Upon hearing the greetings from outside, Holland immediately burst into tears, crying out, "Dr. Meng, Dr. Meng, you're lying to me, aren't you? My child won't be gone. He's my lifeblood; he can't be gone. Tell me quickly, have you made a mistake in your diagnosis?"
The grief of losing a child can truly drive a woman mad, and this was exactly what was happening to Holland at this moment. She had endured a month or two of bitter medicine, only daring to drink it during an inspection tour with Emperor Kangxi. In the palace, she was merely a concubine, living under someone else's roof, and even the slightest movement couldn't be kept secret. Now that she had finally recovered from the imperial pregnancy, she had hoped to use the pregnancy to be promoted to the rank of concubine, no longer having to be subservient to others. But why had this carriage suddenly gone berserk?!
Kangxi walked to the back of the carriage and saw Holland crying with tears streaming down her face. He felt sorry for her because she had just lost a child and said, "Lan'er, you are still young. As long as you take good care of your health, we might be able to have another child."
The fact that Kangxi offered such words of comfort in front of everyone shows that Lanqin still holds some status in his eyes. Although Lanqin disliked Holland, she was also heartbroken to see her suddenly lose her child as if by some terrible misfortune.
Huian quickly seized the opportunity to comfort her, saying, "Your Majesty, since the Emperor has said so, please don't be sad. Let Physician Meng prescribe some medicine first, so as not to harm your health!"
At this moment, Consort Hui arrived with several eunuchs carrying a stretcher. Seeing everyone comforting Holland, a cold smile flashed across her face, but she pretended to be very concerned and asked, "Sister, you should listen to the Emperor and take care of your health first. There is plenty of time in the future."
When Holland saw Consort Hui's incredibly dignified and beautiful face, she felt terrible. Holland had lost her child, and Consort Hui was the one who benefited the most.
However, in front of Emperor Kangxi, she dared not reveal her inner fears. She forced a smile and said, "Yes, Your Majesty and my sister, I'm sorry to have worried you. Holland was truly unfortunate, causing this child to leave me so soon after only a few dozen days in my womb."
Kangxi then said, "Lan'er, it's not that you're unlucky, but how could these horses suddenly be startled? I suspect that someone deliberately frightened them. If it is found out who it was, I will not let them off lightly."
Kangxi's words made Consort Hui, who was standing to his side, twitch, but she said on the surface, "Yes, why would this horse suddenly go mad for no reason?"
Consort Hui's words made everyone present secretly begin to speculate whether the horse's fright was an accident or deliberate.
Holland was helped by Huian and several palace maids and laid down on a stretcher. Then she was quickly carried to the imperial tent. Kangxi followed closely behind, and Consort Hui also hurriedly followed. In the end, only the Fourth Prince's Lanqin, the Thirteenth Prince, and the Fourteenth Prince did not follow.
"Your sister must be heartbroken to have suddenly lost her child. If you comfort her, it might make her feel better," Fourth Master said to Lanqin. But the latter seemed not to hear him, standing in front of several horses, staring blankly at them.
"Little sister-in-law, what are you looking at?" Thirteenth Master also noticed Lanqin's unusual behavior, so he walked to her side and followed her gaze to the heads of the horses.
“Thirteenth Prince, look how red the horses’ eyes are, and they’re panting heavily. What’s wrong with them? These horses have been perfectly fine until today when they suddenly went berserk while we were resting. It’s really strange,” Lanqin said, then turned to the Fourth Prince and said, “Sister must be heartbroken right now, but I want to help her find out what’s wrong with the horses that caused this. That’s much better than just sitting there crying with her. Besides, what Sister needs most right now is the Emperor’s company.”
The Fourteenth Prince also came over, stared at the horse's eyes for a long time, then reached out and touched the carotid artery under the horse's neck, paused for a moment, then touched the carotid artery on the other side and pressed his face against it. Because of his action, the horse tried to raise its head again and kicked wildly a few times.
"Fourteenth Prince, what are you doing? These horses are still restless. Stand back quickly, or you'll get hurt!" The Fourth Prince shouted sternly when he saw the Fourteenth Prince's actions.
Even his reprimands stemmed from concern! Lanqin sensed the worry in Fourth Master's words, but Fourteenth Master might not have.
Sure enough, he said angrily, "Fourth Brother always talks like he's lecturing people. I was just checking why the horses were startled!"
Just as the Fourth Prince was about to say something more, the Fourteenth Prince suddenly smiled and said with a hint of smugness, "I think I know why this horse suddenly went berserk!"
Holland had nothing to do with him. On the contrary, in terms of personal relationships, Consort De would certainly not like a minor concubine like Holland to conceive Kangxi's child. Therefore, although the Fourteenth Prince might not have the same feelings as Consort De, he certainly did not care much about minor concubines like Holland. Instead, he was quite interested in this sudden incident of a startled horse.
"What was the reason?" Lanqin asked, staring at the Fourteenth Prince. Although Emperor Kangxi hadn't yet reprimanded her, her trip with the Fourth Prince to catch rabbits had drawn a large crowd of palace servants, and the Dutch carriage might have been tampered with during that time. Thinking of this, a flicker of fear crossed Lanqin's mind. Although it wasn't her fault, she felt a deep sense of guilt, because a young life had been lost so suddenly, and she couldn't remain indifferent.
“These horses are most likely in heat, and a very intense one at that, which is why they couldn’t help but run and release their pent-up energy!” the Fourteenth Prince said confidently.
"In heat!" The Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince exchanged a glance, then turned to look at the Fourteenth Prince. This time, however, the Fourth Prince did not scold the Fourteenth Prince, because he knew that the Fourteenth Prince was the most knowledgeable about horses among all the princes. He was not only good at riding and archery, but also had a deep understanding of the temperament of horses. Because of his love for horses, Emperor Kangxi once bestowed a Ferghana horse, which was presented as tribute from the Western Regions, upon the Fourteenth Prince.
"How do you know they're in heat?" Lanqin asked, unaware of the Fourteenth Prince's knowledge of horses.
"When I looked into their eyes and felt the carotid arteries on both sides of their necks, their heartbeats were almost twice as fast as normal horses. And their eyes were full of bloodshot veins, which is a characteristic of horses in heat," the Fourteenth Prince said definitively.
"So what exactly caused these four horses to suddenly go into heat? As far as I know, horses shouldn't be like this at this time of year, right?" the Thirteenth Prince said.
“There must be some external force at play, otherwise the horses wouldn’t be in heat at this time,” the Fourteenth Prince said.
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