In the blink of an eye, Shen Wan's baby is five months old.
When she was pregnant with Jin'er, her belly didn't show for a long time, but this time it seemed to have come much earlier.
Her belly, only five months along, was already bigger than when she was seven months pregnant with Jin'er.
Jin'er can crawl, sit up by herself, and even call her "Mother Consort". Shen Wan still remembers the first time Jin'er called her, she could only say "Consort", which made Shen Wan cry with joy and she couldn't wait to write a letter home to tell Xie Jingyan.
As requested by Shen Wan, Xie Jingyan wrote her a letter every two weeks. Although the letter was often delivered late, it was still basically one letter every two weeks.
The border is too far from the capital. Apart from the battle reports sent back to the capital, only letters from home can tell her anything about Xie Jingyan. Over time, Shen Wan has gotten used to waiting for letters from home.
After several days of rain, Shen Wan stayed indoors for a while. Once the weather cleared up and the ground was no longer damp, she went to the garden to admire the flowers, accompanied by Yinshuang and Haitang.
As the weather gets colder, it's time to prepare some cotton-padded clothes and have them sent to the border.
Shen Wan was instructing Haitang when Dong'er ran over, panting and leaning on her knees, and said, "Your Highness, an urgent message has arrived from the border, saying that Prince Cheng has defected to Xiliang!"
Shen Wan already knew about King Cheng's defection to Xiliang.
But many people are still unaware of this.
Very few officials knew the truth; they only knew that King Cheng had disappeared, but they didn't know when he had disappeared.
When the spies from Xiliang were discovered hiding in Wanxiang Pavilion, they escaped into Prince Cheng's mansion and kidnapped Prince Cheng, taking him away from the capital. Later, Prince Ling exposed that the Prince Cheng kidnapped by the Xiliang spies was a stand-in, an imposter, and that the real Prince Cheng had long since disappeared.
The Emperor has offered a reward, and the entire Great Chu is searching for Prince Cheng, but they still haven't found him. Unexpectedly, Prince Cheng has gone to Western Liang, disguised himself, and is hiding in the Western Liang army camp, helping Western Liang attack our Great Chu.
Many ministers' first reaction upon hearing the news was that it was fake news.
Prince Cheng is no ordinary prince.
He was born to the Empress Dowager and is the current emperor's younger brother.
In the Great Chu, he was second only to the emperor and above all others.
Such a noble status is something many people envy but can't even dream of. Why would Prince Cheng give up his perfectly good position as a prince and go to join the Western Liang? Has Prince Cheng lost his mind?
The urgent message was sent to the capital by someone dispatched by the Marquis of Pingyang; it wasn't genuine. Even if the Marquis of Pingyang had a few extra lives, he wouldn't dare send such a message.
Moreover, when Ling Wang fought with Cheng Wang on the battlefield, although he failed to capture Cheng Wang, he knocked off the mask Cheng Wang was wearing, and many soldiers saw Cheng Wang's face clearly.
Before the battle between King Ling and King Cheng, many soldiers of the Great Chu died at the hands of King Cheng.
This is not something that can be easily dismissed with the word "undercover agent."
But King Cheng was not a fool; he had no reason to do such an incomprehensible thing.
Thinking of how Princess Cheng and Crown Prince Cheng both shaved their heads...
Furthermore, the Empress Dowager was so angry that she vomited blood several times, and even went blind. The Emperor did not visit her at Shou Kang Palace for several months.
It would be strange if the civil and military officials couldn't guess that something unknown had happened between the emperor and Prince Cheng.
No matter how much they inquired, they couldn't find out anything, and their hearts were increasingly restless, like a cat scratching at their hearts.
The Imperial Study.
The emperor sat on the dragon throne.
His face was cold as he looked at the eight hundred taels of urgent mail that Shen Jing had sent to the capital.
The Emperor had been waiting for this news for a long time.
We've been waiting since Xie Jingyan went to the battlefield.
Since King Cheng disappeared, the court has not charged him with any crime. Wherever King Cheng goes, he is still King Cheng of Great Chu, and still the younger brother of the Emperor of Great Chu. No one dares to neglect him.
The Emperor, concerned for his own and Xie Jingyan's reputation, could not publicly announce Prince Cheng's crimes to the world.
Now we can finally convict King Cheng.
To defect to the enemy and betray one's country.
Sin cannot be forgiven.
The next morning at the imperial court, the emperor issued an edict in the Hall of State Affairs in front of all the civil and military officials, decreeing that whoever captures the Prince of Cheng alive at the border will be promoted three ranks and rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold.
Shou Kang Palace.
With the meticulous care of Imperial Physician Zhao and the occasional invitation of Doctor Tao to the palace to treat her, the Empress Dowager's condition neither worsened nor improved.
He is still blind.
However, after being blind for so long, the Empress Dowager had already gotten used to not being able to see.
She, a once high and mighty empress dowager, had fallen to such a state. If it weren't for Princess Huyang visiting the palace almost every day to talk to her, the empress dowager would have collapsed long ago.
Earlier, Princess Huyang had advised the Emperor to visit the Empress Dowager, but after the Emperor visited her so many times, he stopped seeing her altogether.
Later, Eunuch Yuan told Princess Huyang how the Empress Dowager had protected Prince Cheng, and Princess Huyang stopped bothering the Emperor in the Imperial Study.
The Empress Dowager's favoritism towards Prince Cheng hurt the Emperor's feelings. The Emperor could choose not to visit the Empress Dowager, but she always doted on Princess Huyang. Even though Princess Huyang knew the Empress Dowager had made a mistake, seeing her haggard and blind appearance, as her daughter, she couldn't bear it.
They didn't even dare to say a harsh word, fearing they would be the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Princess Huyang could only pretend to be confused, caught between the Empress Dowager, Prince Cheng, and the Emperor, which caused her great distress.
How could things have turned out this way between siblings?
The Empress Dowager was used to Princess Huyang coming to talk to her every day, which was one of the few comforts she had after losing her sight.
By noon that day, Princess Huyang still hadn't come. The Empress Dowager asked Zhao Mama, "Princess Huyang didn't come to see me today. Has something happened?"
Zhao Mama said, "Empress Dowager, please don't overthink it. Princess Huyang must be busy with other matters. She always comes to keep you company and relieve your boredom whenever she has free time."
The Empress Dowager said, "Don't lie to me. If Huyang has something to do and can't come, she told me yesterday when she left."
Zhao Mama said, "Then shall I send someone to ask?"
The Empress Dowager said, "That's enough. I'm already satisfied that Huyang has been able to come to the palace to accompany me for so long, rain or shine."
The Empress Dowager leaned against the large pillow, and after a while, she sent Granny Zhao away to run errands.
After Granny Zhao left, the Empress Dowager ordered tea, and a palace maid came in to serve her.
When the palace maid brought tea to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager grasped the maid's hand and said, "Tell me, what exactly happened these past two days?"
Although the Empress Dowager went blind, her hearing actually improved considerably after she lost her sight.
Yesterday evening, she vaguely heard Granny Zhao scolding the palace maids who were cleaning the courtyard, saying that if this got back to the Empress Dowager, Princess Huyang would not let them off the hook.
The Empress Dowager took it to heart and planned to ask Princess Huyang about it today. However, Princess Huyang did not come, and the Empress Dowager became increasingly uneasy. Zhao Mama dared not tell her, so the Empress Dowager could only find an opportunity to ask the palace maid.
The palace maid's wrist was grabbed, but she dared not exert any force, lest she injure the Empress Dowager and die.
The palace maid pleaded, "Empress Dowager, please don't make things difficult for me..."
The Empress Dowager said, "Speak!"
The Empress Dowager used to be imposing even without anger, but now that she's blind, when she gets angry, even Granny Zhao can't handle her, let alone the palace maids.
The palace maid's voice trembled as she said, "King Cheng betrayed his country and helped Xiliang attack our Great Chu..."
The Empress Dowager was ashen-faced.
She released her grip, and the palace maid fell to the ground.
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