The husband I snatched halfway through his life is strange.

Chapter 331 Labor-Inducing Drugs

The Eastern Palace was heavily guarded, and the Empress controlled the entire palace, not allowing the slightest mistake to occur.

No one thought there was anything wrong with it. After all, the crown prince had died, and this was the only legitimate heir. It was fine if it was a girl, but it would be a big deal if it was a boy!
It's understandable that the Empress is a little nervous and takes it seriously.

The Eastern Palace was filled with the Empress's people, three layers deep.

The Crown Princess, who was about to give birth, sat on the edge of the bed, vigorously stirring the handkerchief as if she wanted to tear it to shreds.

"Your Majesty, the labor-inducing medicine has arrived."

The maidservant entered and greeted the Empress.

The Empress's face was grim: "Hurry up and send it to the Crown Princess."

The Crown Princess disregarded everything else, tears welling in her eyes. Despite being heavily pregnant, she evaded the nanny who was bringing her medicine and knelt before the Empress.

"Mother."

"I'm due to give birth within ten days."

"This labor-inducing drug is too strong. I'll accept that it's harmful to her body, but what if it's bad for the fetus..."

"Even if it is a baby girl, she is still His Highness's offspring. Please, for the sake of the child calling you Imperial Grandmother, delay for a few more days."

The empress remained unmoved.

She wore a phoenix robe, her brows furrowed with coldness and calculation.

In the palace, the last thing you can talk about is love.

She had a mother-son relationship with the late Crown Prince Yingyi, but she always had to think about her own future.

My brother is right. What good is a little girl?

If the Fifth Prince Ying Yin were to become the Crown Prince, what good would she gain?

Only if the Zhou family's children, her grand-nephews, become Ying Yi's offspring, can they avenge Ying Yi, and at the same time, the Zhou family will prosper, and she will prosper as well.

So what if the royal bloodline is disrupted?

Has Emperor Yingqian treated her well all these years?

"I am willing to wait."

"Speaking of which, this medicine was originally prepared for that Zhou family woman."

"You got pregnant earlier than her, so logically your belly should have started moving earlier,"

"But she went into premature labor. What could I do? Could I put the baby back in her belly?"

She's about to give birth, and she can't wait any longer. She should decisively bring the baby over to avoid any future complications.

"Speaking of which, it's your own fault for being so useless! If you were carrying a boy, why would I have risked being beheaded and gone to such lengths to plan this!"

She didn't want to waste words.

"Someone, hold her down and force the medicine down her throat."

As soon as the words fell, the palace servants serving inside rushed over and restrained the Crown Princess.

The old nanny advised, "This old servant is a rough man and doesn't know how to be gentle. Your Highness, please be more cooperative. If I hurt you, this old servant will be guilty of a terrible crime."

"Your Highness is doing this for your own good. She's been planning this day and night, risking her life and the entire Zhou State Duke's Mansion. Standing on the edge of a cliff, one wrong step and you'll be gone without a trace. You can't be so foolish."

"This child is ultimately not destined for the Crown Prince's palace. From now on, she will be a daughter of the Zhou family. Will the Zhou family still mistreat her?"

"Inside the Duke's mansion, apart from the Duke himself, no one else knew that the children had been switched."

After saying that, the old woman smiled.

"When the two young masters grow up, Your Majesty and the Zhou family will arrange their marriage. When the child marries into the palace, she will call you Mother. It's not too late for you to love her then."

The Crown Princess took a deep breath.

She's not stupid!
Not to mention the potential side effects of this medicine.

Who would willingly leave their nine-month-old fetus to be raised by someone else?
The Zhou family wouldn't mistreat us; we'd never run out of food and drink. But...

The Crown Princess looks down on that Zhou family daughter-in-law. Not only is she always inferior in her dealings with others, but she's also a foolish and snobbish woman. They say actions speak louder than words, so how well can the Zhou family's young mistress, Chu Ning, raise her daughter?
The Empress only cares about power. How much could such a cold-blooded person owe to her own granddaughter?
Even if His Majesty were to die, what chance would the Empress and the Fifth Prince have of seizing power?
The new heir apparent has not yet been decided.

Can the Duke of Zhou's mansion, with its former subordinates of the Crown Prince's faction, truly support a newborn infant to secure a stable position in the Eastern Palace?
Too many changes have occurred.

What if it fails?

Does she still have a chance to reunite with her daughter in this lifetime?

Even if it succeeds, the Empress may promise a marriage today, but who knows if she might change her mind tomorrow?
After all, once the Zhou family son became the heir to the Crown Prince, he was completely bound to the Duke of Zhou's mansion, and their relationship was strong and unbreakable.

As for her biological daughter, whether she marries into the family or not, it won't change that fact, will it?
Why didn't the Empress and the Duke of Zhou arrange a better marriage for the Zhou family's son?

For example... the daughter born to General Wei Zhao and Yu Tingwan, the daughter of the Grand Tutor.
This brought them the support of the Grand Tutor's Mansion and the Duke of Shun's Mansion.

For example, the daughter born to Xiao Huaiyan, the heir of the Marquis of Zhongyong, after he married.
Xiao Huaiyan is a spoiled brat with little ability, but his father, the Marquis of Zhongyong, holds real power.

For example, He Xuran...

Any one of them, when compared, has more to rely on than this poor child.

The Crown Princess was heartbroken.

But what can she do?
Her maternal family had fallen into decline over the years, and they relied on the Crown Prince and the Empress for survival. If they knew this, they would definitely stop at nothing and make her agree quickly.

and also……

The Crown Princess was terrified as she met the Empress's emotionless eyes.

She was already like a fish on a chopping board; if she didn't cooperate, it was hard to say whether she would survive the day.

It is not uncommon for women to die in childbirth, is it?

The Crown Princess thought about many things in a short time.

If something happens to her, who will protect her daughter?
Before the old woman could forcefully pry her mouth open, she trembled as she took the pill, hesitated for a moment, and swallowed it.

"The daughter-in-law would never dare to disrupt the Empress Dowager's grand plan."

"Now that the Crown Prince has just passed away, it would be a great joy if he could give birth to a son. But if his daughter-in-law also has an accident, I'm afraid it will bring bad luck."

"From now on, whatever Mother asks me to do, I will do. I beg Mother to have mercy on me this once."

The Empress was indeed considering killing the Crown Princess as well if she disobeyed.

But the Crown Princess was a clever woman who could judge the situation carefully.

The Queen smiled and said, "Of course."

Soon, the Crown Princess experienced severe pain in her lower abdomen. The pain was so intense she couldn't stand up, and her skirt quickly became soaked—her water had broken.

Her life was filled with hardship and suffering.

But after taking the medicine, this pregnancy ended very quickly.

Then, a weak cry from a baby was heard.

"gave birth!"

The Crown Princess wanted to see the child, but she was too exhausted. She tried to speak with difficulty, but could only watch with blurred vision as the nanny carried the child to the Empress, who was waiting in a small room, before she completely fainted.

The nanny, holding the child, couldn't bear it any longer and respectfully said, "Your Highness, would you like to see this? This child looks remarkably like our Crown Prince when he was just born."

The empress, however, was ruthless.

"What did you say?"

The old woman suddenly realized she had said the wrong thing and knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"It was an old servant's slip of the tongue. This child is a descendant of the Zhou family. How could he resemble the Crown Prince?"

Just then, the Empress's most trusted maidservant entered from outside, carrying a food box.

She stepped forward, bowed, placed the food box on the table, and gently opened the lid.

"This old servant is on Her Majesty's orders to go to the Duke's mansion to await news. The entire Zhou family says that Her Majesty is virtuous and takes good care of the younger generation."

"Perhaps it is your great fortune, for the young mistress of the Zhou family has given birth to a daughter."