diskusbooks Chapter 268 Miscarriage
Chapter 268 Miscarriage
Nanhua stayed in Fanghua Tower for several days without leaving until the Empress summoned him.
What's meant to be will be. A legitimate and lawfully wedded Crown Princess can't be truly suppressed by a mere concubine who's been verbally appointed.
Nan Hua walked at a leisurely pace, while Chun Hua and Qiu Yue followed behind her, looking somewhat uneasy.
Qiuyue reminded her, "Your Highness, Consort Yu is making a scene every day, threatening to kill herself. The Imperial Hospital has sent physicians to guard her daily. The Crown Prince and the Empress have both visited her."
There was also Hanmei, the maidservant of Consort Yu, who cried for a while at Lady Mu's place, and then dragged Lady Mu to the Empress's place to cry for a while.
I don't know how they embellished their stories. I told you to go and comfort Consort Yu, but you refused. Now everyone in the palace is saying you've fled the palace out of fear of punishment and have voluntarily confined yourself."
Nan Hua said calmly, "What's there to be afraid of? It's not like there haven't been cases of concubines miscarrying. Do you think they'll cripple me because of that? But those gossipy and unruly people in the palace should be disciplined."
Qiu Yue was startled at first, but then calmed down. Her second young lady was never one to be bullied.
In Changning Palace, Nanhua, accompanied by her maid, knelt before the Empress: "Greetings to Mother."
Zhao Ziyu didn't tell them to get up. She stared at her for a while before saying, "You know that Consort Yu's child is gone, right?"
Nan Hua responded neither servilely nor arrogantly: "I understand."
Seeing that she was not panicked, Zhao Ziyu's tone became somewhat harsh: "The Crown Prince only has two concubines and one child, so his offspring are few. The concubine's child is also the Crown Prince's own son and the Emperor's own grandson."
It's understandable for women to be jealous and quarrelsome, but harming royal offspring is a serious crime. As the Crown Princess, you should be managing the harem and ensuring harmony, not engaging in violence. What kind of decorum is this?
Nan Hua bowed and replied, "Mother is right. I will pay attention in the future."
Zhao Ziyu raised her hand: "Get up and sit there."
Nan Hua thanked him and stood up, sitting to the left of Zhao Ziyu. Chunhua and Qiuyue followed suit, standing up as well.
Zhao Ziyu glanced at them: "The Crown Princess may have maids as part of her dowry, but maids must also abide by palace rules. How can they arbitrarily lay a hand on someone? I have already instructed Consort Mu to send two more exquisite palace maids to be your personal maids."
You and the Crown Prince have had a long and difficult time together, and we are not mean-spirited people. A concubine is assigned four palace maids, and the principal wife must also be given the same entourage, lest others say we are mistreating the Crown Princess.
I know you've been in a bad mood lately, and I won't make things difficult for you. Take some time to visit Consort Yu and have Chunhua and Qiuyue apologize to her. That way, everyone can save face, and it'll be over."
As Chunhua left Changning Palace, she said indignantly, "What do you mean by 'cruelty'..."
Qiuyue glanced back and whispered, "Don't say anything more."
Nan Hua took Chun Hua and Qiu Yue to visit Yu Shu Xian. Coincidentally, Mu Shang Gong was also there, and she and the palace maids knelt down to pay their respects.
Yu Shuxian lay on the bed, pale and weak, her eyes red and swollen. She struggled to sit up and curtsy, "Sister..."
Nan Hua stepped forward and pressed her shoulder to stop her from moving: "Don't move, take care of yourself."
Yu Shuxian tried to move, but found she couldn't budge at all. She saw the faint smile on Nan Hua's face, and felt a tightness in her chest and fear in her heart.
Nan Hua walked leisurely to the main seat and sat down, glancing at the people kneeling in the room, and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest.
Mu Shanggong was startled, slightly raising her head before quickly lowering it again. She had been Nanhua's subordinate when Nanhua was a lady-in-waiting in the palace, and thus knew Nanhua's style of doing things quite well.
On the surface, Nan Hua was gentle and always smiling, but deep down he was cold and ruthless. At the time, Nan Hua had an ambiguous relationship with the Crown Prince, and people in the palace started gossiping. At first, Nan Hua didn't pay attention, but the palace servants spread increasingly exaggerated rumors.
One afternoon, it was said that the Crown Prince wanted to eat crispy yellow rice cakes, and Nan Hua personally led a group to the Imperial Kitchen to fetch them. They happened to overhear several female officials and cooks chatting and laughing as they prepared the food, talking about how Nan Shang Gong was seducing the Crown Prince and having illicit affairs in the Imperial Study, etc…
Nan Hua immediately took out the palace etiquette and read it aloud. He was loose-lipped, gossiped, spread rumors, slandered female officials, talked about the royal family, and disrespected the emperor. In short, he could be spared a living punishment, but he could not escape a death sentence.
The incident escalated considerably, and the Imperial Chef himself knelt down to plead for mercy. Only then did Nan Hua reluctantly agree to spare them the death penalty. Regardless of what was said or heard, all the female officials and cooks present were to be given twenty strokes of the cane and dragged out of the palace.
Those women couldn't withstand such beatings; the strong ones were half-dead, and the weak ones were barely clinging to life.
The emperor is subject to the same punishment as the common people. Although the Imperial Chef is the daughter of the Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, she neglected her duties and committed serious dereliction of duty, and should be punished along with the emperor.
The Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture pleaded with the Crown Prince and visited the Nan family to save his daughter, but he was relieved of his position as Imperial Chef.
Nan Hua's argument was reasonable and well-founded, so no one dared to cause trouble. Regardless of whether these words were true or false, if they reached the Crown Prince and the Empress, he would probably not even be able to keep his body intact.
From then on, the eunuchs and palace maids behaved themselves and worked diligently, and no one dared to spread rumors or cause trouble. Occasionally, a palace maid would disobey orders, and the lightest punishment would be being sent to the laundry department, while the heaviest punishment would be exile or forced into prostitution. The palace remained peaceful and upright for a long time.
Nan Hua hadn't shown her power in a long time, and Consort Mu had almost forgotten her former ruthlessness. The Crown Prince personally selected and the Emperor personally bestowed the title of Crown Princess—she wasn't so easily bullied.
The room suddenly fell silent. Yu Shuxian sensed the unusual atmosphere and tried to ease the tension by saying, "You should all get up."
Yu Shuxian's thinking was simple: this was her Jingming Palace, and it was only natural that she should be in charge. After all, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake.
The palace maids of Jingming Palace were standing up when they saw that Mu Shanggong did not move, so they knelt down again.
Hanmei, who was at the front, didn't notice until she stood up and realized that the others were still kneeling. She hesitated and didn't know what to do.
Nan Hua asked in a calm tone, "Your name is Hanmei, right?"
Hanmei lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly: "This servant is indeed Hanmei."
Prince Ming came to visit them yesterday and reprimanded them. He specifically instructed them to be tolerant and not to have any more conflicts with the Crown Princess.
Nan Hua had deep roots in the palace; even Mu Shanggong used to be Nan Hua's subordinate. In addition, Nan Hua had a long-standing relationship with the Crown Prince, and with the Crown Prince in power, the women in the harem had to act according to the Crown Princess's wishes.
Although Hanmei was good at currying favor with her master, she wasn't stupid. Even Prince Ming couldn't do anything about it. So, the rumors that Consort Yu was favored were just rumors, or perhaps they were just that—rumors.
Yu Shuxian lost her child, and the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince all came to visit, seemingly taking it very seriously. But that was all; there was no further news.
The Empress instructed Consort Mu to select two clever personal maids for the Crown Princess, which shows that the Empress had no intention of punishing the Crown Princess, nor did she intend to punish the maids.
Palace intrigues are never about logic. When something goes wrong, someone has to take responsibility. If Nanhua is not at fault, then they are the ones who should be held responsible.
Seeing Hanmei trembling with fear, Yu Shuxian felt a little sorry for her and struggled to sit up: "Hanmei, I'm thirsty."