“Eeeek~ Ahhhh…”
The incessant crying of the Sixth Prince echoed from the chambers of the Imperial Noble Consort. Wet Nurse Lu, by her side, was trying to calm her down: “Your Highness, the Sixth Prince is suffering from a heat illness. We cannot keep him wrapped up like this; we need to open the windows for ventilation.”
As Wet Nurse Lu spoke, she made a move to open the windows, but was stopped by Xi Que, who shouted loudly: “What heat illness? The imperial physician has already diagnosed it as a cold. He cannot be exposed to the wind. Are you saying you know better than the imperial physician?”
“Pfft!”
Wet Nurse Lu spat out the melon seed shell from her mouth and deliberately stood by the window, glancing out with the corner of her eye: “What does the imperial physician know? How many children has he nursed? I’ve raised seven daughters, who could possibly know more than me? This is clearly a case of heatstroke from overdressing.”
“You… you… you’re driving me crazy! You even had the maids prepare medicine. What kind of medicine are you making? If something happens to the Sixth Prince, can you take responsibility?”
“I’ll take responsibility if I have to. I’m not afraid.”
Outside the door, a plain-looking maid heard the exchange and, taking advantage of the fact that Wet Nurse Lu was still arguing with Xi Que and not paying attention, slipped into the small kitchen. She carefully lifted the lid off a simmering pot of medicine and, from her sleeve, pulled out a packet of powder, ready to add it to the bubbling brew.
“Arrest her!”
Suddenly, a group of people burst out from the side hall of Hexi Palace, and leading them was none other than the Emperor himself, clad in his dragon robe.
The maid let out a scream, her hand trembling so much that the white powder spilled all over the stove. Before she could utter a single word, she was already seized by the guards and brought before the Emperor.
Wet Nurse Lu, holding the perfectly fine Sixth Prince, followed behind Jiang Xinyue, gently shaking a small rattle: “Look, Sixth Prince! There’s a silly one over there. The Fourth Prince tried to snatch your rattle from you, and now he really thinks you’re sick!”
With her around, the Sixth Prince had no chance of falling ill. After all, she had raised seven daughters, a rare feat even in the remote countryside.
If not for that, she wouldn’t have caught the eye of Nanny Li.
The Fourth Prince quickly explained: “It was Mother who told me to take it.”
She said that to make the act more convincing, a sick child should cry.
The Xuanwu Emperor sneered, "What did Consort De promise you, you lowly wretch, to make you dare to poison my Sixth Prince?"
The maid trembled all over, her lips quivering, tears streaming down her face: “No… no, Your Majesty… I… I was placed here by Consort De as a… a spy. Before the Imperial Noble Consort moved into Hexi Palace, I was already here. I don’t know anything else; I was just… just following orders.”
What a convenient excuse—following orders.
Initially, it was thought that only the Empress Dowager's agents were spread throughout the harem, but it seems Consort De is no less formidable.
Before Jiang Xinyue even gained much favor, Consort De had already started plotting. Her schemes run deep, indeed.
Yan the Imperial Physician rubbed some of the powder between his fingers and sniffed it, then called over a few other imperial physicians: “Take a look. Is this a laxative?”
After they all confirmed, Yan the Imperial Physician stepped forward: “Your Majesty, Imperial Noble Consort, it is indeed a laxative.”
If the Sixth Prince had truly caught a cold, diarrhea would be a normal occurrence.
However, if Wet Nurse Lu had been bribed by Consort De and given the Sixth Prince a medicine for heatstroke, the conflicting properties of the medicine and the illness could have exacerbated the condition, potentially leading to a high fever that wouldn’t subside.
At that point, even the slightest additional stimulus would be unbearable, requiring constant monitoring by the imperial physicians to administer the correct treatment.
This medicine, laced with a laxative and mismatched to the Sixth Prince’s condition, if fed to him, could have had catastrophic consequences.
A child with a weaker spleen and stomach could potentially have died from dehydration.
The Sixth Prince was only five months old!
How could he endure such torment?
“To Yanqing Palace!”
The Xuanwu Emperor's heart was filled with rage. After the man-eating fish incident in the Lotus Pond, he had already given Consort De multiple chances. Yet now, she showed no remorse and even dared to plot against the Sixth Prince.
She herself was a mother; how could she harbor such vicious intentions towards a child still in swaddling clothes?
“Your Highness, do you think…”
In Yanqing Palace, Lu Wu nervously stared at the entrance, swallowing hard.
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw Consort De twisting her handkerchief, visibly unsettled: “Go see if the Third Prince has returned. Bring him to me.”
“Your Highness, are you afraid…”
Afraid that their plan would be exposed, afraid that it would reach the Emperor’s ears. With the Third Prince by her side, at least she had a safeguard.
Consort De's fingers clenched tighter: "I've navigated the harem for over a decade, never once meeting an opponent. Only this Jiang Xinyue has repeatedly defeated me. I keep thinking I can't be outwitted, yet I dare not go too far. If it were any of the other concubines I've dealt with, a dose of poison would be enough to send them on their way. But she is Jiang Xinyue; I must leave myself a way out, so I dared only to use a laxative."
Even the former Crown Prince was poisoned to death by her, and the Second Prince contracted smallpox by wearing clothes she had smuggled in from outside the palace. While recovering outside the palace, he was killed by her father.
She and her father had been an invincible duo.
Yet, when it came to the Jiang family, she had to be much more cautious.
“Mother…”
At the entrance of the main hall, the Third Prince called out to Consort De, his head lowered, looking listless. This only fueled Consort De’s anger: “Xuan’er, come here.”
The Third Prince hesitated for a moment but eventually stepped into the hall: “Mother, did you need something from me?”
Was it just her imagination?
Consort De felt that since returning from the imperial retreat, the Third Prince had been much colder towards her, even indifferent to her concern at times.
She scrutinized him, her gaze sharp: "Mother asks you, did Concubine Zhen say anything to you at the imperial lodge?"
The Third Prince shook his head: “No.”
“No, or are you protecting her and refusing to tell me?”
The Third Prince fell silent, his clear, innocent eyes meeting hers, as if judging her.
“Slap!”
Consort De slapped the Third Prince across the face: "Who is your mother, her or me? Ever since she entered the palace, you children have all been under some kind of spell, forgetting who your real mother is, haven't you? I've been fighting tooth and nail for whom, I ask you, for whom? In the end, I'm the villain, and she's the saint, is that it? Do you want to be her son? Does she even want you? She has her own son; you'd only be second to the Fourth Prince!"
The Third Prince’s face turned to the side, his eyes reddening, but unlike before, he didn’t burst into tears and run into Consort De’s arms.
He merely lifted his slightly defiant face, his gaze darkening as he glared at Consort De: “Stop using me as an excuse. You have no idea what I truly want.”
All he wanted… was a mother. That was all.
