Chapter 153: It Would Be Better If I Died

Chapter 153: It Would Be Better If I Died

He Jinli smirked, "Rest well. If you don't recover, you'll suffer on the journey."

After he left, Yunli felt somewhat better.

Huh, the Emperor is quite amusing, saying he would leave if she's not well by then, yet also saying she'll suffer on the road if not recovered.

Tsk.

Well, staying far from the court intrigues in the temporary palace is good, but being left behind by the Emperor here would not be pleasant.

When Yunli felt a bit stronger, she asked, "How is Xu Baolin? Is she staying or returning?"

"To the beautiful lady, I've inquired, and it seems Xu Baolin has recovered quite a bit and will also return to the palace with us. Otherwise, it's too far here, and she wouldn't be able to take good care of her pregnancy if she stayed," came the reply.

Indeed, it's far.

The journey by carriage alone takes over a month.

By the twenty-fifth, Yunli was much better, though still weak and considerably thinner.

This sudden bout of cold was so severe that for several days, she lost her sense of taste and smell. She couldn't eat anything.

Now that she has finally recovered, she needs to recuperate slowly.

Meng Chang personally visited and seeing her condition, was reassured and left.

They set off on the return journey before dawn the next day, and Yunli slept in the carriage. It didn't matter much to her; she gradually got used to the bumps.

Eating less now, she was more manageable.

Xu Baolin was the same, with the royal physician looking after her throughout the journey. Both a patient and a pregnant woman needed careful attention.

However, half a month later, as the patient gradually grew stronger day by day, the pregnant woman's complexion looked worse.

She was just over three months pregnant and suffering from severe morning sickness.

Fortunately, she hadn't stirred the fetal qi again.

By the ninth day of the ninth month, news came from the palace that Consort Mei had given birth to the second princess on the morning of the eighth, both mother and daughter safe.

Finally, on the twenty-eighth of the ninth month, the imperial carriage arrived at the capital region. In three more days, they would return to the palace.

Yun Li had completely recovered, only needing to slowly regain the weight she had lost.

Xu Baolin, on the other hand, was barely holding on, vomiting daily with no appetite, torturously thin.

The official return to the palace was on the first day of the tenth month.

They had left in the height of summer and returned at the start of winter.

Xu Baolin didn't even have the strength to pay respects to the Empress, being directly assisted back.

Upon returning in the morning, everyone first went to pay their respects to the Empress.

The Empress instructed that there be a family banquet at Linzhi Palace in the evening, then dismissed everyone.

Upon returning to Yuqu Palace, everyone came forward to greet her, having not seen her for four months, missing her deeply, with tears in their eyes.

Yun Li laughed off the concern, and Zhi Fu and the others, without saying much, suggested she rest for a while if there was no urgent matter.

Yun Li finally slept in her own bed, falling into a deep, peaceful sleep.

No one expected that just a few days after the Emperor and his entourage returned, trouble would arise.

The banquet passed without incident, and the Emperor spent the night with the Empress.

On the third day, the fourth prince fell ill again, struggling to breathe.

His face turned red from the effort, and his condition seemed to worsen, even starting to convulse.

The wet nurse hurriedly picked him up and patted his back, and it took a while before he got better.

The imperial physician also ran over, gasping unevenly.

After taking the pulse for a long while, he frowned: "The Fourth Prince is frail, cannot stand the scent of flowers, nor be exposed to pollen... Do any of the wet nurses have pollen on them?"

The four wet nurses were terrified, and before they could speak, the Empress asked, "Who brought it?"

Three knelt down, while another still held the child.

"We didn't, we dare not use such things, even for laundry we dare not use soap nuts."

The imperial physician pointed at Nurse Liu: "You have a floral scent on you."

Nurse Liu was shocked, she knee-walked a few steps: "Impossible, I've never used it, who attending the Fourth Prince wouldn't know this? It's absolutely not me."

The imperial physician said: "Then it must have been contaminated from somewhere, you should go change your clothes immediately."

"Wait!" the Empress clenched her teeth: "Ruyi, follow her, and make sure the clothes she takes off are not discarded. Check her hair as well."

Ruyi complied.

The investigation of the wet nurse was conducted swiftly, and a problem was discovered.

What was thought to be contamination turned out to be deliberate when a small cloth pouch, sewn inside the clothes at the armpit area and filled with pollen, was found upon inspection.

Ruyi, shaking, pointed and demanded, "What is this? Are you seeking death?"

Nurse Liu was terrified: "It wasn't me, I didn't do it, it wasn't me."

The fourth prince often had trouble breathing in his sleep, and they would hold him to sleep, his armpits often directly facing the child's nose and mouth...

The fourth prince was particularly sensitive to these...

This was tantamount to wishing him dead.

Ruyi ordered someone to detain Mrs. Liu, fearing she might harm herself, and hurriedly took the evidence to the Empress.

The Empress was furious, immediately sending Mrs. Liu to the Internal Punishment Department, ordering that she must confess the truth by any means necessary.

The other three wet nurses wished they could be sent away too, if not for the fourth prince's dependence on them.

Such a serious matter naturally had to be reported to the Emperor.

Upon hearing this, He Jinli frowned and ordered a thorough investigation.

Someone wanted the fourth prince dead? The fourth prince was his legitimate son; even if frail and unable to handle major responsibilities, he was still the legitimate heir.

How could he tolerate such scheming against him?

Nurse Liu was beaten until she was bruised and bloodied, but unfortunately, she still claimed ignorance, truly knowing nothing.

Eventually, severely beaten and unable to endure further, she still couldn't provide any information, except for one clue: her clothes were often washed by a young maid.

This wasn't a big deal; nursemaids held a higher status than palace maids.

Having young maids wash their clothes wasn't out of the ordinary.

Which specific young maid helped with the washing, she herself did not know.

However, this was easy to investigate, and soon several young maids who regularly washed clothes for the nursemaids were identified.

Upon detailed interrogation, a young maid named Juxiang, only eleven years old, confessed without much questioning.

"It was Nurse Su, Nurse Su paid me, she... she gave me the pollen... sob sob, she said she didn't want to serve anymore, it would be better if the Fourth Prince died... it was her... she said the Fourth Prince was bound to die sooner or later, following a sickly child is fruitless, sob sob... my father is critically ill, nearly dying, I needed the money, sob sob, please spare my life, Empress..."

Nurse Su was another one of the Fourth Prince's nursemaids.

The Empress swept the items on the table to the floor, trembling with rage.

"Take... take that wretch, and Su as well... to the internal justice department, beat them, beat those two wretches to death for me."

Meng Chang and others were present and immediately set off.

Unfortunately, they were a step too late.

Su was a ruthless individual; originally attending to the Fourth Prince, upon realizing Juxiang was caught, she excused herself to the restroom and hanged herself from a beam there.

People outside heard something amiss and tried to enter, but she had barred the door from inside.

By the time they broke in, she was already dead.

With this, it became a case of death without evidence.

With Nurse Su's death, her husband, children, and both her natal and marital families were all imprisoned.

Her own daughter was two months older than the Fourth Prince, and she also had a four-year-old son; such a woman indeed had a ruthless heart.