Chapter 130 The Imperial Concubine's Visit
"Waaah, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I was really scared to death." Fanghua felt a sense of loss and relief. At this moment, her emotions were unstable, and Kangxi naturally became her only confidant.
"If anything were to happen to Chenghu, I wouldn't be able to go on living."
Hearing her words, Kangxi recalled his earlier suspicions and was filled with relief that Chenghu was alright. Otherwise, he would have lost not only his son but also his wife.
This kind of pain was unbearable for him.
"It's alright, it's alright, Chenghu is alright, and you'll be alright too." Kangxi held her tightly in his arms, gently soothing her uneasy emotions.
Little Chenghu saw his mother and father comforting each other while he, the sick man, was abandoned by them. He couldn't understand why this was wrong.
However, hearing his mother's crying made him feel very sad, because it was because of him that his mother was so heartbroken.
The little one opened his mouth several times, but couldn't utter a single word.
After venting her emotions, and with her son's condition improving, her spirits also recovered somewhat. She stepped out of Kangxi's embrace and came to her son's side, her old face slightly flushed.
"Chenghu, my good son, don't scare your mother anymore."
Chenghu was speechless. Was this illness something he could control?
He's a human being, not a god. How can he control getting sick?
"Yes, I won't get sick anymore." He will definitely study martial arts hard from now on and never get sick again.
"Silly boy, can you control this illness?" Kangxi looked at the mother and son with helplessness.
"Alright, stop scaring Chenghu. The imperial physician said he needs to rest and recuperate. He's lost some energy from this illness, so he needs to replenish it properly. I have some top-quality medicinal herbs in my private treasury, and I'll have Wei Zhu bring them to you later."
Kangxi sat down at the other end of the bed, looking at the mother and son with satisfaction.
"Very well, Your Majesty."
"No need for thanks, Chenghu is also my son." As he spoke, Kangxi touched Chenghu's somewhat pale face again. "Listen to your Empress Mother, and drink the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician obediently, understand?"
Chenghu nodded, "I know, Father Emperor."
Emperor Kangxi stayed with Chenghu for the night, and the next morning he went to court without disturbing the mother and son.
The news of the eldest prince's recovery spread quickly.
Yesterday's thunderous outburst naturally caused quite a stir.
Fanghua didn't see it with her own eyes, but she guessed some things, and it might be related to Chenghu.
She instructed her people to listen for rumors circulating outside, and if anyone spread gossip about Chenghu, they were to be arrested immediately as a warning to others.
Fortunately, no one in the harem dared to challenge her authority as Empress, and no one implicated Chenghu in the matter.
There was thunder and lightning but no rain, so it was just a change in the weather.
After a few days, no one paid any more attention.
Only the official Liu from the Imperial Observatory was repeatedly summoned by Emperor Kangxi.
It seems they won't give up until they get something out of him.
Fortunately, Director Liu of the Imperial Observatory was quite capable; otherwise, his old bones wouldn't have been enough to keep up with Emperor Kangxi's antics.
Chenghu's destiny has changed. Now his destiny is one of great wealth and honor, with dragon energy protecting him. He will surely live to be a hundred years old.
Emperor Kangxi was very pleased with this destiny.
Fanghua knew nothing about these things, and even if she did, she wouldn't care.
Because Chenghu was ill, his daily morning and evening rituals were cancelled.
After recovering from her illness, many people from the harem sent gifts to visit her. Some of them also wanted to see the eldest prince, but Fanghua stopped them all.
Only the Imperial Concubine had enough influence to enter Kunning Palace and meet Chenghu.
Seeing Chenghu's gaunt face, the Imperial Concubine felt extremely distressed.
“Poor child, you’ve suffered so much this time. Your mother has brought you some tonics. You must drink them to strengthen your body so that your mother won’t worry.”
When Niohuru saw Chenghu, she felt extremely sorry for him, and her words were full of concern and love for him.
Anyone who didn't know better would think she was the biological mother.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Chenghu will drink it." Chenghu glanced at his Empress Mother and saw that she was happily playing with his little sister Xizhu. He knew that although the two of them seemed to be at odds, they were actually very close.
"Yes, you must take good care of yourself. You're still young, so you can't let your health suffer."
Seeing that her words were getting more and more frightening, Fanghua couldn't help but retort, "Alright, the imperial physician is watching over us. She's eating medicinal diets every day to regulate her body, so she won't suffer any losses. If you keep talking, Chenghu will be scared by you."
Upon hearing this, the Imperial Concubine glared at the Empress and said, "Hmph, you're such an easy mother. It's only because Chenghu is so well-behaved that he's the only other child who would be crying and fussing."
"Oh, so you're blaming Chenghu for being too obedient?" Fanghua was genuinely amused and exasperated. Did this person even know how to talk?
"Hmph, I'm saying that you're lucky, Empress, to have given birth to such an obedient child as Chenghu."
The Imperial Concubine was indeed extremely jealous, but when she saw Xizhu in the Empress's arms, she was no longer jealous, after all, her Xizhu was also well-behaved.
"That's right, don't you even know who gave birth to them?"
A hint of helplessness appeared in Chenghu's eyes. His mother and his concubine were always like this, arguing after only a few words. Anyone who didn't know better would think they had a terrible relationship.
"That's because Chenghu is well-behaved. What does it have to do with you? You shameless bastard."
"What's there to be ashamed of? Children born of me will take after me."
The servants standing by all covered their mouths and chuckled.
Amidst their bickering, Princess Xizhu fell into a deep sleep.
Fanghua had the wet nurse place her on the small bed that Chenghu used to sleep on, and then she left Chenghu's bedroom with the Imperial Concubine.
Outside, the two spoke in a deliberately softer voice.
"Did you know? Several women in the harem are pregnant again, and they're all keeping it a secret."
Previously, Niohuru might have cared, but after learning that she could not have children, she gradually became more accepting of it, and after having Xizhu, she no longer cared whether others were pregnant or not.
Fanghua glanced at her. She had people in every palace of the harem. These days she had been taking care of Chenghu and hadn't interfered in the affairs of the harem.
She really didn't know she was pregnant.
"I have no time to care about them. If they are pregnant, they are pregnant. Please ask the imperial physicians in charge of pulse diagnosis to conceal the fact. They will suffer the next time they check on Tong Li."
The rule she set was to check the patient's pulse every two weeks. If those people kept it a secret for too long, it wouldn't be her, the empress, who would suffer.
Let's keep it a secret, let's keep it a secret, we have to let them see the reality of the harem.
"This matter has nothing to do with the imperial physician. He did report it, but since you're taking care of Chenghu, his subordinates probably haven't reported it to you yet," the Consort said with a smile, defending the imperial physician.
Fanghua smiled, understanding why the Imperial Concubine had said that. "It seems I have failed in my duty. I'll see which of my sisters are so fortunate later."
If it was reported, the inner palace probably didn't keep it a secret either; quite a few people know about it.
"Who else could it be? Dong Shi is one of them, but she's still very young. The longest pregnancy is Zhang Jia Shi, who is over a month along. I heard that her condition is different, and it wasn't diagnosed until she was a month along."
This might fool the emperor, but to fool them? Forget it. Which woman in the harem isn't eyeing her own belly?
How could I not know if something was happening?
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