Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Dan Tao looked totally confused.

"Milady, did you have the young master just to play with him?"

Xie Run blinked her innocent eyes and stayed quiet.

After a moment, she glanced at the sleeping Taotao and smiled. "My son is so adorable!"

Unable to resist, she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

In his sleep, the Fifth Young Master couldn't help but furrow his brows and pout his little lips in annoyance.

That little-old-man expression, paired with his fair, plump bun-like face, melted everyone's hearts.

Even Dan Tao couldn't help laughing at that.

Xie Run thought for a moment. "Since we have nothing to do lately, why not find two painters in the residence to paint Taotao's portrait and send it to the Prince?"

Dan Tao: "Amitabha, Milady, you've finally said something sensible."

Xie Run pouted. "When have I ever been nonsensical?"

Dan Tao quietly stared at her mistress.

Xie Run suddenly felt a twinge of guilt.

The daily childcare routine at Chunshan Courtyard was quite... laid-back.

Over at Xiachi Courtyard, things weren't looking so good.

The Third Young Master had been born prematurely. Although Fang Yuaner had personally nursed him for a while and managed to keep him alive, his constitution was naturally weaker than most children's.

This weakness showed most clearly in his eating and sleeping, making things extremely taxing for those caring for him.

They had barely survived the "two-month fuss" period, and all the maids and matrons at Xiachi Courtyard had lost a few pounds.

Recently, he had suddenly started spitting up his milk.

Fang Yuaner had heeded Xie Run's warning and wanted to stay vigilant against Wan Linlang, but she was preoccupied with her son and couldn't spare the attention for now.

Because of the Third Young Master's milk-spitting issue, she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while.

At that moment, she was watching the wet nurse feed the Third Young Master.

Seeing the child eat eagerly, she let out a deep sigh of relief.

"As long as he can eat, that's good... as long as he can eat, there's nothing to fear." Qiu Xiang comforted her. "It's those days when he wouldn't eat at all, and even when we managed to get a couple of mouthfuls in, he'd spit them right back out."

Fang Yuaner leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Isn't that so?"

"This little tyke is driving me to my wit's end."

Then she looked at Qiu Xiang again. "What about Wan Linlang? You've been keeping an eye on her—have you noticed anything unusual?"

Qiu Xiang: "Nothing unusual, but I did look into it. Concubine Wan seems to be genuinely trying to protect Concubine Lian's pregnancy."

"Genuine?" Fang Yuaner sneered. "How could a woman like her have any sincerity?"

"Even if she truly is protecting Concubine Lian's pregnancy, she's definitely up to something."

With that, Fang Yuaner suddenly sat up straight, as if struck by a revelation. "Ulterior motive?!"

Qiu Xiang dismissed the wet nurse and asked, puzzled, "Milady, have you thought of something?"

"I have a vague guess, but I'm not sure if it's right."

"What?"

Fang Yuaner smiled. "Wan Linlang probably wants to raise the child in Concubine Lian's belly."

Qiu Xiang thought it sounded like a joke. "How is that possible?!"

"Even if Concubine Lian comes from a humble background, she's still a concubine properly brought into the household by the Prince."

"Even if the Prince no longer favors her in the future and wants someone else to raise the child, it should be a secondary consort or a side consort—how could it go to a mere concubine?"

But right now, all three secondary consorts had children of their own, and only Side Consort Jiang had none.

Yet setting that aside, given Side Consort Jiang's condition, Prince Jing would have to be out of his mind to give her a child to raise.

It just wasn't possible.

But coming from her mistress's mouth, Qiu Xiang inexplicably found herself half-believing it.

"Why can't a concubine raise another concubine's child? That kind of thing isn't uncommon in Prince Wei's and Prince An's households."

Fang Yuaner said with a deep gaze. "If the child loses his mother at birth, who do you think he'd be given to?"

Qiu Xiang said cautiously. "Isn't the Princess Consort above them all?"

Fang Yuaner thought about the timing and shook her head. "The Princess Consort can't raise him."

As for why she couldn't, Qiu Xiang asked, but Fang Yuaner just didn't answer—she was simply certain.

In cases like this, Qiu Xiang didn't dare press further.

"If the Princess Consort can't raise him, then the child really might end up with Concubine Wan."

Although Qiu Xiang found it absurd, if she thought it through carefully, the possibility was actually quite high.

Fang Yuaner's gaze was heavy. "But if that's the case, Concubine Lian is surely doomed."

Qiu Xiang's heart skipped a beat.

Thinking of how Concubine Lian now regarded Concubine Wan as her most trusted person, unaware that she had long become a meal on someone else's plate—and might even die at Concubine Wan's hands one day... Qiu Xiang felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Fang Yuaner guessed aloud, then shook her head. "No!"

"Wan Linlang is deeply calculating; she wouldn't do something that simple."

"If she wants the child in Concubine Lian's belly, she'll plan it thoroughly, leaving no room for error... She must be doing other things as well."

But since Wan Linlang hadn't revealed any clues yet, even Fang Yuaner, armed with her knowledge of the situation, couldn't figure out Wan Linlang's scheme.

The tranquility of the back courtyard did not last long.

When Xie Run sent a portrait she had drawn of Taotao mixed in with the painter's works, rushed by horseback to Prince Jing, a major incident occurred in the back courtyard.

A young maid came to deliver the news, "My lady, Consort Jiang has dosed Concubine Lian with an abortion-inducing drug. Concubine Wan is currently causing a commotion at Songya Courtyard with her people."

Xie Run simply couldn't grasp the maid's words at first and thought she had misheard.

When the young maid repeated herself, she hesitated, then asked, "Has the Princess Consort already headed to Songya Courtyard?"

"The Princess Consort has already hurried over with her entourage."

"How is Concubine Lian?"

"We don't know yet. All I know is that Concubine Wan is personally performing acupuncture on Concubine Lian, trying her best to help her keep the baby."

Xie Run sighed and said to the maid beside her, "Help me change into proper attire. I'll make a trip to Songya Courtyard."

With such a major incident occurring, everyone except Shufei Li, who was due to give birth, would likely rush over.

Xie Run felt this news turned her understanding of things upside down.

Wan Linlang was truly sincerely trying to preserve Concubine Lian's pregnancy?!

Jiang Baobao was really so brazen as to directly feed a pregnant concubine an abortion-inducing drug?!

Whichever matter she considered, Xie Run found it beyond comprehension.

Yet both had happened, and at the exact same time.

Xie Run's place was nearby Songya Courtyard, so when she arrived, only Concubine Lu from Qingfeng Courtyard and the Princess Consort were present; the others had not yet come.

After paying her respects to the Princess Consort, Xie Run got straight to the point, "I rushed over and don't know how Concubine Lian is doing."

The Princess Consort nodded toward the bedchamber behind her, "Concubine Wan is performing acupuncture on her. The baby is safe for now."

"The baby is safe? That's truly good news."

Before Prince Jing denied the child in Concubine Lian's womb, the child was Prince Jing's!

If something had actually happened, Prince Jing would inevitably hold the Princess Consort and others accountable upon his return.

Who would bear that responsibility then?

Xie Run thought for a moment, "May I go in and see Concubine Lian?"

The Princess Consort gave a slight nod.

As soon as Xie Run entered, she caught a whiff of blood and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Had there been bleeding?

But Concubine Lian's pregnancy was likely only about a month along.

If there was bleeding, how could the baby possibly survive?