The imperial physician arrived quickly. He first used needles to bring Consort Chun back to consciousness, then took her pulse and asked a number of careful questions before saying:
“Your Ladyship’s pulse does resemble the sign of pregnancy, but since it’s still so early it’s not entirely clear yet, this humble official does not dare to state it with certainty.”
Meng Qianzi’s first thought was that this physician’s skill must not be very good, since she herself had been able to diagnose the pregnancy while he could not confirm it.
But she immediately realized the physician was simply too afraid of being blamed if something went wrong, and so had chosen these carefully ambiguous words, leaving himself room to maneuver later.
Still, she could hardly fault his caution, serving the Emperor was like living beside a tiger, and being an imperial physician was no easy post either. Everyone present understood that.
Consort Chun sat blankly on the couch, her eyes hollow and lifeless, as though she felt nothing at all about news every consort would normally long for with all her heart.
Meng Qianzi assumed she had been pushed nearly to breaking by these past few days of torment, and felt both anxious and heartsick for her.
She said, “Imperial physician, this commoner noticed just now that Her Ladyship’s blood and vital energy are both severely depleted, and her heart and spirit are exhausted. What do you think should be done?”
The physician did not know who she was, but seeing Little Prince Yong standing beside her without reprimanding her for speaking out of turn, he stroked his beard. “You speak truly. Nourishment and restoration are one part of it, but what matters most is Her Ladyship’s…”
As he spoke, he pointed at his own head and chest, meaning that Consort Chun’s spirit was poor and her mood unsettled.
Anyone forced to share a room day after day with a corpse giving off the stench of decay would find it hard to stay in good spirits, let alone a pregnant woman.
And a pregnant woman, at that, carrying the accusation of murder, in constant fear for her own life.
He could tell at a glance that Her Ladyship Consort Chun had grown noticeably thinner in just ten short days. Being tormented by the Prince of Xiang was one reason, but no doubt her worry over the Meng family was another.
Who in the capital did not know how deeply devoted the two daughters of the old Grand Preceptor Lin were to each other? With Meng Zheng having done such a thing, Consort Chun’s own younger sister could hardly come to a good end either, how could an elder sister not be worried sick?
And if His Majesty’s anger should fall on her by association, the Eleventh Highness, already not much favored, might fall even further out of His Majesty’s good graces, and Consort Chun’s days ahead would only grow harder still, pitiable, truly…
The Prince of Xiang caught the implication behind his words and gave a heavy, cold snort.
The physician paid him no mind at all, keeping his composure and waiting only for Little Prince Yong to speak.
The Princess of Xiang was dead, and dead she would remain. Whether Consort Chun was guilty or not, whether her favor with His Majesty was cut off or not, right now she carried a dragon’s child under her protection, and as the imperial physician, ensuring that child’s safe delivery was his own duty above all else.
Meng Qianzi looked toward Xiao Jiuyi and saw him frowning, saying nothing. She could not help pressing, “Your Highness, the one who killed the Princess of Xiang was certainly not Her Ladyship Consort Chun. As for this mourning hall, look…”
The line of the Prince of Xiang’s jaw went tight, resentment burning in him, and he said viciously, fists clenched, “Even if she didn’t do it with her own hands, couldn’t she have ordered someone else to do it?”
Meng Qianzi gave a light laugh. “Let’s set aside the fact that Her Ladyship had no motive to kill anyone at all, tell me this: were it you, would you let an assassin commit murder inside your own household?”
The Prince of Xiang choked on his words, and before he could say anything more, Xiao Jiuyi raised his right hand, pointing toward the altar, and said:
“The mourning period lasts seven days before burial. There’s no need to move the mourning hall, and no need for Consort Chun to keep vigil over the Princess of Xiang any longer either. The servants who were taken away are to be returned to attend to Consort Chun today. Beyond that, no one is to enter Changting Palace without permission!” His tone left no room for argument.
The Prince of Xiang was thoroughly baffled, he had assumed Xiao Jiuyi would use Consort Chun’s pregnancy as grounds to force him to move the mourning hall.
What game was he playing?
Meng Qianzi was deeply unsatisfied with this arrangement, and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, even if the mourning hall stays, surely Her Ladyship could recover from her pregnancy somewhere else…”
Xiao Jiuyi gave her an indifferent glance, ignoring her objection entirely. “The servants of Changting Palace haven’t returned yet. Go help Consort Chun in to rest for now.”
Meng Qianzi’s brow furrowed slightly. Little Prince Yong had clearly given her the chance to speak with her aunt, and yet moving her aunt temporarily away from Changting Palace would have been a matter of a single word from him, and still he refused. Why?
She looked at Consort Chun with concern. Consort Chun had finally come back to herself, and reached out a hand toward her, saying weakly, “Would the young lady be so kind as to help this palace to the bedchamber to rest.”
Meng Qianzi had no choice but to help her slowly into the bedchamber.
The bedchamber’s doors closed heavily, and at once tears spilled from Consort Chun’s eyes. She turned and clutched Meng Qianzi tightly, her whole body shaking violently.
Ever since her brother-in-law Meng Zheng’s downfall, there had not been a single day she hadn’t worried herself sick. The charge of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country was far too grave, grave enough to demand the blood of the entire Meng family to pay for it.
She believed in Meng Zheng’s character, and had gone to beg His Majesty to investigate the matter thoroughly, only to be sharply scolded for meddling in state affairs, which the harem was forbidden to do.
She had meant to wait for His Majesty’s anger to cool before pleading with him again, but then the matter of the Princess of Xiang had happened.
These past few days, shaken and terrified, worn down in body and spirit by the Prince of Xiang’s torment, she would not have been able to hold on much longer even without Meng Qianzi telling her to feign a faint.
Remembering that this child still recalled the game they had played together when she was only a few years old, pretending to faint, warmth stirred faintly in her heart, mixed with even deeper guilt.
She reached out and touched Meng Qianzi’s cheek, her eyes filled with heartache, and choked out, “Your aunt is useless. Your father’s situation…”
Meng Qianzi’s own eyes reddened, and she hurried to pat her aunt’s back gently, comforting her softly.
“Aunt, Yunxian was just about to speak to you about that very thing. You must never bring up my father’s matter before His Majesty again. As you’ve seen, Little Prince Yong is helping me now, and my father will certainly be all right. No one in the Meng family will come to harm. Right now, what matters most is the child in your belly.”
As she spoke, she carefully felt Consort Chun’s stomach, forcing a light, easy smile onto her face, and said in a coaxing tone, as she had as a child:
“Yunxian has never seen a baby before. When my little cousin is born, Yunxian will look at him carefully, and once he’s grown, I’ll teach him martial arts myself.”
At the mention of the child, a shadow of loss suddenly crossed Consort Chun’s face.
Meng Qianzi’s smile faded, and remembering her aunt’s reaction earlier when the physician had said she might be pregnant, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest, could something be wrong?
She held her aunt’s hand tightly and asked slowly, carefully, “What happened? Can you tell me? And you really are pregnant, I would never lie to you about that.”
Consort Chun pressed her lips together and shook her head, then drew a breath. “It’s nothing, really. It’s just… it’s just that my heart keeps feeling uneasy.”
As if, as if this child had come at the wrong time…
In the end she did not say those words aloud.
Meng Qianzi opened her mouth. Could this be some intuition left over in her aunt’s soul from her past life?
Still uneasy, her tone turned serious. “Aunt, whatever it is, you mustn’t hide it from me. If it’s something I can’t solve myself, I’ll go ask Little Prince Yong for help.”
Consort Chun smiled gently. “Foolish child. What kind of man do you think Little Prince Yong is? Is he the sort of person who would let you make demands of him? That he’s agreed to resolve your father’s matter is already an enormous kindness, you mustn’t push your luck and risk earning his displeasure.”
Meng Qianzi knew there was no fooling her on this point, and said, sulking, “But I’m worried about you too. My father’s situation may finally have some hope, but if something happened to you, I would never forgive myself.”
At these words, Consort Chun finally fell silent.
Meng Qianzi knew she had guessed correctly, her aunt truly was hiding something from her.
For now she did not press, letting her aunt work through it in her own time.
After a long while, Consort Chun slowly leaned into her arms and said quietly:
“Do you know why His Majesty tacitly allowed the Prince of Xiang to set up a mourning hall in my palace? The Prince of Xiang made the request directly to the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager approved it at once without even asking His Majesty, that’s a slap in His Majesty’s own face, and yet he endured it. I understand now. He’s… he’s playing a great game…”