A middle-aged emperor, childless, was blessed with a beautiful and pregnant concubine who entered th

Emperor Qianwu's eyes were deep and his brows were lowered. No one knew what this emperor, who usually kept his emotions hidden, was thinking at this moment.

Consort Chen was even more uncertain.

Sure enough, after a long while, he finally spoke, "Send the pearl beauty and calming pills sent by the princess's residence to the imperial physician for a thorough examination."

Consort Chen's face turned pale.

Everything cannot withstand close scrutiny. Those below the emperor know his attitude, and even if there is no problem, they can still find some issues.

But at this moment, His Majesty spoke up himself, and Consort Chen didn't even dare to plead for him.

Because if she pleads for leniency, it would mean she has something to hide.

Leaving aside the others, Consort Lan will definitely not let them, mother and daughter, off the hook.

Consort Chen bit her lip tightly, not daring to make a sound.

After a long while, she said, "I believe that Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager are wise and will surely clear my name and the princess's name."

"My life is lowly and I am not worth dying for, but the princess... the princess is His Majesty's only child!"

"If the princess knew that she was suspected by her beloved father and grandmother, she would surely be heartbroken!"

It must be said that Consort Chen's quick thinking in this situation was quite good.

Emperor Qianwu remained expressionless, but his brows visibly twitched slightly.

The Empress Dowager's gaze towards her was no longer sharp; instead, she avoided it somewhat.

It was obvious that they had considered that even if Consort Zhen's child was lost, Chaoyang would still be the emperor's only heir.

As a grandmother, how could she not love her only grandchild?

The emperor had difficulty conceiving, and Consort Zhen also had a hard time getting pregnant.

If this pregnancy doesn't work out, will there be a next time?

It seems unlikely...

Therefore, Emperor Qianwu and the Empress Dowager had to be cautious in dealing with Princess Chaoyang and Consort Chen.

After being interrupted by Consort Chen, Consort Liu's reaction went largely unnoticed.

The Empress Dowager looked at Consort Liu, "Liu, what do you have to say?"

Consort Liu stood proudly, her expression aloof. She gave a slight curtsy and said, "I have no way to defend myself for what I did not do. I beg the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

She hasn't done anything, so what is she afraid of?

Besides, the child in Consort Zhen's belly is not His Majesty's. If she dares to do such a thing, what is there to be afraid of if she has done nothing?

In Liu Zhaoyi's view, she had already reminded Consort Zhen in this way last time, and once the seed of doubt was planted, it would sprout little by little.

Although Emperor Qianwu was an emperor, handsome, and very strong in that area.

But if he can't be single-minded, isn't he just a rotten cucumber too?

How could any woman with self-respect and self-love tolerate a rotten cucumber?

Besides, Emperor Qianwu has been childless for so many years, so it must be a modern case of oligospermia or azoospermia...

It falls under the category of infertility.

More than ten years ago, he was still young, and Consort Chen was probably very fertile, which is why she was able to conceive Princess Chaoyang.

Most women who are infertile and manage to conceive are given girls.

Because girls have stronger vitality.

Of course, Consort Liu even suspected that Princess Chaoyang was not Emperor Qianwu's daughter.

She was a woman destined to travel through time, yet she was neglected by Emperor Qianwu for so many years. He will get his retribution!

The consequence of this is that you will never be able to have children of your own in this lifetime!

And she, Liu Wei, is just waiting to see this retribution!

Consort Liu's attitude, on the contrary, made everyone suspicious and uncertain.

If she really did it, then her attitude is far too arrogant.

Consort Lan glanced at her subconsciously, thinking to herself, "This Liu is indeed a peasant girl, with little knowledge and no brains."

Oh no, I guess he's got some kind of mental problem too.

Doesn't she even bother to defend herself?

They didn't even kneel down to show their fear.

Fortunately, Emperor Qianwu and the Empress Dowager both knew what kind of person she was, so they didn't hold it against her.

"check!"

At Emperor Qianwu's command, someone immediately went to Consort Liu's palace.

Consort Liu left Xueying in the palace this time only for Han Shu.

The eunuchs were startled when they entered Consort Liu's palace; there were fluttering white papers everywhere.

Oh no, some of the paper wasn't white enough; it had a faint yellowish tinge, which looked quite eerie.

Just like visiting a grave, the paper money on the grave mounds is placed one by one...

However, since His Majesty had given the order, they quickly began searching the palace.

Xueying was so startled that she dropped the paper that wasn't properly dried in her hand.

With a "thud," Xueying's face turned deathly pale with fright.

If the Empress finds out that she dropped her un-dried paper on the ground, she will surely punish her!

Consort Liu came from a later era and deeply understood the principle that "food is the first necessity of the people."

Therefore, her punishments for her servants were often very direct, such as not giving them food.

If you don't listen or do something wrong, you're not allowed to eat.

If one meal of starvation doesn't work, try a few more; they'll eventually listen.

The feeling of being hungry was truly unpleasant. Xueying hurriedly picked up the wet paper that had fallen on the ground, thankfully without getting it dirty.

One of the eunuchs couldn't help but feel sorry for Xueying when he saw her.

"You palace staff do nothing all day but engage in this kind of thing?"

Xueying smiled awkwardly, then suddenly remembered that something might have happened in Consort Zhen's palace, and Consort Liu had gone out.

When she left, she said she was going to help Consort Zhen.

They even took Han Shu with them.

Xueying is filled with anxiety and doesn't know who to talk to.

The eunuch didn't say much.

Xueying then mustered her courage and asked, "Father-in-law, has something happened to my mistress?"

The eunuch remained tight-lipped, saying, "His Majesty ordered us to thoroughly search Consort Zhao's palace. There's more I can't say."

Xueying turned even paler with fright.

Under what circumstances would a palace be searched?

Could it be that Consort Zhaoyi committed some crime?

What should we do?

She and Han Shu were thinking of letting her leave the palace when she reached a certain age. With their papermaking skills, they would at least be able to keep themselves from starving.

But what if something happens to Consort Zhaoyi?

As the palace maids who served Liu Zhaoyi closely, they would definitely be implicated!

Most importantly, Xueying didn't know what her mistress had done wrong, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

She trembled for a while before saying, "Father-in-law, please tell me, how serious is Consort Zhao's crime?"

The eunuch glanced at her again.

She snorted softly, "Then we'll see if Your Highness is hiding anything in your palace that you shouldn't be hiding."

Xueying:......

After a while, several eunuchs came out carrying some things.

The head eunuch waved his hand, "Let's go!"

Meanwhile, inside the Weiyang Palace.

The three imperial physicians also carefully examined the pearl beauty and calming pills given by Princess Chaoyang.

"Your Majesty and Empress Dowager, this Pearl Nourishing and Tranquilizing Pill is indeed a good thing."

"But it contains a very small amount of cinnabar."

"What?"

Consort Chen immediately let out a soft gasp.

"Your Majesty! The Empress Dowager is wise and discerning!"

"Someone must have deliberately framed and harmed the princess!"

"The two little princes in Consort Zhen's womb are the princess's closest blood relatives!"

"Chaoyang may only have these two brothers in her life, how could she possibly harm them?"

Consort Chen was weeping uncontrollably, looking extremely pitiful.

There's no such thing as dignity anymore.

The Empress Dowager felt a pang of pity.

Consort Lan gave a cold laugh.

"That sounds so nice, like the closest blood relatives."

"It seems that only those born to Consort Chen herself are truly blood relatives to the princess!"

Consort Chen's expression changed drastically.

Because Consort Lan's words directly expressed her true feelings.

Isn't that right?

What kind of relative is the princess to that lowly Consort Zhen?

Only she, if she could give birth to another child, even a daughter, would be the princess's closest relative!

However, Consort Chen dared not say such things in front of the Empress Dowager and Emperor Qianwu.

"Your Majesty, Consort Lan's heart is truly despicable!"

"Consort Lan is deliberately trying to sow discord between the princess, His Majesty, and the Empress Dowager!"

Consort Lan also said, "I'm innocent! Your Majesty, Mother, I just spoke my mind!"

Emperor Qianwu: ...

Empress Dowager: ...

The Empress Dowager knew that Consort Lan and Consort Chen were at odds.

It was indeed Consort Lan's fault back then.

But in this incident, Consort Chen and her daughter may not be innocent.

But Consort Lan deliberately called her "Emperor Mother" and "Emperor Brother" in front of everyone.

This was all to provoke Consort Chen.

Sure enough, Consort Chen's expression suddenly turned extremely ugly.

Back then, Consort Lan was more favored than her.

She was the Empress Dowager's adopted daughter and grew up with His Majesty as childhood sweethearts.

Even when she became pregnant, although the Empress Dowager cared about her, she clearly cared more about Consort Lan.

As for His Majesty... she will always have a place in His Majesty's heart.

But for the sake of Chaoyang, the Empress Dowager coughed lightly.

"Lan'er, stop fooling around!"

Originally, the Empress Dowager already felt guilty for letting down her granddaughter by releasing Consort Lan.

Fortunately, Chaoyang didn't say anything, so Consort Chen naturally didn't dare to complain.

Unexpectedly, Consort Lan and Consort Chen were still at odds, just like before.

After hearing the Empress Dowager's words, Consort Lan slightly pursed her lips and said nothing more.

Consort Chen gritted her teeth and continued to defend herself.

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager and His Majesty, even if the tranquilizing pills sent by Princess Consort contained cinnabar, it doesn't mean anything."

"Cinnabar is a commonly used sedative, and in extremely small amounts, it will not endanger life!"

Emperor Qianwu and the Empress Dowager both looked at the three imperial physicians.

Imperial Physician Tao's eyelids twitched suddenly, and he hurriedly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, and Consort Chen are right."

"Cinnabar is indeed a calming medicine. When the dosage is controlled, it will not harm Your Majesty or the little prince in your womb."

"However, if used excessively, it may cause non-specific symptoms such as mild insomnia, excessive dreaming, swollen and red gums, and irritability."

Shiliu hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, before our Empress became so sleepy, she did indeed have swollen gums, irritability, and insomnia with many dreams."

"But, but Her Majesty will not allow us to tell His Majesty."

The Empress Dowager's expression changed. "What?"

"How can this child be so foolish?"

"What could be more important now than her and the child in her womb?"

Lianwu also said, "Her Majesty consulted the imperial physician, who was on duty at the time. He said it was due to fetal heat and blood stasis, and that she needed to take some heat-clearing, blood-stasis-removing, and pregnancy-stabilizing decoction to unblock the qi and blood and benefit the fetus."

"These past few days, Her Majesty has been eating white fungus soup, but little did we know, someone had laced it with safflower!"

"It's all our fault for not being careful enough. Please forgive us, Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager!"