Ning Wanshuang lost another child.
On this sixteenth day of the second month, she had lost a total of three children.
The second month was the season when the Magnolia flowers bloomed.
The Magnolia was her lifelong favorite, and it was under a Magnolia tree that she first met and developed an affinity with Xiao Jingheng through a dance.
At one time, Ning Wanshuang had always felt that during the spring breeze of the second month every year, it should be her most joyful, most prideful, and most glorious day.
But now,
she could no longer face that joy from the past.
Ning Wanshuang's awakening happened on the evening of the second day.
This so-called awakening was merely opening her eyes and staring blankly at the painted ceiling.
Liu Yue had been keeping watch over her, and upon seeing her awake, she first cried tears of joy, then quickly seemed to console her, saying:
"His Majesty is arranging the Second Princess's funeral rites according to the protocols for a Legitimate Princess. Your Highness, you should restrain your grief, actually..."
"Where's Jin Yue?" Ning Wanshuang asked numbly as she struggled to sit up.
Liu Yue said weakly, "The Second Princess's remains have been placed in the Smoke and Rain Pavilion..."
Upon hearing this, Ning Wanshuang abruptly threw off the bedding, ignoring Liu Yue's attempts to stop her as she rushed outside.
At the door, she turned back, frantically searching for something in the palace.
"What is Your Highness looking for? Let this servant help you!"
"Where are her clothes?" Ning Wanshuang asked in near madness. "The birthday gift I bought for Jin Yue? Jin Yue loved beautiful things, I can't let her walk in a cold mourning robe!"
"Here! Here, Your Highness!"
Liu Yue took out new clothes from the wardrobe and handed them to Ning Wanshuang.
Ning Wanshuang clutched them tightly in her hand and rushed madly towards the Smoke and Rain Pavilion without stopping for a moment.
Outside the Smoke and Rain Pavilion, she saw Kang Yubing kneeling in a corner, holding a dagger in his hand, tears streaming down his face as he muttered something incoherently.
Ning Wanshuang called out to him, "What are you doing?"
"Your High...Your Imperial Noble Consort?" Kang Yubing's tears flowed even more torrentially upon seeing Ning Wanshuang.
He prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowing forcefully three times to Ning Wanshuang, before choking out:
"This slave has wronged Your Highness, wronged the young miss. This slave deserves to die! This slave will go to the afterlife now to beg the young miss's forgiveness!"
Seeing him brandish the dagger to take his own life, Ning Wanshuang rebuked him dispiritedly,
"If you want to die, go do it elsewhere, don't make a mess in front of Jin Yue."
Kang Yubing froze, the dagger that was already at his chest slackened.
Ning Wanshuang then asked him, "You said Jin Yue suddenly fainted, but she had never had this problem before, so why would..."
Kang Yubing choked back his sobs and said, "After Your Highness left the palace and returned home, the Second Princess had been residing in His Majesty's palace. When the Empress went to court with the Crown Prince, she would also send the Third Princess to keep the Second Princess company every day. Perhaps the two Princesses played until they were tired. The Third Princess often felt lethargic, and the Second Princess was the same."
Ning Wanshuang had seen Jin Yue and Ruo Xin playing mischievously like that before.
If they frolicked like that every day, it was understandable that they would feel fatigued and lethargic.
With that, Ning Wanshuang no longer blamed Kang Yubing, only saying coldly:
"Jin Yue will be buried in the Princess Tomb. If you have a heart, you can go and keep vigil for her for three years. As for after that... you can find your own way outside the palace."
After all, they had been master and servant for many years. No matter how resentful Ning Wanshuang was towards Kang Yubing, she did not wish to see him throw his life away in vain like this.
Kang Yubing expressed his gratitude with tears, kowtowing to thank Ning Wanshuang for her grace.
But Ning Wanshuang paid him no heed, entering the Smoke and Rain Pavilion on her own.
Jin Yue was laid in a Golden Silk Walnut wood coffin, sleeping peacefully, just like countless ordinary nights, except that no matter how Ning Wanshuang called her, she would never wake up again.
"Jin Yue, look, this is the new dress Mother bought for you. Isn't it beautiful?"
"Mother knew you would like it. Come, shall Mother dress you in it?"
She no longer shed tears,
but smiled and chatted idly with Jin Yue, as if her daughter would still respond to her.
With Liu Yue's assistance, Ning Wanshuang slowly removed the lifeless mourning robe from her child's body and carefully dressed her in the crimson peony dress.
At that moment, she inadvertently glanced down and suddenly noticed a strange bruise on her child's upper thigh.
The bruise was patchy, its color should not have been obvious,
but because Jin Yue's skin was naturally so fair, and even paler after death, the bruise appeared particularly prominent.
Moreover, that location was not where one would expect bruising from a fall.
Upon closer inspection, Ning Wanshuang discovered a tiny scabbed puncture wound amidst the bruising, as if something sharp had pierced through.
The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
So after returning to the palace, under the pretext of physical discomfort, she summoned the Judge of Medicine to Yonghe Palace.
When the Judge of Medicine took her pulse, she did not mention Jin Yue, only describing in detail the bruising and injury she had seen.
The Judge of Medicine listened, then said, "Based on what Your Highness has described, those bruises and wounds appear to be from bloodletting."
"Bloodletting?"
Ning Wanshuang was momentarily dumbfounded, a terrifying thought suddenly occupying her mind.
According to Kang Yubing, after moving into Chaoyang Palace, Jin Yue and Ruo Xin had both experienced mild fainting and lethargy,
symptoms that matched what one would expect from blood loss.
Furthermore, the location of the puncture wound was so discreet, and the wound itself so small and painless, that it would not be noticed even during daily bathing.
She dared not think further, only leading the Judge of Medicine directly to the Feng Luan Palace.
When they arrived, Song Zhao was properly arranging Jin Yue's funeral rites.
Upon seeing Ning Wanshuang's hurried arrival, before she could ask after her well-being, Ning Wanshuang inquired,
"Where is Ruo Xin?"
Song Zhao replied, "Ruo Xin has been crying nonstop since returning to the palace. She just took a calming draught and finally managed to fall asleep."
Without saying another word to Song Zhao, Ning Wanshuang turned and headed straight for Ruo Xin's residence.
Song Zhao followed behind her, watching as she entered Ruo Xin's chambers, then slowly rolled up the girl's pant legs.
Having taken the calming draught, Ruo Xin was sleeping very soundly, and such movements were not enough to wake her.
Song Zhao wondered, "Sister, what is the meaning of this?"
"Look quickly!" Ning Wanshuang exclaimed in alarm, hurriedly pulling Song Zhao to the bedside and pointing to Ruo Xin's upper thigh. "Look at this!"
Song Zhao frowned as she looked closely, indeed noticing a scabbed puncture wound of considerable size on Ruo Xin's upper thigh.
She felt a ringing in her head and was momentarily speechless.
Ning Wanshuang then angrily accused, "Song Zhao! Don't you understand yet? Our children have become Xiao Jingheng's Blood-passing method test subjects!"
The Judge of Medicine stepped forward to examine Ruo Xin's wound closely, also gasping in shock:
"I originally thought the Third Princess was suffering from blood deficiency, never imagining... This humble official has heard of a medicinal practice used by the Witch Doctors of the Miao Territory. They take the blood of an offspring, preferably a virgin, and use it as a catalytic ingredient in medicine. It is said that this Blood-passing method can help restore one's vitality."
[Two chapters today. My ability to empathize was so strong that these few chapters made me cry. Please don't criticize me for why Jin Yue had to die, because we're nearing the grand finale, and this plot point was needed for Ning Wanshuang's final character arc transformation.]
