Chapter 78 Glory and Splendor "His Majesty is unwell..."
It was getting cold, and the chill seeped into her neck. The fire wall and incense burner were burning, but they still couldn't warm Ning Xian's body.
The snow fell very early this year. It was only the end of November, and everywhere was already covered in silver. When Ning Xian returned from the morning court, still feeling unwell, the sky was still overcast.
"Your Majesty, please have something to eat."
Eunuch Liang had prepared breakfast early. He placed the steaming hot sweet porridge in front of Ning Xian and sighed, "You didn't eat much yesterday either. This can't go on."
Upon hearing this, Ning Xian, in an attempt to comfort Eunuch Liang, casually scooped up a few spoonfuls of porridge and put them in her mouth. However, not long after, a sharp pain shot through her chest again, and the black blood she coughed up stained the breakfast on the table.
"Logically speaking, the poison should have been neutralized and there should be no major problems, so why is it getting worse? I think we should send someone down to investigate further."
Ning Xian stopped: "There's nothing to investigate. It's almost New Year's, and the Empress is about to give birth. I don't want to see blood."
He couldn't help but cough a few times and sighed, "Living a few more years would be enough."
"Your Majesty is blessed with good fortune and will surely live to be a hundred years old. Don't say such unlucky things. You still have to watch the little prince in the Empress's womb grow up."
Ning Xian wiped the blood from his lips: "If I were to die, the only ones I would be worried about are my wife and child."
He's been having nightmares lately, dreaming that the child was born thin and small, often seriously ill, and ultimately died before he was even three years old.
He was actually very afraid that Ruan Yang would throw away his child after he died.
"Father..."
Outside the door, a small figure struggled to cross the threshold, slipped on little cotton shoes, and wobbled in.
Eunuch Liang immediately ordered someone to clean up the mess on the table to avoid frightening the child. He took the hand of the fair-skinned little girl and said with a smile, "Little princess, why did you come to Chonghua Palace alone? Are Consort Li and the Empress here?"
Xue'er was still young and couldn't speak much, but she could understand. She broke free from Liang Gonggong's hand, jumped onto Ning Xian's lap, hugged his leg, and pointed outside with her little finger.
Ning Xian looked in the direction Xue'er pointed and saw the sedan chair stop outside. Ruan Yang, supported by Lan Rong, slowly walked up to him.
"May Your Majesty be well."
Ning Xian asked Ruan Yang to sit down, and then held Xue'er in her arms. The child was soft and cuddly, and occasionally gave off a fresh, sweet fragrance.
He sniffed and chuckled, "What kind of fragrance did you put on Xue'er?"
Before Ruan Yang could speak, the wet nurse who raised the princess interjected, "Your Majesty, it's just ordinary face cream with the addition of almond powder. Winter is dry, especially for children whose skin is as delicate as tofu. Without cream, they can't withstand the biting north wind."
"Empress herself loves to use it too."
Ning Xian cupped Xue'er's face in her hands and looked at Ruan Yang's belly, saying, "This face cream won't be harmful, will it?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, this was developed by the Imperial Medical Academy and has been used in the palace for decades."
Ruan Yang nodded and said, "I've been using it for almost three years now, and there haven't been any problems."
The golden lion was exhaling ambergris, and the sandalwood prayer beads on her wrist also emitted a faint fragrance from time to time. Ning Xian was a little dizzy from these mixed smells.
He's been surrounded by this face cream scent lately, and it lingers for a long time, even at night.
First, the imperial physician was sent to examine him, and there was nothing wrong, so Ning Xian didn't investigate further.
"What's wrong? If Your Majesty doesn't like it, Xue'er and I will switch," Ruan Yang said.
Looking at her innocent appearance, Ning Xian felt a pang of tenderness in his heart. He loosened his grip and touched Ruan Yang's stomach, smiling as he said, "It's alright, use it if you like."
"Father... Snowman."
Nestled in Ning Xian's arms, Xue'er looked at their lips moving in confusion. Perhaps finding it boring, she babbled to Ning Xian, "Build a snowman."
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Liang frowned. In such cold weather, His Majesty might be suffering from some illness, so how could he possibly stay out in the wind?
He was about to speak when Ning Xian stopped, and smiled at the miniature version of Ruan Yang in his arms: "Alright, let's go build a snowman!"
"Mother wants some too..."
Ning Xian pouted and said, "Xue'er, be good. Mommy has a baby in her belly, so she can't play around with us."
"oh....."
Although Xue'er was a little lonely, children are forgetful, and with Ning Xian's help, she quickly became friends with the palace servants.
Ruan Yang sat quietly at the table, watching the snow falling outside the window and reflecting on the palace walls. Xue'er was having a lot of fun, sometimes screaming with excitement. Ning Xian was also a child at heart. After building half a snowman, he wrapped Xue'er in his cloak, gently tossed her up, and then carefully caught her with his arm.
These lively and happy times should have belonged to the three of them. Ruan Yang really couldn't understand why Ning Xian wanted to do all this hypocrisy.
Should I make it up to her?
Is his attempt to make amends merely for his own selfish desires, tying her to his feet like an animal, forcing her to have sex, and compelling her to have children?
Ruan Yang turned her face away, no longer looking at them. The child in her womb seemed to sense something from its mother and began to move restlessly.
Lan Rong asked, "Is Your Highness feeling unwell?"
Ruan Yang shook her head and gently comforted the fetus in her womb.
This baby was more active than Xue'er, but fortunately it wasn't troublesome. There were almost no uncomfortable reactions during pregnancy, which also lessened Ruan Yang's aversion to it.
Ruan Yang grabbed Lan Rong's arm: "Help me to the rocking chair and lean back for a while, my back is a little sore from sitting for so long."
"Okay, sure."
Lan Rong supported Ruan Yang's waist and helped her to the rocking chair when a scream came from behind, almost piercing her eardrums. Ruan Yang's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but cover her ears.
Then came Xue'er's crying, which forced her to turn around and look.
A large patch of blood was splattered on the white steps. Looking up along the dripping blood, Ning Xian was still vomiting blood. Even though he tried to cover it with his palm, the blood could not be stopped and quickly seeped out from between his fingers.
Even Xue'er's face was stained red.
Ning Xian looked at Xue'er, who was crying loudly, and was at a loss for what to do: "I'm sorry, it was Father who scared you, I..."
Ning Xian caught a glimpse of a dark figure out of the corner of his eye. He slowly looked up and saw Ruan Yang standing at the door with her large pregnant belly, covering her mouth and looking at him with a look of panic in her eyes.
Ning Xian suddenly felt a little happy. He didn't want to think about what Ruan Yang meant. He pushed away the palace servants who rushed up to him, supported himself on his knees, and stumbled towards Ruan Yang.
“You…” Ruan Yang was speechless and couldn’t move her legs for a moment.
Ning Xian forced a smile and said, "Don't worry, I... I'm fine, I'll be alright after a good night's sleep."
After saying that, his vision went black and he collapsed at the hem of Ruan Yang's skirt.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"
Chonghua Palace was bustling with activity, but no one outside the palace knew the true situation. Only after Lan Rong fed him the medicine did the imperial physician inquire about Ning Xian's daily diet and living conditions.
Seeing that nothing unusual was found, they then asked Ning Xian which concubine's palace she had been frequenting lately.
The answer is obvious: it lies only in Fengqi Palace and Ji Changhuan's place.
Lan Rong: "Is there a problem?"
The imperial physician meticulously matched the ingredients from both kitchens before wiping away sweat and saying, "His Majesty already has residual toxins in his body, and these two foods are incompatible. Even a healthy person would become weak and dissipate their energy if they consumed them for a long time, let alone..."
"knew."
Lan Rong secretly hated Ruan Yang. She said to the people behind her, "Plotting against the emperor is an unforgivable crime. You few go and bring Ruan Yang here!"
The sudden decision to detain the Empress without authorization terrified everyone. Not only did they disobey, they also stepped forward to persuade Lan Rong to calm down.
"His Majesty probably already knew. Since he hasn't taken any action, it must be because of the imperial heir in her womb."
Upon hearing this, Ji Changhuan disobeyed orders and rushed into Chonghua Palace, anxiously wiping away her tears as she ran.
Seeing the pale, unconscious person on the bed, she pointed at the row of imperial physicians kneeling in a row and angrily shouted, "What's going on? You're all quacks!"
As Ji Changhuan looked around, he happened to run into Ruan Yang's eyes.
Ruan Yang frowned: "What are you doing? His Majesty needs to rest and recuperate. How can you be allowed to cause such a scene here? Get out of here!"
Ji Changhuan shook off the palace servants and pressed down on Ruan Yang's shoulder: "Stop pretending! If you hadn't used aphrodisiacs, how could my cousin have been poisoned? You vixen, what kind of drug did you use on him this time?!"
Ruan Yang patted her collar and ignored him: "Drag him out of here."
After a long while, the hall finally returned to quiet. Ruan Yang pulled Xue'er aside, carefully washed the bloodstains off her face, and knelt on the carpet to comfort her for a long time before Xue'er finally stopped crying.
She said softly, "Xue'er, shall I carry you back to sleep?"
Xue'er rubbed her red eyes and shook her head, saying, "No, I want my father..."
Ruan Yang frowned, confusedly blaming a bewildered child: "What are you saying? You want to stay here with him?"
Xue'er nodded vigorously.
"His Majesty spends his days playing with the princess, and she's used to it," Lan Rong said coldly. "Children don't lie. If he didn't treat your Xue'er well, how could she rely on His Majesty?"
"His Majesty treats Xue'er as his own daughter and has even bestowed upon her the title of princess. What more could Your Majesty possibly want? To treat the daughter of a disgraced official in this way is already an immense favor!"
Ruan Yang felt a severe blockage in her throat and couldn't speak. She also felt a tightness in her chest, so she slowly went down to the corridor to get some fresh air.
The daughter of a disgraced official... Who convicted her of this crime? Ruan Yang racked her brains but couldn't understand what Lu Wenjin had done wrong. Was it wrong to protect herself?
Ruan Yang stood in the wind for a while until her back started to ache before she went back inside to rest.
The moment she turned around, she met Yanluo's smiling almond-shaped eyes in a corner not far away.
Ning Xianlong was unwell, but she knew exactly what she had to do next.
......
The next morning at court, civil and military officials stood on both sides and waited for about half an incense stick's time, but Ning Xian still did not appear, and everyone began to discuss among themselves.
After a while, a figure of a Taoist priest was vaguely seen standing behind the curtain. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a woman.
Ruan Yang's voice: "Your Majesty is unwell, and the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. In the next few days, I will temporarily handle the affairs of the court on behalf of Your Majesty."
After he finished speaking, the hall fell completely silent.
An old minister suddenly cursed, "You wicked woman! You wicked empress! How can a woman interfere in politics? This is outrageous!"
Ruan Yang looked at the furious man outside the curtain and said, "His Majesty handed me the Imperial Seal and personally wrote the imperial edict. Do you not even obey his orders?"
Eunuch Liang presented the imperial edict to the crowd. It indeed bore the mark of the imperial seal and Ning Xian's handwriting; there was no mistake.
After reading it, the old minister could only snort indignation. Then everyone knelt down and kowtowed: "Long live the Empress!"
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