With the help of Aunt An and Consort Cui, Lanqin entered the palace. When Consort De heard that Lanqin wanted to come and see her, considering that she was pregnant with twins and that the Fourth Prince had been away for several months, she agreed.
"This humble servant greets Mother, may Mother be blessed with ten thousand years of happiness and peace!" Lanqin greeted Consort De formally.
"Get up quickly, help her sit down, your belly is so big!" Consort De looked at Lanqin's belly with eyes full of affection.
"Thank you, Mother!" Lanqin stood up with the help of Aunt An.
"Looking at you, I suddenly remembered when I was pregnant with the Fourteenth Prince. My belly was also very big then, although it wasn't twins." Consort De spoke with particular tenderness when she thought of the Fourteenth Prince.
"I bet the fourteenth child will be huge when he comes out!" Lanqin laughed.
"Yes, a full eight pounds and two ounces! Luckily it's not my first child, otherwise I would have had a really hard time giving birth to him." Consort De said, "Fortunately, this isn't your first child either, otherwise having twins at once would have been quite dangerous!"
In ancient times, childbirth was considered a woman's second chance at life, and some women even died on the delivery bed.
"Thank you for your concern, Mother. Besides paying my respects to you today, I have another matter I'd like to inquire about," Lanqin said. The Consort De had already done quite well, assigning two health-preserving maids to herself and sending plenty of nourishing supplements to Lanqin.
"What is it?" Consort De asked gently.
"Your Majesty, I was almost kept awake day and night by a kind of incense called 'Bewitching Incense' a while ago! I asked the head nanny in the manor, and she said that this incense was sent by the Imperial Household Department!" Lanqin said.
"Bewitching incense!!!" Consort De exclaimed, her expression changing.
Even the old nanny standing next to Consort De was shocked by these three words and her face changed color!
Lanqin clearly noticed the expressions on the faces of Consort De and Granny De.
"Someone in your household actually used such a thing against you!?" Consort De asked calmly, a hint of anger already showing between her brows.
"Yes, thankfully Consort Song detected the sleeping potion mixed in with the mosquito repellent. Otherwise, I'd probably still be having that nightmare. Mother, I think this kind of thing is really too evil. I'm afraid there are still such things in the palace, and I can't eat or sleep properly. I can see through it, but others might not. Mother, you are now in charge of the harem. If anyone is still using such things, it's really..." Lanqin said.
Consort De's expression grew increasingly grim as Lanqin spoke.
"Outrageous! Her remnants still exist in the Imperial Household Department!" Consort De shouted angrily.
"Your Highness! Please don't be angry. That matter happened so long ago!" Granny De quickly touched Consort De's chest and said.
"Mother, please don't be angry. It's all my fault!" Lanqin said quickly when she saw that Consort De looked very displeased.
"I can't believe that after almost twenty years, that filthy thing is still in the Imperial Household Department! It even wants to harm my grandson!" Consort De's face turned extremely fierce, as if she hated the bewitching incense to the extreme.
"Mother, did you also experience the effects of the bewitching incense?" Lanqin could see the fear in Consort De's eyes.
“That’s right. Your Highness was also ambushed by someone back then, and the perpetrator used this kind of bewitching incense,” said Granny De.
"Hui Rong, please don't say anymore. Even now, thinking about her still makes me feel uncomfortable." Consort De seemed very unwilling to recall this past event.
“Your Highness, so much time has passed. Why don’t you tell Consort De about it? She, like you, was able to survive such a terrible ordeal, which shows she is also blessed,” said Granny De. Then she gestured to a maid to bring Consort De a cup of tea.
After taking a few sips of tea, Consort De regained her usual magnanimous and serene demeanor and slowly said to Lanqin, "When I was young, I had a very good friend. Now that I think about it, where are there any friends left in the harem!"
Seeing that Consort De seemed to be reminiscing about the past, Lanqin remained silent and listened as she continued.
"Back then, I was favored by the emperor, which aroused the jealousy of Consort Hui and Consort Rong. But there was only one Consort Qi who was very kind to me. At that time, I lived in Consort Qi's side palace. Whenever she had something delicious, she would call me over. I was just a lowly concubine and was often bullied by those noble ladies, but she always protected me. At that time, I truly respected her as if she were my elder sister," said Consort De.
"And then?" Lanqin asked at just the right moment.
"Later, when I was pregnant with the Fourth Prince, Consort Qi became even kinder to me. When I was more than seven months pregnant, she accompanied me every day, and even brought her own supplies to my room. It was summer at that time, and she said there were too many mosquitoes, so she asked the Imperial Household Department for some mosquito repellent for me. Then..." A look of fear appeared in Consort De's eyes again.
"But did Consort Qi also use a bewitching incense on Mother?" Lanqin knew that the so-called sisters in the harem were all using each other. She never imagined that such a shrewd and capable Consort De was also plotted against when she was young.
"Indeed, back then, whenever I closed my eyes, I could see a long-haired, red-eyed female ghost. I was so frightened that I couldn't sleep day or night, and my mental state deteriorated, causing me to become increasingly thin. Consort Qi then went to the Emperor and said that I had contracted some strange illness. Hmph, her goal was to make me give birth prematurely. After the child was born, she could use the excuse that I was ill and unfit to raise the child, and then she could brazenly take the child away. Unfortunately, what she didn't expect was that I discovered her scheme and secretly changed the mosquito repellent, thus avoiding her plot," Consort De said resentfully. Lan Qin had never seen Consort De with such an expression before, which showed how deeply she hated Consort Qi.
"Does the Fourth Prince know that before he was even born, his mother did everything in her power to protect him?" Lanqin said. Logically speaking, since Consort De went through so much trouble to protect the Fourth Prince, she should value him highly. How come their relationship is like that? Even with the Sixth Prince's affair, their relationship shouldn't be like this.
“How could I tell him these things? What difference would it make if I did!” Consort De said, seemingly understanding Lanqin’s meaning.
“Mother, the Fourth Prince is actually very filial to you. It’s just that he’s not good at expressing himself. Unlike the Fourteenth Prince, who has a sweet tongue and knows how to please you.” Lanqin couldn’t help but say a few words in defense of the Fourth Prince.
"Alright, I know what you mean. So you're saying someone in the Fourth Prince's residence used a bewitching incense to harm you and my grandson?" Consort De asked.
A bead of sweat rolled down Lanqin's forehead. She thought to herself, "We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet, and they're already calling him 'grandson.' It seems they all hope I'll have a son."
"Yes, if I hadn't noticed, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to give birth safely," Lanqin said.
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