Chapter 330 Fetal Movement (Two Updates)
Gu Jiao entered Renshou Palace mainly by virtue of her connections. All the experts and palace servants in Renshou Palace knew her and knew that she was the Empress Dowager Zhuang's darling, so no one dared to stop her.
Although Empress Dowager Zhuang had instructed that no one be seen this afternoon.
Consort Zhuang was not so lucky.
She was stopped by the imperial guards as soon as she arrived at the entrance of Renshou Palace.
Consort Zhuang: "Go and inform the Empress Dowager that I have urgent business with her."
Imperial guard: "I'm sorry, the Empress Dowager has ordered that I cannot see anyone."
Consort Zhuang frowned: "But I clearly saw someone go in just now."
"That's Miss Gu. She went to examine the Empress Dowager." The imperial guards at least knew not to make Gu Jiao a target of hatred.
Upon hearing that it was for medical treatment, Consort Zhuang felt relieved, but the next moment, she asked with concern, "Is the Empress Dowager's health not good?"
The imperial guard said, "The Empress Dowager was slightly unwell yesterday, so she invited Miss Gu to the palace to treat her. Miss Gu is here today to give the Empress Dowager a follow-up examination."
Consort Zhuang thought for a moment and said, "Then I must go in and visit the Empress Dowager."
"this……"
Consort Zhuang said, "I won't make things difficult for you. The Empress Dowager doesn't want you to disturb her. Miss Gu didn't say anything like that. Go and invite Miss Gu here."
"Yes." The imperial guard glanced at the maid beside him.
The young palace maid understood and quickly caught up with Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao was talking to Eunuch Qin in the small garden in front of the palace.
The palace maid said, "Miss Gu, Eunuch Qin, Consort Zhuang has arrived. She wishes to see Miss Gu."
Eunuch Qin was a shrewd man. Consort Zhuang and Gu Jiao were not familiar with each other. She probably wanted to see her so that Gu Jiao could inform the Empress Dowager on her behalf: "...The Empress Dowager is reading the memorials. We servants dare not disturb her."
"Well, I'll wait then too." Gu Jiao didn't make any exceptions.
"Alright." Eunuch Qin smiled and led Gu Jiao to Empress Dowager Zhuang's bedroom.
In fact, given the Empress Dowager's affection for Miss Gu, she wouldn't mind her disturbances at all, and could even steal a moment of fun from the monotonous daily official duties.
Miss Gu never took advantage of being favored; she had her own sense of duty and bottom line.
She was kind to the Empress Dowager not to gain her favor, but because she genuinely hoped that the Empress Dowager could live a good life.
Eunuch Qin then went to the entrance of Renshou Palace to meet Consort Zhuang and said politely, "Miss Gu is also waiting for the Empress Dowager to summon her."
Having said all that, Consort Zhuang could say nothing more.
Fortunately, there weren't many memorials to be submitted today, and Empress Dowager Zhuang left the study shortly afterward.
Eunuch Qin reported: "Your Majesty, Miss Gu and the Imperial Concubine have arrived."
Empress Dowager Zhuang nodded and said, "Let her in."
This refers to Consort Zhuang.
She understood the rules she set: Jiaojiao could come in, but others couldn't.
"Yes." Eunuch Qin led Consort Zhuang into the Empress Dowager's palace.
Gu Jiao had just finished examining Empress Dowager Zhuang. Her throat had recovered well, but she seemed to have a bit of heatstroke because of the hot weather. Gu Jiao brought over some ginger slices and sesame oil to give her arm a scraping treatment.
Consort Zhuang bowed respectfully: "Empress Dowager."
"Speak, what is it?" Empress Dowager Zhuang asked calmly, her throat still aching slightly when she used it.
Eunuch Qin had already led the palace servants away, leaving only the three of them in the large bedchamber.
Consort Zhuang glanced at Gu Jiao, who was performing gua sha on Empress Dowager Zhuang, and understood that Empress Dowager Zhuang was not avoiding Gu Jiao. She lowered her eyes and said softly, "Empress Dowager, are you really not going to care about Heng'er's marriage? How can Heng'er marry..."
She glanced at Gu Jiao again, carefully considered her words, omitted the unfriendly embellishments, and said directly, "Gu Jinyu? She is just an adopted daughter of the Marquis of Ding'an's family, of lowly status and morally flawed. Marrying her would only make Heng'er a laughing stock in the capital."
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at her calmly, as if gesturing for her to continue.
Consort Zhuang's gaze swept over Gu Jiao again, and she said, "Besides, Gu Jinyu stole Miss Gu's credit back then. It's not fair to Miss Gu to elevate her like this."
Empress Dowager Zhuang said in a deep voice, "Don't use others as a raft."
Consort Zhuang hesitated before speaking, then said, "...Yes."
Gu Jiao continued scraping her skin, showing no intention of participating in their conversation.
As for Empress Dowager Zhuang, she didn't react much to Consort Zhuang's complaints.
Consort Zhuang became anxious.
This was quite different from what she had imagined. The Empress Dowager was indeed heartless, but she loved Zhuang Yuheng. She had disagreed with sending Zhuang Yuheng to Chen as a hostage in the first place.
How come she remains completely unmoved now that Zhuang Yuheng has been tricked by His Majesty like this?
Consort Zhuang continued, "Empress Dowager, Heng'er's wife must be of equal social standing and able to help him. But what does Gu Jinyu have? She's not even the biological daughter of the Marquis of Ding'an! Do you think the Marquis of Ding'an's household will side with her in the future? Moreover, I suspect that His Majesty actually wants to plant a spy in the Zhuang family!"
The Marquis of Ding'an's family is His Majesty's confidant. His Majesty married Gu Jinyu into the Zhuang family for two reasons: first, to thwart the Zhuang family's plan to form a powerful alliance with other prominent families through marriage; and second, to monitor the actions of Prince An and the Zhuang family.
Consort Zhuang believed that this was His Majesty's plan.
In fact, the emperor had no such intention, but just as the emperor did not trust Empress Dowager Zhuang, Consort Zhuang did not quite trust the emperor's intentions.
The dealer cannot afford to make any mistakes, nor can they afford to miss a golden opportunity to form a marriage alliance with a powerful family.
The more powerful Prince An becomes, the more support her son, Prince Ning, will receive.
"Aunt..." When Consort Zhuang realized that reasoning was not working, she resorted to appealing to family ties.
Empress Dowager Zhuang closed her eyes to rest.
Consort Zhuang was extremely anxious, so she simply passed the buck to Gu Jiao: "Miss Gu, what do you think?"
She knew that Gu Jiao and Gu Jinyu had a bad relationship, and she believed that Gu Jiao would not speak up for Gu Jinyu, nor would she care about the struggle between the Zhuang family and the Ding'an Marquis's mansion.
Gu Jiao is Empress Dowager Zhuang's person.
Gu Jiao continued to perform gua sha on her aunt, paused, and said, "This is Prince An's marriage. Shouldn't he be the one to make the decision? After His Majesty bestowed the marriage, did you ask him if he accepted it? Does the Imperial Concubine represent his own wishes?"
Consort Zhuang was immediately stumped by the question.
Consort Zhuang returned empty-handed.
After Gu Jiao finished scraping the Empress Dowager's skin, she went to work on her gunpowder.
The space in Bishui Hutong was limited, so she didn't dare to go too far, for fear of blowing up the house.
Renshou Palace has enough open space, so it won't matter if it's bombed.
When Eunuch Qin entered the room to attend to Empress Dowager Zhuang, her complexion improved considerably, and the tightness in her chest subsided.
Eunuch Qin presented freshly cut fruits and asked, "Does the Empress Dowager truly intend to disregard the marriage proposal of Prince An?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang said with a mocking tone, "The Emperor acted first and reported later, putting me in a very difficult position. How am I supposed to manage this? Does this empire truly belong to the Zhuang family? Over the years, I have stained my hands with blood and schemed endlessly. Everyone thinks my power came easily, but who has seen how I walk on thin ice?"
Eunuch Qin wholeheartedly agreed.
Outsiders only saw the Empress Dowager's power and influence, but they did not see the bloodshed behind her back.
Empress Dowager Zhuang said calmly, "If Zhuang Yuheng wanted to annul the engagement, he would have come to me for help. Since he didn't come, it means he has accepted it."
No sooner had the words been spoken than a loud bang came from the small lawn in the side hall, and the entire Renshou Palace seemed to tremble three times.
The two men's expressions changed.
Eunuch Qin hurriedly ran out, asking, "Miss Gu, Miss Gu, are you alright?"
A large section of the lawn was blown bare.
Gu Jiao was nowhere to be seen.
Eunuch Qin was terrified: "Miss Gu!"
"I'm here."
A weak voice came from above Eunuch Qin's head. When Eunuch Qin looked up, he saw that Gu Jiao's face was blackened and her hair was a mess. Her little arms and legs were hanging limply, like a little rag doll, hanging soullessly on the high eaves.
Gu Jiao opened her small mouth and exhaled a puff of black smoke.
Eunuch Qin: "..."
Gu Jiao was dazed by the explosion. After being rescued by the imperial guards, she climbed onto her aunt's bed and slept soundly for the entire afternoon.
She woke up near dusk, and her aunt invited her to have dinner at Renshou Palace.
She thought for a moment and said, "Grandma, I'll make you some milk dates."
I feel really bad for blasting my aunt's lawn today, so I have to make amends.
Milk dates are made with goat cheese, dried red dates, and almonds. The red dates are naturally sweet, so no extra sugar is needed. They are very creamy, delicious, and nutritious.
Red dates and almonds are not hard to find, but sheep's milk cheese has to be obtained from the imperial kitchen.
While the cooks at Renshou Palace went to the Imperial Kitchen to fetch sheep's milk cheese, Gu Jiao went to the Imperial Garden. She planned to pick some flower petals to dry and use for tea.
She hadn't been picking flowers in the Imperial Garden for long when several unfamiliar palace maids came over, also carrying baskets and picking some flowers.
Gu Jiao placed the full basket on the stone table, and then filled another basket with the flowers. Although there were many petals, once they dried, there would be almost nothing left.
Gu Jiao returned home with a full load.
Just then, the goat cheese arrived. She handed the basket to Eunuch Qin and turned to go to the small kitchen to make milk dates.
Inside Huaqing Palace, the young palace maids knelt down in a flurry.
The Emperor and Consort Jing sat in chairs. The Emperor frowned as he looked at the several newly selected palace maids who were serving Consort Jing. His imperial face was displeased: "How are you serving the Consort? You even managed to make her jade pendant disappear!"
Consort Jing sighed, "It's not their fault, I lost it myself. I seemed to hear a sound when I went to the Imperial Garden just now, but I didn't pay attention to it at the time. I think that's when I lost it."
"I...I did find her, but I..." a palace maid said tremblingly.
Consort Jing said gently, "Don't be afraid, just tell me, and I won't blame you."
The young palace maid mustered her courage, knelt forward, kowtowed, and said, "This servant found a jade pendant in the Imperial Garden. I didn't know it belonged to the Empress Dowager, so I was thinking of giving it to the head maid later. I placed the jade pendant on the table, but when I went to retrieve it after picking flowers, it had vanished!"
The emperor said in a deep voice, "Why did you casually place the jade pendant on the table?"
The young palace maid said fearfully, "That jade pendant is broken. I thought it was worthless and not a good thing..."
"It's broken?" The emperor looked at Consort Jing in surprise.
Consort Jing nodded bitterly, without saying a word.
Granny Cai said earnestly, "Two years ago, the Imperial Concubine fell and broke the jade pendant. One corner was completely shattered and could not be put back together. But it was a keepsake left to the Imperial Concubine by Princess Ning'an, so even though it was broken, the Imperial Concubine still wore it every day."
Upon hearing that Consort Jing had fallen, the Emperor felt a sharp pain in his heart, regretting that he had not brought her back to the palace to take care of her sooner.
"I've caused my mother so much suffering," he said guiltily.
Consort Jing said, "Your Majesty is too kind. It was just a fall. As people get older, there will always be times when their legs and feet become inconvenient."
"I see that the Empress Dowager at Renshou Palace..." The Emperor wanted to say that the woman at Renshou Palace was remarkably agile, even more so than before she contracted leprosy. He probably also felt it inappropriate to keep mentioning the Empress Dowager, so he cleared his throat and looked at the kneeling palace maids, "Besides you few, who else went to the Imperial Garden at that time?"
The young palace maids looked at each other in bewilderment.
Although a piece of the jade was broken, the remaining half was still priceless. It was no ordinary beautiful jade, but a thousand-year-old cold jade from the Yan Kingdom. Just because this little palace maid didn't recognize its value doesn't mean others didn't.
"Speak!" the emperor said coldly, "Who exactly took the Empress Dowager's jade pendant?"
Everyone kowtowed, but the young palace maid who had found the jade pendant earlier said, "Your Majesty, we really didn't take it! We don't even know what's valuable, how could we possibly take one..."
She dared not mention the broken jade again.
The emperor asked in a deep voice, "Besides you, who else has been to the Imperial Garden?"
The young palace maid thought for a moment and said, "There is a girl... I don't know which palace she is from. Judging from her clothes and appearance, she doesn't look like a concubine or a palace maid. She has a red birthmark on her left cheek."
She's neither a concubine nor a maid, and she has a red birthmark on her left cheek. Who else could this be but Gu Jiao?
That's awkward.
If it were an ordinary jade pendant, the emperor would have been too lazy to investigate, but it was a keepsake left by Princess Ning'an for Consort Jing, someone the emperor had once cherished dearly.
The emperor cared about her no less than he cared about Consort Jing.
Eunuch Wei glanced at the emperor with a complicated expression.
Miss Gu is intolerant of any imperfections. If His Majesty were to send someone to ask her if she had found a jade pendant, Miss Gu would probably never speak to His Majesty again.
Well, I'm already angry with His Majesty.
But the nature of the matter is different.
Miss Gu is not a dishonest person, but His Majesty is relentless in his investigation, leaving no stone unturned. The difficulty lies in the fact that once questions are asked, sowing the seeds of discord between them.
Moreover, Miss Gu is currently in Renshou Palace. What will the Empress Dowager think if she finds out about this? She won't let it go until she's given His Majesty a thorough dressing down.
The Empress Dowager herself can suffer injustice, but Miss Gu cannot.
Wei Gonggong silently broke out in a cold sweat. It's over, it's all over.
The Emperor composed himself, took Consort Jing's hand, and said, "The little divine physician wouldn't pick up the jade pendant on the table. The Empress Dowager dotes on her and would give her all the treasures in Renshou Palace. Although the thousand-year-old cold jade that Ning'an gave her is precious, it is still not enough for her. Ning'an also gave me a piece back then. Since they are all mementos left by Ning'an, I will have someone bring them to my mother later."
"This servant will go and get it right away!" Without waiting for the emperor's order, Eunuch Wei hurriedly went out, as if he were afraid that the emperor would change his mind at any moment.
The Emperor said, "These palace maids are incompetent and have lost Mother Consort's jade pendant. They should no longer serve Mother Consort. I will select some capable palace maids for Mother Consort."
Consort Jing smiled and said, "I am a vegetarian and a Buddhist, so I don't need too many people around me. Granny Cai is enough."
The Emperor said, "Granny Cai is getting old, and there are bound to be times when she is no longer able to do what she needs. If there were a few clever palace servants by my mother's side today, they certainly wouldn't have lost my mother's jade pendant without noticing."
Gu Jiao knew nothing about Huaqing Palace. She went to the small kitchen and made milk dates and flower cakes. There were still quite a few flowers left.
The young palace maid smiled and said, "I'll put it in a sachet for you, young lady. You can take it back and use it as dried flowers."
"Alright," Gu Jiao nodded.
The palace maid found a sachet wrapped in gold thread used for storing dried flowers and stuffed all the remaining petals from the basket into it.
After having dinner, Gu Jiao returned to Bishui Hutong.
Gu Xiaoshun was scratching his head in the yard, looking rather strange.
"What's wrong?" Gu Jiao stepped forward and asked.
Gu Xiaoshun said, "Lord Gu has fainted and hasn't woken up yet."
It turned out that after Gu Jiao went to visit her great-aunt, Lord Gu did not leave. Instead, he asked his son where Yao had gone. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Yao walking out of the house with her big pregnant belly.
This isn't just fat as a ball, it's like she's actually carrying a ball inside her belly!
There's nothing more terrifying than a man going on a business trip for a while and coming back to find his wife heavily pregnant.
If it were just that, it wouldn't be a big deal, but then Marquis Xuanping walked over from behind and exchanged a few words with Yao Shi with a smile.
Marquis Xuanping, the most dashing and unrestrained man in the entire capital, had a roguish and wicked air about him when he smiled seriously. Lord Gu immediately felt as if the sky had fallen!
Lord Gu was always troubled by his own looks, but he had to admit that Marquis Xuanping was indeed more handsome than him. This playboy could have countless women rushing to his aid with just a snap of his fingers.
Could it be... that his Yao Yao also got infected?!
Otherwise, he really couldn't understand why Marquis Xuanping would be here!
He was consumed by rage, and his head was covered in green.
Lord Gu could no longer control himself; his tongue lolled out, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
Gu Jiao went to Yao Shi's room, took Lord Gu's pulse, and said, "He's fine."
Madam Yao nodded. Although her husband was sometimes confused, he was still the father of her two... no, now her three children, and she didn't want them to be children without a father.
but--
Looking at her constantly bulging belly, Yao wondered if the baby's movements were this strong at six months. Why did she feel like the baby was trying to kick its father?
It's the end of the month, time to clear out all the tickets, don't waste them.
(End of this chapter)
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