Chapter 133 – Difficult Labouring During the Night

Having a mother-in-law sitting in the residence was another scene.

 

Although Servant Li had previously been taking care of the matter of her pregnancy and childbirth, when the Old Princess Consort arrived, she inquired one by one in detail.

 

Because Prince Huaiyang was greatly favored and rewarded with many things. After giving birth, Empress Shi personally visited the residence to show her affection for the Huaiyang Princess Consort.

 

Old Princess Consort Chu looked at the friendly conversation between Empress Shi and Miantang, as if apart from the friendship between monarchs and ministers, their personal relationship was also very good, which made her heart feel relieved.

 

The situation of Miantang in the capital does not seem as unbearable as it was spread in the countryside of the State of Zhen.

 

However, privately, Old Princess Consort Chu also summoned Cui Xingzhou to inquire about Liu Miantang’s past involvement as a bandit.

 

Prince Huaiyang replied simply, “She was indeed a former bandit.”

 

Old Princess Consort Chu gasped, and before she could relax, Prince Huaiyang said, “If it were an ordinary woman, she might not be able to support the affairs of the royal family. She is brave and scheming, and she can share my worries. You are really lucky to have such a capable daughter-in-law, mother.”

 

Old Princess Consort Chu reached out and nodded at Cui Xingzhou, saying, “I must be guilty in my previous life. What a great sin for me to give birth to such an infuriating rebellious son like you! You even kept secret of such a big matter from me… Has she really changed?

 

Cui Xingzhou raised his eyebrows and said, “She used to be young and had to be taken astray. Now that she’s with me, she can naturally learn well. You should not mention this matter in front of her in the future.”

 

Her son and daughter-in-law all have great abilities, but what about the delicate temperament of Old Princess Consort Chu? Moreover, when the royal residence was in trouble, if it weren’t for Liu Miantang’s careful consideration of the situation, she would have suffered a catastrophic disaster. Although Old Princess Consort Chu was annoyed that Liu Miantang had such a background, she couldn’t say anything.

 

But a sentence once said by her younger sister Lian-Chu couldn’t help but come to her mind, “Since she was a bandit, the disaster in the Huaiyang Residence may have been a plan set by her. She only pretended to be a hero to rescue the royal residence, so as to win your favor.”

 

Old Princess Consort Chu’s mouth opened again and again, but she hold herself and did not say anything. Anyway, Liu Miantang was carrying the child of the Cui family, and she couldn’t express her doubts about this at this moment.

 

However, in private, she muttered to her daughter.

 

Cui Fu angrily asked her mother if this strange remark came from Aunt Lian?

 

“Mother, do you think that she wanted to marry into the royal residence? How could she have put up such a big battle to please you? You should know, in order to marry her, your son chased her from the northwest to the State of Xi and almost went to snatch her marriage. She was almost unwilling.”

 

Cui Fu always attends poetry clubs these days, and she often meets with Lord Li. When sitting together and drinking tea at the poetry club, Lord Li also chatted and laughed with her about the prince’s request to marry the princess consort back then.

 

This was the first time Old Princess Consort Chu was listening, with her mouth only half open, and was shocked that her son, who had always been aloof and arrogant, was so humble.

 

Speaking of this, Cui Fu sighed and said, “Sometimes, I envy her. When she was dissatisfied with the marriage arranged by her father, she ran off halfway to the Mountain of Yang. Although she became a thief, she never wronged herself.”

 

Speaking of this, Cui Fu did not continue. Her life was completely opposite to that of her siblings, always following the rules and regulations. When she was young, she also had a feeling of heart palpitating. Under the shade of apricot blossoms, a young talent gave her poetry to express his love, and when their fingertips collided, it was the sweetness of the beginning of love.

 

Unfortunately, she knew that his family background was too low to be together after all. After figuring it out, she deliberately avoided seeing him again and only accepted her father’s arrangement to marry into the Qingguo Mansion, starting to follow the rules and know the warmth and coldness of the day.

 

Now, when Cui Fu recalled back in the middle of the night, she always thought, if she had the temperament of Liu Miantang, would she have endured for so long in the Guo family? Would she have missed that infatuated lover?

 

At this thought, she envied Liu Miantang’s boldness and ease. At the very least, Liu Miantang must have never wronged her own heart.

 

Thinking about the person secretly asking her in the garden the day before yesterday if she was willing to marry him and join hands until old age, Cui Fu hated herself even more for hesitating.

 

But there are some emotions, once missed, it will be considered gone. She thought he was just reminiscing about the beauty of their youth before deciding to marry her. In the future, when their life has turned calm or others happened to gossip about her, he may regret it.

 

And now she still has Jin’er. If Jin’er doesn’t want her to remarry, how can she remarry regardless?

 

For a moment, Cui Fu thought of her opportunity and sighed deeply.

 

Miantang also knew that her mother-in-law was here to inquire about rumors related to her. This day, when she was choosing a name for the child in her belly with Cui Xingzhou in private, she asked Cui Xingzhou what his mother said.

 

Cui Xingzhou said, “What can she say, she’s worried that your stomach is too big and it’s difficult for you to have a smooth delivery.”

 

Miantang touched her belly and sighed a bit, “I don’t know when it will be born. I’ve been under pressure for a few days and I felt hard to breathe anymore. Servant Li said, if the child continues to stay in my stomach for a few more days, she’s afraid the child will grow bigger again.”

 

Cui Xingzhou squeezed her hand and said word by word, “Stop any wild thoughts. Everyone, big and small, will be safe.”

 

Just as he gave a strong grip, Miantang suddenly changed her expression and exclaimed, “It hurts.”

 

Cui Xingzhou thought he was exerting too much force and quickly let go, but Liu Miantang still didn’t show any signs of relief. She only half opened her mouth and her contractions were so tight that she couldn’t speak. After taking a breath, she hurriedly said, “Hurry up… I might be giving birth soon.”

 

Cui Xingzhou was stunned for a moment and quickly called out to the maid and labor wives.

 

At that moment, the entire inner courtyard of the royal residence was in motion, preparing to deliver for the princess consort. Although Liu Miantang felt pain and broke her amniotic fluid too, it would take time for her to truly exert strength to give birth.

 

The inner courtyard was constantly bustling with people from all walks of life, and even the people from the outer courtyard are on standby without rest.

 

Just as everything was prepared, suddenly there was a sound of someone smashing the door outside the residence. When the gatekeeper inquired, it was discovered that someone from the palace had passed on the imperial decree of the Empress Dowager.

 

The imperial edict cannot be ignored. Cui Xingzhou can only go to the front hall to receive orders.

 

As he walked towards the front hall, Mo Ru whispered, “Your Highness, there is a group of imperial troops outside the residence gate, which looks very unusual.”

 

Cui Xingzhou strode to the front hall, knelt calmly, and heard the envoy’s solemn expression say, “The emperor took the tiger whip presented by Prince Huaiyang and suddenly felt very unwell. Now the imperial doctor is treating the emperor, and I would like to invite Prince Huaiyang to come with me to clarify the matter.”

 

Just half an hour ago, the emperor took the tonic soup boiled with tiger whip, but just after drinking it for a moment, he felt cramps in his abdomen and rolled in pain. When the imperial doctor came to treat him, he found that His Majesty had faint signs of poisoning.

 

The Empress Dowager was furious and ordered people to take down the relevant personnel from the imperial kitchen and the imperial hospital. But some people say that the medicinal herb itself was poisonous and needed to be traced back to its source.

 

Prince Huaiyang frowned slightly, but the tiger whip mentioned by the eunuch was captured by him during his last hunting with His Majesty.

 

At that time, the tiger was skinned, dismantled, and divided together. Even if the emperor really had problems eating it, they should consult the imperial physician of the palace pharmacy. What does it have to do with him?

 

But the envoy looked solemn and said, “Not only does the prince need to go to the palace, but all the doctors who know how to use medicine in your residence must also be taken away and examined in the palace.”

 

Upon hearing this, Cui Xingzhou stood up and spoke harshly, “My wife is giving birth, and the residence is about to use the doctor. However, you came and initiate to take all the doctors away for questioning. What is your motive?”

 

The eunuch also said coldly, “Now that the emperor has taken the tiger whip presented by you and is unconscious and in danger. But you only thought about your wife and children. It’s really a waste of being a minister! Women from other families didn’t have that many doctors and labor wives when they have children… I think your highness has an ulterior motive in preparing so many doctors who are good at using medicine in your residence. You wanted to develop some secret medicine prescriptions, right?”

 

The envoy, relying on his position as the person next to the Empress Dowager, spoke without any evidence and immediately charged Prince Huaiyang with secretly mixing poison and plotting to harm the emperor.

 

Although Prince Huaiyang also had his own soldiers, they were in the western side camp, which was far from the residence, and the distant water could not quench his thirst.

 

At this moment, the Imperial Forbidden Army sealed the door, and if he were to confront anyone from the palace, it would not only confirm his intention to rebel but also engage in a fight, which would definitely harm the inner courtyard and cause Miantang who was giving birth to suffer.

 

The envoy also saw Cui Xingzhou’s concerns and sneered, “Prince Huaiyang, this is just a routine I need to follow. If you go personally, explain the truth, and prove your innocent, you will naturally be able to return to your residence to hold your newborn child… I heard that the old princess consort has also come from the State of Zhen, and the safety of this large family is all in your mind.”

 

Cui Xingzhou stared intently into the eunuch’s eyes and finally said in a deep voice, “Okay, I’ll come with you.”

 

The envoy smiled and said, “That’s right. Once the matter is discussed, it will be fine… Someone, take away all the doctors in the residence.”

 

He doesn’t know where the eunuch got the name list, and he not only knows the names of the doctors in his royal residence, he even knows their appearance clearly. Even if he wanted to transfer and leave a few, it was impossible.

 

Cui Fu and Old Princess Consort Chu were watching from the side, extremely anxious. Miantang’s belly was so big that if she couldn’t exert her strength for a while, she would definitely need the doctor to administer the needle. Now that they have all been taken away, wouldn’t production become extremely dangerous?

 

Cui Xingzhou patted his mother’s arm and said, “Mother, all the affairs in the residence have been entrusted to you. Please take care of them for me.”

 

After speaking, he followed and left the residence. He was taken into a carriage and hurriedly rode off.

 

Unfortunately, Old Princess Consort Chu was not the one who could make up her mind. At a loss, she only cried and asked Cui Fu what to do.

 

Cui Fu was stronger than the Old Princess Consort and said, “We can’t do anything about things in the palace right now, but Miantang must give birth smoothly… Since there is no doctor in the residence, we should quickly go outside the residence to invite someone now. There must be a few capable doctors in the residence to help with the delivery.”

 

Upon hearing this, the old princess consort quickly ordered someone to go outside the residence to invite a doctor.

 

But as soon as the steward left, he realized that several doors of the entire residence had been banned.

 

The imperial forbidden army who sealed the door, has been ordered by the Criminal Justice Department to strictly prevent anyone from secretly fleeing and colluding to confess in the royal residence. Those who are idle will be prohibited from leaving the residence!

 

At this moment, there was also chaos in the inner courtyard. A stable woman ran out with blood on her hands and cried, “Bad news, the princess consort has difficulty giving birth. We need the doctor to use needles to accumulate strength.”

 

Her voice was so loud that both the inner and outer courtyards immediately learned that the princess consort had difficulty giving birth.