The Empress Dowager was exhausted. She knew that Princess Huyang was worried about her and the Prince Cheng's residence, but she really didn't know how to tell Princess Huyang about these things.
The Empress Dowager looked at the eldest son-in-law, "Tell Huyang."
Princess Huyang turned to look at her husband, "You know?"
"You kept it from me too?!"
The Imperial Son-in-Law said to the Empress Dowager, "Your Majesty, please rest and recuperate. I have taken Huyang back to the residence. I will come to visit you another day."
Without waiting for Princess Huyang's reply, he took her away.
Princess Huyang was furious. Her husband knew she was extremely anxious and knew what had happened, but he didn't tell her anything and just ignored her distress.
After leaving Shou Kang Palace, Princess Huyang shook off her husband's hand.
The eldest son-in-law said, "Let's talk about it when we get back to the manor."
Princess Huyang said, "You've had plenty of opportunities to tell me these past few days in the manor, so tell me now!"
The eldest son-in-law said with a headache, "Walls have ears. How can something that the Empress Dowager is keeping from you be a small matter?"
Although Princess Huyang was still angry, she was not a spoiled or willful person, so she suppressed her anger and left the palace with her husband.
Having endured the journey, Princess Huyang returned to the Duke of Du's mansion and her room, where she looked at her husband, the eldest son-in-law.
The prince consort waved his hand, and the maids and nannies serving in the room withdrew.
After everyone had left, the sound of the door closing came, and the Imperial Son-in-Law said, "Prince Cheng has fled out of fear of punishment."
Princess Huyang was startled.
"Fleeing to evade punishment?"
"What wrong has Prince Cheng done that has forced him to flee in fear of punishment?!"
The Imperial Son-in-Law said, "They are illegally operating iron mines and secretly colluding with Western Liang..."
Princess Huyang was stunned and blurted out, "How is this possible?!"
The eldest son-in-law said, "This is not the biggest mistake that Prince Cheng has made."
Princess Huyang retorted angrily, "Who told you such nonsense?"
“...our son.”
Princess Huyang, "...!!!"
Princess Huyang asked, "How would An'er know about these things?"
The eldest son-in-law said, "He spends all his time with the Prince of Yanping and the others, and the Prince of Yanping and the others are so close to Prince Ling, it would be abnormal if he didn't know these things."
“The biggest mistake that Prince Cheng made was not told to them by Prince Ling. That’s what An’er told me.”
The Imperial Son-in-Law speculated, "It's probably related to Empress Song's assassination attempt on the Emperor."
Princess Huyang slowly sat down, still unable to accept that Prince Cheng had secretly opened an iron mine and colluded with the assassins of Xiliang. Prince Cheng was of noble status, second only to the emperor. What more could he possibly want? Why would he collude with outsiders? What did he intend to do?
Considering that the Empress Dowager remained silent and the Emperor had even disappeared from her sight, Princess Huyang, though she could no longer believe it, knew that this matter could not be baseless.
Thinking of Princess Cheng and Prince Cheng, Princess Huyang's eyes welled up with tears. "Even if Prince Cheng was guilty, Princess Cheng and Prince Cheng are innocent. How could the Emperor..."
The Grand Prince Consort said, "You have wronged the Emperor. If it weren't for the Emperor's intervention, the Empress Dowager would have already executed Princess Cheng to save face for Prince Cheng and the royal family."
The Empress Dowager executed Cheng, the Princess Consort?!
Princess Huyang was heartbroken.
How could my mother be such a heartless person?!
Princess Huyang felt that her blood relatives had suddenly become so unfamiliar, so unfamiliar that it terrified her.
...
Days passed by.
There has been no news of the Western Liang prince who fell off a cliff and went missing.
King Cheng has disappeared and his whereabouts are unknown.
Shen Wan's belly grew bigger day by day, until she had to support her waist to walk.
With her due date fast approaching, Doctor Tao came every other day to check on Shen Wan's pulse. On this particular day, as Doctor Tao was leaving with his medicine box, Mama Zhou came in and said, "Judging by the days, the Princess should be giving birth in a few days. Why hasn't the gift from the Marquis of Pingyang's residence to urge her to give birth arrived yet? It should have been sent at the beginning of the month."
As for the childbirth gift, Zhou's mother didn't mention it, and Shen Wan didn't even think about it. Yin Shuang and Hai Tang had no idea about it at all, but Shen Wan didn't care. "It's not necessary to give one."
In my previous life, none of the concubines in the palace sent any gifts to the harem to encourage childbirth after giving birth.
Madam Zhou said, "It's just for good luck. The young master is young and doesn't understand these things, and Princess Huai'an is pregnant. She might have forgotten. Should I send someone back to ask?"
Yinshuang said, "Princess Huai'an may not know, but Fourth Madam should know."
Shen Wan thought about it and realized it made sense. Her fourth aunt hadn't come to see her for several days. Shen Wan instructed Haitang, "Go back and check on her."
Haitang agreed and turned to leave.
After Haitang left, Shen Wan, supporting her lower back, paced back and forth in the room. When she got tired, she would sit down to rest. When her back ached from sitting, she would get up and walk around again. She didn't know how many times she did this. Shen Wan felt that walking more was beneficial for childbirth, just as Doctor Tao had said. With so many steps she took every day, she should give birth quickly.
Haitang didn't return until almost lunchtime. When she came in, her nose was red from the wind. Shen Wan asked, "Is everything alright at the Pingyang Marquis's residence?"
Haitang nodded and said, "Princess Huai'an is doing well, but Fourth Madam has been busy preparing dowry for Fourth Miss these days and has caught a cold and has been sick for several days."
"The gift to urge childbirth hasn't arrived yet because Princess Huai'an thinks the Fourth Madam sent it, and the Fourth Madam thinks Princess Huai'an sent it..."
Shen Wan, "..."
Shen Wan was both amused and exasperated.
No matter how busy the Fourth Madam was, she still managed to visit Princess Huai'an every other day. She was ill and afraid of passing on her illness to Princess Huai'an, so she hadn't been to the Marquis's mansion these past few days. When Shen Wei went to keep Princess Huai'an company, she was just an unmarried girl and didn't understand these things, so she couldn't talk about them.
You thought I gave it to you, and I thought you gave it to me, but in the end, neither of us gave it to anyone.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
