Phoenix Palace.
Empress Song leaned back on the chaise longue, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, letting the palace maids massage her legs with a beauty hammer.
Incense wafts gently from the white jade incense burner adorned with auspicious beast motifs.
A scene of tranquility and peace.
A young palace maid in a pale yellow dress stepped forward quickly and whispered a few words in Du Mama's ear. Du Mama's expression changed upon hearing this, and she immediately waved her hand to dismiss all the palace maids and eunuchs serving in the hall, including the maid who was massaging Empress Song's legs.
Empress Song frowned slightly and casually asked, "What's wrong?"
Granny Du stepped forward and said, "Princess Ling has been diagnosed with pregnancy..."
Almost instantly, Empress Song opened her eyes, a cold glint flashing in them.
Empress Song was prepared for Shen Wan's pregnancy to be discovered, but she couldn't accept that all her efforts had not resulted in Shen Wan's child being aborted, but instead in the loss of Fu Shu's child.
Empress Song sat up, her eyes icy cold, and asked, "How did you find out?"
"It was discovered while treating Prince Ling's vomiting," said Granny Du.
Empress Song assumed that a doctor had been treating Xie Jingyan and had taken Shen Wan's pulse to find the cause, so she didn't think much of it. But then, Granny Du said, "The cause of Prince Ling's vomiting has been found."
Empress Song's face was cold and stern. "What is the cause of the illness?"
Du Mama said, "Prince Ling is indeed not sick. His vomiting is because Princess Ling is pregnant. Doctor Tao, who cured Prince Ling's leg ailment, said that Prince Ling dotes on Princess Ling so much that he feels her pain and has symptoms of morning sickness."
Empress Song was stunned. Although she had had such a thought before, she had rejected it because it was too absurd. She said, "How could there be such an absurd and outrageous thing in the world?"
Du Mama said, "Prince Ling is not the first man like this."
Furthermore, Princess Ling did not have any symptoms of morning sickness, otherwise she wouldn't have been two and a half months pregnant and no one would have known she was pregnant.
Beneath her phoenix robe, Empress Song clenched her fists tightly. "Princess Consort Ling is truly blessed; Prince Ling dotes on her to such an extent!"
Empress Song had given birth to a son and a daughter for the Emperor and knew the pain of childbirth. She vomited so much that she felt dizzy and wished she could vomit up her gallbladder as well. When she was pregnant with Princess Shouchun, she vomited from the moment she conceived until she gave birth, enduring all kinds of suffering. She never expected that there would be a husband in the world who would take her place during her morning sickness. With such affection, it is no wonder that when Princess Ling was thrown off a cliff, Prince Ling jumped off the cliff without thinking.
Fortunately, she received the news that the two of them had fallen off a cliff behind Huguo Temple. She was so happy that she couldn't sleep until late at night, but it turned out to be a false alarm!
Empress Song's lips were pressed tightly together, and her molars were even loosened from clenching them.
Granny Du said anxiously, "At the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, Imperial Physician Jiang took Princess Ling's pulse but couldn't detect that she was pregnant. The Emperor summoned Imperial Physician Jiang to the Imperial Study for questioning..."
Empress Song's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly calmed down and said, "Imperial Physician Jiang is meticulous. He wouldn't dare to hide the fact that Princess Ling is pregnant without absolute certainty. Besides, I have never done anything to Princess Ling."
The last half of the sentence was almost squeezed out from between Empress Song's teeth.
Thinking about it, Du Mama realized that neither the Empress nor she had asked Physician Jiang to do such a thing. It was his own attempt to please the Empress. If she had spoken up directly that day, the Empress would not have taken the risk, and the Princess Consort of Jin would not have been implicated.
The Imperial Study.
The emperor sat on the dragon throne and drank tea.
When Physician Jiang arrived at the Imperial Study, his face was somewhat pale. He guessed why the Emperor had summoned him and braced himself to enter the Imperial Study.
Imperial Physician Jiang pretended to know nothing and stepped forward to bow to the Emperor, saying, "I wonder why Your Majesty summoned me here...?"
The Emperor's gaze swept over Imperial Physician Jiang, "During the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, Princess Ling was already two months pregnant. You took her pulse, why couldn't you detect it?!"
The sharp voice startled Physician Jiang so much that his legs went weak and he knelt down with a thud.
Physician Jiang trembled as he said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. I had already told you that Princess Ling was pregnant..."
The Emperor roared, "Since you've revealed it, why didn't you inform Prince Ling, Princess Ling, and me?!"
Physician Jiang prostrated himself and said, "I did not expect that Princess Ling was pregnant. Neither Princess Ling nor Prince Ling knew. I was just assuming that His Majesty's posting of notices and offering rewards for renowned doctors to treat Prince Ling meant that there would be no fewer than a hundred doctors and physicians coming and going from Prince Ling's residence. Surely some of them would also check Princess Ling's pulse. Princess Ling is pregnant but not saying so. I guess she is worried that someone might secretly harm her if they find out. She wants to wait until the pregnancy is stable after three months before informing His Majesty. Prince Ling and Princess Ling intentionally concealed it. In addition, there was no sign of miscarriage, and it was also the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, so I pretended that I knew nothing..."
After a pause, Physician Jiang quickly said, "Although I didn't say anything, I made a detailed record in Princess Ling's medical records. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can send someone to check it."
What a fine physician, Dr. Jiang!
His tongue is so eloquent; he can even make the dead sound alive.
No wonder she had the audacity to reveal that Princess Ling was pregnant, yet concealed it and only informed Empress Song; it turns out she had already devised a plan.
This explanation was quite reasonable. During that period, a lot of doctors and imperial physicians did come and go from the Ling Prince's residence. With so many doctors and imperial physicians, at least one or two should have taken the opportunity to check on the Ling Princess's health, but not a single one did.
Princess Ling's medical records are not something that ordinary people would casually look through, and even if they did write them down, no one would find out. Now, however, they have become evidence for Physician Jiang to exonerate himself.
The Empress Song's henchmen must not be allowed to remain in the Imperial Hospital.
Eunuch Yuan smiled and said to the Emperor, "Among so many imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital, you won't find another like Physician Jiang who is so adept at understanding people's thoughts. No wonder he is highly regarded by the Empress. Granny Du specifically requested that he be invited to examine Princess Ling's pulse. Fortunately, Physician Jiang kept Princess Ling's pregnancy a secret. If it had spread, the person who secretly gave Princess Jin an abortion might have also harmed Princess Ling..."
"This servant dares not think any further."
With each word Yuan Gonggong uttered, the Emperor's face darkened further.
Eunuch Yuan said, "Imperial Physician Jiang concealed Princess Ling's pregnancy, which is not only without fault but also meritorious. Your Majesty should reward him handsomely."
The Emperor chuckled, "A reward?"
"The duty of imperial physicians is to treat the sick and save lives. When have they ever needed to guess what people are thinking?!"
"If Prince Ling knew that Princess Ling was pregnant, would he have been able to wait patiently for the Empress to send someone to examine her pulse?!"
What should be pondered is not pondered, while what should not be pondered is pondered excessively.
Do they really think he, the emperor, is so easy to fool?
The emperor disliked princes getting too close to court officials, and even more so, he disliked concubines getting too close to imperial physicians.
Having served the Emperor for many years, how could Eunuch Yuan not know what the Emperor was wary of?
With just a few words, he subtly provoked the emperor to murder, who coldly ordered, "Guards!"
"Remove him from his position as imperial physician and hand him over to the Court of Judicial Review for trial!"
Physician Jiang turned pale and repeatedly begged for forgiveness, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong, please forgive me..."
However, after only uttering one sentence, Eunuch Yuan waved his hand, and the eunuch immediately covered Physician Jiang's mouth and dragged him away.
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