thefictionvixens Chapter 320 The First Time I Heard That the Empress Was to Be Buried with Her
Chapter 320 The First Time I Heard That the Empress Was to Be Buried with Her
The letter instructed the midwife, Fan, to tamper with the Empress's delivery. It warned that if the Empress dared to resist, none of her son, daughter-in-law, grandchildren, or any other member of her family would survive.
Li Yuanke's violent aura was rising, and no matter how he dodged and weaved, his weakness was eventually targeted.
Shen Shixi had anticipated this, and now that it had arrived, she was no longer afraid.
She grasped Li Yuanke's hand and asked very calmly, "Where are they now? I mean your family!"
Midwife Fan shook her head, weeping, and said, "This servant doesn't know either. I received the letter and came without delay. I don't know how they are now. Her Majesty the Empress has been so kind to me; I will never forget her!"
It's one thing to remember kindness, but he also knows that if he really did it, and something happened to the Empress or the imperial heir, they wouldn't survive, and their entire family would be wiped out.
"Summon Cen Yin!" Li Yuanke quickly said.
Cen Yin arrived quickly, and Li Yuanke handed him the letter. "Find a way to locate the family of Midwife Fan. Also, thoroughly investigate this letter. All concubines in the harem are to be confined to their quarters, and all palace servants are to remain in place and cooperate with the investigation. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed, and the principal consort of the palace will be punished accordingly!"
"yes!"
"Furthermore, issue my decree that all the concubines in the harem behave themselves. Anyone who dares to tamper with the Empress's childbirth will be executed along with all the concubines in the harem, without exception!"
Cen Yin was shocked and couldn't believe it, but he dared not disobey the imperial decree. "Yes!"
Cen Yin took the letter and went to do his business.
Midwife Fan thanked the woman and was also led away!
Li Yuanke was still angry, but Shen Shixi patted his back and said, "Don't be angry. These things are inevitable. There are many people watching me in the imperial court and the inner palace. Do you think I'd just give up if they wanted to harm me?"
No way! I'm going to outlive every single one of them!
As Shen Shixi's due date drew closer, Li Yuanke became increasingly anxious and couldn't sleep well at night. In the past, he would get angry if he was woken up by someone, but now he would always wake up, touch her belly, and check her breathing before he could fall back asleep peacefully.
Shen Shixi was worried that he would suffer from postpartum depression.
Li Yuanke held her tightly, "You can't have anything happen to you. I will not allow anyone to hurt you, Xi'er. You must stay with me for a long, long time!"
"Yes, I also want to live a long and long life! Don't be afraid, don't worry. Throughout history, countless women have become pregnant and given birth. This is an inevitable hurdle in a woman's life. I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of? Believe me, my children and I will be fine."
However, you have to promise me one thing.
"Mmm!" He lowered his head and kissed her. "Except for...that thing, I'll agree to anything you want!"
Last night, Shen Shixi wanted it again, but Li Yuanke refused no matter what. She was so pregnant, and he himself was also suffering, but he really didn't dare to.
Shen Shixi was furious and wouldn't let go. He tried to give her his hand, but she refused. He couldn't reason with her either, so he had no choice but to give in.
Finally, the two reached an agreement: this would be the last time, and they would not have any more children before the birth.
Shen Shixi didn't know if she could do it, but she agreed anyway.
Li Yuanke was extremely cautious throughout the journey.
He kept the car speed very slow, not daring to accelerate too much or press the accelerator too hard. He only dared to drive slowly. Shen Shixi pressed herself against him so hard that she almost caused an accident.
After delivering both of them to their destination, he was drenched in sweat, exhausted, and lay on the bed for a long time, unable to get up. He was also incredibly nervous.
He wanted to invite the imperial physician to take her pulse, but Shen Shixi couldn't bear the embarrassment. Besides, she wasn't feeling unwell. It was Li Yuanke who suffered, not daring to close his eyes all night.
Seeing that she was sleeping like a log, Li Yuanke finally closed his eyes and went to sleep.
He really didn't want to experience it again, so he made it clear from the outset that he didn't want to go through with it again.
Shen Shixi glared at him and said, "What are you thinking now? Do you think I'm the kind of person who doesn't know what's important?"
Li Yuanke chuckled and remained silent.
Shen Shixi was humiliated and patted his chest, "You dare laugh at me?"
Li Yuanke grasped her hand, no longer daring to provoke her. "Speak, what is it?"
After this outburst, his emotions calmed down.
"After giving birth, I don't want to take care of the baby, but I also don't want to leave the baby with the wet nurse and Bai Ping. We'll take turns caring for the baby; you can't just ignore everything!"
"It's my own child, how could I not care?" He kissed her. "Alright, don't think about these things. After the baby is born, I will make all the arrangements. You don't need to worry about it at all. Just focus on giving birth."
Shen Shixi was sleepy again, but since she was heavily pregnant, she didn't dare to ask Li Yuanke to carry her. So, with his help, she went to the bedroom, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep.
Li Yuanke saw that she still had a rosy complexion and fair skin. Apart from her waist being a little thicker and her breasts being a little fuller, there was no other change in her body. She didn't even have the leg swelling that pregnant women often have. He felt both happy and relieved.
Li Yuanke called Bai Ping over to watch over things, and then went to work himself.
The emperor's decree spread through the inner palace: anyone who dared to tamper with the empress's childbirth would be executed along with all the concubines, leaving no one alive—this was indiscriminate slaughter!
Throughout history, we have only ever heard of concubines being buried alive with the emperor; this is the first time we have heard of concubines being buried alive with the empress.
Even a moderately incompetent ruler wouldn't do something like this, unless he's a ruler with countless holes in his head.
When Consort De, or rather, Consort Du, heard about it, she was furious. She hadn't recovered from the blow of being demoted, and she kept telling herself that the Emperor didn't dislike her, but that she had indeed gone too far.
It's understandable that the emperor wouldn't allow her to scheme against the new empress by deposing her.
She also had to convince herself: was she going to go against the emperor?
As a result, before she could find enough reasons for the emperor to forgive him, the emperor dealt her another blow.
Although she was indeed looking for an opportunity to help the Empress ascend to heaven, she was not the one who did the midwife thing. Why should she take the blame for someone else?
"Your Majesty has gone too far! I have given birth to three imperial heirs. Even if criminal concubines are to be punished, I should not be dragged into it!"
Du Xiurong simply couldn't swallow this insult.
Wang Yueyao, the Imperial Concubine, trembled all over. She said to her personal maid, Furong, "Did you just hear that? The Emperor said that all the concubines should be buried alive with him?"
Furong trembled even more violently than Wang Yueyao. If the young mistress had been buried alive with her, how could they possibly survive?
"Yes! My lady, I'm so scared! How could Midwife Fan... how could she report me? Isn't she afraid?"
"Don't be afraid, it's not too late to stop now. They won't trace it back to us, so don't worry!" Wang Yueyao forced herself to remain calm.
From beginning to end, she never showed her face, and the people she used were all pawns who had been buried for a long time, and they were all people from the former Prince Jin's mansion. She and her opponents had no direct contact, and there was no evidence pointing to her at all.
After hearing the imperial decree, Consort Jing was stunned for a long time before she came to her senses. She threw herself into the arms of the nanny, crying and laughing at the same time. "Nanny, you see, he is not heartless. His heart belongs to Chenyuan and he has never given me a single bit!"
"I once loved him so much, thinking that if we became husband and wife, we could grow old together. It was all just wishful thinking on my part!"
Granny Qu felt a pang of heartache and advised, "Your Highness, don't worry about people and things that aren't yours. Your health isn't good to begin with, and you can't take this kind of crying. Please stop crying, and let's get back to normal life!"
Consort Jing wiped away her tears, raised her head, and asked, "How's the contact over there? Have you been able to find Fuling?"