The Fourth Prince, residing in the Forbidden City, could never have imagined that a storm was brewing in his own inner quarters.
That day, while Yan Yu was pruning potted plants with her wife, she said to her, "Elder sister, I've heard from the elders that the Guanyin Bodhisattva who grants children at Huangjue Temple is very effective. Why don't we go and try it? We've been cooped up in this mansion for a long time. Why don't I accompany you out for a walk?"
The princess was staring at the scissors in her hand, deep in thought, when Yan Yu's words interrupted her reverie. She asked, "Is it really that effective?"
Yan Yu nodded and said, "It really is very effective. Niu Shi is currently favored by the Fourth Prince. If she gets pregnant again, that would be terrible. So we need to get pregnant first, so that our sister's position can be guaranteed."
The princess glanced at Yan Yu beside her and said leisurely, "Eldest sister is getting old and it will probably be difficult for her to conceive. If you could get pregnant, that would be fine! Let's go tomorrow, it'll help relieve your boredom."
Yan Yu was overjoyed and immediately nodded in agreement.
She had made thorough preparations for this trip. After confirming that her period was a week late, she finally decided to go out and find out the truth.
The next day.
Two sedan chairs stopped in front of the Fourth Prince's residence. The Princess Consort and Yan Yu walked one after the other along the main road to the gate. Wang Pangzi, the gatekeeper, had already gone to greet them, bowing and scraping as he spoke to the Princess Consort.
"Wang Baocai, how long have you been working at this gatehouse?" the Fujin asked casually.
"Replying to Your Highness, I have worked here for eight years. I came to serve when the Fourth Prince's mansion was just built," Fatty Wang said cautiously.
"Oh, it's been eight years, about the same amount of time I've spent in this household. You should know what you can and cannot say, right?" The princess's hand remained dangling on Wang Baocai's outstretched arm.
"Replying to Your Highness, this servant knows what to say, please rest assured." A layer of fine sweat broke out on Wang Baocai's back. He didn't know why the words His Highness had spoken today made him feel uneasy.
After the software started running, Fatty Wang and the others walked into the mansion from the autumn sunlight outside.
He returned to the gatehouse, picked up the purple clay teapot handed to him by the young eunuch, took a sip, and pondered the words his wife had just spoken, trying to decipher her meaning.
"Master, should I report the matter of the Fujin going out to Consort Li?" The little eunuch was Wang Pangzi's confidant and had done many errands for him. He was often the one to report to Consort Li, for which Consort Li had rewarded him with a lot of silver, which made the little eunuch even more happy to do so.
"You little rascal, have you gambled it all away again?" Fatty Wang knew that this kid liked to gamble and usually gambled away eight or nine out of ten of the prize money he received.
"No, Master, I was just afraid of delaying your business!" The little eunuch said embarrassedly, having been seen through by Fatty Wang.
"You brat, there's no need to report to Madam Li today. It's nothing serious, just that Madam Li and Princess Yan went out." Fatty Wang wasn't thinking about whether or not to inform Madam Li; he felt that Madam Li's words to him today had a deeper meaning.
Meanwhile, the two sedan chairs slowly made their way along the street towards the outskirts. Yan Yu, following the pre-arranged plan, began to "act up" inside the sedan chair, shouting loudly.
"Princess, what's wrong? What's wrong with you? Stop the sedan chair immediately!" Yun Yuan immediately stopped the sedan chair bearers according to the pre-arranged plan.
"I suddenly feel very uncomfortable in my stomach. You should go and tell my elder sister." Yan Yu clutched her stomach, looking like she was in great pain.
The sedan bearers dared not proceed any further and immediately stopped the sedan chair. The princess's sedan chair also came to a halt. Yun Yuan ran over to report to the princess, "My princess suddenly feels unwell and is afraid she cannot walk. The princess said she would like to ask the princess to go to Huangjue Temple alone to pray for incense, and that she should not go before the auspicious time."
The old nanny Li, who was by the side of the princess, frowned and said, "Princess, it is indeed too late. Why don't you let Princess Yan Yu go back to the manor? She hasn't gone too far anyway."
After thinking for a moment, the Fujin could only nod and said to Yun Yuan, "Quickly send your princess back to the manor and let Doctor Zhou take a look. I will go to Huangjue Temple to pray for incense first. You should accompany Yan Yu back."
Yun Yuan suppressed her secret joy and quickly put on a worried look. She then stood aside and let the Fujin's sedan chair be lifted and carried away.
When the sedan chair carrying the princess was almost out of sight, Yun Yuan immediately said to the two sedan chair bearers, "Let's go, carry my brother over there."
The sedan chair carriers didn't know anything either; naturally, they just went wherever their master pointed to.
Yun Yuan had already found out that there was a clinic nearby. When she arrived at the clinic with the sedan chair bearers, she said to the two bearers, "The princess's stomach is really hurting terribly. We need to find a doctor to take a look at her right away. You two better not talk too much when you get back, or you'll be in big trouble. Here, five taels each. Keep your mouths shut."
The two sedan chair carriers usually earned only a few taels of silver a month, so when they suddenly saw more than a month's wages, they were naturally greedy.
Yun Yuan helped Yan Yu out of the sedan chair, and then helped her walk to the threshold of the clinic, where they saw a large number of people inside.
Yan Yu was now wearing a thin veil, and dared not make a sound in order to avoid being seen. Yun Yuan helped her to a small room in the inner wing and said to the doctor sitting inside, "Quickly take a look at my mistress. She has suddenly been having an upset stomach recently, and her period has not come yet."
The man took the medical bag, and when Yan Yu's slender wrist was exposed on it, he raised his hand and placed it on Yan Yu's arm, diagnosing her for a while.
Yan Yu asked anxiously, "How are you? Do I have some kind of illness?"
After carefully examining her, the man looked up at Yan Yu's eyes and smiled, "Don't worry, Madam, you should be pregnant."
Upon hearing this, Yun Yuan was so happy she almost jumped for joy. The princess finally had her own child, and would have someone to rely on in the future.
Yan Yu Ke didn't think that way. Although she was happy that she was finally pregnant with the Fourth Prince's child, she was thinking more about how to get more favor from this child.
Sigh, a child hasn't even been born yet, and he's already being schemed against by his own mother. Is this something to be saddened by or helpless about?
The man noticed Yan Yu's difference and saw that her attire was incomparable to that of ordinary street women, so he said, "Prescribe some medicine to help the princess prevent miscarriage."
"Wait a minute, I don't need any pregnancy-stabilizing medicine right now. Yun Yuan, pay him the money!" After saying that, Yan Yu stood up from her seat and turned to walk out the door.
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