Chapter Twelve
Looking at the little one in the Empress's arms, the Fourth Princess blinked. This little one didn't resemble the round-faced, thick-browed figure from the TV series at all. "Greetings to the Empress Mother."
"What did the servants say outside just now that made my Fourth Princess angry?" The Empress beckoned to the Fourth Princess.
"Daughter is disciplining the servants on behalf of the Empress Mother. Those servants actually called the new sister by her maiden name." The Fourth Princess walked to the Empress's side, took Lan Xin's hand, and hung her small items on Lan Xin. The Fifth Princess laughed and teased the Twelfth Prince and the Seventh Princess.
"It's time to teach them a lesson. Fourth Princess, Fifth Princess, Lady Irgen Gioro will be coming to the palace to see you tomorrow. Would you like to prepare some rewards?" The Empress released Lan Xin, quite satisfied with Fourth Princess's performance. Looking at Fifth Princess, the Empress suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
"Prince Keshan, Princess Xinyue has arrived!" The people inside the room were talking when they were interrupted by the eunuchs outside shouting.
Fourth Princess, holding Lan Xin's hand, walked over to Fifth Princess's side, her eyes darting towards the doorway, wanting to see how old New Moon Princess was. Fourth Princess didn't have to wait long before she saw the legendary New Moon Princess. Looking at New Moon Princess, Fourth Princess's lips trembled incessantly. Fifth Princess, sitting opposite Fourth Princess, noticed the trembling and asked softly, "Sister, what's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing." Fourth Princess turned her head with difficulty. How could this Crescent Moon Princess resemble Crescent Moon? Was that Ma Gezi or Ma Yaozi blind? Or had he just not seen a woman for too long? Any woman in this palace could be a thousand times more beautiful than the legendary Crescent Moon. Fourth Princess was once again certain that Roaring Horse hadn't been near a woman in too long to have taken a liking to Crescent Moon.
Fifth Princess looked on in confusion, turning to look at the princess who had just entered, her mouth agape in an "O" shape.
Princess Xinyue knelt on the ground, and before the Empress could ask anything, Princess Xinyue started to cry.
Lan Xin had never seen such a person before, and her expression was the same as the Fifth Princess's. Seeing the two of them, the Fourth Princess immediately stood up. "Granny Liu, Granny Wu, escort the Twelfth Prince and the Seventh Princess to the side hall. Sister, let's go." The Fourth Princess grabbed one of them by the hand and led them into the side hall. She couldn't let a young girl who had just been guided onto the right path, a girl awaiting guidance, be brainwashed by someone who lived for love, destroyed families for love.
The Empress, who greatly admired the Fourth Princess's behavior, looked at Xinyue with a headache. Was this a Manchu aunt? How could she be compared to her? At least those two aunts had half royal blood. "Xinyue, no one is making things difficult for you here. Get up and answer."
"No, Your Majesty the Empress, Xinyue asks for little, she just wants a small space to live with Keshan."
"New Moon, don't you have any governesses by your side?" The Empress frowned, thinking, "This is too unreliable!" Just as the Empress was thinking this, the eunuch announced again... "The Emperor has arrived!" The Empress immediately rose to greet him, but before she could even steady herself, she heard the eunuch announce, "Consort Ling has arrived!" The Empress tightened her grip on Rong Mama's hand. The Empress had always harbored resentment towards Consort Ling. A lowly palace maid had risen to the rank of Noble Lady, and then to Consort in the shortest possible time. Now that Consort Ling had no children, if she had given birth to a son, the Emperor would probably want to promote her to Imperial Noble Consort! What was Consort Ling doing following the Emperor? Although the Empress was very dissatisfied with Consort Ling, she didn't show it on her face.
"I just happened to run into Consort Ling on my way here. She said she made a garment for Yongqi, and I think it's quite nice." Qianlong was in a relatively good mood, but seeing Xinyue's mournful expression, he still felt a surge of displeasure. "Empress, this is…"
"Your Majesty, Xinyue just came in and knelt down, saying that I should give her and Prince Keshan a small world. Before I could even respond, Xinyue started crying."
Emperor Qianlong was very dissatisfied with the Duan Prince's family. If it weren't for the Duan Prince twisting his policies, how could it have caused the people's rebellion? He even had to clean up the mess left by the Duan Prince's actions. Thinking of this, Qianlong was even more annoyed. Did she think the Duan Prince was a meritorious official? How dare she ask the Empress for a reward! How dare a mere princess harbor thoughts of supporting a prince? What was she planning to do? "Empress, I will entrust the new moon to..." Before Qianlong could finish speaking, a shadow ran out and interrupted him.
"Greetings, Father! I just heard your voice. I thought I misheard, so I secretly ran out to see if it really was you. Father, guess if I am the fourth son or the fifth son?"
Emperor Qianlong was taken aback for a moment. "Empress, come and help me see if this is the fourth son or the fifth son."
The Empress was just worried that the Emperor would give Xinyue to her. "I think it's Si'er. With that mischievous spirit, it's like something Wu'er would do."
"I also think it should be the Fourth Princess. The Fourth Princess is mischievous and clever, while the Fifth Princess is dignified and elegant. It's actually quite easy to distinguish between the two princesses."
"Where is Father Emperor? Father Emperor hasn't even guessed who I am yet!"
"In my opinion, this is my fifth son, not my fourth!"
The Fifth Princess, who was being held by the Emperor, giggled and said, "Father Emperor is so clever. Today, Fifth Princess has another little sister. Little Sister Lan is so cute."
"Greetings, Father! Mother, Fourth Prince is sad, but it's not just Fourth Prince who's naughty, Mother can't be biased." Fourth Princess brought Lan Xin out, and Lan Xin looked at the Emperor somewhat helplessly. "Sister Lan, hurry up and greet Father, and ask him for a reward!"
"Your Majesty! Fourth Princess is very concerned about money. She needs to change this habit. She can't let her husband's family think that a princess of the royal family has never seen money after she gets married."
The Empress's face was full of smiles. "I don't need to worry about that. Your Majesty, Fourth Prince likes Lan'er very much. Didn't Your Majesty see that when Fourth Prince saw Lan'er just now, he hung all his ornaments and other things on Lan'er?"
"Father, Fourth Brother has nothing left. Shouldn't you give him something?"
Consort Ling stood to one side, trying to interject several times but failing. She felt superfluous, wringing her handkerchief in her hands. She was resentful; her rise from palace maid to her current position had fueled her ambitions, and she longed to reach the highest position. Xinyue also wanted to speak, yearning to leave the palace. She missed the celestial being who had saved her in her time of crisis—that handsome and robust man.
Just as Consort Ling was about to sway her body to attract the Emperor's attention, someone beat her to it. The Empress, who had been speaking to the Emperor with a smile, suddenly swayed. Of course, the Empress wasn't swaying because of a health problem; rather, it was because the Fourth Princess noticed Consort Ling's hand wringing her handkerchief. The Fourth Princess had never underestimated Consort Ling. From a palace maid to a consort, and finally posthumously honored as Empress by her son, this woman was definitely not simple; she could even be the subject of a legendary biography. Before Consort Ling could act, the Fourth Princess secretly nudged the Empress and then quickly cried out, "Empress Mother, Empress Mother, what's wrong!" The Fourth Princess's cry immediately attracted the attention of the palace maids and nannies. Rong Mama was the first to rush forward, but she wasn't as fast as the Fourth Princess. The Fourth Princess whispered two words in the Empress's ear, "Pretend to be sick!"
The Empress didn't understand the Fourth Princess's meaning, but she played along, feigning a pained expression. This expression was purely feigned; just now, when the Fourth Princess spoke in her ear, she had pinched her—the child's grip was quite strong.
Looking at the Empress's expression, Qianlong believed she wouldn't fake it. "Wu Shulai, quickly summon the imperial physician." Seeing Rong Momo help the Empress to the soft couch, Qianlong immediately sat down on the other side. "Rong Momo, when was the last time the Empress had her pulse checked?"
Rong Momo immediately knelt down, "Your Majesty, the Empress's pulse was checked this morning! What did the imperial physician say?"
"The imperial physician says that Her Majesty is perfectly healthy."
Emperor Qianlong blinked. "Everything was fine, how could it have turned out like this?" "Which imperial physician took the Empress's pulse?"
“This…” Rong Mama didn’t know what to say.
“Speak! What can’t you say?”
"The Empress's pulse should have been examined by Physician Li, but this morning Physician Hu came instead."
Upon hearing the name of Physician Hu, Consort Ling knew she was doomed. Physician Hu was a physician her father had cultivated. Yesterday, while he was taking her pulse, she had instructed him to find an opportunity to tamper with things in Kunning Palace, but she hadn't expected it to be discovered so quickly. Panicked, Consort Ling didn't notice that the Fourth Princess was watching her closely. Seeing Consort Ling's increasingly slow but forceful twisting of her handkerchief after hearing "Physician Hu's name," the Fourth Princess remembered that Physician Hu had appeared in Yanxi Palace in *Princess Pearl*. Could it be that Physician Hu had really been bribed by Consort Ling, as depicted in most fan fiction novels?
"Summon Hu Lingfang to me. I want to ask him if he really knows how to diagnose a pulse!"
Emperor Qianlong was furious! Meanwhile, the chief imperial physician, who was in charge of examining the emperor's pulse, rushed into the Kunning Palace, shouting, "Your Majesty, may you be well!"
"Get up quickly and take the Empress's pulse. I need to know what's wrong with her!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The imperial physician got up and put his hand on the Empress's hand. Only the Fourth Princess knew that the Empress had been pushed by her. No one else knew. Their little faces were all filled with worry. The Fourth Princess kept her head down, keeping a watchful eye on Consort Ling.
The imperial physician's pulse-taking process was like being fried in oil. When he finally stood up, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, then tensed up again, all eyes fixed on him. The imperial physician, worthy of being the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, remained calm under everyone's gaze, his sleeves folded, and bowed to the Emperor. "Congratulations, Your Majesty, the Empress is pregnant!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, except for the Fourth Princess, who inwardly scoffed, "The Empress is amazing."
Emperor Qianlong was overjoyed. He clapped his hands and looked at Xinyue with much more approval. Then he saw Consort Ling standing there. Wasn't Consort Ling the perfect candidate? The people around Huixian would naturally be excellent and would definitely be able to train and educate a princess well. "Consort Ling, Xinyue is entrusted to you."
With a gentle smile on her face, Consort Ling waved her handkerchief and said, "Your Majesty, I will definitely teach a princess to be well-mannered and proper."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
