Chapter 80

  "The Empress's expression remained calm, but she was secretly coldly amused. It seemed that Liu Fei wasn't really having a miscarriage after all. What a big trouble this had stirred up! Why did they have to provoke Mu Rong Xue for no reason? Any one of Mu Rong Xue's sisters would be a phoenix among flowers, a true gem."

  Gao Gonggong's eyes widened in shock, what? Xue Fei also had a miscarriage, and it was the Emperor himself who saw her off. Could it be that the Emperor's slap sent Xue Fei tumbling down the stairs, causing her to miscarry? This is terrible, two imperial consorts having miscarriages in one night.

  At this moment, he saw people from the Second Prince's mansion hurrying into the Warm Jade Pavilion and leading away a maid dressed as a woman.

  The Empress Dowager walked into the Warm Jade Pavilion and turned back to ask, "How did people from Qiang's residence come here? Rui, that maid seems to be the one you chose for Consort Li as Xiaowu, after some grooming, she is indeed a beautiful girl with clear eyebrows and bright eyes, quite likable."

  "Yes." Sima Rui smiled and said, "I heard that Hongyu's back of the hand was scratched by her, I don't know if it was Hongyu who accidentally got some kind of thing on the wound, and it became more and more painful. Li Fei probably took pity on them because they knew each other, so she let Xiao Wu bring medicine to change Hongyu's dressing. Without saying anything else, the medicine from Wumeng country is indeed not something that our Great Xing Dynasty can compare with."

  The empress nodded and stepped into the Snowy Courtyard.

  Murong Xue lay on the bed, her face pale and bloodless. Although Li Fei had helped her stop the bleeding from below, she was weak and frail due to her miscarriage of her first child, and having been scolded by the Emperor, she felt wronged in her heart and harbored a desire to die, refusing to drink water, resulting in her current state.

  The empress dowager let out a soft sigh, this was not a big deal in the imperial palace, which of the concubines wasn't glorious on the surface but miserable behind closed doors? It was already difficult to be favored by the emperor, and it was even more difficult to become pregnant with an heir, but those who had lost their unborn children weren't just Murong Xue alone. It was hard to bear, these women in the palace wanted to keep their own children at all costs, because as long as they had the emperor's child, especially a son, it would naturally bring them honor and wealth, wasn't Liu Fei a living example? And so, those who were pregnant with an heir were even more like thorns in the eyes of the concubines, everyone wanted to get rid of them.

  "How do you feel now?" The empress dowager tried to slow down her tone and asked slowly.

  Murong Xue slightly opened her eyes, with a sorrowful expression on her face. Her voice was also weak and soft, if one didn't listen carefully, they wouldn't be able to hear what she was saying at all. "I'm a bit better than before."

  The empress nodded, for a moment unsure of what to say next.

  The imperial sedan chair of the empress stopped in front of the Heyang Palace gate. The small eunuchs in front of the gate, seeing that it was the empress's sedan chair, naturally did not dare to be slow and hastily paid their respects.

  The queen smiled faintly and said, "Get up. Is Concubine Liu around now?"

  "Her Majesty the Empress is invited to enter." The eunuchs didn't even dare to lift their heads, this empress was not necessarily more cruel than Consort Liu, but because of her status as the empress, she naturally had an extra air of majesty.

  The empress walked into the Hua Yang Palace, the eunuch loudly announced her arrival, and upon hearing the emperor's voice inviting her in, she maintained a faint smile as she quietly entered the inner chamber.

  Liu Fei was lying on the bed, covered with a thick and soft quilt. Her face wore an expression of sadness and sorrow, her hair was loose, and her eyes were filled with emotions as she looked at the Emperor. The Emperor sat beside her, comforting her in a gentle voice. Hearing the Empress's footsteps approaching, he felt somewhat puzzled - why had she come to Liu Fei's palace so late? The Empress wasn't someone who liked to interfere with others' business, and she had never come to another palace to check on him before. "Empress, it's so late today, do you have something to discuss with Liu Fei?"

  The queen first slightly curtsied and looked at Liu Fei, saying calmly: "As the wife only heard that Liu Fei's younger sister had a miscarriage, so she came to see her younger sister specially."

  The Empress Dowager pressed her body closer to the Emperor, who immediately sensed it and stroked her shoulder, gently comforting her. "Empress, you too," he said. "I just consoled Liu Fei not to be sad, but you came again to provoke her. She's already suffering now. If there's nothing else, please return to Zhengyang Palace first. The cold air here is heavy, and I was planning to move Liu Fei to Nuan Yu Ge."

  "This," the queen said slowly, pausing for a moment with some hesitation, "is perhaps not quite proper."

  "Why is this not acceptable?" The Emperor said angrily, "Xue Fei that little girl, actually fought for favor and pushed Liu Fei to the ground, causing Liu Fei to lose the child in her belly. I was wrong to pamper her, she doesn't even understand basic etiquette! I sent her to the Cold Palace to temper her temperament, otherwise this palace would be chaotic!"

  "It's not that the empress didn't mean to, but Snow Consort did something wrong and naturally needs to be punished. However, there's been an unexpected turn of events - Empress Dowager is over there because Snow Consort somehow had a miscarriage and is now lying in bed unconscious." The queen spoke slowly, "Because Lihua hasn't arranged for the imperial physician yet, she asked for the physician from Xuan'er's place to go take a look. Right now, apart from Empress Dowager, Xuan'er and Feng'er are both there. Fortunately, Li Consort is there and she has some medical knowledge, so she was able to stop the bleeding. Xuan'er and Feng'er are both young girls who haven't given birth before, they don't know how to handle this situation, so they asked Empress Dowager for help. When I arrived, that's when I found out Liu Consort had also miscarried. Empress Dowager was worried, so she specifically asked me to come take a look at Liu Consort's condition."

  Liu Fei's body suddenly stiffened. What?! Mu Rong Xue that girl is actually pregnant?! How could I not have noticed at all?!

  "What?! — Xue Fei, she also had a miscarriage?" The Emperor was stunned.

  "Yes, I heard it was an accidental fall, but the Empress said it seemed like the Emperor himself had struck him." The Queen spoke calmly.

  The emperor was just about to speak when he heard a eunuch outside shouting loudly, "Empress Dowager has sent the imperial physician over to treat Consort Liu."

  "No!" Liu Fei involuntarily shouted, but immediately stopped herself. "I... I'm feeling unwell at the moment and don't want to see anyone. Please, Your Majesty, let me rest for a while."

  "It's not good like this," the empress said faintly. "It was the Empress Dowager who personally sent someone over, if Concubine Liu refused, it would be hard to explain to the Empress Dowager."

  Liu Fei bit her lip and didn't speak for a long time.

  Seeing the imperial physician of the Empress Dowager's residence enter the inner chamber, the Emperor stood up. The Empress quietly walked out, not wanting to know the truth. If Consort Liu was pretending to be pregnant, it would be a scene that couldn't be salvaged. After all, Murong Xue was truly carrying the Emperor's child, but lost the child due to Consort Liu's actions. If the Emperor found out that Consort Liu had intentionally pretended to be pregnant to suppress Murong Xue...

  She heard the emperor's furious voice and Liu Fei's pleading voice coming from inside the house. The empress let out a soft sigh, thinking that Murong Xue was so lucky to have two clever sisters in the palace with her, especially Murong Feng who was deeply favored by the empress dowager. After the incident happened, she could immediately make a big fuss and disturb the empress dowager, thus clarifying the facts in the shortest time possible. If not for this move, it's likely that Murong Xue would never see the emperor again until her death!