Pregnant
Huang Ying looked troubled, biting her lower lip, and hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“My lady, I am on your side. Although you are not my young mistress, I have said that I will always be loyal to you… My lady, although this is my first time working in the Prince’s mansion, I have been in the Liu family for many years. There, I have seen too many unreasonable and unfair things. My lady, life in the inner chambers of the mansion has never been a place for reason.”
"What is that?" Jiang Yan suddenly stopped and turned to look at her.
This time, Huang Ying didn't lower her eyes and bow as she had before. Instead, she stared firmly into Jiang Yan's eyes and said...
"pet."
"Spoiled?" Jiang Yan found it hard to believe, thinking it was nonsense. "Are you kidding me? Even if I'm not worldly, I've read a lot of books! Which book doesn't talk about 'marrying someone of equal social standing'? Doesn't it talk about status and identity?"
Huang Ying was very serious and continued, "My lady, in the inner chambers of the mansion, what we lack least is 'favoring concubines over wives'! Since ancient times, how could a wife be favored? It has always been the concubines who are favored. The books you have read or the things you have heard people talk about are just what others say, but I have seen it with my own eyes, and more than one time."
Jiang Yan suddenly felt uneasy, as if she were sick, but not quite.
Seeing that she remained silent and her face was pale, Huang Ying continued, "My lady, let me take this opportunity to make things clearer. My lady, you are a concubine, and by all accounts, you should dine with the prince every day. Whether the prince goes to the palace or attends a banquet, he should take you with him. Moreover, the prince should reward you and bring you to live in the front courtyard. My lady, you've seen it yourself, haven't you? The courtyards of these other ladies are all bigger than yours. Even a simple music room there is bigger than our entire Pear Blossom Residence!"
Well... she found out recently, but she didn't think about it in this way at all.
Huang Ying: "My lady, I don't want you to grovel and curry favor with the prince, but that's just how it is. You may not believe me today, but you will believe me in the future."
Jiang Yan was beginning to believe her, because she had never spoken with such conviction in her expression and tone.
However, she also felt that she should give Shangguan Zeyu a chance to see if he was really as muddle-headed and unable to distinguish right from wrong as Huang Ying had said!
"Okay, I understand. I know you're good to me and care about me. I'll be more careful about my words and actions in the future."
Huang Ying nodded obediently.
After the incident at Emerald Lake, Jiang Yan has learned her lesson and plans to stay in confinement, no longer going out or getting entangled with others.
However, the gears of fate had already gone out of control, and she had no way to control the situation.
This was the day after Shen Qianqian was dragged into Jiang Yan's scheme. It was just before dawn when Wang Qianqian's personal maid, Liu Ying, was already knocking on the door.
Jiang Yan was in a daze. In her hazy state, she heard Huang Ying say that she had gone to open the door, so she changed her position and fell asleep again.
But why did the oriole appear in her dream, shaking her and acting so nervously?
"What's wrong with you?"
"My lord, something terrible has happened! Madam Shen is ill!"
"So what if I'm sick? What does it have to do with me?" Jiang Yan thought she was really dreaming. She pushed Huang Ying away with both hands and was about to change her position to sleep again, but suddenly felt a sharp pain on her face, as if someone was pinching her face. She opened her eyes abruptly.
"What's wrong?"
"Master! Madam Shen has a high fever!! Madam Wang wants you to go and see her."
Jiang Yan instantly became seven or eight parts more sober: "Chen Qianqian has a high fever? What happened...? Is it because she fell into the water yesterday? Is her body so fragile?"
"Master, it's because... because Madam Shen is pregnant."
"......What?" Jiang Yan was still not in the right mind and was completely confused.
Huang Ying shook her a few more times: "My lady, I just heard from Sister Liu Ying that the prince did not go to sweep the tomb this time, but instead, on the orders of the Empress Dowager, he took the princess to pray for an heir."
"And then?" Jiang Yan wanted to understand what Huang Ying meant, but her mind seemed to be short-circuited, and she couldn't figure it out no matter what she did.
Huang Ying became even more anxious: "Master, Madam Shen is carrying the Prince's first child, and it's been so many years. So, if something happens to Madam Shen, the child will definitely be in trouble. Then, your life, my life, and the life of the entire Liu family will all be over."
"Oh, is it that serious? It's just a... high fever."
A high fever is no small matter for a pregnant woman! It could really lead to a miscarriage!
Shen Qianqian's paper-thin body is even more fragile than Liu Ruyi's. If she really can't hold on, then, then wouldn't she really die?
She still didn't understand how she got to this Zhou Kingdom, she didn't understand her purpose in coming here, she didn't know how to get back, and she hadn't sought justice for Liu Ruyi yet. If she really died like this, wouldn't all the suffering she had endured be for nothing?
"Hurry, hurry up and get ready, which courtyard is she in?" Jiang Yan had already gotten out of bed and was hurriedly putting on her clothes.
As Huang Ying helped her, she said, "Madam Shen lives in Xinghua Manor, but at this moment, she is in Haitang Garden."
Jiang Yan didn't think much of it and ran out the door without even bothering with her makeup.
Huang Ying called out anxiously, "My lady, you haven't tied your hair up or put on your makeup yet!"
"What time is it? Why are you still worrying about these things? Let's hurry up!"
Huang Ying then followed her and went with her to the Begonia Garden.
As soon as they entered the Begonia Garden, they noticed that the servants passing by were all anxious and uneasy.
Jiang Yan couldn't help but wonder, could it be that Shen Qianqian couldn't hold on? Did she die?
Seeing her in a daze, Huang Ying gently nudged her: "Master, hurry up and go to the main courtyard."
"Okay, let's go!"
Led by Huang Ying, Jiang Yan arrived at the main courtyard in a very short time—the courtyard where she had once stood up for Huang Ying and challenged Wang Qianqian.
Huang Ying: "Please wait here, my lady. I'll go knock on the door."
However, whether it was because the two women, mistress and servant, arrived too timely or too late, no sooner had Huang Ying finished speaking than Shen Qianqian's painful groans and Wang Qianqian's desperate pleas for help came from inside the room.
Is this really the end?
Is the person really unable to endure it any longer?
Jiang Yan was startled and had already guessed how she would die, wondering whether she would be executed by slow slicing or torn apart by five horses.
It wouldn't matter if one person died, but if Huang Ying, the others in Pear Blossom Residence, and her nominal maternal family, the Liu family, with over a hundred people, all died because of her, it would be too much of a loss. She didn't have the ability to bear that burden!
Without saying a word, he rushed to the door, pushed it open, and ran inside.
Wang Qianqian seemed to have guessed it was her. She was only slightly stunned before sobbing and denouncing her.
"Sister, look what you've done! My sister Shen has a high fever that won't go down, and she's pregnant with the prince's child. How am I supposed to explain this to the prince?"
Gently wiping away the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief, she said, "No wonder the Prince specifically instructed me to take good care of Sister Shen before he left. It seems the Prince knew all along that Sister Shen was pregnant. This is terrible, sister, you're going to get your sisters killed!!"
Jiang Yan was already sweating profusely from fright. Hearing her say that again, she suddenly felt lightheaded, as if she was about to fall over.
"Then, cough cough, what might this princess do?"
"What else can I do? Sister, come and see!" Wang Qianqian said, sobbing as she moved to the side.
Jiang Yan was terrified, fearing to see Shen Qianqian looking like she was about to die, so she stood as if her feet were weighed down with lead, unable to move an inch.
Wang Qianqian couldn't wait for her to walk towards Shen Qianqian. With red eyes, she pointed at her with her right hand.
"Sister, oh sister, we are all under the Prince's control. Why are you so cold and heartless? All I did was remind you a few words when I saw you occupying the Princess's rocking chair. Why must you treat your sisters so cruelly?"
Jiang Yan's head was buzzing.
It's a good thing Shangguan Zeyu wasn't here. If she were, she would have died hundreds of times over from Wang Qianqian's fierce attack just now!
She was really impulsive; why didn't she think of that?
"Master, let me help you go see Madam Shen." After Huang Ying finished speaking, she supported Jiang Yan's left arm and slowly walked towards Shen Qianqian.
You wouldn't believe it until you see it; it was truly terrifying!
In just one day, the beautiful and youthful Shen Qianqian looked as if she had been struck by frost, lying listlessly on the bed, breathing weakly.
Given her condition, the baby in her belly probably won't survive.
Is she really going to die?
Jiang Yan was so frightened that cold sweat poured down her forehead and onto her collar.
Huang Ying was also terrified; her face turned completely pale.
Jiang Yan dared not touch Shen Qianqian.
She was afraid that even the slightest touch would cause her to lose her breath!
She dared not give Wang Qianqian any more leverage to blame her for all the crimes.
"That Madam Wang, didn't the doctor say anything about Madam Shen's condition?"
Wang Qianqian walked over, sobbing, "The doctor prescribed medicine to prevent miscarriage, and my sister has already had the maid prepare it and feed it to her, but... the doctor said before leaving that if my sister's fever doesn't break by evening, I'm afraid, I'm afraid..." She started crying again.
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