Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Xie Run merely said, "Some things only my elder sister would understand."

Xie Jiang's situation was similar to hers.

She would surely read between the lines, knowing Xie Run didn't really care about their parents' well-being, but wanted her to keep an eye on the Xie family's affairs, so nothing would go wrong during her labor.

As for the letter to Xie Jing, it was meant to have him look into her childhood sweetheart's situation.

Xie Run worried Xie Jing might think she still had feelings for that man, so she stressed over and over how serious the sweetheart's reappearance was.

If something happened, it wouldn't just hurt Xie Run, but could drag the whole Xie family down.

As the eldest son, Xie Jing carried the weight of the family's future.

So he'd naturally be extra careful about anything that could endanger the whole Xie family.

Only after taking care of all that did Xie Run finally relax a bit.

Once Imperial Physician Fang arrived, he was called to Concubine An's courtyard.

Word didn't come out until the afternoon.

The Second Princess had breathed in too much charcoal smoke, and it had damaged her mind.

The Fourth Young Master had inhaled charcoal smoke into his throat and lungs, which had likely caused damage too, though they still weren't sure how bad it would be.

All they knew was that the boy's lungs would probably never be the same.

When Concubine An heard the news, she passed out from shock.

After a long investigation, they concluded the attendants had no proper procedures, and in their panic over the two young masters, they'd made mistakes in the confusion, which led to this huge disaster.

Of course, all the attendants were punished.

That evening, when Prince Jing came back from court, he didn't even look at Concubine An, and immediately ordered the Second Princess to be moved to the Princess's courtyard to be raised.

He didn't say for how long or how it should be done.

But everyone in the inner courtyard figured the Prince probably planned to put the Second Princess under the Princess's name, basically making her the Princess's own daughter.

As for how he felt about the Fourth Young Master, nobody knew.

Over at the Princess's place, after the Prince went back to the front courtyard, Nanny Li was furious.

"His Highness is being way too unfair."

"Back when four concubines were pregnant, he never once offered to let you raise any of them!"

"Now that Concubine An messed up raising her child and the girl ended up a fool, he wants you to clean up the mess!"

"And she's just a girl... His Highness has been way too harsh on you!"

In the past, no matter what, Nanny Li would always take Prince Jing's side, always telling the Princess how great he was.

But now she was genuinely pissed off by his behavior, and her good opinion of him was completely gone.

The Princess stayed calm, taking a small sip of her tea. "If the Prince had brought the boy to me to raise, it really would've been the death of both me and that child."

Nanny Li wiped the tears from her old face, stunned for a moment.

"My lady, what do you mean by that?"

The Princess said, "Last time Consort Chen stuck her nose into Concubine Fang's courtyard, I figured the harem and the court were about to descend into chaos."

The Princess had once been a princess herself, had seen a lot inside and outside the palace, and had solid political instincts.

She sighed. "The other princes don't take Prince Jing seriously for two reasons: first, because he married me, and second... because he doesn't have a legitimate son."

"If the Prince had a legitimate son, it'd be a whole different story."

"Then those scheming people in the harem wouldn't go after the lesser concubines and consorts—they'd all come after me."

The fight for the throne was already brewing, and if Prince Jing lost a legitimate son or his wife right now, either one would be a fatal blow.

Losing a legitimate son would make him look weaker than the other princes and show he couldn't even protect his own heir.

Losing his wife would give people even more to gossip about.

Most importantly, what would the Emperor think of Prince Jing then?

Marrying you to a princess from a neighboring kingdom was exactly to kill any ambition you had for the throne.

Now that all the princes were making their moves, if your wife suddenly died, would it seem you were preparing to marry someone from a powerful family to scheme for a position that wasn't rightfully yours?

The current Emperor was suspicious yet ruthless. If he truly made up his mind, he might simply order Prince Jing to observe mourning for his wife for three to five years, then exile him to his fiefdom, directly extinguishing his hopes.

It sounded absurd, but this wasn't the first time the Emperor had done something outrageous.

Prince Wei, the Third Prince, had originally been a refined gentleman, extremely virtuous in his conduct.

Prince Wei's deceased wife came from the Chen family of Jiangbei, the foremost among the Great Yu Dynasty's prestigious scholarly clans, having produced three generations of imperial tutors.

The couple had grown up together since childhood, childhood sweethearts, deeply in love.

But somehow the Chen family had incurred the Emperor's displeasure.

First, the imperial tutor was dismissed, then Prince Wei was forced to divorce his wife.

Prince Wei would rather die than comply, so the Emperor repeatedly humiliated him at court, trampling him into the mud.

Later, Lady Chen, unable to bear the rumors and slander, took her own life.

The Emperor then publicly mocked Prince Wei, saying, "You pride yourself on your deep marital love; now that your wife is gone, why not follow her in death?"

Prince Wei was so humiliated he nearly drew his sword to kill himself on the spot.

But he was stopped by those around him.

Yet upon returning to Prince Wei's residence, he received an imperial edict ordering him to observe mourning for his wife for three years and be exiled to his fiefdom.

This edict effectively destroyed Prince Wei's future.

It was only when Prince Wei's birth mother, Virtuous Consort Chen, knelt until death at the Great Yu Palace that the Emperor rescinded the order.

From that day on, Prince Wei shut his doors and observed three years of mourning for his wife.

Three years later, Prince Wei had become a carefree playboy, dallying among the flowers and willows, and never again came near power.

When the Emperor grew suspicious of a son, he could be utterly ruthless.

Prince Jing's choice not to let the Princess Consort raise the boy was not only to protect her and the Fourth Young Master, but also to protect his own future.

The Princess Consort understood it all clearly and harbored no resentment whatsoever.

"I hurt myself back in the Xia Dynasty, and I'm afraid I'll never be able to have a child of my own."

"Before, I didn't want to raise another's child because I worried the child might get ideas and cause me trouble, or that it might never really warm to me."

The room was warm and smelled sweet, and the Princess Consort's face was pale and calm. "Now that I'm raising the Second Princess—she's a girl and a bit simple, but it saves me a lot of worry."

"I guess it's a trade-off."

Mother Li wiped her tears again and again. "Why must my lady suffer so?!"

"But what you say is right. Just think of it as keeping a little cat or dog to pass the time."

The Princess Consort frowned. "Mother, you've misspoken again."

"She is the prince's daughter, Princess Duanjing, titled by imperial decree. How can you call her a little cat or dog?"

Mother Li slapped herself on the cheek. "This servant spoke out of turn!"

"The Little Princess is chubby and fair, healthy and strong—she's bound to be lucky!"

"I've also heard that among the common folk, a barren woman who adopts a child soon finds herself with child." The more Mother Li thought about it, the happier she became, even changing her title. "Perhaps our Little Princess truly is a little lucky star!"

The Princess Consort smiled faintly, but not with the joy she described.

In this inner courtyard, how could everything really go the way you want?

Sometimes, just one wish fulfilled is enough.

Two days later, replies came from both Xie Jing and Xie Jiang.

Xie Jiang's letter only said that the Xie family members were all very well-behaved, with nothing unusual, and she also sent some medicinal pills beneficial for childbirth and postpartum recovery.

Xie Jing's letter, however, mentioned something else.

That childhood sweetheart of Xie Run's—she had recently gone missing!