Chapter 35: Imperial Cakes, Hidden Danger
Yunzhi was sitting by the window, mending little socks for her unborn child when there was a gentle knock on the side courtyard door. Qingzhu opened the door and returned, holding a gilded lacquer box. Her face was solemn. "Miss, someone from the Princess's palace sent it. They said it was a gift of osmanthus cake from the Empress, and they left a box for you."
"A gift from the Empress?" Yun Zhi paused her needlework, her brows furrowed slightly. The Empress had always been so indifferent to the inner affairs of the palace, so why would she suddenly gift cakes? Furthermore, Lin Wanru had personally sent them, so there must be something more complicated going on.
She stood up and walked to the table, watching Qingzhu open the lacquer box - inside were eight shiny osmanthus cakes, with finely crushed osmanthus flowers sprinkled on the golden cakes. It smelled sweet, but if you sniffed carefully, you could faintly smell a very faint, rust-like odor.
Yun Zhi's heart sank. She remembered Xie Heng's previous advice—pregnancy requires avoiding blood-activating and blood-stasis-removing substances. Some herbs are colorless and odorless, making them hard to detect when mixed with sweets. The sweet fragrance of this osmanthus cake was too strong, as if it were covering up something.
"Miss, what's wrong?" Qingzhu also noticed something was wrong and asked in a low voice, "Is there something wrong with this pastry?"
"It's hard to say, but you can't eat it." Yun Zhi closed the lacquer box, her eyes alert. "Throwing away the things given by the Queen will give people a reason to criticize you. Find a chance and quietly pour it into the flowerbed behind the courtyard. Don't let anyone see."
Qingzhu nodded and walked towards the backyard carrying the lacquer box. Just as she walked around the corridor, she saw Qiu Wen coming out of the laundry room with a wash basin. Seeing the lacquer box in her hand, her eyes lit up: "Sister Qingzhu, what is this? It smells so good."
"It's nothing. It's just some old pastries that the girl didn't want. I threw them away." Qingzhu avoided her gaze and walked quickly to the backyard, but he was sweating in his heart - Qiu Wen was Su Yurou's person, and she would definitely report this.
Sure enough, within half an hour, the main courtyard received Qiu Wen's reply.
In the warm room, after listening to Qiu Wen's report, Lin Wanru slammed the teacup on the table with a clang, spilling tea all over the table. "She really didn't want to eat it! She even threw it away secretly!"
Su Yurou sat aside, a sinister smile on her lips. "Don't worry, sister. The more she's afraid to eat, the more it shows that she has something to hide. She even dared to throw away the imperial gift. If that's not a guilty conscience, what could it be? It seems our guess is correct. She is indeed pregnant and is afraid that eating it will hurt the baby."
"It's good that she feels guilty." A fierce glint flashed in Lin Wanru's eyes. "I was originally worried because I didn't have evidence, but now she's exposed herself. Wait until the palace banquet in a few days, and I'll make her look bad in public. Let's see how the prince will protect her!"
She paused, then instructed the maid beside her, "Go, call Qiu Wen over and ask her to keep an eye on Yun Zhi to see if she does anything else. Especially, write down everything she and Qing Zhu do in private."
The maid responded and turned to look for Qiu Wen. Su Yurou looked at Lin Wanru and secretly rejoiced. The more Lin Wanru targeted Yun Zhi, the better it would be for her. When both of them were defeated, the backyard of the palace would be hers sooner or later.
…
Back in the side courtyard, Yun Zhi sat by the window, feeling uneasy. Qiu Wen's eyes had just looked strange. She would definitely tell Lin Wanru about the cake throwing, which would make her even more certain that she was pregnant.
"Don't worry, young lady," Qingzhu brought a glass of warm water and comforted her softly, "Even if the princess knew, she couldn't do anything to you without evidence."
"Even if there's no evidence, she'll find a way to find it." Yun Zhi took the water cup, her fingertips cold. "The palace banquet will be held in a few days. She will definitely tamper with the banquet. I have to prepare in advance."
She remembered the pregnancy-maintaining medicine Xie Heng had sent her earlier, as well as Doctor Li's promise, and felt a little more at ease. As long as she could get through the family dinner and wait for Xiao Jin to find out the child's background, perhaps everything would be fine.
But she didn't know that Lin Wanru had already begun to lay the groundwork. That afternoon, a maid spread the news in the palace - saying that Yun Zhi was so arrogant because of her favor that she even dared to throw away the cakes given by the Queen. She was afraid that she was pregnant with some shameful child and was afraid of offending the imperial gift.
The news spread quickly. Within a day, the entire palace knew about "Madam Yun throwing away the imperial cakes." Even Xiao Jin's study received the report from the secret guards.
"She threw away the cakes the Queen gave her as a reward?" Xiao Jin put down the file, his eyes full of confusion. "Why?"
"It's said that the pastries aren't to her liking," the secret guard whispered back, "but a maid said that Madam Yun has recently become very averse to greasy sweets. The very smell of them makes her nauseous. She even retched when the princess treated her to fried cheese."
Xiao Jin's fingers tapped lightly on the table, his brow furrowing ever deeper. She was repelling greasy food, nauseated by the smell of sweet things, and even threw away the imperially bestowed cakes... these signs were increasingly reminiscent of pregnancy symptoms.
He remembered Qiu Wen's report, Yun Zhi's panicked dodging in the study, and the way she protected her belly—she was really pregnant! And she was so afraid of being discovered by him that she didn't even dare to eat the Queen's cakes, fearing that they might contain something harmful to the child!
But why didn't she tell him? Why did she hide it from him? Was it really like he thought, that the child wasn't his, but Xie Heng's? Was that why she was afraid of him finding out, afraid he would punish her and the child?
Jealousy and anger surged in his heart once again. Xiao Jin stood up suddenly and walked towards the side courtyard. He wanted to find out in person what Yun Zhi was hiding!
When he reached the gate of the side courtyard, he stopped. He saw Yun Zhi sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, Qing Zhu squatting beside her, holding a small bellyband in her hand. The two were whispering something. Yun Zhi had a gentle smile on her face, a gentleness that he had never seen before, with a maternal glow.
At that moment, Xiao Jin paused. He suddenly didn't dare to move forward, didn't dare to disrupt the peace, and even more so didn't dare to hear the answer he dreaded - what should he do if this child was really Xie Heng's?
He turned and left silently, the contradiction in his heart becoming more and more serious. He wanted to know the truth, but was afraid to know the truth; he wanted to protect her and the child, but was afraid that the child was not his blood.
Yun Zhi, who was in the courtyard, hadn't noticed Xiao Jin's presence. She rubbed her belly and whispered to Qing Zhu, "In a few days, the baby will be three months old. By then, things will be more stable."
Qingzhu nodded, her eyes full of anticipation: "Once the baby is born, the girl will have someone to rely on."
Yun Zhi smiled, but a hint of worry flashed in her eyes. She knew that the calm of the past few days was just the quiet before the storm. Lin Wanru would not give up, and Xiao Jin's suspicion would not disappear. A greater crisis was waiting for her.
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