On that day, the accident was just a false alarm.
There was a leak in the bottom of the pavilion boat, but with Xiao Jingheng on it, there were more than ten craftsmen on the boat. They quickly repaired it and safely sent Xiao Jingheng back to Lake Heart Island.
That night, Xiao Jingheng summoned Song Zhao to serve him in the bedroom.
When it was night, he sat at his desk reading a military book, and casually asked Song Zhao,
"How do you see today's incident?"
"Does Your Majesty believe it?" Song Zhao asked back.
Xiao Jingheng shook his head. Song Zhao then said,
"Believing or not believing in divination is only in one's mind. If Your Majesty believed Tan Yuezhi's words about today's pavilion boat incident, you would involuntarily associate the dangerous incident with what he said. But later I asked, leaks in the bottom of pavilion boats are common occurrences that would definitely not lead to any accidents.
The reason why the palace maids were so nervous today was because Your Majesty was on the boat. This matter must not have any flaws. Even if the pavilion boat really sank, Your Majesty could still take a small boat back to Lake Heart Island, so there would definitely not be any accidents. But coincidentally something happened, so it was inevitable for people to feel that today's disaster turned into a blessing, and it was calculated accurately by Tan Yuezhi."
Xiao Jingheng smiled at Song Zhao, "What my beloved concubine said accords with what I was thinking."
Song Zhao also smiled, and reached out to close the military book in front of Xiao Jingheng,
"Your Majesty accompanied your concubine around the city today which must have tired you out. Why not rest early?"
Xiao Jingheng nodded in agreement. Song Zhao then started helping him change clothes.
After taking off his outer robe, Song Zhao was surprised to find that the dragon-patterned embryo jade she gave to Xiao Jingheng at New Year’s Eve was still worn intimately by him.
"Your Majesty, this embryo jade has many flaws and is far from matching your status. Yet Your Majesty is willing to wear it every day?"
Xiao Jingheng fiddled with the embryo jade, "This is your most cherished thing. What's precious is your feelings. Since you gave it to me, it represents our affection. I should of course not fail you."
"Your Majesty..."
Song Zhao nestled in Xiao Jingheng's arms, her soft fingers wandered in, taking off his undergarment inch by inch, shyly yet coquettishly, allowing Xiao Jingheng’s big hands to hold her waist tightly as they indulged in the spring night, their feelings intertwined.
The next morning, when Song Zhao heard that the Empress Dowager’s old illness had relapsed, she hurried over to visit her.
The Empress Dowager’s old illness came from a persistent high fever when she was young. Whenever there was a change of weather, she would be plagued by headaches and suffer greatly.
On that day, after serving the Empress Dowager for two hours, Song Zhao finally got a chance to rest when the Empress Dowager was slightly better and could sleep for a while. Song Zhao also returned to her own room, wanting to take a nap.
She and Xiao Jingheng went over the top last night that she barely had any good sleep all night.
Now when her head touched the pillow, sleepiness came. Just as she was about to doze off hazily, she suddenly heard Xiao Fuzi's loud cries outside the door,
"Concubine! Concubine! Terrible thing happened!"
"You little rascal, what are you doing!" Yun Shan stopped him outside the door and whispered angrily: "Concubine attended the Empress Dowager all morning and has just got the chance to rest. Don't startle Concubine!"
Having been woken up, Song Zhao had lost her sleepiness. She put on a robe and got up to ask,
"Speak slowly. What happened?"
"Concubine... Master Tong, she, she had a miscarriage!"
"What did you say?" Song Zhao looked incredulous and asked again, "How could she suddenly have a miscarriage out of the blue?"
Xiao Fuzi said, "I don't know the details either. This morning after His Majesty finished talking with the ministers, he summoned Master Tong to serve tea and brush. Later when it was time for lunch, after Master Tong came back and finished her meal, she said her stomach hurt badly. Consort Hui and Consort Yao were there then. They immediately asked someone to summon the imperial physician. But before the imperial physician arrived, Master Tong started bleeding..."
After listening to the reason, Song Zhao's heart felt like being gripped tightly by an invisible big hand, churning uncomfortably.
If the imperial physician found out that Rongyue had been taking Nine Yin Powder all along, it would be punishable by death of her whole family.
She hurried to Rongyue's room. By the time she arrived, most of the concubines had arrived, and Xiao Jingheng sitting at the main seat looked grieved.
Song Zhao quietly squeezed herself into the crowd and asked Consort Yao in a low voice,
"I heard that Master Tong had a miscarriage. When did she get pregnant?"
Consort Yao said, "Two months. She was muddled and didn't even know herself. Just now we were chatting after the meal. Not long after, she said her stomach hurt badly..."
Speaking of which, the imperial physician Guo walked out of the inner room.
He looked grave and reported to Xiao Jingheng,
"Replying to Your Majesty, Master Tong's bleeding has stopped. Currently there is no threat to her life. However, when diagnosing Master Tong’s pulse, I discovered the reason why she bled unceasingly was that she had taken Nine Yin Powder..."
"Nine Yin Powder?" Xiao Jingheng asked again, "What is that?"
Guo Imperial Physician said, "This medicine has similar effects as ten cold decoction, both being extremely cold medicines that greatly damage the mother’s body. It’s absolutely forbidden if a woman is pregnant... The amount of Nine Yin Powder Master Tong took was not light. She should have reacted immediately after taking it..."
As soon as these words came out, it immediately caused an uproar.
Consort Hui cried and asked, "What should we do now? Wuwuwu... Is Sister Tong's baby really unable to keep?"
Guo Imperial Physician shook his head sadly. Xiao Jingheng then asked sternly the maid serving Rongyue,
"Guo Imperial Physician said that Master Tong reacted immediately after taking that dirty stuff. What has your mistress eaten today? "
Cai Ying knelt on the ground choking with sobs as she replied, “In the morning my mistress had no appetite. After washing up she went to serve Your Majesty’s brush and ink. By the time she came back, Consort Hui brought food and ate with my mistress and Consort Yao. Shortly after finishing lunch, my mistress felt unbearable stomachache...”
Consort Yao added: “That’s right, it was Consort Hui, myself and Master Tong who had lunch together today.”
Xiao Jingheng ignored them and asked heavily:
“Where are the finished meals?”
The maid who was waiting on them answered: “With the recent hot weather, leftover food easily goes bad and attracts insects and rodents. Consort Hui is most afraid of insects and rodents. So for the leftovers, she urged us to dispose of them right away. Most of the time, we drain the soup and throw it into the lake to feed the fish...”
With this, there was no longer evidence to investigate the incident further.
Xiao Jingheng was silent for a long time before he slowly looked at Consort Hui, his gaze gradually becoming profound:
“Go check if there are any traces of Consort Hui and Consort Yao taking that dirty stuff.”
Guo Imperial Physician diagnosed their pulses one by one.
The result showed that Consort Yao did have symptoms of having taken Nine Yin Powder, but the amount she took was very little, not even half of what Rongyue took. Also because she was not pregnant, if the imperial physician had not examined her in detail, she herself might not have known that she had taken anything.
On the other hand, Consort Hui’s pulse was perfectly fine and very good.
When Consort Yao heard that she had also taken Nine Yin Powder, she was so frightened that her face turned pale.
“This... Your Majesty! Someone wants to harm your concubine!”
At that moment, everyone present looked at Consort Hui collectively, while Consort Hui still looked innocent, as if she did not know what had happened.
