Chapter 413: The Child Is Not Pure 01

Chapter 413

Whether Zhao Hua's offspring could prosper, Zhao Hua did not dare to assert,

She only knew that for this man, she would not bear another son or daughter in this lifetime.

Ever since giving birth to Cheng Ye, after every intimate night with the emperor, Zhao Hua would secretly take the "medicine" given by the imperial doctor Zhang.

With that medicine, it was impossible for Zhao Hua to get pregnant.

Just as Rongyue said,

Children should be had with the man you love, not used as a chip to gain power.

And Xiao Jingheng was completely kept in the dark about Zhao Hua's actions,

So much so that right now he was still dreaming,

"After Zhao'er has recuperated, we shall have a few more children to liven up this household, shall we?"

Zhao Hua did not respond, only smiled shyly with downcast eyes, too lazy to even humor him with lies.

That day, when Jinghe drowned, Xiao Jingheng was so furious he wanted to execute all the wet nurses who cared for the prince,

According to palace rules, they should have died to accompany the prince for failing in their duties and allowing harm to befall their master,

But Zhao Hua was "compassionate", saying that these wet nurses had cared for the royal children since they were young, and the children were attached to them, suddenly executing them would only hurt the children, which persuaded Xiao Jingheng to spare their lives. Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Later Xiao Jingheng closed the matter by punishing the wet nurses with half a year's salary deduction.

But he heard that afterwards, Zhao Hua had privately paid the wet nurses their full salary.

Remembering this now, he remarked:

"What my wife did for the silkworm farming households was very well handled. Using 10 years of the empress' salary to subsidize the mulberry growers, and having them farm their own land and plant their own mulberries, increasing their future income.

Overwhelmed by the empress' care, Jiang Deshun said deferentially, "This slave thanks Empress for her concern!"

Xiao Jingheng guffawed, "As expected of my observant empress, I didn't even notice you've been walking with more and more difficulty recently. Have the imperial physician take a look later to see if there's any way to alleviate it."

Jiang Deshun bowed in thanks. But in his heart, he felt somewhat dejected.

That afternoon, Xiao Jingheng stayed in Feng Luan Palace and dined with Zhao Hua and the children,

After the meal Cheng Yu and Ruo Xin were taken by their wet nurses to play in the gardens,

Watching the harmonious brother and sister through the window, Xiao Jingheng suddenly said to Zhao Hua:

"I originally planned to restore Cheng Yu's status as Crown Prince, but unexpectedly Jinghe...Jinghe was my eldest princess daughter, now that she has met this untimely end, I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to propose this so soon, I can only put it off for now."

Zhao Hua said: "His Majesty is in his prime, what's the hurry to establish an heir?"

Xiao Jingheng said: "When Cheng Yu turned one year old, I announced to the court that he would be named Crown Prince. If I don't bring this up now, in the future there will surely be speculation. I have also discussed this with Cheng Yu before, but like his mother, his thoughts are the same as well, he does not actually hope for such grand status."

"You discussed this with Cheng Yu before?" Zhao Hua asked in surprise, "When did Your Majesty talk to Cheng Yu about this?"

Xiao Jingheng casually replied as he ate some tree fungus:

"On the day you went out of the palace for the silkworm farming ceremony, I tested Cheng Yu and Chenghuan's schoolwork and brought up the matter in passing. Chenghuan was there at the time as well. Hearing I wanted to make Cheng Yu Crown Prince, he was very supportive and genuinely happy for Cheng Yu."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hua felt as if someone had dumped a handful of ice slush over her, frozen stiff in bitter frost, shocked into speechlessness...

The day of the silkworm farming ceremony...was the day Jinghe drowned.

Which means...

Right after Chenghuan found out Cheng Yu was going to be named Crown Prince,

in a twist of fate the Jinghe wearing Cheng Yu's clothes fell into the water and died...