Ginseng, bird's nest, donkey-hide gelatin, lingzhi mushroom, and all sorts of tonics were delivered to Chuxiu Palace in a continuous stream.
Since Sun Miaoqing's miscarriage, the Empress Dowager has been unwell. Naturally, she has no time to visit Chuxiu Palace, and only sent some things over by Zhuxi as a gesture of comfort.
Inside Shou Kang Palace,
The Empress Dowager recited the Lotus Sutra again, but the turmoil in her heart was far from being easily suppressed by a single sutra.
The emperor had not visited her at Shou Kang Palace for half a month, and news came from the imperial mausoleum that the fourteenth prince had been reprimanded again for no reason.
He was accused of disobeying the imperial edict, forming cliques against the emperor, and acting with blatant disregard for the emperor's authority, showing no remorse during his time guarding the late emperor's tomb. The fourteenth prince was stripped of his title of Prince of the Second Rank and demoted to Prince of the Third Rank.
The Empress Dowager was filled with grief. They were all her sons, yet they had fallen to the point of killing each other. The Emperor was so ruthless; how could the Fourteenth Prince possibly have a good end?
Hearing Zhu Xi enter, the Empress Dowager opened her eyes and looked expectantly at the doorway, but only saw a slightly swaying curtain, nothing else.
The Empress Dowager said disappointedly, "The Emperor still refuses to come and pay his respects to me?"
Zhu Xi hesitated before speaking, "His Majesty's leg injury has not fully healed yet. Once he has recovered in a few days, he will naturally come to pay his respects to you."
The Empress Dowager shook her head. "You don't need to comfort me. It had nothing to do with my leg injury to begin with."
“Even if the emperor were alright, he wouldn’t come. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stripped the fourteenth prince of his title.”
"Hasn't he been visiting Consort Cheng every day these past few days? Perhaps it won't be long before he's calling her Consort Cheng..."
Zhu Xi said, "That shouldn't be possible. Consort Cheng was only promoted a couple of days ago."
“Even if the Emperor feels guilty, he still has to consider the harem. Not to mention anything else, Consort Xin and Noble Lady Cao gave birth to a princess for the Emperor, which is a meritorious act, yet they didn’t even get the rank of concubine.”
The Empress Dowager said, "What's the difference between a Consort, a Noble Lady, a Concubine, and a Royal Concubine? They are all concubines."
"Whether to depose or reinstate her is just a matter of a word, it's nothing. Even if she's made a concubine, if the emperor is unhappy, demoting her to a lower-ranking concubine wouldn't be difficult. I just don't understand how the emperor could fall for someone like Consort Cheng!"
Zhu Xi didn't understand either. The Emperor loved Empress Chun Yuan so much that he still couldn't forget her.
Consort Cheng and Empress Chun Yuan have nothing in common; they are two completely opposite people in terms of personality. Consort Cheng's appearance is not as outstanding as Consort Hua's. So why did the Emperor take a liking to her?
Zhu Xi hesitated and said, "Perhaps Consort Cheng has some strengths that we don't know about?"
"Fine, let the emperor favor whomever he wants. I'm too old to control him."
The Empress Dowager said, "However, since the Emperor dotes on Consort Cheng so much, if she were to offer him a few words of advice, perhaps the Emperor would listen."
Zhu Xi was shocked to hear this. After such a thing happened, how could the Empress Dowager not only not learn from the lesson, but also seem to have lost her mind?
Leaving aside whether Consort Cheng would willingly speak on behalf of the Empress Dowager, the Emperor is clearly taking his anger out on the Fourteenth Prince. At this juncture, any words spoken in support of the Fourteenth Prince would likely provoke the Emperor. The more she speaks out, the more difficult the Fourteenth Prince's life will become.
"Your Majesty, you mustn't. You know the Emperor's temperament better than anyone. He has already vented his anger by scolding him and stripping him of his title. The matter is now over."
“But if the matter of the Fourteenth Prince is brought up again, the Emperor will get angry, just like this time. He can’t argue with you, so he vents his displeasure on the Fourteenth Prince.”
"Empress Dowager, if you truly care about the Fourteenth Prince, then don't mention anything or ask a single question. Only then will the Fourteenth Prince's situation be better."
The Empress Dowager held her prayer beads, clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and silently recited the Lotus Sutra once more. Only after her mind had calmed somewhat did she slowly speak.
"I understand..."
"Zhu Xi, accompany me to the small kitchen. I want to make a bowl of steamed sugar-coated pastry myself. This was the emperor's favorite food when he was a child."
*
Chuxiu Palace
Shen Meizhuang and An Lingrong came to visit her together. Knowing that she couldn't eat greasy food now, they asked the imperial physician and had someone make her a dish of steamed eggs with red ginseng.
This stuff nourishes yin, generates fluids, invigorates qi, and stops bleeding; it's perfect for Sun Miaoqing to eat at this time.
Shen Meizhuang sat on the edge of the bed, feeding her egg custard spoonful by spoonful. Her snow-white hands were round and delicate, waving back and forth in front of Sun Miaoqing.
Having gone without oily or greasy food for a full two weeks, the more she looked at it, the more it resembled a pig's trotter, and she couldn't help but swallow.
[White Jade Pig Trotters, Radish Stewed Pig Trotters, Steamed Pig Trotters with Lao Gan Ma Chili Sauce, Spicy and Sour Pig Trotters, Pig Trotters with Black Vinegar and Ginger, Rock Sugar Pig Trotters...]
[Sister Mei's hands look so good, I really want to take a bite...!]
Shen Meizhuang glared at Sun Miaoqing, stuffed the last bite of egg custard into her mouth, and then wiped her mouth much more roughly, leaving An Lingrong, who was watching from the side, puzzled.
Shen Meizhuang said, "The Emperor has already decreed that the Fifth Prince will be raised under your name and placed in the Hibiscus Pavilion where you used to live, so that it will be convenient to take care of him."
"The main hall of Chuxiu Palace has been prepared by the Imperial Household Department. Let it air out for a few days until the paint smell dissipates before you move in."
Sun Miaoqing said unhappily, "Didn't they say that the Fifth Prince is in poor health?"
"Furong Pavilion doesn't have a ground heating system. He might as well stay at Prince Zhuang's mansion instead."
An Lingrong and Shen Meizhuang both laughed. Shen Meizhuang teased, "You're really going to be a mother soon. You haven't even met the Fifth Prince yet, and you're already feeling sorry for him."
An Lingrong said, "Don't worry, Sister Sun. His Majesty cares about the Fifth Prince and has ordered the Imperial Household Department to install underfloor heating in the Hibiscus Pavilion so that the Fifth Prince won't get cold."
Sun Miaoqing said, "That's good. The smell of the charcoal fire is unbearable. We have to wait another half a month before we can move in. New Year's Eve will have passed by then."
Shen Meizhuang said, "New Year's Eve has passed, but the snow is still falling."
"Besides, you're in your postpartum period now, so you absolutely cannot go out."
Previously, An Lingrong believed that Sun Miaoqing's miscarriage was due to foul play. She was determined to find the culprit and avenge Sun Miaoqing.
But after thinking about it carefully again and again, she realized that it was almost impossible to accomplish this. At that time, there were only the Emperor and Sun Miaoqing in the room.
And Sun Miaoqing's attitude—she was so superficially heartbroken. She's incredibly perceptive; she could easily see through it all—it was all an act.
She doesn't look like a grieving mother who has just lost her child at all!
Shen Meizhuang's attitude was like that of someone trying to soothe a child throwing a tantrum. She also spoke without any restraint, discussing matters related to children.
If she still can't understand, then all those books she's read will have been for nothing.
If Sun Miaoqing really miscarries, I'll change the name of An Lingrong backwards!
I just don't know how she managed to cover it up. The Emperor and Empress Dowager aren't stupid, yet she deliberately pinned the blame on the two of them, without even fearing that she might get herself into trouble if she wasn't careful.
Moreover, in the past two months, other imperial physicians have examined her pulse and all said she was pregnant. Surely they couldn't all have been bribed?
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