Chapter 47 Freedom (Text Plot) Xiao Chengjing... Will he believe it...
As the due date approaches, the silent companionship becomes an unspoken peace between the two.
Suddenly, Shu Yao's fingertips twitched, and the book slipped from her knees, landing in the folds of her skirt. A suppressed moan escaped her throat.
In the candlelight, I could see her brows were furrowed and sweat was oozing from her forehead.
Xiao Chengjing threw down his red brush, and ink splashed everywhere.
When he stood up, the hem of his sleeve knocked over the teacup, and he didn't care at all.
He hurried to her side in two steps, firmly supporting her trembling shoulders and arms with his palms, and said in a voice filled with burning anxiety, "I will call the imperial physician right away!"
She curled up in pain, sweat oozing from her forehead.
She closed her eyes in resistance, digging her nails deep into his arms, her knuckles turning slightly white.
When the pain subsided, she opened her eyes and squeezed out a voice between gasps: "Wait a minute... I have something important to say... I beg Your Majesty... to allow me to say a few words first..."
Half supporting and half holding her, he placed her on the edge of the bed and half-knelt on the footstool without any hesitation.
He carefully held her hand in his palm, as if protecting a wisp of smoke.
His Adam's apple rolled a few times, his posture softened, and he said in a hoarse voice, "You speak, and I listen."
The candlelight cast a flickering shadow between his furrowed brows.
She trembled in his arms.
Her hair was soaked with cold sweat and stuck to her pale forehead.
She used all her strength to steady herself, which pushed him slightly away so that she could see his face clearly.
"Your Majesty... I have never dared to say it..." She looked straight into his eyes, with a terrifying clarity in her eyes, "The imperial physician diagnosed... I... I'm afraid I won't survive..." She took a quick breath, and a sad curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Shut up!" he yelled, interrupting her.
His fingers subconsciously clenched around her wrist, gripping it painfully, as if he could hold something back.
His voice was firm and almost pleading, as if he was trying to convince her, or even more so himself: "What are you imagining? I'm here, and the Imperial Hospital has plenty of ways!" He turned his head abruptly towards the outside of the hall, "Someone—!"
Another wave of severe pain came.
She took a deep breath, and with the help of his arm, she slowly touched his lips with her index finger, stopping all sounds.
"Listen to what I have to say..."
His panicked heartbeat was beside her ears. She shook her head and forced out a pale smile: "If I am unlucky..." Although her breath was weak, her eyes were still clear. "I only ask for two things: one... don't blame others, two... set Chuntao free."
He turned his face away deliberately, not wanting to look at the weak appearance of the person on the bed, and his tone was urgent and aggressive: "Shut up! Don't say anymore! If the Imperial Medical Bureau can't save you, I will make them bring their heads to me!" His words were so loud and clear that they seemed to be building a shaky dam.
She couldn't discern the panic in his words. She only concentrated and gathered a tiny bit of strength, curling her fingertips lightly against his palm. "Your Majesty..." Her breath was weak, and each word required all her strength. "Life and death are determined by fate. They... the midwife, the doctor... were only doing their duty." She panted, a pleading look in her eyes. "They also have parents and children to support... I... do not wish to commit any more sins of murder."
"No... No!" He held her hand tightly, his throat seemed to be strangled by something, and only a broken word remained, "... No!"
Before he could finish his words, a hot tear fell heavily.
He actually tasted the saltiness of his own tears at this moment.
She saw it.
Tears oozed out of the corners of his eyes without warning, leaving a brief trace along his cheek.
Shu Yao was slightly startled.
She anticipated his rage, his viciousness, and his tyranny.
But the only thing I didn't expect was his tears.
The man who trapped her in a golden cage could actually shed tears?
Cry for her?
Her eyes moved slightly, and a trace of pity flashed across them.
So fast that it is impossible to catch.
“Don’t be sad…”
She gathered up her remaining strength and rolled her trembling fingertips across his cheek, as if filled with infinite attachment.
The severe pain tore at her consciousness again.
She rested her forehead on his shoulder and let out a suppressed groan.
When the pain eased a little, she looked into the void and whispered breathlessly, as if she wanted to knock every word on his heart: "It is my blessing to be able to give birth to a child for Your Majesty." She said this sentence with great piety and farewell.
The imperial physician arrived in a hurry, and the hall was filled with muffled orders and the sound of instruments colliding.
The noise seemed to come from a layer of water and could not be heard clearly.
Sometimes she fell into darkness, and sometimes she was pulled back by pain.
As her consciousness drifted in and out, she remembered what she had said to Shen Jingshu that day.
"Your Majesty has all the ears and eyes, and this matter has leaked out..." Shu Yao's eyes were fixed on Shen Jingshu, and her voice was so low that only she could hear it, "...you and I will both die without a burial place." She paused for a moment, as if accumulating something, and finally said lightly, "Since that's the case, why don't you take this opportunity to finish me off? And put an end to all future trouble?"
"Killing you is certainly a safe option." Upon hearing this, Shen Jingshu slowly withdrew her hand that was about to pick up the teacup and let it hang by her side. "But it's too insidious..." Her voice was not loud, but every word was clear. "If I take this step today, when the child in my arms looks up and asks about his biological mother, how should I answer?" She shook her head, her expression almost pitiful. "Besides, even if I can hide it from the whole world, I can't hide it from my own heart..." She raised her hand and gently pressed it against her chest.
Suddenly, a cry pierced the fog.
Her eyelids trembled, and she saw the midwife approaching with a ball of red cloud in her hands.
The warm breath touched her collarbone, causing her to shrink back.
"Your Majesty..."
Just as I was falling into a daze, a bitter taste approached my lips.
It turned out that the midwife was holding a bowl of thick black medicine and feeding it carefully.
She recognized the smell; it was the medicine made from Datura.
The medicine touched the tip of my tongue, causing a numbness.
After swallowing a few mouthfuls with difficulty, his body gradually became limp and he fell into the clouds like a feather.
My eyelids are getting heavier.
The baby's crying gradually faded away.
The congratulations from the palace ladies seemed to be separated by a thick veil, leaving only a buzzing sound.
"Oh no..." someone shouted.
Shu Yao, however, had completely fallen into darkness.
The midwife, clutching the swaddling clothes, rushed out. When she reached Shen Jingshu, she suddenly stopped and pushed the baby slightly forward. Her expression was a mixture of joy and sorrow, indescribably strange. She murmured, "Congratulations, Your Majesty... It's a prince." Before she finished, she lowered her voice and added, "It's just that the Concubine Shu... just had a heavy period." Her throat slipped, and she glanced around as she continued, "The imperial physicians are doing their best to treat him inside."
The curve of Xiao Chengjing's lips that rose because of having a son suddenly froze before it could fully unfold.
His pupils suddenly shrank, his gaze fixed on the midwife's face. He stepped forward and said, "What did you say? Say it again?" His voice was as cold and hard as if it was ground out from between his teeth. "I want absolute certainty! If anything happens to her, none of you will survive!"
All the events of the past came rushing back like a tide, drowning him in an instant.
A thought suddenly pierced his heart: Was it his insistence that hurt her?
His mind raced like wildfire, burning his internal organs so much that they were twitching.
Seeing his expression change drastically, Shen Jingshu felt pity in her heart and could not help but said softly: "Your Majesty..." As she spoke, she subconsciously stretched out her hand, wanting to take the newborn baby.
Xiao Chengjing's reaction was astonishingly fast.
His gaze suddenly pierced Shen Jingshu the moment she was about to touch the swaddling clothes.
A clear warning: Don't touch me and her child!
Shen Jingshu's hand froze in mid-air for a moment, and finally she slowly withdrew it.
The situation in the hall became increasingly chaotic.
The palace maids walked in and out in panic, and the scenes they took out of the copper basins were more horrifying each time.
Suddenly, the sound stopped.
The imperial physician's face was ashen, and he practically crawled out on his hands and knees. He staggered to the emperor's presence and kowtowed heavily, "Your Majesty... Empress Consort Shu... has passed away!" He collapsed to the ground, his forehead pressed against the ground, not daring to lift his head. "Your Majesty, I... am powerless to save her... I beg your Majesty to forgive me!"
"Get out of here! Get out of here!" Xiao Chengjing kicked the doctor who was blocking his way away and stumbled towards the palace door. He slammed his hands against the door panel, making the door hinge creak. "Open the door!" His eyes were red and he was holding his hands on the door panel.
But he suddenly stopped and began to tremble uncontrollably.
He suddenly didn't dare to push open the door.
"Jiang Shuyao..." He pressed his forehead against the door frame and slowly slid down to his knees, "How dare you..."
Shen Jingshu hurried forward and resolutely pulled the door of the palace.
She took a deep breath and looked down at Xiao Chengjing, "Your Majesty, please stay!" Her eyes were filled with sorrow. "Sister Shufei has passed away." She glanced at the kneeling palace maid and said in an increasingly earnest tone, "The delivery room is full of blood and energy. Your Majesty, please do not enter!"
After saying this, she suddenly remembered that she had asked Shu Yao that day: "If Your Majesty is suspicious, what about forcing an autopsy?"
Just when Shen Jingshu was hesitating.
Fifty miles away, a villa in the suburbs of Beijing.
Shu Yao lay on the unfamiliar bed, staring blankly at the ceiling of the tent.
The bedding beneath him had a dry smell from being exposed to the sun, unlike the agarwood or ambergris commonly used in the palace, which made him feel particularly at ease.
The cicadas are chirping outside the window, one after another, hoarse but vivid, through the curtains.
She slowly raised her hand, her knuckles trembling slightly in the dim light.
Was it successful?
Shen Jingshu...can she do it?
Xiao Chengjing...will he believe it?
And that child...
Her fingertips curled unconsciously.
The child whose warmth she only had time to feel...
Emotions are in turmoil.
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The author has something to say: I am very happy that the heroine escaped successfully. I will torture the hero in the next few chapters [flowers]
In the main text, the heroine successfully escapes and ends up with a happy ending, while the hero fails to achieve his goal and ends with a happy ending.
The male protagonist chases his wife with the ball and the crematorium is in the extra [dog head]
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