Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Zhen Huan Chronicles, An Ling Rong

“I want to chant sutras!” “I’ll chant with you.” “Your Highness, why lower yourself like this?”

“I only want to be with Huan’er. Nothing else matters.” “Your Highness, why put yourself through this!”

“No. Being with you, Huan’er, is like drinking sweet dew – it soothes my heart.”

… While the two of them were being all lovey-dovey, Huan Bi had already returned. She even heard the conversation between her elder sister and Prince Guo. She almost rushed in to break up this pair of lovebirds, but in the end, she forced herself to hold back. She withdrew and stood guard outside, so no one would barge in and discover what was going on inside.

At that moment, Huan Bi couldn’t help thinking of what Noble Lady Cao had once told her. “Huan Bi, you’re quite pretty – even a bit prettier than me.”

“Huan Bi, have you noticed? You actually look a bit like Noble Lady Wan. If you entered the harem, you could become a favored consort too.”

“In the harem, it’s really hard to find a sister who truly supports you. If you became a consort, you could join hands with Noble Lady Wan and protect each other. Then it wouldn’t be easy for others to bully you.”

… Those words echoed in her mind, and Huan Bi felt a shameful surge of temptation. She glanced again at the pair in the hall and quietly made up her mind. Jing Ren Palace. The Empress had grown so thin she barely looked like herself.

Her eye sockets were deeply sunken, and she looked like nothing but a skeleton. Yet her belly was round as a ball, as if it had sucked all the nourishment out of her body. “Has Zhen Huan gone to Bao Hua Hall?” The Empress’s expression was icy, and her voice had turned unbearably hoarse.

“Have the copied scriptures been delivered?” “In reply to Your Majesty, Attendant Zhen delivers scriptures once every three days.” Jian Qiu brought over a bowl of chicken soup. “Your Majesty, please eat something first.

If you don’t eat, your body won’t hold up.” “Jian Qiu!” The Empress stared at her hands, claw-like as chicken feet, then looked at her swollen belly. She murmured, “What should I do?

What should I do now?” “Your Majesty!” A wave of helplessness rose in Jian Qiu’s chest. She had heard this question thousands of times.

No one could solve it. All she could do was answer, “Your Majesty, let it take its course.”

“Let it take its course? Until when?” The Empress was falling apart. “It’s been a year. A full year. How much longer am I supposed to stay pregnant? It was clearly Hong Hui being reborn – how did it turn into this? Could it be that what I’m carrying isn’t a normal child?”

“Your Majesty, it won’t be,” Jian Qiu said quickly, seeing her mistress spiral again. “The little prince will surely be a clever child. Your Majesty, please eat properly first. Maybe the child will be born very soon. You have to eat your fill to have the strength to give birth.”

“I want to eat too.”

The Empress finally calmed down. She frowned at the chicken soup in front of her. “I have no appetite. I don’t want to eat.”

“Your Majesty, you have to eat.” Jian Qiu’s eyes were full of worry. “Your Majesty, why don’t I ask Imperial Physician Zhang to come? We can see if he can prescribe something to stimulate your appetite. Your Majesty can’t keep enduring this. Not only will you collapse, the little prince in your belly won’t endure it either.”

“Fine. I’ll listen to you.” The Empress nodded. She knew that if she didn’t start eating, she might not survive.

Imperial Physician Zhang came to Jing Ren Palace again. After taking the Empress’s pulse, he also urged her to eat to stay alive. To get her to swallow anything at all, he could only prescribe an appetite-stimulating formula first. After he left Jing Ren Palace, Zhu Xi caught him.

With no choice, he followed her to Kang Shou Palace.

“This subject pays respects to the Empress Dowager.” Imperial Physician Zhang bowed. “May the Empress Dowager enjoy peace.”

“Imperial Physician Zhang, tell me the truth.” The Empress Dowager looked stern. “What exactly is going on with the Empress’s pregnancy? Don’t think you can brush me off. If you still won’t tell me the truth, don’t blame me for wiping out your whole clan.”

“Empress Dowager, please calm your anger!” Imperial Physician Zhang broke out in cold sweat. “It isn’t that this subject is intentionally hiding anything. This subject truly does not know what is happening with the Empress’s royal pregnancy.”

“You really don’t know?” The Empress Dowager flew into a rage. “Insolent, and you still dare to talk back! If you don’t make it clear today, don’t blame me for being ruthless. I’ll use your entire family’s lives to pay for the Empress’s royal child. You’d better explain yourself honestly!”

“I’m wronged!” Imperial Physician Zhang could only kneel and beg. “Empress Dowager, this subject would never dare lie to deceive you. This subject truly doesn’t understand the Empress’s royal pregnancy, because it’s completely different from other ladies’ pregnancies. What it really is like – no one can say for sure.”

“What do you mean?” The Empress Dowager jumped to her feet, staring at him in disbelief. “Imperial Physician Zhang, explain it clearly. How is the Empress’s royal pregnancy different from everyone else’s?”

“I can’t put it into words!” Imperial Physician Zhang slammed his head to the ground again and again. “Empress Dowager, this subject has practiced medicine for nearly forty years. I have truly never seen such a fetus. It isn’t a dead fetus, but it doesn’t feel like a living fetus either. If I must describe it… this subject believes it is a huge lump of flesh.”

“A lump of flesh?” The Empress Dowager shuddered, still unwilling to give up. “Imperial Physician Zhang, are you sure?”

“Empress Dowager, this subject has not seen it with my own eyes, so I cannot guarantee it.” Imperial Physician Zhang answered bitterly. “Given the Empress’s condition, this subject can only guess that it is a lump of flesh absorbing the Empress’s vitality and spirit. If it were a normal fetus, it would have come to term long ago. It could not keep living inside the mother’s body like this.”

“So that’s how it is.” The Empress Dowager thought it over and felt his words made sense.

Then her gaze fell on him again, and she couldn’t help exploding with rage. “Wretch! Why didn’t you say this earlier!”

“Empress Dowager, it isn’t that this subject was unwilling to speak,” Imperial Physician Zhang said helplessly. “At the beginning, no one could judge that the Empress’s royal pregnancy would be abnormal. If the Empress’s pregnancy hadn’t continued without delivering, this subject wouldn’t have dared guess in this direction.”

“Can you guarantee it now?” the Empress Dowager demanded. “Can you be sure the Empress’s royal pregnancy is not a real child?”

“Eight or nine times out of ten,” Imperial Physician Zhang said with his eyes shut. “It would be best to induce delivery as soon as possible and bring the lump of flesh out. If it goes on too long, this subject fears the Empress will not be able to withstand it.”

“Induce delivery?” The Empress Dowager froze. She stared at him. “You mean for the Empress to take labor-inducing medicine?”

“Empress Dowager, that is the only way.” “Other than this, is there any other way?” “In reply to the Empress Dowager, this subject is incapable!” “…”

The Empress Dowager fell silent. After a long while, she finally asked slowly, “Can you keep the Empress safe?”

“Your Majesty, this subject cannot guarantee it.” Imperial Physician Zhang shook his head. “Childbirth is extremely dangerous. They say it is one foot into the gates of hell. The Empress’s ‘pregnancy’ is so unusual that this subject does not know what kind of accident may occur.”

“You!” The Empress Dowager disliked that answer, but she knew it was the truth. Gritting her teeth, she asked again, “What is the Empress’s condition like? Can she endure the suffering of this delivery?”