Chapter 418: Protecting the elder and the younger
The noise inside the room rose again, and the piece of meat that the prince had just picked up fell to the ground.
"What's wrong?"
The crown prince looked into the room and asked the maid standing beside him.
"Lady Xue has already started giving birth, and the little prince will be born soon."
That maid was perceptive; she knew what the Crown Prince liked to hear, and she said these words in a way that pleased him.
"Has it started? Great!" The prince's face lit up with joy. A moment later, he once again picked up his chopsticks and began to eat heartily.
Little did the Crown Prince know that soon after, his action would be turned into a nursery rhyme and spread throughout the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.
Li Yingxue's delivery was destined to be anything but smooth. She endured the ordeal for almost half an hour until she was nearly fainting, but the baby still wouldn't be born.
Looking at the dying Li Yingxue, the midwife finally gritted her teeth and left.
"Your Highness, the lady's condition is very bad. Please decide as soon as possible whether to save the mother or the child. If we delay, I'm afraid we may lose both."
The midwife bowed slightly to the prince, then turned and went back into the house.
"Quickly, tell the midwife to protect the baby and make sure the little prince is safe and sound." The crown prince made the decision almost instantly.
Although he liked Li Yingxue very much, liking her was still just liking one woman. He had so many women, but only one eldest grandson of the emperor, so the question of whether to protect the mother or the child was not a problem for him at all.
The maid's words quickly reached Li Yingxue, who was too weak to hear the maid's whispers, but Fei'er heard them clearly.
His gaze swept over the midwife who had already made her decision, and then looked at Li Yingxue, who could no longer hold on. He immediately ran out without thinking.
"Your Highness, please save Madam! She is carrying your child, how can you just abandon her like this?"
Fei'er's eyes were red, clearly she had just been crying. Seeing her kneeling in front of me, looking so pitiful and wronged, it was hard not to feel sorry for her.
"Fei'er, how dare you act so recklessly in front of His Highness?"
Seeing the pity in the Crown Prince's eyes, Chunxiang immediately interrupted her. Who knows how happy she was when she heard Li Yingxue was dying? If Li Yingxue was gone, her child would naturally be raised by her side. Then, having personally raised the eldest grandson of the Emperor, why would she fear the Crown Prince not giving her the position of a concubine?
With such a great opportunity before her, Chunxiang naturally wouldn't let Fei'er sway the Crown Prince's decision.
"Madam Yan, how could I be acting recklessly in a matter of life and death? My mistress is already in such a state; if we forcibly save the child, what will become of my mistress?"
Fei'er's words seemed to express her indignation on behalf of Li Yingxue, but in reality, she was emphasizing the issue of the Crown Prince protecting the younger child.
From royalty to powerful clans, everyone prioritizes the child's safety in such matters. Many do this, but no one dares to speak out. After all, it's despicable for a woman to endure the hardship of childbirth only to receive such a decision.
"What do you mean by forcibly protecting the child? His Highness was doing it for your wife's own good."
Chunxiang immediately scolded Fei'er, and the Crown Prince finally reacted, saying coldly, "Madam Yan is right, your wife is giving birth inside, what nonsense are you spouting?"
No sooner had the words been spoken than the men sent out to investigate Li Yingxue's diet returned. After going through a series of procedures, it was ultimately determined that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Li Yingxue's food.
“Your Highness, you see, Madam Xue’s sudden premature birth is indeed not related to me. Otherwise, with so many people and doctors present, how come they couldn’t find anything wrong? Perhaps Madam Xue ate something that caused the premature birth.”
As Chunxiang spoke, she leaned against the Crown Prince. Her frail appearance made the Crown Prince pat her back and whisper words of comfort.
When Fei'er heard that there was something wrong with the food, she pondered for a moment before exclaiming, "Could it be that our lady's premature birth was caused by what she ate?"
Fei'er's words carried a hint of surprise, which was impossible for the others to ignore.
"Do you know anything?" Chunxiang leaned against the prince, coldly sweeping her gaze across Fei'er's face.
"Yes, today Madam not only ate the food sent from the kitchen, but also ate something else."
Fei'er spoke without any pretense, and Chunxiang was the first to react. She had initially thought someone was deliberately trying to harm her, but it turned out that Li Yingxue, that gluttonous woman, had made herself sick by eating too much.
"What did your wife eat?"
Now that everything was clear, Chunxiang was completely free of suspicion. The Crown Prince hadn't expected that it was she herself who had caused Li Yingxue's premature birth, and the slight guilt he felt for trying to save the baby vanished without a trace at that moment.
"We ate it, we ate fox meat."
Fei'er spoke without a trace of evasion in her eyes.
But upon hearing her words, everyone present was taken aback. Could this fox meat be what they were thinking? No way!
While everyone was speculating, Fei'er had already confessed everything, even bringing out the stove that had clearly been discarded.
In Li Yingxue's side room, the Crown Prince sat at the head of the table, with his concubine and her maid kneeling below him, and a stove placed in front of them.
"Tell me, is this yours or not?"
If the Crown Prince doted on his concubine, then upon learning that she intended to harm his son, he was filled with rage.
He had been so good to her, so why did she do this? Didn't she know what the eldest grandson of the emperor meant to her?
"Your Highness, I am innocent! I have never seen this before." Naturally, the concubine could not admit that the stove was in her own courtyard.
"And what about you?"
The prince shifted his gaze to the little maid, who trembled and immediately lowered her head, shaking it frantically.
"Don't know? It seems you really think I'm so easy to fool if I don't get serious."
The Crown Prince waved his hand, and the imperial physician stepped forward, saying, "Although there are traces of roasted meat on the stove, judging from the smell, it wasn't fox meat but mutton. Not only that, but there was also a large amount of purslane mixed in with the mutton. As for purslane, it wouldn't have such a good effect if eaten alone, but the person in question is very knowledgeable about pharmacology and added something to induce labor, which caused Lady Xue to suddenly give birth prematurely."
After the imperial physician finished speaking, he stepped back, and then another maid stepped forward.
"This is a jade pendant found on Madam Xue. The pendant was soaked in a large amount of musk. What else do you have to say for yourself?"
The Crown Prince's tone was already hostile, and he looked at the concubine with such hatred that he wished he could devour her alive.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com