If he were still the Qian Sheng from ten years ago, given the kindness shown to him by the Fourth Prince's birth mother, no matter how difficult or bitter life became, he would never have allowed the Fourth Prince to learn such tricks.
But he... he had grown old, and in recent years had been tormented to the point of losing his humanity. There were too many depraved eunuchs and palace maids in the harem, and everyone could bully him just for a mouthful of food and drink.
His body had long since been ruined, and he was only holding on to find a good home for the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince was still so young. If he died, there would be no one to care for the Fourth Prince, who wouldn't be able to survive on his own.
Perhaps his body was also telling him that Concubine Zhen was the good home he had been waiting for. Qian Sheng, who hadn't coughed up blood in a long time, coughed up blood again today.
Fearing the Fourth Prince would discover this, he quickly wiped it clean with a handkerchief.
It was still early before nightfall. The Emperor had told her not to wander around after dark. Was something big going to happen after nightfall?
Jiang Xinyue changed into a plain outfit. "Xi Que, Shuang Jiang, where did you put the children's toys that the Emperor sent earlier? Bring out a few. I want to go to the side hall to see the Fourth Prince."
"Please wait a moment, Your Highness. This servant will go to the storehouse to look."
The side hall, which had been unoccupied for a long time, had already been cleaned thoroughly after the snake incident in Jiang Xinyue's bedchamber last time.
Since she had personally stayed there for a few days, all the supplies were of the highest quality.
When the Fourth Prince arrived, there was no need to prepare everything anew. The items in the side hall were ready to use; they just needed to change the bedding for him to move in directly.
Of course, Jiang Xinyue kept her own ulterior motives to herself.
After the child was born, she would certainly be promoted to imperial consort. Whether she would become one of the four consorts, the highest-ranking consort, or just an ordinary Consort Zhen...
This would depend on the Emperor's feelings for her and whether her previous groundwork had been effective.
So far, she had presented herself to the Xuanwu Emperor as gentle and kind, with a hint of sharpness but easily softened.
Last time, when Consort Liang beat Jiang Chuan in her palace, she deliberately told Nanny Li that she feared she might be slapped by Consort Liang after her promotion.
The Emperor had also indirectly criticized Consort De several times for being too close to Consort Liang.
As the saying goes, one takes on the color of one's company. What kind of good person could be friends with Consort Liang?
The Emperor's opinion of these two must have deteriorated.
Until the very last moment, Jiang Xinyue would not let her guard down.
Unless the imperial edict naming her as the highest-ranking of the four consorts was issued, and the Empress held the grand ceremony for her promotion, only then would she truly feel at ease.
"Your Highness..."
Xi Que struggled to carry a large pinwheel in. "I'm not sure what the Fourth Prince likes, so this servant chose the biggest and heaviest one."
Very good, this choice was very Xi Que-like.
Shuang Jiang held a Chinese ring puzzle in her hands. "This servant thought the Fourth Prince could play with this first. If he solves it, Your Highness can have the Fourth Prince teach our little master in the future."
Although Yan the Imperial Physician and several other physicians from the Imperial Hospital had examined Your Highness's belly and taken her pulse, all saying that this pregnancy was a little prince, Your Highness forbade them from calling him the Sixth Prince now, only allowing them to refer to him as the little master.
In modern times, even ultrasounds can be mistaken sometimes. Jiang Xinyue didn't really believe that they could determine the sex just by looking at her belly with the naked eye.
If it turned out to be a princess in the end, but they had been calling her the Sixth Prince all along, the trashy Emperor might be disappointed and not love the Third Princess as much.
Just from their choice of gifts, one could see the personalities of these two.
Xi Que was a bit simple, but her loyalty to Jiang Xinyue was unmatched. She had never failed in any important task assigned to her and was the kind of loyal servant who would die for Jiang Xinyue, even if she was sometimes rash and outspoken.
Shuang Jiang had grown up in the palace from a young age and was more cunning, but she hadn't lost her inherent kindness. She was also intelligent and could often restrain Xi Que's directness to some extent.
Jiang Xinyue thought they complemented each other well.
Only incompetent masters would blame their servants for not being smart enough or unable to offer strategic advice.
Jiang Xinyue was very capable, so she didn't need her personal maids to be too clever. As long as they were obedient and carried out her instructions well, that was good enough.
If Xi Que knew that she had been judged as not smart enough by her mistress just for bringing a large pinwheel, she would have insisted on switching roles with Shuang Jiang.
"Master Qian, is the Fourth Prince asleep? Our mistress has come to see him."
After a long while, the door finally opened.
The small Fourth Prince was standing on a chair to open the door for them. After opening it, he carefully climbed down and made a shushing gesture. "Concubine Zhen, Grandfather didn't mean to not open the door for you. He was too tired from taking care of me and fell asleep by accident."
So he had been sitting by the bed watching over his grandfather, waiting for him to wake up and play with him.
These words made Jiang Xinyue realize something was wrong. She quickly walked over and saw that the old man's face was ashen, his eyes tightly closed, looking as if... as if he were dead. Only the slight rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive.
"His complexion doesn't look right."
Jiang Xinyue called for Xiao Xuanzi. "Is Yan the Imperial Physician on duty at the Imperial Hospital today?"
She had almost forgotten about Yan the Imperial Physician. If there was to be a palace coup tonight, they would need to bring him back as well.
"He wasn't originally scheduled to be on duty, but the Emperor feared Your Highness might go into labor early, so he has Yan the Imperial Physician come every day. By my calculations, he should be coming to check Your Highness's pulse soon."
Yan the Imperial Physician wasn't made of iron. When he wasn't on night duty, he needed to go home to rest.
Every day before returning home, he would come to Hexi Palace to check Jiang Xinyue's pulse, making sure the child in her belly wasn't in a hurry to come out, before he could go home with peace of mind.
"Go and fetch him."
Jiang Xinyue looked at the old man on the bed, who was barely breathing. "Hurry!"
It was almost dark.
Once it got dark, it would be dangerous to walk outside.
She wondered if the Ye family was about to stage a palace coup and rebellion. Why else would the Emperor arrange for the legendary Black Armor Army to come?
There were two types of palace guards: the Imperial Guards, also known as the knife-bearing guards who served in the Emperor's presence, who were the Emperor's private soldiers and only obeyed his orders.
The other type was the soldiers under the command of the military generals in the capital, responsible for guarding Qianqing Gate and patrolling the palace, taking shifts on duty.
Then there was the Black Armor Army, which only existed in legends. They were said to be the personal secret guards of successive emperors, rarely seen by anyone. It was said that each of them was a supreme master, capable of fighting a hundred men alone.
If Yan the Imperial Physician left the palace now, he would certainly run into General Ye's men.
It was common knowledge that he was the exclusive physician for Concubine Zhen of Hexi Palace.
If the ruthless General Ye had him killed, it would be a great sin on her part.
"Oh my, oh my! Slow down a bit. This old man's arms and legs are about to fall apart if you keep pulling like this."
Xiao Xuanzi had both feet inside Hexi Palace before he turned to close and bolt the main gate, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
Yan the Imperial Physician was still joking with him: "Were you being chased by vicious dogs? You're so..."
Soon, he couldn't laugh anymore, because he saw a large circle of Black Armor Army soldiers with fierce expressions surrounding the courtyard wall.
