Chapter 681: Poisoned (1)
After another half month, it was finally time for He Changqi’s concubine, Miaozhen, to give birth.
Miaozhen went through labour for a whole day and night before her child was finally born. However, it was just a girl.
This made the matriarch very disappointed. After this illegitimate daughter of the main branch was born, the matriarch never even asked after them once.
Since Miaozhen’s pregnancy hadn’t been smooth-sailing and she had almost lost her child once, she passed away due to losing too much blood right after the birth.
The newborn girl was weak from birth and she lost her mother too early. He Changqi was a busy man, so it was Countess Jing’an who had to step up to take care of the child.
When Chu Lian heard the news, she gave out a sigh and subconsciously rubbed her own belly.
A motherless child was most pitiful. Furthermore, that child was only a low-ranking illegitimate daughter. If Countess Jing’an took her under her protection, all would be well. However, if her mother-in-law didn’t have the energy to take care of that child, then that child would never have a good life.
Chu Lian called over Senior Servant Gui and told her to prepare some gifts for Countess Jing’an, in order to celebrate the newly born life.
Muxiang was on duty at the side. When she saw Chu Lian acting this way, she felt contempt.
She was jealous to the point of madness within. She cursed the freak who had taken over her body to die an early death.
However, she hid her disdain well. Even Chu Lian hadn’t seen any inklings of anything suspicious to do with Muxiang after half a month.
Wenqing brought in a pot of nourishing soup and placed the tray on the desk. She scooped some soup into a bowl and placed it in front of Chu Lian before asking, “Madam, are we still going to Prince Wei’s Estate in the afternoon?”
Chu Lian nodded while enjoying her soup, “Of course, tell the steward to prepare the carriages and the guards. I’ll go right over after the meal.”
Royal Princess Duanjia had come over to visit Chu Lian two days ago. She had mentioned that Princess Wei had been feeling giddy and faint recently and that the imperial physicians hadn’t been able to tell what was wrong. Chu Lian had been startled by this news and she had promised Royal Princess Duanjia that she would bring Great Doctor Miao over to check on Princess Wei.
When they were done with lunch, Chu Lian and Great Doctor Miao sat on separate carriages and headed to Prince Wei’s Estate under the protection of a group of guards.
Prince Wei’s Estate wasn’t too far from the Anyuan Estate. It only took about fifteen minutes by carriage.
Since she had already made an appointment with Royal Princess Duanjia, when they reached the gates of the estate, there was a steward already waiting for them. He welcomed them in and let them ride in without disembarking from the carriages.
Senior Servant Lan personally ushered Chu Lian and Great Doctor Miao into the inner court, where Princess Wei and Royal Princess Duanjia were already waiting.
The moment Chu Lian entered, she could see how pale Princess Wei looked.
She quickly stepped forward to make her bob, but Royal Princess Duanjia immediately pulled her up and rolled her eyes at Chu Lian, “Chu Liu, why are you still acting so courteous with us? Come and sit!”
A smile blossomed on Princess Wei’s face at the sight of Chu Lian. She held Chu Lian’s soft little hand and pulled her down to sit next to her.
She looked her up and down for a long moment before frowning, “Why haven’t you put on any weight after getting pregnant?”
Chu Lian hurriedly shook her head, “Of course I have!”
She leaned closer in and made a pained expression as she explained, “My legs and arms have gotten much thicker. I’m actually troubled over how fat I’ve gotten. If my stomach gets any bigger, I’ll feel like a ball!”
Princess Wei poked her in the middle of her shiny forehead and glared at her, “You silly girl, what nonsense are you saying? I have a few recipes that are good for pregnant women, I’ll have Senior Servant Lan write them down for you later.”
“Then I’ll have to thank Your Highness!”
Princess Wei couldn’t resist pinching her pink cheeks.
Following that, Chu Lian helped Princess Wei into a side room so that Great Doctor Miao could check her pulse.
Hidden behind a screen, the emperor looked at Chu Lian with loving eyes. The Ye Xun of his memories had been around Chu Lian’s age.
However, Ye Xun had been slightly taller and more curvy than Chu Lian was now.
Chu Lian had only resembled her mother partly before when she was thinner. Now that she had put on a little weight from the pregnancy, she looked more and more like Ye Xun.
The emperor was stunned at first sight and he almost thought that Ye Xun had come back to life.
Unknowingly, the emperor’s eyes became wet with tears as the memories that he had almost forgotten were awakened by the sight.
Thinking back to the wonderful times he had spent with Ye Xun and how the two had been forced apart, as well as how Ye Xun had been forced to marry someone else while bearing his child, his heart was set aflame. His face turned purple and he actually fainted right over.
Prince Wei, who had been accompanying his brother, was shocked out of his wits. He managed to catch the emperor with quick reflexes. Otherwise, the emperor would likely have knocked his brains out on the ground.
Prince Wei’s expression turned and he called out quietly to his brother, “Brother, Brother, please wake up!”
Unfortunately, the unconscious emperor didn’t react to his brother’s voice.
A shadow fell over Prince Wei’s expression and he quickly ordered the secret guards to bring the emperor to a room at the side. He then passed his own personal token to another secret guard and ordered him to bring the imperial physicians over discreetly.
On the other side, Great Doctor Miao had just finished taking Princess Wei’s pulse and was explaining his diagnosis to her.
“There’s no need to worry, Your Highness. These are just some symptoms of weakness. I’ll prescribe some medicine for you to treat the weakness in your body. Your Highness should recover completely after a few months.”
Chu Lian visibly relaxed upon hearing the doctor’s diagnosis.
Meanwhile, there was a subtle hint of awkwardness on Princess Wei and Royal Princess Duanjia’s faces.
Actually, they had already known that Princess Wei wasn’t really ill, so they had exaggerated the symptoms a little so they had an excuse to invite her over to their estate.
He Changdi had been very overprotective of her. If not for the pregnancy having passed three months, they might not even have been able to get her out of her estate!
Thus, they had used the excuse of Princess Wei’s poor health to invite the pregnant Chu Lian out, as well as to satisfy the request that the emperor had made.
Princess Wei had already found out the true reason behind this request from Prince Wei, so she now had an extra degree of closeness and love towards Chu Lian. The princess treated Chu Lian as if she were really her daughter now.