Chapter 348 Break Through
Jiang Fenghua found out that Xie Shang had returned to Chengguang Palace, so she went to find him. The New Year was just around the corner, and she thought it would be quite a wonderful holiday!
Xie Shang was busy at his desk when he saw Jiang Fenghua come in. He quickly went up to greet her and took her hand. He noticed that she was covered in snowflakes, her face was red from the cold, and her fingers were icy cold.
He said gently, "It's so late, why are you in Chengguang Palace? You didn't even ask a palace maid to hold an umbrella for you. What's the matter that's so urgent?"
"Your Highness, I have something to discuss with you." Jiang Fenghua's expression was solemn.
Seeing her expression, Xie Shang felt as if something major had happened. "What is it?"
"Your Highness, please come with me. It's not convenient to talk here." She knew that there were members of the Zhu family in Chengguang Hall.
Jiang Fenghua then took the cloak and personally put it on him before pulling him back to Chenxi Palace. She could guarantee that only those in Chenxi Palace were truly her people.
At this moment, Imperial Physician Wang was already waiting in Chenxi Palace. Upon seeing the Crown Prince, he immediately knelt down and said, "Your subject greets Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Xie Shang said in a deep voice, "Physician Wang, you may dispense with the formalities."
Jiang Fenghua then secretly sent Lianye to bring the person over before closing the door.
Seeing their secretive behavior, Xie Shang asked, "What exactly happened?"
Jiang Fenghua said, "Ten days ago, I asked a midwife to go to the Cold Palace to check on Consort Ye's health, fearing that she would give birth prematurely. Today, I was worried because her due date had already passed by several days, so I went to the Cold Palace myself. I happened to find that Consort Ye was about to give birth, so I asked the midwife and Imperial Physician Wang to quickly deliver the baby... In the end, she gave birth to a baby that was premature."
Xie Shang frowned and said coldly, "What does it mean that a baby is clearly full-term but premature?"
The imperial physician Wang explained, "If we calculate based on the timeline of Consort Ye's pregnancy, the child has been in the mother's womb for ten months now, so it's impossible for him to be premature. However, the young master is not only weak and thin, but he also suffers from congenital absence of the kidney sac. I deduce that this is also due to his developmental problems caused by long-term stimulation in the womb. Consort Ye herself is skilled in medicine, so she has a way to conceal the gestational age if she wants to."
He dared not say that the child was born from the Crown Prince, for that would imply that the Crown Prince was impotent.
During Ye Liangqie's time in the Cold Palace, he was the one who examined her and reported back to the Empress. Every time he took her pulse, he couldn't find a real pulse, and Ye Liangqie could always find various excuses to get away with it. He didn't take it to heart. He absolutely couldn't say anything about this, otherwise the Crown Prince would question his medical skills. Now he could only push all the blame onto Ye Liangqie.
Jiang Fenghua had already asked Physician Mei these questions and received the answers. She saw through Physician Wang's words but didn't say anything. She explained, "When I went to the Cold Palace today, I saw Consort Ye inserting silver needles into herself. I asked her why she was inserting needles into herself, and she said it was because of the pain, and the needles were to relieve the pain. However, after the child was born, the midwife and Physician Wang both found that the child was premature, which made them suspicious."
The imperial physician Wang also said, "I have already examined the acupoints that the Crown Princess mentioned. Those acupoints are exactly the acupoints used to induce labor in women who are unable to give birth."
This means that Ye Susu had been inducing labor for herself before this, because she had been pricked with too many acupuncture needles, leaving marks on her body that were not difficult to detect.
If it's a normal delivery, why induce labor before the imperial physician arrives? Isn't that a contradiction?
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "This matter is of great importance, and I dare not report it rashly. However, since it concerns the imperial heir, I cannot fail to report it. I am caught in a dilemma, which is why I went to see Your Highness in person."
Xie Shang didn't say a word after hearing this, which reminded him of the years when his father and mother argued about this kind of thing. His father even scolded his mother for being shameless and wanting to borrow a seed to have a royal heir. When that failed, she came up with a plan to fake a pregnancy and even had a palace maid take the place of the empress to give birth.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Jiang Fenghua walked to his side and asked quietly, "There's another possibility: this child was conceived by Concubine Ye Liang when Your Highness was with her later. So Your Highness should think carefully about whether you have favored Concubine Ye Liang again since that day in the palace?" If you can sleep with someone once, you can sleep with them a second or third time. It's not impossible.
After hearing this, Xie Shang came to his senses and swore to Jiang Fenghua, "Ruan Ruan, don't you believe me? I swear I only touched Ye Susu when I had no other choice, and I never stepped into her courtyard again after that. During those days, I was either in the palace or in Ruan Ruan's room. I absolutely did not do anything to betray Ruan Ruan at that time." He already felt very guilty at the time and felt sorry for Jiang Fenghua. How could he possibly touch Ye Susu again?
In front of Imperial Physician Wang, Jiang Fenghua was embarrassed and blushed, "Your Majesty, I believe you."
Xie Shang also realized what was going on, and he coughed awkwardly, "Based on this reasoning, the child in Ye Susu's belly is not his." He didn't feel anything about it even though it wasn't his; he just felt disgusted by Ye Susu.
He added, "Since you're in poor health and have a congenital disability, let's just deal with it quietly!"
Physician Wang shared the same idea.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Jiang Fenghua went to open it herself.
Aoxue and Lianye pushed a person in; she was bound and gagged.
Lianye said, "Your Highness, Your Highness's Consort, this is Su Tingwan's maid, Juxiang. When Your Highness demoted Su Tingwan to a slave, Juxiang worked in the laundry department."
Jiang Fenghua explained, "Back then, I personally brought Concubine Ye into the manor, and I also assigned two maids to serve her personally. She had no chance to be with other men. I remember that Ye Susu and Su Tingwan were close at the time, and their relationship suddenly improved."
The two maids didn't go into the palace with her, but Su Tingwan's maid, Juxiang, did. So, she asked Juxiang first if she knew who that person was. She knew that since it concerned Su Tingwan, Xie Shang might become agitated again.
Xie Shang frowned and walked up to Ju Xiang, ripped the food out of her mouth, and asked coldly, "What secrets do you know about your master? Don't try to deceive me. I recognize you. You were a maidservant of Concubine Liu in the Su family, and then you followed Su Tingwan. If you tell me who was having an affair with Ye Susu, I can spare your life. If you don't tell me, I can ask Concubine Liu at the Su residence and find out the same thing."
When Su Tingwan chased after them to the border, the Su family, in order to silence her, took away her original maid, Yinxing, and gave her a new maid instead.
When Juxiang heard this, she was terrified. She shook her head frantically, indicating that she didn't know. If she told anyone, her whole family would die. Her family members were all serving the Su family on the frontier.
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "I know you are worried about your family and afraid that betraying your master will harm your family. I can assure you that I will not reveal a single word of what you said today. In addition, I can give you travel expenses tonight and let you leave the palace and give you your freedom."
Juxiang stared at Jiang Fenghua, a hint of excitement in her eyes. After she and Miss Wan entered the palace, they were punished by being sent to the laundry department to do rough work. However, Miss Wan never washed clothes, so she did the work of two people.
Miss Wan was banished to the Cold Palace, and she was left alone in the laundry department where she was bullied every day. She was even harassed by the old eunuchs in the palace. She had had enough of it.
"Aunt Liu took the eldest young master to find Miss Wan, and then the eldest young master and Concubine Ye Liang had an affair in the room," Juxiang added. "I beg Your Highness to have mercy and spare this servant."
Upon hearing this, Xie Shang's eyes turned icy cold. "When?"
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