Chapter 27

Consort Kang suddenly felt unwell and there was a sudden flurry of activity in the Cishou Palace.

When Pei Yuqian saw this, she couldn’t help but think of the unspoken matters among the noblewomen of the capital

(His Highness the Crown Prince must never be mentioned in front of Consort Kang)

Once mentioned, Consort Kang would become so angry that she would flip out on the spot.

When she was discussing the strategy with her grandmother, she was only focused on using the position of the Crown Prince as bait, completely forgetting that Consort Kang did not like the Crown Prince at all.

Since Consort Kang only experienced a sudden stabbing pain in her head but did not lose consciousness.

Therefore when the Empress Dowager loudly summoned the Imperial Physician, Consort Kang quickly waved her hand and said it was not necessary.

But the Empress Dowager feared that something might happen to her in her own Cishou Palace and insisted on sending someone to fetch the Imperial Physician, to avoid having to take responsibility if something happened after Consort Kang’s departure.

After examining Consort Kang’s pulse, the Imperial Physician could not determine the cause, only concluding that she had a migraine due to lack of rest and prescribed a calming tonic.

“Since the Imperial Physician has advised rest, if Your Highness feels better you should return to Lu Hua Palace.”

She wouldn’t dare to keep Consort Kang any longer, no matter how much she hoped her granddaughter would become Empress, she didn’t want to be defeated by Consort Kang.

The Empress Dowager watched Consort Kang’s departing figure, her aged phoenix eyes filled with fatigue.

“Yuqian, I’ve noticed that Consort Kang seems to have changed a lot.” The Empress Dowager suddenly sighed, “I don’t know if this change is good or bad for us.”

Pei Yuqian recalled the former Consort Kang, who was both pretentious and unashamed as well as hot-tempered and irascible.

But recently she seemed much more normal, or at least less annoying.

Since Cishou Palace and Lu Hua Palace were some distance apart, Consort Kang had arrived by sedan chair.

After being supported by Qingzhu onto the luxurious and spacious sedan chair, Consort Kang gazed blankly at the endless palace road ahead.

Just before, a stabbing pain in her head had brought some unfamiliar fragments to her mind.

One was when she was pregnant, and a Taoist priest had said that the child in her womb would be a curse to the parents, leading to the mother’s death in childbirth and the father’s untimely death.

In another scene, she is holding the much smaller newborn Crown Prince in her arms, about to breastfeed him. However for some reason she suddenly throws the baby away, causing the little chubby infant to cry out in shock.

These fragments flashed through her mind briefly, with no clear beginning or end but a wave of panic rose in her heart.

After returning to Luhua Palace to change clothes and freshen up, Kang Yu Yi dismissed the rest of the palace staff, leaving only her closest maids, Qing Zhu and Zi Su.

“I have something to ask you,” Kang Yu Yi said after pondering for a moment. “When I was pregnant with the Crown Prince, did a Taoist priest say something?”

Qing Zhu’s pupils widened in surprise not understanding why Consort Kang suddenly brought up this biggest taboo of Luhua Palace.

Zisu however responded directly, “Have you forgotten, Your Highness? That Taoist priest’s lies were dealt with by His Majesty a long time ago.”

“Demonizing the public…” Kang Yu Yi pondered the term, “How did he demonize the public?”

Qing Zhu hurriedly stopped Zisu who was about to continue and said politely, “Your Highness it is all in the past and His Majesty does not allow it to be mentioned anymore.”

Seeing their reactions, Kang Yu Yi was more convinced that the fragments in her mind were real.

Her eyes reddened as she pressed on, “Did the Taoist priest say that the Crown Prince was born… to be a curse to his parents?”

Qing Zhu and Zisu both looked down in silence, not daring to answer.

When Consort Kang was pregnant and suffering from severe morning sickness and poor appetite, His Majesty had taken her to the streets near the former Qin Wang Fu for some reason.

Unexpectedly they encountered a Taoist priest with a white beard. Though he did not approach them he kept muttering nonsensical predictions about her pregnancy.

He had said something like, “This child must not be kept. He is the reincarnation of a nemesis, destined to bring misfortune to his parents. His mother will die in childbirth and his father will die prematurely.”

Although His Majesty had privately dealt with the Taoist priest who spread such nonsense, he did not want the public to know.

Despite this, Consort Kang was deeply affected, suffering from nightmares about dying in childbirth after returning to the palace.

Kang Yu Yi had guessed from the reactions of those around her that the former Consort Kang had distanced herself from the Crown Prince and wondered if it was because of this.

She couldn’t understand why the former Consort Kang would act so harshly!

How could she bear to alienate the chubby and lovely Crown Prince just because of such ridiculous predictions?

But it seemed more complicated. Just now, she had also remembered that after the Crown Prince was born smoothly, Consort Kang had been very pleased and satisfied.

Why…

Zisu tentatively suggested, “Your Highness, His Royal Highness is waking up. Would you like the nurse to bring him over?”

Kang Yu Yi thought for a moment, feeling a deep sense of guilt and self-reproach and nodded.

The nursemaid then brought the already well-fed and contented Crown Prince to her.

The little chubby baby saw his favorite mother from afar, smiled widely and waved at her full of joy.

Seeing his affection, Kang Yu Yi’s heart softened.

She quickly took the cute little chubby baby from the nursemaid and kissed him repeatedly.

And in the North Zhenfu Division of the Jinyiwei Yamen, located outside the Bei’anmen Gate of the Imperial City…

When Cui Mu Lin woke up, he was greeted by four iron walls.

Next he noticed the ropes tightly binding his own body.

The four walls were airtight with no windows, only a huge iron door. He was tied up so tightly that he couldn’t move.

“Is anyone there? Is anyone?” Cui Mu Lin shouted at the big metal door for a long time, but unfortunately no one answered him.

He didn’t know how long it had been but Cui Mu Lin was already parched and starving.

Having no strength to begin with, he now lay on the ground, unable even to stand.

After a long time, the tightly closed metal door was finally opened from the outside and a tall, imposing man appeared, silhouetted against the light.

Cui Mu Lin who had been nearly unconscious in the darkness was blinded by the sudden light.

As his vision adjusted, he saw that the visitor was actually his cousin, the emperor.

“Your Majesty, save me!” Cui Mu Lin wailed. “I don’t know who has the audacity to tie me up and leave me here!”

“Your Majesty must act on my behalf and severely punish the person who is playing such a cruel prank on me!” he added angrily.

The Emperor standing with his hands clasped behind his back, looked down at him with an expression of extremely complex emotions.

“It was I who ordered your capture,” the Emperor said coldly, with deliberate emphasis.

【月醺阅读提示】本章内容仅供站内阅读，禁止批量抓取、搬运或未授权转载。