Chapter 4 - Why can't I get pregnant?

"Your highness's pulse is weak and choppy. Your body are still Yin imbalance, and you have stagnant blood and Qi, especially in your stomach. So your body would not be able to hold or even nourish a baby," Doctor Han explained after checking Noble Consort Jinghua's body.

"W-What?!! You… You… re… realise how grave your words are, Doctor Han?!! If you are lying…" Noble Consort Jinghua stuttered with an aghast look.

"Your highness, I have been working with your family for years so I can never betray you or your family," Doctor Han curtly pleaded, not even letting her finish with her words.

"But I've been taking fertility medicine for a long time, so why is it still so bad? Shouldn't it have improved by now? Doctor Han, you are the one who prescribed the medicine for me, do you have anything to say?" Noble Consort Jinghua fumed.

"T-To… answer to your majesty, there is nothing wrong with the prescription. It's… it's either something else was mixed with herbal medicine or your body reacted to the herbal medicine to create a toxin in your body," Doctor Han managed to quake out.

"Are you still guessing?!!" she snapped at him.

"No! No, your highness. It is obvious something was mixed in with the herbal medicine you drank, and it has caused damage to your body. Just I-I fear…" Doctor Han reported, a bit hesitant as he felt uneasy about continuing.

"Fear?" Noble Consort Jinghua thundered impatiently.

'I fear it has cause… permanent damage, your highness," Doctor Han continued while gulping intermittently.

"What?!" Noble Consort Jinghua screamed in anguish.

'Mixed in?! It couldn't have been the empress, who else then? Concubine Shu!!! Yes, she is the only one who is suspicious of me and would dare to still make a move even though I had the empress in my palm. After all, she is the Prime Minister's daughter. She fears nothing and no one other than his majesty,' Noble Consort Jinghua pondered for a while trying to think of the perpetrator behind the act.

Upon realising the possible perpetrator, her face held a bit of shocked and dark look before she covered it up in pretence as she waved her hand in dismissal towards Doctor Han after warning him, "No one is to know about this! You're dismissed."

"Tha… Thank you, your majesty," Doctor Han quickly left after saying his thanks.

'I'll have to find a way to deal with her now?' she thought.

Noble Consort Jinghua paced around in her garden while biting her lower lip for some time. She couldn't rest easy because of her anxiety. She kept thinking of how to deal with her present predicament.

She was also waiting for some information from her maidservant, Hongguo, who had gone to find out what was wrong with the empress.

A palace maid had come to serve her some dishes, and she dismissed the maid without even as much as a glance at her or the food.

Hearing hurried footsteps, she turned towards the sound and saw her head maid, Hongguo approaching her in haste.

She quickly asked Hongguo when she was close enough to hear her, "W-What… What is wrong with that b***h?!"

Hongguo, her maidservant, had a troubled look on her face as she told her master what she had found out. "The Empress is pregnant, my lady," she said, almost breathless.

"What?!! That b***h!" Noble Consort Jinghua hissed as she clenched her fists. She was trying as much as possible to calm down, but when she remembered her recent conversation with her family doctor, she got much more furious.

'How can that bitch be pregnant? Why? Why am I the only one who has to suffer? First Jiaying and now her?' she thought as she burst out in a fury, gnashing her teeth.

She swept away the dishes that had been served previously on the table in anger.

'Why can't I get pregnant? Why has this stupid stomach refuse to bear any child?' she pondered as she raised her hand to touch her stomach before clenching it.

She had a sour look on her face, but after thinking for a while, she gathered herself before saying, "I guess there's one more thing to get rid of. Now I can completely get rid of her for good this time. She definitely won't escape a second time. I'll make sure the Emperor executes her."

She thought about the perpetrator of her illness and thought to herself while having a slight smirk on her face, 'I could also use this means to get rid of Concubine Shu.'

"My lady, what do you want me to do," Hongguo asked Noble Consort Jinghua when she saw the look on her face, thereby disturbing the Consorts train of thoughts.

"For now, nothing. Let her enjoy a few days. After all, we can't let anyone be suspicious of us. After that, no one can stop me from getting the position of the empress," Noble Consort Jinghua said with a sneer as she clenched her fist when she said the last line.

She whispered her next set of plans to Hongguo in her ears furtively, and they both chortled.

She decided to leave the empress alone for a few days while they set up the next phase of their plan so that they would let them let their guards down.

It would only be a matter of time now!

Empress Yunqing had tried to find out the truth behind her framing but didn't get anywhere. What was Noble Consort Jinghua playing at? She had to admit Noble Consort Jinghua was exceptionally thorough and crude with her schemes.

Consort Jiaying had been a good friend of hers, although she had died all of a sudden bȧrėly a year after she had given birth to Prince Jun, the second prince of BeiMing State.

As her thoughts drifted to the past, she recalled that coincidentally, Jiaying had died a month after she had brought her younger sister, Jinghua, into the Imperial Palace.

She had helped Jiaying in bringing Jinghua into the Imperial Palace due to her being ill, but instead, she got worse during that period until she gave up the ghost.

'But was the heart of Jinghua so black that she could harm her own sister? Why would she even want to harm me? To become the Empress?' her mind was in disarray as she was lost in thoughts.