Chapter 32 Grounding Punishment
"Gan Xiaoshi is pregnant?" The Queen was somewhat surprised. "She really is quite lucky."
His fellow palace attendants were still only at the rank of changing clothes, none of them had received the "fruit of pregnancy"; but he was promoted to junior attendant and just received the "fruit of pregnancy," and after only one night of serving the emperor, he became pregnant with the imperial heir.
"Since the pregnancy has been disturbed, he should take good care of himself and doesn't need to come to Changning Palace to pay his respects every day," the Empress said after giving some rewards. "Have the imperial physician check his pulse once a day to ensure his safety."
Xiao Li thanked him profusely with tears of gratitude.
The queen dismissed him indifferently.
Compared to the lowly-born servant Gan, he cared more about the child in Consort Wei's womb:
Consort Wei is the son of the Minister of Personnel. What if she is carrying a prince, but he gives birth to a princess...?
Not only are Consort Wei, Consort Liang, Consort Qu, and Consort Lu all from distinguished families, but even though they are not pregnant yet, who can say for sure what will happen in the future?
Inside the Zichen Palace.
"So Xiaocao got pregnant so quickly?" Si Ze took the medical record with some surprise. Looking at the detailed case details, she began to feel a sense of reality.
My cousin is weak, yet he has never had any problems with the pregnancy; he is strong, so why would he have any problems with the pregnancy? And there has been no prior indication that he is pregnant.
As an emperor, Si Ze couldn't help but have complicated thoughts.
After all, she was her own bloodline, and Xiaocao came from a humble background. She worried that someone might look down on her, and was still uneasy: "Does Xiaoshi Gan live in Anle Palace?"
"Yes, Gan Xiaoshi and several maids are all arranged to stay in Anle Palace," the head steward, Huilan, replied immediately.
Si Ze didn't notice the steward's expression: "Prepare the carriage for Anle Palace."
The eunuchs were somewhat surprised, but they all acted quickly.
...
"What? The Emperor has arrived at the inner palace?!" Upon hearing the news, the attendants hurriedly dressed up.
Soon, they heard another piece of news: the Emperor did not stop in the Imperial Garden, nor did he go to Changning Palace, but instead went to Anle Palace, where no high-ranking officials resided.
"Anle Palace?" The attendants were puzzled. "Go quickly and continue to inquire!"
Soon, someone received news from a lowly palace servant who was sweeping and cleaning: Imperial Physician Wang and the head physician had visited the Jade Pavilion in Anle Palace.
The court judge, Cuiyuxuan, and Gan Xiaoshi.
Gan Xiaoshi had been pregnant and had served the emperor in bed!
The attendants, though harboring deep resentment, still put on smiling faces, hoping to bump into His Majesty at Anle Palace.
...
The palace maids and servants were still speculating and hesitating about whether to check on Gan Xiaoshi when they heard the sound of the imperial whip as the emperor arrived.
Immediately, everyone left the palace and knelt down to pay their respects.
Half-asleep, Gan Cao also woke up: "I dreamt of His Majesty's whip..."
"Long live Your Majesty!" The two young palace servants didn't have time to hesitate and immediately bowed loudly.
Gan Cao was now fully awake and wanted to get up to greet him, but a large hand pressed her down: "You just had a miscarriage, don't move around."
The familiar warm scent enveloped him as his caring words touched him, and his eyes instantly welled up with tears.
Unlike his previous emotional outbursts, Si Ze immediately noticed his lingering fear and grievance.
"What's wrong?" Si Ze held him close, his eyes darkening. "If you've been wronged, tell me."
Gan Xiaoshi shook her head, but tears fell one by one: "I was not wronged, I just hate myself for not protecting the child well."
"You have always been healthy, what's going on?" The king did not believe him completely.
What happened?
He was exercising to stimulate the fetus.
This made him seem incredibly foolish, and those exercises were somewhat embarrassing for a man to talk about.
He dared not meet His Majesty's concerned gaze, bit his lip, and still endured the embarrassment to reveal the truth.
Was this the reason for the miscarriage?
Si Ze was both angry and amused: "Didn't you feel uncomfortable before?"
"When I first started exercising, it was a little... painful." He didn't dare to lie.
The king was truly enraged this time. She lifted his chin, looked into his eyes, and calmly said, "Qingqing, you are really good at enduring. You're already aroused, yet you continue to torment yourself. Are you deliberately trying to abort my child?"
"I would never have thought that!" Gan Cao knelt down instantly, tears streaming down his face. "Your Majesty, this child is the one I have longed for, the one Your Majesty has bestowed upon me. How could I possibly have such a thought?"
He was eager to confess, revealing all his previous base and obscure taboos, as well as his self-deprecating and self-harming thoughts.
He cried so hard that he lost all composure, like a bird whose feathers had been plucked, revealing his pitiful state.
The king's original anger was shattered by his weeping, and a trace of pity arose from the bottom of his heart, but his anger grew stronger: Wasn't the favor she gave him enough? Why did he have to belittle himself like this?
She roughly understood why he acted that way, but she was still determined to teach him a lesson.
She was pregnant, so she couldn't punish him harshly; nor could she issue an imperial decree to reprimand him to avoid being bullied by the other servants. But she had plenty of ways to punish him.
She whispered something in his ear, and the little palace servant's face turned deathly pale.
The imperial physician was summoned, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong, the king dismissed the palace servants and ordered him to remove his lower garments.
While his lower abdomen was firmly protected, another part of his body was to be punished by the king.
...
Fear, pain, shame, and the harsh punishment of skin-to-skin contact made her already swollen eyes feel like a river bursting its banks.
It seemed to hurt a lot there, but it didn't involve her lower abdomen. Gan Xiaocao became unusually fragile, and her pain tolerance was not like that of a palace maid who was a laundry maid.
"You'll be confined to the Jade Pavilion for the next few months," the king said, straightening his clothes. He then summoned the imperial physician to examine his pulse and, after confirming there were no problems, issued the final punishment: "Copy the Admonitions for Men fifty times."
Once everything was settled, Si Ze left with his entourage.
Those attendants who wanted to catch a glimpse of His Majesty during the celebrations were all stopped by the palace guards outside Anle Palace and watched helplessly as the imperial carriage left. They tried to go to Cuiyu Pavilion to inquire, but were told that Gan Xiaoshi was under house arrest and could only return disappointed.
The news of Gan Xiaoshi's pregnancy had just spread, and everyone was speculating whether he would be promoted when they heard that he had been confined to his quarters. Countless people immediately began to gloat.
Mao Gen was also full of worries. He could still smile in front of his master, but when he was away from his master, he couldn't help but look worried.
"Your baby is safe and sound. What a joyous occasion! Why are you still looking so gloomy?" Xiao Li took the opportunity to comfort her.
Mao Gen patted his cheeks: "I know it's a good thing, but His Majesty's dislike for it is still worrying."
"His Majesty dislikes me?!" Xiao Li lowered her voice. "You don't think that being confined means you dislike your master, do you?"
Mao Gen's eyes lit up slightly: "Tell me in detail."
“Our master suffered a miscarriage and almost lost the imperial heir. We know the reason why,” Xiao Li gave him a knowing look. Seeing that the other party nodded, she continued, “This was a serious offense, but His Majesty only punished him with copying. Isn’t that showing him care?”
That seemed to make some sense, but he still reminded him, "There's also the stay-at-home order."
“Looking at the ‘fun’ over there with Wei Cai Ren, I don’t think this confinement is entirely a punishment.” Xiao Li nodded, emphasizing her point.
Hearing this, Mao Gen suddenly understood: "That's right, all the supplies at our Cuiyu Pavilion have been improved. Given the way those palace servants fawn over the powerful and bully the weak, someone must have given special instructions!"
After being reassured, Mao Gen walked with much lighter steps.
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