"Aren't you thinking too far ahead?"
Song Xibai glanced at him.
"It wasn't until I became a father that I realized the worries of being a parent. Before, I just thought that having a child would be enough. But after having a child, I thought about giving my child the best of everything."
The Crown Prince sighed.
"What about Zhaojing?" Song Xibai tilted her head and looked at him.
"What's wrong with Zhaojing?" The Crown Prince asked, puzzled. "She'll be a princess in the future, so just pamper her and find her an obedient husband later."
Song Xibai's forehead twitched, unsure whether to criticize the first half or the second half of his sentence.
But the Crown Prince's thoughts also reflect the thoughts of the vast majority of people in this era.
Even when I talk to him about gender equality and that women can also pursue their careers, he still can't understand.
Song Xibai lowered her eyelids, making no attempt to instill these ideas.
Take your time!
We'll influence him subtly; there's still a long road ahead!
Life in the small courtyard was peaceful and uneventful.
To allow Song Xibai to rest in peace, the Crown Prince stopped sending messages through others and insisted on speaking to her personally.
Thus began Song Xibai's month-long postpartum confinement period, consisting of eating and sleeping.
Meanwhile, the situation in the palace became increasingly tense.
Following Consort Shu's "madness," Consort Shu also claimed to be ill, closed the palace gates, and even prevented Prince Wu and his wife from visiting her.
The power in the palace fell into the hands of Consort De.
Consort De was highly skilled and quietly consolidated her power in the palace. She frequently visited the Hall of Mental Cultivation and quickly became the new "favored concubine".
The Zhu family, the maternal family of Consort De, became a hot spot in the capital.
The fake emperor was very pleased with the Zhu family's overtures.
Of course, he didn't intend to abandon the Shu family either, after all, they were the maternal grandparents' family of the Eighth Prince. He wanted the Eighth Prince to become the Crown Prince, so he couldn't suppress the Shu family too much.
Therefore, even though Consort Shu went mad, the fake emperor did not move her to the Cold Palace, but continued to allow her to enjoy the treatment of a consort.
No other concubine could surpass Consort Shu.
However, things didn't go as planned.
Several days later, a fire suddenly broke out in a palace that had been in disrepair for many years.
The raging fire threatened to spread to the imperial court, and the palace servants were unable to put it out. The fake emperor had no choice but to mobilize the imperial guards to extinguish the fire.
The palace was in complete chaos.
It took half a day to put out the fire.
The commander of the Imperial Guards came to report on the casualties, and among them was Consort Shu!
The fake emperor lost his composure on the spot and knocked over the pen holder and inkstone on the table.
The crimson ink flowed down the edge of the table like a torrent of blood, a truly glaring sight.
"What did you say? Who is it?"
The commander dared not raise his head.
"It's the Imperial Concubine. The palace servants at Yongshou Palace said that the Imperial Concubine has been restless lately and keeps trying to run away. They didn't dare to lay a hand on her, so they could only lock the palace gates. But just now the fire was big, and everyone in the palace was busy putting out the fire. Yongshou Palace also became chaotic. Somehow the palace gates opened, and the Imperial Concubine took advantage of the chaos to run out."
At this point, the commander took a breath.
"When she was discovered, the Imperial Concubine was already dead."
The fake emperor was momentarily stunned, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
Could it be that someone else in the palace wants to kill Consort Shu?
But she's gone mad, so what difference does it make whether she's alive or dead?
Suddenly, he remembered the fire at the manor on the outskirts of Beijing, and his brows furrowed.
Could it have been done by the Crown Prince's men?
His expression was cold, and he suddenly flicked his open sleeves.
"Lead the way! I want to see this for myself!"
After saying that, he got up and walked towards the gate.
The commander hurriedly led the way.
This time, the fake emperor did not bring a royal procession; he only brought a few eunuchs.
Yongshou Palace is very close to Yangxin Hall; it doesn't take long to walk there.
Just as the fake emperor came into view of the gates of Yongshou Palace, he heard sobbing. Stepping inside, he saw eunuchs and palace maids kneeling on the ground, filled with fear and worry.
The fake emperor paused, then spoke coldly to Chen Dafu, who had followed him.
"We'll punish these people later! They couldn't even keep an eye on one person, letting the Imperial Concubine escape! Have them all beaten to death!"
Even though Chen Dafu had served the emperor for many years, he couldn't help but feel a tightness in his heart upon hearing this. He could only respond with a low "Yes" and dared not say anything more.
The fake emperor walked step by step into the door, through the empty hall, and came to the bed with its canopy.
The palace maids and nannies who usually served him knelt to the side, but the fake emperor didn't even glance at them, his eyes fixed on the person on the bed.
It is indeed Consort Shu.
He and she had shared a bed for over a decade, and they knew each other intimately.
The palace maids had barely managed to wash her body; they hadn't had time to do anything else.
The fake emperor saw Consort Shu lying there quietly, wearing only her undergarments and with her long hair down.
Her right cheek, right shoulder, and right arm were covered with large areas of burns, a mixture of charred black and scarlet, which looked ferocious, terrifying, and shocking.
The fake emperor instinctively took two steps back, not daring to look any closer.
"Has the imperial physician arrived yet?"
He was still not giving up, so before he came, he sent someone to fetch the imperial physician.
The imperial physician arrived shortly afterward.
It was Song Siyuan who arrived.
Given the recent situation at Yongshou Palace, everyone in the Imperial Medical Academy avoids it like the plague, and only Song Siyuan dares to come.
The fake emperor trusted Song Siyuan quite a bit. When he heard that Consort Shu had passed away, he immediately lost his composure and slumped into his chair.
To say he felt no emotional fluctuation would be inaccurate. After all, they had been husband and wife for many years, and Consort Shu had always been gentle and considerate.
But this sorrow lasted only a moment.
Just like when he had the palace maids of Yongshou Palace give Consort Shu a slow poison, he was reluctant at first, but in the end he still gave the order.
However, he originally only intended to weaken Consort Shu's health so that he could find a pretext to make her "die from a prolonged illness" after the new crown prince was enthroned. But he did not expect that Consort Shu would suddenly die like this.
This disrupted his plans!
With things in such chaos today, there's no way the news of Consort Shu's death could be kept secret.
With Consort Shu dead, the Eighth Prince must observe mourning. If a Crown Prince is appointed at this time, people will only criticize the Eighth Prince for being unfilial, opportunistic, and only interested in power and status...
The fake emperor slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair in frustration.
"waste!"
I don't know who this sentence is cursing.
But after he finished cursing, his expression changed drastically, and he looked down at his palm.
It turned out that the armrest of the chair had somehow cracked, and a piece of wood had cut his palm.
Song Siyuan hurriedly ran over.
"Your Majesty, you are injured?!"
He quickly opened the medicine box and took out ointment, gauze, and other items.
The fake emperor waved his hand: "It's nothing, just a minor injury."
"Your Majesty's health is not to be underestimated, even if it is a minor injury. Please allow me to bandage it for you."
Song Siyuan insisted, and the fake emperor smiled, feeling very relieved, and handed over his injured hand.
Song Siyuan quickly bandaged his wound and then got up to take his leave.
The fake emperor, unsuspecting, waved him away.
As Song Siyuan led Imperial Physician Fu backwards out of the hall, a solemn expression appeared on his face as he turned to descend the steps.
"Xiao Fu, hurry back to the Imperial Hospital!"
The emperor's blood has been obtained!
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