20demayo Chapter 70
Chapter 70
in fact, empress zhu suddenly adopting a prince wasn't necessarily a bad thing for jiang xinyue.
after all, she had never aspired to be empress and didn't have any conflicts of interest with empress zhu. on the contrary, if she helped empress zhu successfully adopt the fifth prince, empress zhu would likely lower her guard towards her.
"mmm..."
deciding to act, she covered her forehead and slowly propped herself up with her elbow, making a noticeable sound: "your majesty? empress... your highness? what happened to me? cough cough cough..."
empress zhu wiped away her tears and stood up from the ground. jiang xinyue pretended to be clueless, looking at empress zhu with wide eyes: "em... empress... you've... you've already given birth to a little prince?"
she acted utterly incredulous, rubbing her eyes. seeing that the infant in empress zhu's arms hadn't disappeared, she stiffly turned her head to look at the xuanwu emperor: "your majesty... could it be that i've... been unconscious for ten months?"
the xuanwu emperor was amused by her words: "what nonsense are you talking about? this is the fifth prince born to court lady lan from yanxi palace. unfortunately, court lady lan was ill-fated and passed away after giving birth to him. the empress is asking me about the child's future. what do you think, my beloved?"
empress zhu looked at her nervously.
"i... i don't understand these matters. i just think we should choose someone who truly loves him and will raise him as her own son, someone who won't harm him!"
empress zhu had lost several children in succession and might not be able to have more in the future. if she adopted the fifth prince, she would likely transfer all the love she had for the eldest and second princes to the fifth prince. she would be an excellent mother.
concubine zhen spoke with the innocence of a child, not considering the convoluted palace struggles, but instead focusing on what was best for the child.
the xuanwu emperor was reminded of his own situation by her words. when it came to raising children, sometimes even birth mothers might not do as well as adoptive mothers.
he raised his hand and stroked jiang xinyue's smooth hair: "empress, raising the fifth prince in yikun palace was concubine zhen's idea. did you two discuss this beforehand?"
empress zhu immediately knelt down to beg forgiveness: "your majesty, please understand. i only learned two days ago that court lady lan was pregnant and about to give birth."
two days ago, jiang xinyue was still unconscious. how could they have discussed it?
"wah... wah... wah..."
the little one in empress zhu's arms suddenly started crying. still kneeling on the ground while holding him, she could only rock the baby, trying to comfort him.
she made "shh shh" sounds to soothe him, clearly experienced in handling children.
there was a vermilion wooden bridge over the artificial lake, which one had to cross to reach jingren palace.
jiang xinyue knew how to swim, so she wasn't too concerned about safety. who would have thought that in this moment of carelessness, the palace maid would suddenly strike her back with her palm, pushing her into the water.
very quickly, someone underwater grabbed her ankle. although the eunuch who went down to investigate said it was tangled water plants, jiang xinyue had grown up by the sea and was an excellent swimmer who could hold her breath for three minutes underwater.
the person wearing a mask to cover their face was a guard, tall and strong, with strength dozens of times greater than hers.
she could only play dead. after tricking the guard into loosening his grip, when he wasn't paying attention and came to check her pulse, she suddenly opened her eyes and plunged the golden hairpin in her hand into his chest.
she had used all her strength, but due to the resistance of the water, the hairpin only penetrated halfway into his chest. even a guard as strong as him couldn't have escaped.
"if it was really consort shu, how could she possibly use someone from her own palace to summon me? it's nothing more than someone trying to frame consort shu. the one who harmed me definitely wasn't consort shu."
the xuanwu emperor let out a long sigh of relief. if concubine zhen had insisted on punishing consort shu without considering the consequences, it would have put him in a difficult position.
with the wu family gone, keeping consort shu and consort rong in the palace as figureheads would also serve as a gesture to the empress dowager.
now that she was pregnant, it was even more impossible to take action against her.
fortunately, concubine zhen was sensible. both in terms of appearance and personality, she completely matched his expectations.
"i've already ordered wang dequan to have the investigative bureau search for the palace maid and guard you mentioned."
the xuanwu emperor rested his chin on top of jiang xinyue's head: "but i advise you not to get your hopes up too high. anyone who would do such a thing would have surely covered their tracks thoroughly."
that young palace maid was either dead or hidden away, and wouldn't be easy to find.
as for the guard...
the imperial guards who could serve in the palace all had impressive backgrounds. those without family status had connections, and those without connections had networks. investigating them would be fraught with difficulties.
however, concubine zhen's watery eyes were filled with grievance as she gazed at him with adoration. "no matter how powerful they are, can they be more powerful than your majesty? this consort believes that your majesty will surely capture the villains who harm the concubines in the harem."
she clenched her small fist, her face eager and determined. "when that time comes, this consort will definitely let those villains taste the flavor of her fist."
in an instant, her pale face became animated once again.