety of delicacies, a very sumptuous feast.
Zhu Chen doted on the Third Imperial Consort, not only because she was the daughter of the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, but also because she herself was extremely talented. The two were childhood sweethearts and had a deep affection for each other.
Zhu Chen personally served a bowl of sweet and sour mandarin fish to the Third Prince's wife, a dish they both loved the most.
But to everyone's surprise, the Third Prince's wife suddenly felt nauseous and vomited uncontrollably.
Then came a series of nausea, almost vomiting up the jaundice fluid in her stomach.
"Someone, summon the imperial physician!" Zhu Chen shouted urgently.
The servants hurriedly went to fetch the imperial physician, and Zhu Chen personally helped the Third Prince's Consort up, then took water from the servants to help her rinse her mouth.
"Did you eat something bad?" Zhu Chen asked with concern.
The Third Prince's wife shook her head. She was a little tired after leaving the palace yesterday. She took a bath, ate a simple meal, and went to sleep.
The vomiting left her legs weak, and she leaned against Zhu Chen as if all her strength had left her.
The maidservant beside her replied, "The Third Prince's Consort ate her usual breakfast this morning, and left half of it to give to us servants. We all ate it, and if there was anything unclean about it, we were fine."
Zhu Chen glanced coldly at the old woman: "If you can't even serve your master properly, what use are you to me!"
A group of servants knelt in a row in the flower hall.
Before long, the imperial physician arrived.
The imperial physician carefully took the pulse, his expression changed slightly, and he couldn't help but glance at the Third Prince's wife a few times, and then at Zhu Chen a few more times.
Zhu Chen frowned: "Why are you looking at me? How is she?"
The imperial physician hesitated, then looked around at the group of servants kneeling on the ground.
Zhu Chen waved his hand impatiently, and everyone except the personal nanny withdrew one by one.
The Third Prince's wife was clearly very weak, and she would vomit every now and then.
"Imperial Physician, what's wrong with me? I didn't eat anything unclean this morning, and the nannies ate with me too. But my stomach feels terrible, and I feel nauseous just looking at these things."
The imperial physician found it rather difficult to say, but don't you have any self-awareness?
Zhu Chen angrily said, "What's going on? Why are you stammering? Don't you want your tongue anymore?!"
The imperial physician, his forehead covered in cold sweat, knelt down with a thud, trembling as he said, "Your Highness, the Third Prince's wife is well. She... she is a month and a half pregnant. Yes, yes, it's a happy pulse..."
"What did you say!" Zhu Chen grabbed the imperial physician by the collar and lifted him up from the ground.
The imperial physician was terrified and turned pale. Everyone knew that the Third Prince had gone to Mu City on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month and had only returned today. He had been away from the capital for a full five months, and the Third Prince's wife had not gone with him. Where did this child in her belly come from?
But her pulse clearly showed that she was pregnant!
The Third Prince's wife turned pale with fright: "You're talking nonsense! Impossible, I can't be pregnant! I had my period a month ago, and my lower back has been aching these past few days, so my period is probably due soon. How could I be pregnant!"
She gripped Zhu Chen's sleeve tightly: "Your Highness, please don't listen to his nonsense!"
The imperial physician said, "Not all women's menstruation stops when they become pregnant. Furthermore, it may just be spotting, not actual menstruation."
The old nanny serving the Third Prince's Consort turned even paler. The Third Prince's Consort's menstruation was always irregular, and last time the flow was indeed light. She had asked the imperial physician to prescribe medicine for her, and she had been taking it for more than half a month to regulate her body.
The Imperial Medical Academy has medical records of this matter, which can be easily found with a simple check.
"Your Highness, this old servant has been by the Third Prince's side every day. In the past six months, she has never had any contact with any other men. Your Highness, you must trust the Third Prince's wife."
The Third Prince's Consort gripped Zhu Chen's robes tightly with her pale hands, tears streaming down her face. "Your Highness, I didn't! Please believe me, I would never betray you. Your Highness..."
Zhu Chen's face was icy cold as he shook off the Third Prince's wife's hand: "Someone, go and fetch more doctors, and more of them!"
He was referring to a doctor, not a royal physician.
While it's possible for imperial physicians to be bribed, it's impossible for all the doctors in the entire capital city to be bribed.
Servants immediately ran out from outside the flower hall.
The imperial physician was still kneeling on the ground when Zhu Chen walked over and kicked him in the chest: "If you dare to utter a single lie, I will take your life!"
The imperial physician kowtowed several more times: "Your Highness, although my medical skills are limited, I can still tell whether a woman is pregnant or not. If there is any doubt, I will leave it to Your Highness to decide."
The Third Prince's wife was in tears, but whenever she looked up at the table full of food, she felt nauseous.
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