Proud Feather

Chapter 150 Search
How did it happen to me?
Consort Xian was taken aback and quickly said, "I told you not to disturb Consort Shu. Yongchun Palace has its own servants, but I didn't say that people are not allowed to stay by her side to serve her!"

The palace maid hesitated and dared not answer.

Consort Xian took a deep breath and said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, I was indeed careless. I thought it would be easier for Consort Shu to use her own people, so I didn't arrange for anyone else. But I can swear to you that I absolutely did not intentionally send anyone away. Even if I could move other palace servants, I couldn't move the people from Yongchun Palace!"

The emperor stared at her for a while, then slowly nodded: "Of course I believe you. What about the people from Yongchun Palace? Caizhi?"

Seeing that the Emperor did not pursue the matter, Consort Xian breathed a sigh of relief. She had avoided getting involved in Consort Shu's affairs precisely because she was afraid of making things unclear, and it turned out to be the right decision.

Caizhi was at the entrance of the side hall when the emperor summoned her, and someone went to bring her over.

With tears streaming down her face, she came forward and kowtowed to the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, this servant greets you! Your Majesty must do justice for the Empress!"

Seeing her like this, the emperor's expression softened slightly, and he said, "I will naturally stand up for Consort Shu. But you, why weren't you by Consort Shu's side, giving others an opportunity to take advantage?"

Caizhi stopped crying and replied, "Your Majesty, the Empress just fell asleep. I was worried because she still had a dose of medicine to take today, so I went to check on her myself. I never expected this to happen..."

The emperor frowned: "You left on your own, there's no other reason?"

Caizhi nodded: "But I instructed them to keep an eye on things before I left."

"Where is that person? Who's watching over them?"

Caizhi thought for a moment and then selected two people to come out.

The two palace maids stepped forward, knelt beside her, and trembled.

The emperor demanded, "And why did you leave Consort Shu's side?"

The two palace maids exchanged glances, and one of them said timidly, "Your Majesty, we were just watching outside when we suddenly heard a commotion. We went to check and found they were distributing blessed fruit. We weren't planning on going, but one of the maids said she would watch for us, and that we'd be right back, so we..."

The two kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "We have failed in our duty. We beg Your Majesty for mercy! We beg Your Majesty for mercy!"

The emperor's face darkened, and Caizhi was the first to erupt in anger: "I told you to watch, and this is how you watch? What kind of blessed fruit is it compared to the Empress? All my teachings have been for nothing!"

The two palace maids dared not utter a single word in their defense, and could only kowtow and admit their mistakes.

Consort Xian watched from the side and sighed softly. Palace servants work all year round and rarely have a moment of relaxation, and these two were still young, especially during the rare occasion of the New Year. It was understandable that they were momentarily attracted. However, she herself was in a precarious situation and dared not speak up for them.

After thinking for a moment, Consort Xian gently suggested, "Your Majesty, why don't we ask the imperial physician first? We still don't know how Consort Shu started bleeding!"

That makes a lot of sense. If there are no other factors behind Consort Shu's bleeding, there's no need to make a big fuss about it, lest it bring bad luck during the New Year.

The emperor did not want any trouble during the New Year, so he instructed the eunuch: "Go and see how Consort Shu is doing, and have the imperial physician come and report back."

The eunuch accepted the order and left, and soon the estate manager arrived.

"Your Majesty, after acupuncture treatment by the Imperial Hospital, Consort Shu's bleeding has stopped. Her pulse is gradually stabilizing, and if there are no unforeseen circumstances before dawn, her life will be saved."

The emperor let out a sigh of relief and asked, "What exactly happened? You've been trying to save the pregnancy for so long, and you said everything was fine, so why did Consort Shu suddenly start bleeding?"

"This... Her Majesty hasn't woken up yet, and we don't know what happened. I'm not sure either." The Imperial Physician looked troubled.

The emperor, growing impatient, cut to the chase: "Tell me, was it due to Consort Shu's own actions, or external factors?"

This was a crucial question, but the Imperial Physician dared not refuse to answer. After a moment's thought, he cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, Consort Shu has been trying to maintain her pregnancy for so long. Although she is still weak, her condition has stabilized considerably. We checked her pulse this morning, and it is relatively stable."

"So, you mean external factors caused the miscarriage?"

"Probably." "Then what could be the reason?"

"This..." the Imperial Physician Zhuang said vaguely, "Her Majesty is in poor health and may have been suddenly stimulated."

"What triggered her?" the emperor pressed. "What here could possibly trigger her?"

The Imperial Censor replied, "I am unaware of this. Many things can be the source of a trigger, such as what one sees or hears. Anything that causes a fright can trigger it. Of course, it could also be caused by contact with something one shouldn't have come into contact with."

Alright, now that the emperor has asked this question, the basic outline of the matter has emerged.

The fact that Consort Shu bled was not due to internal factors but rather external factors makes it necessary to investigate.

The emperor couldn't say he was particularly looking forward to this child, but he didn't have many heirs in the harem, and harming a royal heir was something he couldn't tolerate! Besides, Consort Shu had been with him for so many years, and he had feelings for her; he couldn't just turn a blind eye to her suffering.

At this moment, Caizhi called out, "Your Majesty! That aunt, the one who said she was looking after the Empress."

The emperor nodded: "Who is it? Find them!"

Just as Consort Xian was about to speak, he stopped her: "Sun Shouquan, go and find him! This man is suspected of harming Consort Shu; you must find him!"

"Yes." Sun Shouquan responded and left.

Consort Xian silently withdrew her hand, slightly embarrassed, but dared not utter a sound. She was responsible for preparing tonight's palace banquet; aside from the people from Yongchun Palace, everyone else was under her command. She would likely be held accountable for dereliction of duty. She could only hope that this was just an accident, and that she would at most receive a reprimand.

However, Consort Xian was not optimistic. She had heard from her elders about the events in the palaces of Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Xiaozong, and there were ominous signs. She hoped she would not be implicated...

This time, after waiting for a long time, Sun Shouquan finally returned to apologize: "This servant is incompetent and failed to find this palace maid."

The emperor didn't believe it: "How could we not find them? Wasn't there a register of those who came and went tonight? Weren't the palace gates sealed?"

“It’s been sealed off, but when I went through the list one by one, they all said it wasn’t them.”

"How could such a thing happen?" The emperor grew increasingly furious. "Could there just be one more person in the palace out of nowhere?"

Sun Shouquan thought for a moment and then asked, "Your Majesty, there are still some people who are not on the list."

"Who is it? Didn't I say to investigate them all?"

Sun Shouquan said softly, "They are... people from the Eastern Palace and the Prince Xin's Mansion."

The emperor said without hesitation, "I told you to investigate everything. Who knows, maybe this palace maid is mixed in with them? Go!"

"Yes."

For some reason, Consort Xian's heart pounded when she heard these words, and she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

Sure enough, a commotion soon broke out outside, and a eunuch dragged someone in. Sun Shouquan reported, "Your Majesty, we've found him!"

"who is it?"

He looked at the middle-aged woman being dragged away by the eunuch, his gaze sweeping over her coldly: "This is the woman, a servant of the Crown Prince's Palace!"

　The surgery date has been set for one week from now. Since the biopsy results came back, I've been a bit emotionally unstable. Even though my rational mind tells me it's not a serious illness, I still couldn't calm down. This caused my updates to be inconsistent during that period, and I couldn't settle down to write. Now that the surgery is confirmed, I feel much better. At my current writing speed, I'll probably have to stop updating altogether, but I'll get back to normal as soon as possible.

　　(End of this chapter)