eurekapd Chapter 368 Concubine Rong gives birth
Chapter 368 Concubine Rong gives birth
The marriage between Feng Zizhou and Zhao Ning was not finalized because the eldest princess refused.
The Feng family breathed a sigh of relief.
It's not that I dislike Zhao Ning, it's just that Zhao Ning might never wake up, or become mentally disabled.
More importantly, the Prince of Ning had just requested permission to dissolve the engagement, and the Feng family immediately got engaged to the county princess. Wasn't this obviously going to invite gossip?
Of course, there will be plenty of gossip.
Besides the gossip between Feng Zizhou and Zhao Ning, there was also gossip between Prince Ning and his second sister.
Even the Emperor heard it and asked Prince Ning, "What's the situation between you and the second young lady of the Si family?"
Prince Ning said, "Miss Gui is mentally unstable, which is why she is talking nonsense. Miss Si and I are completely innocent. It's just that she is now my subordinate, and I only take care of her a little."
After Guiyuan committed suicide, the matter was considered closed. To the outside world, it was only said that Guiyuan had lost her mind, and even the Feng family and the Princess's residence testified on her behalf—after all, it concerned their own innocence.
The Kyoto aristocratic families quieted down, and everything went smoothly for the Si family as well.
The second sister continued to work at the Dali Temple as usual, but ever since Guiyuan said that she was not clear about her relationship with Prince Ning, Feng Zizhou, she and Prince Ning seemed to have formed a tacit understanding to avoid suspicion at all times and had not met again.
As for Feng Zizhou, he broke his leg and won't be able to come on duty for a long time.
When she returned home that night, she found her younger brother's eyes were red, and Si Muyan was comforting him.
The second sister asked, "Eldest sister, what happened to my little brother?"
After I stopped serving as the Third Prince's study companion, several families extended offers to me, inviting me to study at their residences, thanks to the Emperor's high regard for me.
Families of high standing would typically hire renowned tutors to teach their children and nephews. Some tutors were so famous that they would send their most valued children to study alongside other families.
Only those who have a good relationship will let their children go to school together.
But Si Xingzhi refused all invitations, regardless of which company it was.
They simply sent their younger brother to the Kyoto Academy, which was affiliated with the Kyoto Academy. No wealthy families had hired private tutors, so they sent their children there to begin their education.
This way they can make more friends, which will become their social network as they grow up.
Si Muyan said, "My servant Chen Fang encountered something unclean when he went to the bookstore for me at noon today, and he went completely mad."
The second sister frowned: "The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits."
She went to ask Chen Fang herself, but Chen Fang was acting crazy and only knew how to retreat in fear, indicating that he had suffered a great shock.
Unable to get any information from Chen Fang, the second sister was pondering how to resolve the situation when she suddenly noticed a scar on his wrist. She gestured for the servants to grab Chen Fang's wrist and examined the scar closely, somewhat surprised.
The wounds weren't deep, but upon closer inspection, they appeared to follow a pattern.
The second sister recalled a case file she had seen at the Dali Temple, which contained several seemingly unrelated murders, but each person had strange symbols on their body. Only by deciphering the symbols could the murderer be caught, and subsequent tragedies be prevented.
The second sister copied down the wound on Chen Fang's wrist, studied it carefully, and was even more shocked.
"This is……"
Si Muyan hurriedly asked, "Does it have any special meaning?"
"Yes, this is a code word created by the border generals of the previous dynasty to prevent the leakage of military secrets. It has long been abandoned. I was curious before and even asked the officials of the Dali Temple about it."
"Can you understand it? What does it say?"
The second sister's face turned pale. She said, "If I'm not mistaken, it says on it, 'Si Mutong, you can't escape my grasp.'"
Si Muyan and her younger brother also changed their expressions.
"It's definitely Si Mutong, and not someone else, it's not..."
Isn't it Si Jing'an? After all, he's just a lackey of a subordinate; the person he's targeting is more like the subordinate himself.
The second sister shook her head: "It can't be wrong. I only started studying this kind of code about half a month ago."
“If that’s the case, it means several things,” Si Muyan said. “First, this person understands you and knows that you are very serious about researching something and would never give up halfway. Second, he knows that you understand this kind of code, otherwise it would be a waste of time if he carved words on Chen Fang’s hand in the code and you couldn’t understand them.”
The second sister thought for a moment before saying, "He may know that I understand this code, but he may not necessarily understand me. He wants to give me a warning, but if we don't know the content of the warning, he won't care. So, he definitely has a backup plan."
Who was that person? And who was behind it all?
No one knows.
However, the Si family became even more cautious when their younger brother went out, ensuring that no one around him was ever alone.
The second sister was afraid that the person was from the Dali Temple, so she didn't dare to act rashly. She wondered whether she should seek out Prince Ning and ask him for help.
But he did not see Prince Ning for several days.
At this time, news came from the palace.
Consort Rong miscarried.
Upon hearing this, the younger sister raised an eyebrow and said to Mother Tian, "I knew it, Consort Rong's pregnancy wouldn't be stable."
No one knows how Consort Rong conceived the imperial heir, but since the Emperor had been childless for many years, he probably couldn't allow any more concubines to become pregnant. Consort Rong may have used fertility-enhancing drugs, which allowed her to be several months pregnant, which was already quite remarkable.
Madam Tian was quite disappointed. She had originally thought that if Consort Rong could become pregnant, her daughter might also become pregnant when she entered the palace.
She said, "I just don't know who Consort Rong is going to target this time, after lying low for so many years?"
The target is Consort Xin.
Because of Consort Rong's pregnancy, the Emperor pardoned the Third Prince, and Consort Xin was deeply grateful, spending almost every day with Consort Rong. The Emperor was displeased by this, but Consort Rong spoke well of her, which made Consort Xin even closer to Consort Rong.
No one could have imagined that Consort Xin, who appeared to be grateful, would do such a thing.
When Consort Rong woke up and learned that her child was gone, she cried incessantly, grabbing the Emperor's hand and asking, "Your Majesty, why did Consort Xin treat me like this? Is it because she's jealous of Your Majesty's favor towards me? Your Majesty, I've treated her right. If she has any problems, she should come at me, not my child! That's Your Majesty's child too!"
"You wicked woman!" the Emperor exclaimed in fury. "That's my child! How dare she!"
However, Consort Xin refused to confess. She pleaded with the Emperor to see him and plead her case. She claimed that she was innocent, that Consort Rong had done it on purpose, or that the Imperial Concubine had framed her.
The Emperor was already disappointed and said to the eunuch, "Go and tell him that Xiao Jingcheng committed a serious crime, but I pardoned him for the sake of Consort Rong's unborn child. I never expected his mother to be such a cruel and vicious woman! I want to demote Xiao Jingcheng to a commoner and send him to guard the imperial mausoleum!"
These words were only spoken to Consort Xin, which shows that the Emperor still has a soft heart towards the Third Prince.
As expected, upon hearing this, Consort Xin confessed her guilt and committed suicide.
Although the prince no longer cared about the third prince, he also did not demote him.
Consort Xin and the Xing family disappeared without a trace.
After his cockfighting and bird-watching spree, Si Xingzhi sighed with endless emotion: "I watched him build a tall building, and I watched it collapse... Thunder and rain, all are the emperor's grace."