79

  Inside the Xiangfu Palace, the Empress Dowager was talking to the Empress when suddenly Xiaodezi said that the Fourth Prince and his consort had arrived. Looking at their expressions, they didn't seem too good, especially the Fourth Princess, whose face looked worried, with what seemed like tear stains in her eyes.

  "What's going on? Have the two of you had a falling out?" The empress dowager glanced at the empress.

  The queen shook her head and said, "It shouldn't be, right? According to Yan Yu, these days they've been getting along great. This morning, it seemed like Rui'er came out of Feng'er's room. Although nothing must have happened, it's still a surprising development."

  The empress dowager hastily said: "Quickly declare them to come in."

  Murong Feng came in from outside, without saying a word, first shedding tears and paying respects. Murong Feng's soft voice slowly said: "Grandmother, there is something that Feng'er really doesn't know how to handle, so I can only ask Grandmother for a solution."

  The empress dowager saw that they didn't seem to be quarreling, so she put her mind at ease. Since it wasn't a quarrel, everything could be discussed, and she asked: "What's the matter?"

  Murong Feng paused slightly before speaking quietly: "Feng'er knows that this matter is somewhat difficult for Grandmother, but under these circumstances, Feng'er has no other choice but to ask Grandmother. If Feng'er's mother were still alive, it would be fine... But..."

  "Don't worry, tell me what's going on and Grandmother will definitely help you." The Empress Dowager comforted.

  "The Snow Queen has given birth." Sima Rui said calmly.

  "What?! The Empress Dowager and the Queen were both startled. "A miscarriage? When did she become pregnant? How could this happen?"

  "Maple also just knew the news, and rushed over when Snow was already unconscious and bleeding nonstop. Maple didn't know what to do, so she had to ask Li for help to stop the bleeding first. Fortunately, Li was a princess of Wumeng, skilled in medicine, so she stopped the bleeding. However, as for the next step, we all don't know how to handle it, and can only ask our grandmother and mother for advice." Murong Feng said quietly with his head down.

  "Where is your father? Isn't he always with her?" The empress dowager asked in confusion, "I heard that your father has been with her these past few days. If something happened, wouldn't your father help her? Why would she need to find you all?"

  "The Emperor is with Consort Liu, and it seems that Consort Liu has also had a miscarriage." Sima Rui said languidly.

  "What?! The Empress Dowager and the Queen's expressions became even more astonished, "She is also pregnant? When? How come I didn't know at all. Your Majesty, have you heard?"

  The queen shook her head, "I've never heard her mention it. These days we don't often meet face to face. I heard that her daughter-in-law Hongyu was scratched on the back of her hand by one of Consort Li's maids and is currently recuperating at home."

  "With a scratch on the back of your hand, you need to rest. How can you be so delicate?" The empress frowned and said, "Your father emperor has always doted on Snow Concubine, hasn't he? When something similar happened, shouldn't he have gone to comfort his new favorite first? Why did he go to Liu Concubine instead?"

  Murong Feng said in a low voice, "Father Emperor blamed Snow Concubine for accidentally injuring Liu Concubine, causing her to have a miscarriage. In a fit of anger, he slapped Snow Concubine, who also lost her balance and fell down the stairs. When she returned to the mansion, she found herself bleeding profusely from below. The imperial physician said it was a miscarriage and there was nothing they could do, so they had to inform the Crown Prince's Consort and Feng'er. Feng'er had never encountered such a situation before, so he could only ask for help from his grandmother."

  "Did Snow Concubine accidentally hurt Liu Concubine?" The Empress smiled, "What a joke. Someone like Liu Concubine wouldn't be so careless. Since she knew she was already pregnant, with her personality, she would naturally be even more careful. How could she be so careless as to let Snow Concubine hurt her? I'm afraid you must have misheard. What about Snow Concubine now? Is the imperial physician still here?"

  "The imperial physician is in the Crown Prince's residence, and neither Xueyuan nor Luyu have been assigned an imperial physician." Murong Feng looked at the Empress Dowager and the Empress, saying seriously, "This is no laughing matter. It was Spring Joy, who serves Snow Concubine, who witnessed it with her own eyes. According to Spring Joy, at that time, perhaps the Emperor did not see clearly, and Snow Concubine suddenly felt something in her eye, uncomfortable, and rubbed her eyes. At that moment, Liu Concubine, who was standing opposite her, happened to lose her balance and fell over. The Emperor mistakenly believed it was intentional and, in his anger, struck Snow Concubine. It was also Snow Concubine's carelessness; she did not know she was pregnant, so she stood at the edge of the stairs. When she was slapped, she naturally lost her balance and fell from the stairs. The Emperor was worried about Liu Concubine and neglected Snow Concubine's situation; he also did not know that Snow Concubine was pregnant. If Luyu had an imperial physician, this accident would not have happened. Snow Concubine suffered greatly all the way to Luyu's residence, where it was discovered that she had a miscarriage due to excessive bleeding. Her current condition is naturally very poor. However, I truly do not know how to handle this situation; the imperial physicians in the palace also do not know what to do and are anxiously waiting. The Crown Prince's consort and Luyu are currently attending to her."

  "Didn't you go inform His Majesty?" Empress Dowager asked.

  "The Emperor is currently in Liu Fei's Hua Yang Palace, who do you think can get in now?" Sima Rui smiled and said, "The people around Snow Fei are probably not even able to touch the door. If we could find the Emperor ourselves, would we still need to bother you?"

  "It's better to hurry up and give birth quickly." The empress thought for a moment and said, "If Snow Concubine gives birth prematurely and there is no suitable person to take care of her, if the emperor gets angry and banishes Snow Concubine to the Cold Palace, it would be truly pitiful for that little girl Murong Xue."

  The Empress Dowager nodded, "What you said makes sense. I hereby declare an imperial edict: The Snow Queen in the Warm Jade Pavilion's Snow Garden has a blood disease and cannot be moved. Without my order, no one is allowed to disturb her."

  "Yes." Little Dezi immediately turned around and left.

  "Someone, prepare the sedan chair. The empress and I are going to Xueyuan." The empress dowager said, "Although that girl has made me angry, after all, she is carrying a child of the Sima family in her womb, and she had a miscarriage. It's also pitiful that at this time, there is no one by her side, perhaps she even wants to die. This emperor is also like this, without understanding what happened, he just beats people."

  The queen thought to herself: If Liu Fei is really pregnant, then it's fine. But if she isn't, I'm afraid I've dug a hole for myself.

  A group of people had not yet arrived at the Warm Jade Pavilion when they saw the emperor's men proclaiming an edict, which roughly commanded Snow Concubine to move out of Snow Garden immediately and relocate to Cold Palace. Fortunately, the empress dowager's benevolent edict arrived a step earlier, and Xiao Dezi was standing at the door, talking to Gao Gonggong beside the emperor.

  Seeing the sedan chairs of the Empress Dowager and the Empress, as well as Fourth Prince and his consort, Gao Gonggong hastily accompanied them with a smile, humbly saying: "Your Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager is well, Your Imperial Majesty the Empress is well, Fourth Prince is well, Fourth Princess Consort is well. It's already so late, but it's just a small matter, yet it has disturbed everyone... This Snow Concubine also doesn't know her manners..."

  "Eunuch, how did you arrive so quickly? My grandmother hasn't even spoken yet. You can go and attend to your duties." Sima Rui was most annoyed by these eunuchs, who were always shrinking back and speaking in a low, servile tone, with a natural air of being slaves. Sometimes they weren't even as good as those maidservants, who at least had some sense of dignity.

  Gao Gonggong knew the fourth prince's temper and immediately fell silent.

  "What are you doing here so late?" The Empress Dowager asked slowly, already knowing the answer.

  "Empress Snow accidentally injured Concubine Liu in the He Yang Palace today, causing Concubine Liu to have a miscarriage. The Emperor is furious and has ordered me to ask Empress Snow to move to the Cold Palace. After cleaning up, let Concubine Liu come here to rest."

  The empress dowager frowned, "It's really a season of troubles. I just found out that Consort Snow had a miscarriage, and now I hear that Consort Liu also had one. Empress, you go take a look at the Yang Palace, I'll go check on Consort Snow first. This girl is having her first child, she probably doesn't know how to handle it. See if the emperor has time, if he can settle Consort Liu's affairs well, it would be best if he could also spare some time to see Consort Snow and apologize to her. After all, it was he who personally sent away Consort Snow's child."