"Who? Who's speaking?"
Qingyang Princess caressed her belly, her sharp gaze sweeping every corner of the room, but she found nothing. Instead, her unusual behavior instantly made Rong Momo and the other four maids extremely nervous.
"Your Highness, what's wrong?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Are you feeling unwell somewhere? The five of us servants did not speak just now."
"Your Highness, this servant has checked. There is no one else hiding in the room besides us."
Qingyang Princess's brow furrowed. She had clearly heard a child's voice just now, so why couldn't Rong Momo and the others hear it?
Could it be that she was hearing things?
Luo Ranran kicked Qingyang Princess's belly uncomfortably. "Sob, sob, sob, Mother, Ranran feels so awful. The amniotic fluid is full of poison!"
Fortunately, her true form was a Ginseng Spirit, immune to all poisons. Her blood and even the water she used to wash her hands and feet could act as an antidote and prolong life.
Furthermore, she was especially sensitive to poisons. Even as an unborn baby, she could sense the toxic substances outside.
Hee hee, what could she say? She was a Ginseng Spirit with five hundred years of cultivation!
Back in the Heavenly Realm, she ate Elixir Pills meticulously refined by her master every day and drank high-quality Spirit Spring Water bestowed by the Jade Emperor. Even when she slept, she soaked in Spirit Spring Water.
Such a luxurious life was hers alone in the Heavenly Realm. Those Fairy Sisters and Immortal Lords were so envious of her.
But envy was just envy; they also doted on her.
Whenever they had something good or a rare and curious trinket, she was the first person they thought of.
It couldn't be helped. She was just that popular!
Heh heh, her title as the Heavenly Realm's walking gossip expert was not just for show; it was the real deal.
To get the juiciest, firsthand gossip, her fellow gossip-lovers had to find ways to curry favor with her! She was perfectly clear on that!
[Sob, sob, sob, Mother, you absolutely must not eat the tangerines! They've been soaked in poison. It's colorless and odorless, undetectable by a silver needle. Although it won't kill you instantly, if this continues long-term, you'll both be poisoned to death sooner or later!]
Mother?
Soaked in poison?
Poisoned to death?
Qingyang Princess was horrified. Her eyes glazed over in confusion for a moment, then she stared, unblinking, at her belly as it rose and fell from a kick. She tentatively placed a hand on it.
"Baby, are you the one talking to Mother?"
[Yes, yes! Mother, you absolutely must not eat the tangerines! Even though I can detoxify it for you, it's still a poison that harms the body!]
Qingyang Princess's eyes lit up, her hands trembling slightly with excitement. It was confirmed. The baby in her belly was talking to her.
"Baby, is it that you don't like tangerines? If you don't like them, Mother won't eat them anymore."
Luo Ranran grew agitated, her little feet flailing wildly. Alas, she couldn't communicate with her mother directly and could only respond this way.
[Yes, yes, yes! I don't like tangerines! Mother, you absolutely must not eat them!]
Qingyang Princess smiled with motherly love and replied gently, "Alright, Mother won't eat tangerines. I'll listen to my baby."
Luo Ranran was delighted and immediately responded with kicks from her little feet. She was used to her ginseng form, and suddenly becoming a small baby was still something she wasn't quite accustomed to.
But she was happy!
Although her master had ruthlessly kicked her down to the mortal realm, she was fortunate enough to be reincarnated as a human. How could she not be happy?
However, her happiness lasted only a few seconds before she heard the Gossip System's broadcast.
[Ding— Gossip Target: Qingyang Princess, Luo Shihan. Age: 18. Deeply favored by the current Empress Dowager and the Emperor. Her temperament is tranquil and elegant, gentle and kind, but she lacks a guarded heart and is easily deceived.]
[Ranran, this is bad! Qingyang Princess will be poisoned to death in less than a month, and she'll take you with her to the Yellow Spring Road!]
The system, Guagua, was frantic. It didn't want to go gathering gossip on the Yellow Spring Road.
Luo Ranran was stunned. [What? My princess mother will be poisoned to death in less than a month?]
[That's right, Ranran! Why don't we make a run for it?]
Given Ranran's abilities, escaping shouldn't be too difficult.
Luo Ranran wailed. [Waaah, I can't! That rotten old man of a master is terrible! He sealed my Spiritual Power. I can't use it at all right now!]
The system, Guagua, completely panicked and started crying along with her. [Sob, sob, Ranran, why is our fate so full of twists and turns? All we like to do is gossip! Why can't this world tolerate us gossip-mongers?]
[Hey, wait a minute!]
Luo Ranran furrowed her tiny brow.
[Guagua, my beautiful mother's name is Luo Shihan. Does that mean the country we're in now is called the Tianqi Kingdom?]
Guagua wiped its tears and nodded. [Yes, Ranran. It is indeed the Tianqi Kingdom.]
Luo Ranran was inwardly shocked. The Tianqi Kingdom! Wasn't this the setting of one of the novels the Flower Fairy Sister had given her?
What was it called again?
Domineering Monarch Falls in Love with Me!
The male lead, Xie Yanli, was the third prince of the Dayang Kingdom. He was sent to the Tianqi Kingdom as a hostage at the age of five, during which time he met and fell in love with the female lead, Ji Linran, a transmigrator from the modern era.
After a series of misunderstandings, entanglements, and angsty romance, the two joined forces, first conquering the Tianqi Kingdom and then the Dayang Kingdom, ultimately becoming an enviable and loving imperial couple.
Unfortunately, she was that innocent baby who was poisoned to death right after birth, and all of her princess mother's imperial relatives were Cannon Fodder!
In short, of the Tianqi imperial family, those who died, died; those who went mad, went mad; and those who were imprisoned, were imprisoned. Every single one of them met a miserable end, truly pitiable.
As for her and her mother's deaths, they were all thanks to the second son of Tianqi Kingdom's Anguo Duke's Mansion, An Dongzhang, who was none other than her mother's Princess Consort.
An Dongzhang was two-faced, sinister, and cunning, willing to do anything to achieve his goals.
Although he was the legitimate son of the Anguo Duke, he couldn't inherit the title because of his older brother. Ambitious as he was, he set his sights on Qingyang Princess, hoping to climb the social ladder.
He meticulously orchestrated a "hero saves the beauty" scenario while Qingyang Princess was out and used rumors to make the incident known to everyone.
Qingyang Princess suffered under the torment of these rumors.
Unwilling to let her tarnished reputation affect the imperial family's honor, she was ultimately forced to marry An Dongzhang.
But the key was that An Dongzhang was a toad trying to be a frog—he dressed plainly but played dirty!
He was simply not a good person!
On the surface, he was Qingyang Princess's consort, but behind her back, he was like an old sow wearing a bra—one trick after another.
Not only was he having an affair with his wet nurse, the very same Li Momo who had just delivered the tangerines, but he was also carrying on with an outside vixen, Li Xiangxiang, in all sorts of scandalous ways.
Li Xiangxiang was An Dongzhang's distant cousin.
Long before An Dongzhang became the Princess Consort, the two had already tumbled into bed together. They were two peas in a pod, a pair of villains colluding.
Behind Qingyang Princess's back, An Dongzhang specifically kept Li Xiangxiang in a private residence of his.
In private, the two would frequently engage in all sorts of creative "sparring sessions," and she had even become pregnant with his illegitimate child.
Because their intimate relationship couldn't see the light of day, and fearing that Qingyang Princess would discover it over time, the two decided to go all in. They planned to poison Qingyang Princess.
But they didn't dare to be blatant about it, as Qingyang Princess was surrounded by capable people. They could only be cautious and proceed slowly, for which they spent a fortune to purchase a colorless and odorless poison.
They had someone add it bit by bit to Qingyang Princess's daily food and drink. When she was about to give birth, they would increase the dosage, causing the death of both mother and child, and then announce to the public that she had died from postpartum hemorrhage.
Then they would pull a switcheroo.
They would substitute their illegitimate child for the one in Qingyang Princess's womb, and their family of three could be together openly and honorably.
After Qingyang Princess's death, that disgusting family of three would live in her Princess Mansion, spend her fortune, and enjoy the privileged treatment of royalty.
It was utterly despicable!
At this thought, Luo Ranran completely panicked.
She had finally been reincarnated as a human, yet before she even had a chance to see the mortal world, she was about to die. How could she sit still?
[Sob, sob, sob, my tranquil and elegant mother, are your beautiful eyes blocked by gunk? Your dear husband is plotting with an outside vixen to take your life and seize your fortune!]
Qingyang Princess: …