Chapter 79 Real-Name Abortion
The lotus pond is secluded and sparsely populated.
Shui Xian watched Yin Zhu leave, feeling worried about her. But as she patted her slightly heavy belly, she knew what was most important.
She wanted to hurry back to Yongle Palace and summon Pei Jichuan (Xiao Chuanzi), who was currently on duty at the Imperial Hospital, to come and see him.
Unexpectedly, as Shui Xian walked briskly to the lotus pond, a figure dressed in eunuch's clothing with his head down and face obscured emerged from behind the artificial hill.
The person suddenly appeared, and Narcissus instinctively tried to avoid him.
Suddenly, the man raised his face, a fierce glint in his eyes, and shoved Narcissus hard into her abdomen.
"ah!"
Caught off guard, Narcissus only had time to let out a cry of surprise before losing her balance and falling heavily into the pond!
Water splashes everywhere!
The icy pool water instantly submerged her, and the deep, soft silt at the bottom made it impossible for the narcissus to maintain her balance.
She tried to call for help, but the pool water rushed into her mouth and nose, choking her and causing her excruciating pain in her lungs, making it impossible for her to make any sound!
Just when things were at their most critical, she vaguely sensed someone swimming towards her with all their might.
Immediately afterwards, two arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her to the surface of the water.
Narcissus was half-dragged and half-carried ashore and collapsed in the grass.
She coughed violently, vomiting several mouthfuls of foul-smelling pool water, and her vision blurred.
"Consort Jin, are you alright?"
Narcissus barely opened her eyes, which were covered by water, and in her blurry vision came a calm and dignified face.
It was Consort De!
A palace maid was standing behind Consort De, wringing out her soaked clothes; she was clearly the one who had just rescued Narcissus.
"Your Highness... Consort De..."
Narcissus instinctively reached out to touch her stomach, where she felt waves of cramping pain that made her uneasy.
Just then, she saw Consort De's gaze suddenly freeze, staring intently at her lower body, and she exclaimed, "Blood! Consort Jin, you...you're bleeding!"
She struggled to follow Consort De's gaze downwards...
The hem of her light blue palace dress was already soaked with dark red stains.
Because he had just come out of the water, the bloodstains were spread by the pool water, making it look even more shocking!
"My child..."
Shui Xian suddenly grabbed Consort De's wrist and pleaded in a low voice, "Your Highness... please save my child..."
Consort De grasped her cold hand tightly in return, her voice firm: "Don't be afraid! Someone has already been sent to fetch the imperial physician! Hold on! The imperial physician will be here soon!"
As she spoke, she quickly took off her outer garment and covered Narcissus's soaked body.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps, accompanied by Yinzhu's voice, approached from afar: "Your Majesty!"
Narcissus looked in the direction of the sound and saw Yinzhu stumbling and rushing ahead, followed by several eunuchs and a royal physician carrying a medicine box.
"Imperial Physician! Quick! Take a look at Consort Jin!"
Consort De urged her urgently.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, how are you?!"
Yinzhu rushed to Shuixian's side, and when she saw the bloodstains beneath her, her face turned pale.
Forcing herself to remain calm, she immediately turned to a fast-moving eunuch and shouted, "Go to the Imperial Hospital again! Summon Physician Pei Jichuan! Hurry! Tell him that Consort Jin has fallen into the water and is bleeding..."
When Narcissus saw Silver Pearl appear before her, the last breath she had been holding on to finally broke. The weakness from blood loss caused her vision to go black, and she completely lost consciousness...
......
I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I opened my eyes again, I saw an unfamiliar tent ceiling.
A faint scent of sandalwood filled the air. Narcissus turned her eyes slightly, taking in her surroundings.
This is a bedroom decorated in an extremely simple yet solemn manner.
The furniture has smooth lines and no excessive carvings, while a few simple and elegant porcelain pieces are displayed on a display shelf in the distance.
"Xian'er? You're awake?!"
A slightly hoarse male voice came from beside her. Shui Xian turned her head in response to the voice and met Emperor Zhao Heng's worried eyes.
He stood guard by her bedside, his chin even sporting a bluish stubble, clearly having been waiting for quite some time.
Upon seeing that she had woken up, he immediately leaned forward and grasped her icy hand.
"child......"
Shui Xian's hand unconsciously went to her lower abdomen. "Your Majesty... is the child... is the child alright?"
"It's alright! The child is alright!"
Emperor Zhaoheng quickly reassured her, "Consort De saved you in time, and the imperial physician and Pei Jichuan have both come to see you!"
"There's just some spotting, you need to rest properly! Pei Jichuan personally went to prepare your medicine. He said that with careful recuperation, he can definitely save our prince!"
He held her hand tightly, as if trying to transfer his strength to her, "Xian'er, don't be afraid. With me here, no one will be able to hurt you and the child again!"
Upon hearing the words "the child is alright," Shui Xian's tense body suddenly relaxed, and a huge wave of sorrow instantly surged into her heart.
Tears welled up without warning, instantly soaking the pillow.
She grabbed Emperor Zhaoheng's hand tightly with her own.
"Your Majesty... I... I really thought I was going to die just now..."
Her voice was broken, filled with a deep-seated fear, "I am not afraid of death... I am afraid of not being able to bear Your Majesty an heir..."
What she feared most was dying before Yi Guichun, or before Consort Li, her enemies from a past life!
Emperor Zhaoheng's heart clenched tightly, and he pulled her into an even tighter embrace.
"It was my oversight! I will never allow anyone to harm you in the slightest again! I will investigate this matter thoroughly!"
He held Narcissus in his arms, and only after she had calmed down a little did he ask in a deep voice, "Narcissus, before you fell into the water, did you see clearly who pushed you? What did they look like?"
Shui Xian wiped the dampness from her cheeks and recalled, "That person... that person was dressed in ordinary eunuch clothes. He moved so fast... I only had time to catch a glimpse of him."
"His appearance... is very ordinary, the kind you wouldn't recognize in a crowd, I can't even describe it..."
She paused, a hint of uncertainty in her voice, "But just as he pushed me and I fell backward... I think... I think I saw... a beard on his chin?"
All the eunuchs in the imperial harem had been castrated, and the Imperial Household Department would conduct a thorough inspection at the end of each year, so there was absolutely no mistake.
How could a eunuch have a beard?
Emperor Zhaoheng's face instantly darkened to the point of being so gloomy it could drip water.
"That person... might be a man from another family."
His voice was icy cold, carrying immense weight.
"In this harem, besides myself and my guards, how could a man be allowed to mingle among the eunuchs, sneak into the inner palace, and even dare to lay such a cruel hand on my concubines and imperial heirs?!"
This is no longer a simple power struggle among concubines!
This is an outrageous crime that undermines the palace, challenges imperial authority, and plots to harm the imperial heir!
To wield such power in the inner palace, and to secretly send an outsider disguised as a eunuch into the palace...
How many women could there be in the entire harem?!
Emperor Zhaoheng's eyes turned icy cold. He stood up abruptly and shouted sharply towards the outside of the hall, "Feng Shunxiang!"
Feng Shunxiang, who had been waiting outside the hall, immediately trotted in, bowed, and obeyed: "Your servant is here!"
"Investigate this thoroughly!"
Emperor Zhaoheng's voice was filled with anger, "Start the investigation from Cining Palace! Investigate thoroughly! Not a single eunuch or palace maid on duty today is allowed to escape!"
"Especially everyone who came into contact with Consort Jin after she left Cining Palace today, or who appeared near her path on her way back to the palace!"
"Dig three feet into the ground for me, and find that man from outside the palace! If anyone in the Cining Palace dares to obstruct this, or discovers anything suspicious, report it immediately! Don't hesitate!"
"Your servant obeys!" Feng Shunxiang was shocked, knowing that this matter had already been exposed to the heavens. He immediately accepted the order and hurriedly withdrew from his post.
Inside the sleeping quarters, after Feng Shunxiang left, only a suffocating silence remained.
Narcissus lay on the bed, listening to Emperor Zhaoheng's chilling command. She looked at his tense profile and asked in a weak but clear voice, "Your Majesty, do you suspect... the Empress Dowager?"
Emperor Zhaoheng slowly turned around, his eyes filled with churning pain, and deeper within, a disappointed anger.
He walked back to the bedside and took Narcissus's hand in his again; her hands were now trembling slightly.
"Xian'er..."
His voice was hoarse and extremely tired, as if the person who had fallen into the water was not Narcissus, but him.
"I... I never expected that Mother would favor me as much as she favored my younger brother. I know that in Mother's heart, Prince Duan is perfect in every way, while I..."
He let out a long sigh, as if a thousand emotions were stuck in his chest, difficult to express.
Emperor Zhaoheng paused, the last vestige of tenderness in his eyes crushed by reality.
"But I never imagined... I never imagined... Even tigers don't eat their cubs! How could she be so biased! How could she set her sights on my own flesh and blood, my only imperial heir!"
He closed his eyes in anguish, then opened them again, revealing only the resolute determination of an emperor.
"Today's events, one by one, point to far too much! First, she summoned you to the Cining Palace and made you kneel in humiliation! Then she tried to keep the silver bead and send away your most trusted servant!"
"Yinzhu had just been sent away when you were attacked at a secluded pond near Cining Palace! And the assailant might actually be a disguised man!"
Emperor Zhaoheng slowly tightened his grip on Shui Xian's hand and said, word by word.
"In this harem, besides her Cining Palace, who else has such extraordinary abilities to orchestrate such a deadly trap right under my nose?!"
really.
Today, the Empress Dowager first tried to keep Yinzhu, but after she stopped her, she sent a palace maid to send Yinzhu away.
She was then left alone and was pushed into the water by someone near the lotus pond.
All of this is all too obvious.
However... the problem lies in the fact that it's too obvious.
If it was indeed the Empress Dowager who did it, why couldn't she have done it privately, instead of first summoning her to Cining Palace and then taking action near Cining Palace?
Is the Empress Dowager trying to worsen the already strained relationship between mother and son?
How could someone who has already become the Empress Dowager be so naive as to... require abortion under a real name?
This is really strange.
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