"Be careful, little sister. You are carrying the emperor's child now. Watch your step." Consort Hui helped the palace maid Suoqiu catch up, gently smiling as she waved her silk fan.
"Thank you for reminding me, sister. But I think you'd least like it if I got pregnant. And since we're all alone, let's not beat around the bush," Holland sneered.
Consort Hui, still wearing her impeccable smile, stared at Holland's flat belly and said, "Sister, you should actually go back to the palace to rest and prepare for your pregnancy. Tomorrow the Emperor will be traveling west. It is said that Shaanxi is a poor and dangerous place with a bumpy road, which will surely be very bad for your unborn child."
Holland's pupils constricted slightly at her words, but she forced herself to remain calm and said, "His Majesty will surely consider the well-being of the child in my womb, so there's no need for you to trouble yourself, sister." With that, she helped Hui'an toward her residence, Guanlan Residence.
Watching the receding figure, Suoqiu glanced at it and then said to Consort Hui, "Master, let's go back."
Consort Hui picked up the handkerchief from her chest, stared coldly at the retreating figure, and said in a cold voice, "Suoqiu, from now on, you will send someone to keep a close eye on Niu Gulu Holland's every move."
Suoqiu responded softly, then glanced at her master and whispered, "Does Master intend to get rid of the one in Consort Lan's womb?"
Consort Hui turned around and stared at Suoqiu, making the latter dare not look her in the eye. She lowered her head and whispered, "This servant deserves to die. This servant misspoke. Please forgive me, mistress."
Consort Hui stared at Suoqiu and said, "You'd better not mention what you just said again, otherwise if someone happens to have something on you, even I won't be able to save you."
Suoqiu nodded repeatedly, no longer daring to speak freely in front of Consort Hui.
As for Lanqin, after returning to the Lu family, she found everyone packing their boxes. She thought to herself: I finally had a few peaceful days in Jinan, and now I have to leave again, and start eating, drinking, and relieving myself on the carriage again.
That evening, Fourth Master went to Lanqin's place, and Lanqin told him about the Dutch demands. Fourth Master was reluctant to agree, fearing that Lanqin would get into trouble, but out of consideration for their sisterly relationship, he had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
The following day, Emperor Kangxi's entourage departed from Jinan, continuing westward. The day before his departure, Kangxi inspected the river mouth near Jinan and repeatedly urged the river workers responsible for the area to safeguard this vital mother river. Whenever the river flooded, countless people along its banks lost their homes, becoming refugees and causing disturbances, resulting in social unrest and instability.
Because Holland was pregnant, Emperor Kangxi initially intended to send her back to Beijing, but Holland insisted on accompanying him on his continued inspection tour. Therefore, he had a new carriage made for her, second only to his own imperial tent. This carriage was two or three times larger than her original one, and the number of horses increased from two to four, with two drivers. Its facilities were almost identical to those of Kangxi's imperial tent. As Lanqin had mentioned the other day, she and Nianxue spent their days accompanying Holland in the carriage, and their nights sleeping in their own tent. Running back and forth all day, the days passed quite quickly.
The imperial procession had been traveling for seven or eight days, barely stopping to rest as they hurried along the way. Holland's morning sickness was worsening; he could barely eat anything. Emperor Kangxi ordered the imperial physicians to give Holland pills to alleviate his condition. Lanqin had been taking care of Holland for several days, and she too was exhausted.
On this day, the imperial carriage stopped in a field, and everyone was so tired that they wished they could rest for a day. However, without an imperial decree, no one was allowed to leave their post without permission. The eunuchs in the kitchen were busy starting fires and cooking, and the masters in each carriage got out to get some fresh air and take care of their physiological needs.
Holland, having slept all day in the carriage, wanted to get some fresh air and was helped down by Suoqiu. Lanqin naturally followed suit, and the two sisters strolled through the fields.
After Consort Hui rode in the new carriage in the Netherlands, she often stayed in her own carriage and did not come out. Because of Lanqin, Emperor Kangxi would often go to the carriage in the Netherlands to chat with the sisters, but seemed to be much colder towards her.
Perhaps having a child late in life is a joyous occasion. Kangxi seemed to care a lot about this child, often playing chess and reading with Holland and Lanqin in their carriages. This made Consort Hui, who originally thought she could be the sole recipient of Kangxi's favor, very uncomfortable for a while.
At this moment, seeing Lanqin accompanying Holland for a stroll in the fields, Consort Hui watched coldly but did not go over to speak. Instead, she let Suoqiu support her as they strolled in the fields on the other side.
“Your Highness, if you’re unhappy, it’s still uncertain whether Consort Lan will even be able to give birth to this child. Even if she is, whether she can raise her to adulthood is another question,” Suoqiu said, seeing Consort Hui’s furrowed brows.
"Suoqiu, what do you think would happen if Consort Lan's carriage suddenly went out of control?" Consort Hui suddenly asked.
“Naturally, it will make the people inside very bumpy, and may even cause danger,” Suoqiu said.
"Suoqiu, go to my carriage and get something later. While things are in chaos, secretly feed Lan Guiren's horse that stuff. I'm sure the horse can't handle it. Once it goes crazy, who knows what might happen next."
"Master, you mean to make the horse eat that stuff?" Suoqiu looked at Consort Hui in disbelief. That was food for humans, how could she make the horse eat it?
Consort Hui noticed Suoqiu's worry, turned around and said coldly, "You can dissolve it in water and secretly feed it to those horses. Go, while no one is paying attention to you, get this done for me, and I will certainly not treat you unfairly in the future."
Suoqiu bent her knees slightly and withdrew in response. She had entered the palace with Consort Hui and was her personal maid, so she had long since tied her life to Consort Hui's. Even though she sometimes didn't want to do evil, she was already powerless to change her fate.
As for Consort Hui, ever since she learned that Holland was pregnant, she had been constantly thinking about how to get rid of this child that was detrimental to her. She and Holland had entered the palace together, and now that Holland was pregnant, after the child was born, Consort Hui would likely be promoted by Emperor Kangxi, meaning she would have to pay her respects to Holland in the future. Therefore, Consort Hui finally came up with a brilliant idea: to make the horse go mad, thus eliminating Holland's child without anyone noticing, and doing so in a way that would be difficult for anyone to detect.
As for Suoqiu, she took the thing from Consort Hui's carriage and hid it in her sleeve. She pretended to be taking a stroll around the carriage, and when no one was paying attention, she quickly poured the powdery substance from a small bottle into the fodder that the two Dutch horses were eating.
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