Chapter 83 Death of the Pregnant
Soon, the courtyard decorated with various flowers came into sight. Those elegant imperial concubines wearing gorgeous outfits entered through the front door. Each was followed by at least four eunuchs and palace maids, who stood behind in a neat row.
Qin Yunuan curtseyed with other concubines. Among them, in the front stood the Empress Chen, still presenting dignified and amiable. For the others, Qin had already met Imperial Concubine Yun, and heard of Imperial Concubine Xian, the most beautiful woman in East Qin whose full name was Wei Xian.
One of the other two was Imperial Concubine Duan, who had been promoted to take care of the fourth prince, Sima Han after his biological mother died of dystocia. This was because she was the younger sister of the deceased. As Imperial Concubine Duan was benevolent and kind, and that Sima Han was not so clever, she doted on her dear nephew so much that it was very likely to spoil him. That was why Sima Han had already had several personal palace maids at the age of eighteen. They were, in other words, his bed partners.
The last one was the Imperial Concubine Yu, who was having a baby bump, indicating her pregnancy. Since the emperor only had four sons alive, in which the youngest one, the seventh prince, was raised in the Imperial Mausoleum, he had a great expectation of the unborn child. Those nannies and palace maids around Imperial Concubine Yu who asked about her health and followed her order were evidence to that.
After getting pregnant, Imperial Concubine Yu had always had a good appetite. The moment she sat down, she ate the white square rice cakes one after another.
Qin Yunuan could see the facial expressions and behaviors of everyone present clearly from where she sat, close to the back row of the seats.
Seeing Imperial Concubine Yu enjoying her desserts, Imperial Concubine Yun smiled, “What a good appetite you have! When I was having Ruo, things were quite different. I didn’t want to have meals in case something went wrong with my precious child. It made the emperor worried also. Every time he was off his early duty, he always sent a eunuch to ask what and how much I had eaten.”
She was taking the chance to show off after all.
Feeling embarrassed at her words, Imperial Concubine Yu took hands away from the cakes. Empress Chen tried to save her blushes with a smile back to Imperial Concubine Yun, “You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. No wonder that you are picky with your meals. Besides, did you ever lack the care from the emperor when you were not pregnant?”
The empress’s word made Imperial Concubine Yun more proud, “You really don’t know! Whether one gets pregnant or not makes lots of differences.” All of a sudden, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief, faking a guilty face for improper words, “Ah! I forgot that you never got pregnant ever! What a terrible mistake I made to touch your sore spot!”
“What an obvious display!” thought Qin Yunuan, taking a sip of fruit wine. She knew clearly that someone without caution like Imperial Concubine Yun was the least welcomed in the palace. It was her luck to have the emperor’s continuous love. If one day she lost it, or the Meng Army was deprived of power, it would be the end of her days.
At that time, the princes were all seated at the back seat. Although Empress Chen was annoyed at Imperial Concubine Yun’s subtle satire, it only took her a glance to change to a gentle smile. She looked at Sima Ray and said, “Even though the fate didn’t give me a chance to have a child, I am happy to raise Ray, a thoughtful and promising child.”
Hearing that, Sima Ray also smiled a little and agreed, “I am also lucky to have a loving mother who takes me as her own child!” they acted like they really cared for each other.
The Grand Prince who sat next to them, Sima Ruo, showed no surprise to their performance. Without extra movement, he transmitted a white chicken foot to Imperial Concubine Yun and said, “Mother, this is your favorite.”
Imperial Concubine Yun glanced at Empress Chen triumphantly, and had it slowly in small portions after her personal maid removed the hard parts from the chicken foot.
It was the first time for Qin Yunuan to see Sima Ruo herself, for she had only heard of him before. After Qin Zhi returned from the southern tour accompanying the Grand Prince, he mentioned Sima Ruo from time to time, praising that he was both filial and incorrupt, acting so decisively and calmly like a politician should be. What’s more, although he was not the biological son of the empress, his mother was much favored by the emperor and he was the first son of the emperor, so he was quite likely to be the crown prince.
However, from what Qin Yunuan had seen today, Sima Ruo was not like a politician, but like a god in the painting, because he was so graceful and his eyes were so clear that they reminded her of the clean water in the ice pool at the top of Mount Tianshan.
It would be hard to believe that he was a politician, because he appeared so different who actually was a free man. He showed no signs of fight from head to foot except for his delicate eyes and brows which resembled Imperial Concubine Yun’s.
Leng Changxi also mentioned him once. He helped Leng Changxi even at the critical moment when the relationship between his biological uncle Meng Hua and Leng Changxi was too fragile to take the weight of a thread of hair.
Thinking of Leng Changxi, Qin Yunuan came to a halt a little. Why did all the people she noticed now have connection to Leng Changxi? It happened almost subconsciously, more than what she could control.
As Imperial Concubine Yun and Empress Chen just rested, Imperial Concubine Duan on the other side was busy. The fourth prince, Sima Han, acted like an eight-year-old child, even he was already eighteen. He pouted and frowned, making noise continuously. Everybody would mistake him as a child whose brain had not fully developed yet, were it not for his manly body and handsome face.
“I want to have escargots! I want to have escargots! Why can Imperial Concubine Yu have them but I can’t? Mother, give me escargots, please!” Sima Han pulled the sleeves of Imperial Concubine Duan, making the finest silk crumpled, which embarrassed her a lot. Besides, this meeting was held to find proper suitable wives for the princes. Now the action of Sima Han was exactly like to give her a slap in public.
At Sima Han’s words, Imperial Concubine Yu showed awkwardness. Imperial Concubine Duan coaxed Sima Han into sitting down by saying, “All right! After the meeting, I will ask servants to buy the fresh escargots in Poyang Lake. Is that okay? I promise each of them will be the biggest and the most delicious.”
Sima Han lost his temper. He stood up and strode towards Imperial Concubine Yu. The robes were shaking at that time, so Qin Yunuan couldn’t see what happened.
“Hurry up to stop him! It will be bad to run into something and get hurt,” Imperial Concubine Duan bade immediately.
In this situation, Imperial Concubine Duan cared Sima Han, a strong man, but ignored Imperial Concubine Yu, a pregnant woman. It was true that she loved him very much. All people present thought so, but Qin Yunuan had another idea.
As expected, the careless man threw the whole plate to the ground because of his sleeves when he tried to grab the escargots on the plate of Imperial Concubine Yu. The escargots in thick broth and chili were all on the ground, with the hot broth everywhere.
Wrists getting scalded by the hot broth, Sima Han took a step back, just about to fall on the table in front of Qin Yunuan.
“Your royal highness.” Qin Yunuan hurried to stand up supporting him. When Sima Han got to his feet, the palace maids beside Imperial Concubine Yu suddenly yelled.
“It’s all done! She is bleeding!”
Qin Yunuan looked at Sima Han subconsciously, who was the closest to Imperial Concubine Yu just now. However, Sima Han appeared so innocent, ignoring the fact that he had attracted everybody’s attention. He covered his swelling wrists and whispered, “Oops! My wrists are red.” It seemed that all the hubbubs had nothing to do with him.
“Your royal highness,” Qin Yunuan said. Seeing that Imperial Concubine Duan shot a warning look to him, she couldn’t help reminding Sima Han, for he was quite like her sister, Qin Yuzhao. Both of them had been despised and isolated since their childhood because of their retarded intelligence. After all, she still got some feelings to her poor sister more or less.
Alas! What was she thinking about? There was no use to remind Sima Han, because he was doomed to act like that. It was just like what happened to Qin Yuzhao. Even if she had told her sister that those servants who gave her rotten leaves to eat were cheating on her, next time Qin Yuzhao would still eat them as she was beguiled to do without a second thought.
Imperial Concubine Yu and her palace maids were in chaos. She had been nourishing the fetus so carefully, so the bleeding was out of expectation. She leaned over her seat, sweating heavily and groaning about pain with a hand covering her abdomen. Those nannies and maids beside her were all experienced, so they called imperial doctors immediately.
Empress Chen made arrangements calmly. She first ordered servants to send Imperial Concubine Yu to Palace of Eternal Longevity, the nearest palace. Then she invited ladies to rest in the side hall of the palace. At the same time, Imperial Concubine Duan called Sima Han back at once.
Imperial Concubine Yun beamed, waiting patiently in the side hall along with Sima Ruo.
Bearing on the windowsill, Qin Yunuan felt as if the piercing cry of Imperial Concubine Yu were still lingering, like the cry from the most ferocious ghost at night, spreading heartbroken pain.
Imperial doctors and palace maids carrying hot water were in and out of the palace repeatedly. Within the time to burn out a joss stick, the emperor Sima Xiu who was just off his early duty also arrived. With his royal robes not removed yet and the mark of wearing the crown on his head, he strode into the Palace of Eternal Longevity.
“How is Imperial Concubine Yu now?” asked the emperor.
Empress Chen received him immediately. He ignored the tea served by his servants, frowning at the repeating cries and feeling much perturbed.
“Your majesty,” Empress Chen tried to speak in her most cautious tone, “The doctor came just now. The fetus of Imperial Concubine Yu may not be preserved.”
As soon she ended her words, the nanny who helped the doctor to rescue Imperial Concubine Yu ran out, sweating heavily. Seeing the emperor was present, she kneeled and kowtowed, “Your majesty, Imperial Concubine Yu had bled much. She said if she lost her child, she would die with it too.”
Bad news came one after another and the palace maids and servants were running around. Those ladies who had waited patiently in the side hall now all felt uncomfortable. Seeing the fat nanny at the empress’s side coming, they approached at once, inquiring further information. However, she didn’t answer anyone, showing an emotionless face, “Where is the Third Miss of Qin? The Empress invites you.”