Upon hearing the sound, the civil and military officials and their wives quickly rose and knelt down to welcome the emperor.
The Emperor, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, walked over and said in a good mood, "Get up, all of you."
The Emperor, Empress, and several concubines came together, but the Empress Dowager had not yet arrived. After all, it was the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, and she would definitely make a grand entrance as the last person to arrive. She would only come after everyone had arrived, including the Emperor.
After the Emperor sat down, he immediately looked at Shen Wan and asked, "I heard that Princess Ling fell into the water. Is she injured?"
Shen Wan, “…???”
It's been so long, could it be that Eunuch Xiao Xizi hasn't reported to the Emperor yet?
This job was done well.
Shen Wan stood up and replied, "I'm sorry to have worried Your Majesty. Wan'er is neither injured nor frightened. It's just that the Yanxia gauze bestowed upon me by Your Majesty is extremely precious, and it was ruined the moment I put it on today..."
To say it was severely damaged is an exaggeration, since it can still be worn after washing, but if we don't exaggerate its severity, the Emperor might really think she was alright after falling into the water.
The Emperor chuckled, “No matter how precious the Yanxia Silk is, it’s just a piece of silk. I will reward you with it when you offer it as tribute again. The most important thing is that you are not injured.”
In short, Empress Song's face turned green.
Only one bolt of Yanxia gauze is presented as tribute each year, and in some years there may not even be any. This bolt has been bestowed upon Princess Ling, and next year's bolt will surely belong to her daughter, Princess Shouchun. The Emperor publicly promised to bestow it upon Princess Ling, but what about her daughter's?!
However, what angered Empress Song was yet to come. After the Emperor finished speaking, he added, "Princess Ling has rendered meritorious service in saving Princess Jin. She shall be rewarded with ten bolts of Yun brocade and ten bolts of Shu brocade."
Empress Song was furious.
However, when he thought about how Shen Wan had drunk that cup of tea, his expression quickly returned to normal, and he even had a slight smile on his face.
Judging by the time, it's about to flare up.
She wanted to see if Princess Ling would still be able to laugh later.
Shen Wan quickly curtsied, "Thank you for the Emperor's gift."
When she expressed her gratitude, seeing that Empress Song showed no sign of anger, Shen Wan frowned slightly, and the joy of being rewarded faded somewhat.
Shen Wan sat down and looked at Fu Shu opposite her.
Fu Shu had a smile on her face, but the smile looked like she was gritting her teeth, which made her lower abdomen feel a little sore.
The Emperor sat on the dragon throne, and since Eunuch Yuan couldn't stand beside him to serve, he stood a few steps away. Then, Eunuch Xiao Xizi ran over, looking disheveled, as if he had tripped and fallen. Eunuch Yuan frowned and said, "I asked you to go and check if Prince Ling and Princess Ling were alright. You've been gone for so long and you've come back looking so disheveled. What were you doing?"
Xiao Xizi shook his head, about to speak, when another hoarse voice rang out:
"The Empress Dowager has arrived!"
Xiao Xizi quickly stood behind Eunuch Yuan to respectfully welcome the Empress Dowager.
Just now, a bunch of people knelt down to welcome the Emperor, and now they are kneeling down to welcome the Empress Dowager. Apart from the Empress, everyone in the entire hall is kneeling.
The Empress Dowager wore a phoenix robe, her slightly gray hair was neatly combed, and she was elegant and noble, unmatched by anyone.
As Xie Jingyan said, no one can steal the Empress Dowager's thunder.
May the Empress Dowager enjoy boundless happiness and longevity!
The officials shouted in unison.
The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Get up, everyone."
Xie Jingyan helped Chen Wan stand up, and just as they were about to sit down, he saw Fu Shu across from them suddenly press her stomach and bend over.
This scene drew everyone's attention. Xie Jingyin helped Fu Shu up and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fu Shu's face was deathly pale, beads of sweat poured from her forehead, and she gasped in pain, "It hurts, my stomach hurts so much..."
Before she could finish speaking, Shen Wan saw that her skirt was stained red with blood.
Shen Wan's heart skipped a beat. Over there, Empress Song's face turned pale, and she said urgently, "Imperial Physician! Quickly summon the Imperial Physician!"
Xie Jingyin's expression was also unpleasant. He quickly picked up Fu Shu and carried her to the side hall, with Empress Song following behind.
Lady Zhongguo also stood up. Fu Shu was her daughter. How could she sit there at ease when her daughter was in trouble?
The main hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The Empress Dowager's face was extremely pale.
Before the birthday banquet even started, Princess Ling fell into the water, and only then did she arrive. Then Princess Jin started bleeding—no, it wasn't just bleeding anymore, the bleeding was so heavy that the baby was almost certainly going to die.
The fact that she was able to enter the palace to congratulate her on her birthday meant that her pregnancy must have been very stable. How could things have suddenly turned out like this? Who dared to cause trouble at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet and offend her?!
No one dared to speak in the main hall. Everyone looked at each other, feeling a chill for the Princess Consort of Jin and worry for the Empress Dowager.
Is it really unsuitable to hold a birthday banquet lately? A few days ago, at the birthday banquet of the Duke of Wei's mansion, the young master of the Duke of Wei vomited blood and fainted in the Duke's arms, making the banquet a complete mess. Now, seeing blood at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is just too unlucky.
Shen Wan sat opposite, completely bewildered. Fu Shu had tricked her into falling into the water, relying on the protective charm in her belly. She hadn't expected things to turn out so quickly. But in this palace, who would dare to plot against her, the Princess Consort of Jin?
Eunuch Yuan stood aside and watched Xie Jingyin carry Fu Shu away, followed closely by Empress Song, and then Imperial Physician Zhao and several other imperial physicians.
He wasn't surprised by any of this; what surprised him was that Xiao Xizi, standing behind him, was so frightened that she gripped his sleeve tightly and trembled.
Xiao Xizi has been with him for several years and is quite brave, so why is he so scared?
Eunuch Yuan sensed something was wrong and asked, "Why are you so frightened?"
"No, no, nothing..."
If you can't even speak properly, how dare you say you don't?
"Have you gotten into some trouble? Speak!" said Eunuch Yuan.
His voice was so loud that Xiao Xizi's legs went weak. If it weren't for Eunuch Yuan's quick reflexes in supporting him, Xiao Xizi would have knelt down.
Eunuch Yuan pulled him aside. Xiao Xizi was already terrified and completely flustered. He said, "You...you asked me to check if Prince Ling and Princess Ling were injured after falling into the water. When I went there, I happened to see Granny Du and Physician Jiang coming out. I don't know what Physician Jiang said to Granny Du, but Granny Du looked shocked and then left Physician Jiang in a hurry. I felt something was wrong, so I secretly followed them..."
"When Granny Du went to report to the Empress, nothing seemed amiss. Just as I was about to leave, the Empress came out of the pavilion. Granny Du whispered a few words in the Empress's ear, and the Empress looked shocked. I became even more curious, so I followed Granny Du and saw her instruct a palace maid, who then put poison in the tea..."
Eunuch Yuan frowned deeply. "Go on."
Xiao Xizi swallowed hard before continuing, "This servant overheard that the medicine was intended for Princess Ling. Knowing that you care about Prince Ling, I managed to send the maids away and get Princess Ling a different cup of tea..."
"And then?" Eunuch Yuan asked again.
Xiao Xizi said, "This servant originally intended to pour out the tea, but before I could take the teacup away, someone came over. This servant was afraid of being discovered, so I had to hide first, but I didn't expect the tea to be served to..."
Xiao Xizi didn't say anything more. With Princess Jin in trouble, how could Eunuch Yuan not guess that the drugged tea had been drunk by Princess Jin?
Xiao Xizi grabbed Eunuch Yuan's hand and said, "Eunuch, you must save this servant!"
Eunuch Yuan's expression was solemn as he instructed, "Keep this matter to yourself. Don't utter a single word about it to a third person. Do you understand?"
Xiao Xizi nodded repeatedly.
If he hadn't been timid and hadn't been discovered by Eunuch Yuan, he wouldn't have even told Eunuch Yuan.
The Emperor wanted to hold his eldest grandson, but he said it in front of all the civil and military officials. If they knew that he was the one who switched the tea, causing the accident to the child in Princess Jin's womb, even if he had several lives, it wouldn't be enough for the Emperor to cut him down.
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