When Chen Zhen walked into Yuanxin Pavilion with his loose robe and only a long gauzy skirt, everyone stared at her belly with their mouths agape. Then they turned to look at me. Only Worry Grass tilted his head and looked at Chen Zhen. He ran over while laughing and said:
"I haven't seen elder sister Chen in half a day, but did she run off to steal food? "He's actually so full, just like Prince Zhao was in the Empress's stomach."
Chen Zhen let out a hollow laugh. I saw that the fretful grass did not know the meaning of the word, but actually went over to hold Chen Wu's hand, and shouted with a sullen face:
"Don't be rude! Was elder sister Chen also called by you? From now on, you have to call me the Empress! "
When Worry saw me angry, he blinked his eyes a few times and wailed in grievance. Chen Wu quickly said:
"Worry is just a child. Elder sister, why do you need to care about her? "My sister doesn't care about those false reputations."
I scanned the faces one by one, and was pleased, with a hint of contempt at the corners of my mouth; the dog glared at Chen, but said nothing; and my mother-in-law remained impassive, as if nothing had happened.
I ordered a side hall to be set aside for Chen. After everything had been arranged, Fang returned to his own bedroom and stood at the window, lost in his own thoughts. When I first married Yang Guang, I stood at the top of happiness, thinking that I had no regrets in this life, but instead, happiness came and went quickly, like a fleeting moment, and then it was broken into pieces, and now, I almost couldn't find any fragments.
Grandma stood behind me and slowly said:
"This old servant is very pleased that the princess was able to bear it for so long. The Chen family is definitely not kind, and the princess has to be careful at all times."
"Grandma — —" I turned my head and leaned on Grandma's shoulder. Tears of grievance welled up in my eyes. Only then could I release my vulnerability to the fullest.
Grandma didn't try to dissuade me. She only lightly patted my back, as if mother had coaxed me like this when I was young.
When my tears ran out, Fang told Yue Xin to send me a basin of water, and I listened to Yue Xin's discontented chatter by my side. All I could do was smile and say:
"Go and stew a black chicken and mountain ginseng soup to nourish Honorable Chen. Don't teach others that we have treated her harshly. After all, she has an imperial heir in her womb."
"Empress —" Yue Xin was displeased, but seeing me like this, she understood my helplessness and could only bitterly go down to prepare dinner.
That night, Yang Guanguan stayed at the Yuanxin Pavilion. It was unknown if it was out of apology or if he had really fallen in love with me. The night was charming and extremely warm, but my heart was no longer warm like before.
In the middle of his dream, he suddenly heard the clamor of people outside and the shrill cries of female servants from time to time.
"Bad news, bad news, the noble queen is in trouble!"
Yang Guang and I were surprised, looked at each other, got up in a hurry, put on some clothes, kicked off our shoes and ran to the side hall where Chen lived.
When I had just arrived at the entrance of the side hall, I heard Chen Zhong's pained cries. The few girls were so scared that they didn't even dare to breathe loudly. When they saw me and Yang Guang had arrived, they hurriedly greeted them in panic and knelt on the ground.
"What's going on?!"
"Hall..." Your majesty, your servant's stomach hurts. " Chen Xie's face was pale and fine sweat covered his forehead.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry and go to Doctor Xuan! " Yang Guang held Chen Zhen in his arms and shouted at the servants.
The imperial physician quickly rushed over. After checking his pulse, he hesitated for a moment, as if he was trying to guess the identity of Chen Zhen. Seeing Yang Guang's anxious face staring at him, he quickly and respectfully said:
"This noble did not eat properly, and showed signs of being poisoned. He used fetal Qi, causing abdominal pain."
"What?" Poisoned?! "What's going on?" Yang Guang looked around and asked.
Everyone looked at each other, confused. I saw that Chen was still in pain, so I asked the doctor:
"What about the fetus in the womb?"
The imperial physician looked at me, then looked at Yang Guang who was asking, and replied,
"Your highness. Fortunately, there are very few medicines. The fetus is fine, so I will prescribe some baby protection pills right now." After he finished speaking, he followed the servant girl to the outer room to prescribe medicine.
When Yang Guang heard from royal doctors that the fetus was fine, Fang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and said in a gentle voice,
"It's good that you and your son are safe. However, you'll need to be careful with your diet in the future. Anyone with a body is not allowed to eat random things."
Chen Zhen glanced at me, then raised his eyes to look at Yang Guang and sobbed:
"Your servant is a bit tired today. I only used some pastries and the black chicken soup sent by elder sister. I didn't eat anything, so how could I have been poisoned?"
Hearing her talk about the ginseng soup that I happily gave her caused her heart to suddenly tremble. Her complexion slightly changed as she inwardly cursed in her heart. She quickly looked at Yue Ying, her face filled with shock.
Yang Guang frowned and said:
"But is there anything unclean in the food?"
As before, Chen Zhen sobbed a few times and said:
"It's all my fault, luckily I'm unharmed, otherwise I wouldn't be able to rest at ease even if I were to die. Well, that's what I ate, because it was a bit late, so I didn't call anyone to clean it up." Chen pointed to a table not far away. There were indeed several pastries and half a cup of ginseng soup on the table.
Yang Guang went over to take a look, and instructed:
"Call the royal physician to investigate!"
Chen Zhen struggled to sit up and glanced at me with an unfathomable expression. He covered his lower abdomen with his hands and panted as he said:
"Your Highness, just ask the imperial physician to examine those pastries. The soup was given to me by my elder sister. I have always been meticulous and kind to my servant, so there shouldn't be any problems."
I slightly frowned. Her words seemed to be on the surface, as if she was defending the 'friendship' between me and her, but it made me feel even more uneasy. Yang Guang looked at me with suspicion and said:
"If you want to check, then do it together. How can there not be a single mistake?"
From her surprised expression, I could tell that she didn't know anything about it. The soup had been personally made by her, so there shouldn't be any problems, and Chen was pregnant. Even if he wanted to frame me, he wouldn't use his own body to do so.
No matter what the truth of the matter was, I could only gamble on it in this situation. I took a deep breath, and amidst the flickering candlelight and the noise of human voices, I slowly closed my eyes.
The imperial physician checked all the food on the table one by one. Finally, after a week, he said with some fear:
"In reply to Your Highness, there is a small amount of red flowers in the soup. Because your esteemed self ate less, you can still keep your baby. If you eat the entire soup, I'm afraid that it will have already been produced."
Yang Guang's eyes were like lightning as he stared at me in amazement. Chen Wu was also looking at me in surprise, and everyone in the hall was stunned, while I, when the 'truth' was placed in front of me, had actually calmed down. I had always thought that I would not be able to afford to lose, and that if I lost, my Zhao Er and all the people in the Yuanxin Pavilion that I had to protect would all be punished.
However, I really lost.
With a weak smile on my face, I calculated what to do next. Even if I am unable to reverse the situation that I had to lose, I had to do my best to minimize my losses.
I looked at Chen, her face dry, still lovely tears, but she looked at me in the eyes, a few others do not notice the light smile. Although my heart was filled with doubts, it was a complete mess. I really couldn't think of who was framing me. Aside from Chen Hei, could it be that there was someone else in the mansion who was eyeing my position, causing this' one stone, two birds' tactic?
I glanced at Pleasing. Her mouth was wide open in shock and she still hadn't recovered from her shock. She sighed softly in her heart and the doubt in her eyes completely disappeared. How could it be Pleasant? Although she has the most chance of being drugged, how can she survive if I have the evidence to back her up?
Furthermore, she has lived in the palace for so many years. How could she not understand that if something happens to Chen Wu, I will be held responsible. Even if I hate him, I will not place the safety of the Yuanxin Pavilion at stake.
He then slowly knelt down. Now, only when I admit guilt and bear all the consequences on my own will I be able to protect the peace of the Yuanxin Pavilion, not to mention that with my identity, I will at most be crippled. It's not like I have no chance of survival.
However, before I could open my mouth to speak, Gladys took a few steps forward and knelt on the ground. With a resolute expression on her face, she said:
"Doctor, you're right. There's red flowers in the soup, and I personally placed them in there. No one else knows." "This servant hates myself for not letting him off more, for letting this slut off so easily!" When he finished, he looked up angrily, staring at Chen, blood almost spurting out of his eyes.
Everyone present was stunned, Yang Guang slammed the table and shouted:
"How dare you!" Why did you poison the Emperor?! "
Pleasing the heart looked up, facing Yang Guang, without any feeling of fear, suddenly let out a long laugh, and shouted to the sky:
"Esteemed Empress, you said before that there shouldn't be a son of Shu amongst the heirs! This servant is useless, I can't even fulfill your wish, I can only serve the Empress in my next life! "
After saying that, I suddenly stood up and dashed towards the pillar. My expression changed drastically as I shouted, "You can't!"
The dog was close to the pillar. He rushed to stand in front of it, and Gladys bumped into it. She whimpered, and covered her chest with one hand, while the other held Gladys's hand. Only then did everyone wake up from their stupor, and they all went over to tie her up.
Yue Xin kneeled on the ground, her hair was in disarray, and the corner of her mouth was bleeding from Yang Guang's slap.
"Speak!" Why did he do this? "Who ordered you?" Yang Guang's eyes were bloodshot, he stared at Yue Xin and asked.
"No one is ordering me. If someone is instructing me, then it is the previous Empress' spirit that instructs me!" But I know that these are her temporary excuses, that she never gave the medicine to me, that she is not stupid enough to do this, that she is trying to protect me.
"Do you think that I will let you off after I move out of my mother's house?" Although Yang Guang was still angry, but his words were somewhat softer.
Unbeknownst to the sincerity of my heart, I clenched my teeth. Even though I knew that it wasn't my heart's doing, I could only hold back my tears and say,
"I had originally planned to serve my concubine, but this concubine did not know that she was loyal to my mother, and so she did not hesitate to use her life to protect her with just a few casual words. Although her mind is a little muddled, in the end, she did not make a huge mistake, and this matter is completely out of my control. I hope that the crown prince does not get angry, and for my mother's sake, please spare her life!"
Chen Ying glowered at Yue Xin. With a tinge of blood in his eyes, he said:
"How can you be so vicious?" Even if he did not care about our friendship, he should not have poisoned the son of the Emperor! So what if the concubine was born? No matter if it is the direct descendant or the concubine, they are both of royal lineage! " After he finished speaking, he started to cry with great sorrow.
"Don't be too sad," he said. "Don't hurt your child. I'll make the decision on my own." Yang Guang saw that Chen was crying so hard that he gasped for breath.
"Your humble servant's status is low, how can I have the face to give birth to an heir? Your Highness, please grant me death!" The more he cried, the fiercer he became.
In any case, I should have gone up to comfort her at this time, even though I was well aware of her acting, so I said:
"How could he have such thoughts? The Crown Prince has promised that once he ascends the throne, he will bestow upon you the title of an imperial concubine.
"That's right, don't worry about me. I will definitely give you a higher position so that you won't be looked down upon by others." Yang Guang also comforted.
Thus, Chen Zhen's crying volume gradually decreased. Only then did Yang Guang stare straight at Yue Xinyi who was kneeling on the ground. With a face filled with killing intent, he said in a stern voice:
"Poisonous the son of the emperor, according to the law, nine generations shall be exterminated!"
"This servant was originally an orphan without any relatives, and amongst the nine clans, this servant is the only one." Yue Ying replied fearlessly as she stared at Yang Guang.
I knew there was no good for her, but I could not bear her to die for me, so I fell to my knees in a hurry and wept.
"Chenqie has no morals, and there is no justice for her. I plead for the crown prince to punish her!" Although I am happy for the moment, I hope that on account of my mother's sake, the Crown Prince will forgive her death sentence! "
Yang Guang's expression changed, but Chen Chong's anger was unquenchable, and he was filled with hatred for Yang Guang. I knew that Chen Chong's position in Yang Guang's heart was at this moment, so I bowed down once again and said loudly,"
"Chenqie has no virtues, she is not worthy to be the mother of the world. I beg the crown prince to take back my orders, chenqie is willing to follow Chen Ying as the queen, I beg the crown prince to spare my life!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole hall was shocked. I caught a glimpse of joy in Chen's eyes.
"Empress, you can't!" Pleasant Heart anxiously looked at me with gratitude on his face as he said, "How can this servant's lowly body trouble Empress to plead for mercy? Furthermore, the successor was chosen by the late emperor and empress. How could he change ownership? This servant only wants to die quickly in order to redeem her sins! " When he finished, he bent down and kowtowed.
Yang Guang was slightly moved. After a moment of hesitation, he said:
"Don't blame yourself too much, dear concubine. The one being trained by mother is always tough and has nothing to do with love. The position of empress is related to the nature of the world. How can it be shaken? Since his beloved concubine was willing to plead for mercy, Zhuo'er was fine as well. Thus, on account of his mother's sake, he decided to spare her life. It's just that we can avoid death and can't escape from death. It's a heavy punishment of thirty years.
Chen Zhaozhong's face changed in surprise. He tried to put on an act again, but Yang Guang had an angry look on his face as he left with a flick of his sleeve.
I was secretly pleasantly surprised and heaved a sigh of relief. Being able to save the matter to this extent was also a great fortune within misfortune.
When I got up to leave, I saw that Chen's face was extremely ugly, and he was glaring at me with hatred in his eyes. His lips had been bitten so hard that they were purple, and he seemed about to bleed.
"Indeed, the Crown Prince has a deep affection for the princess!"
My heart was slightly comforted as I said gently,
"The Crown Prince has a deep affection for his sister."
"How can a servant compare to a big sister? Even a lowly servant girl has been taught to be loyal to this point." Chen Fu spat on his heart, unable to quell the hatred in his heart.
"Sister, you're wrong. The people I train are not all loyal like you. There are also some who have ulterior motives and those who are unscrupulous to their masters." I am still calmly looking at Chen Ying, the intention of ridicule is clear in my words.