Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved
Chapter 343 Consort Qin Gives Birth to the Young Prince Prematurely

Chapter 343: Chapter 343 Consort Qin Gives Birth to the Young Prince Prematurely

The reason for the secret investigation was simple.

Don’t startle the snake by hitting the grass.

The Fourth Prince knew she had amnesia, and Ya Fu said that all the antidotes were in the hands of the Western Region Royal Family, and without the Red Thread Worm, even Ya Fu had no way of producing an antidote.

What the Fourth Prince didn’t know was how much memory he had lost and what he still remembered.

But one thing was for sure, at the time of her death in her previous life, the Fourth Prince was still alive and well.

How could she, a dead person, possibly know what happened after that?

If it weren’t for that prolonged dream, she would have had no idea what happened later on.

Therefore, the Fourth Prince should guard against the things she knew while she was alive, not what happened after her death that would warrant caution.

From the fact that the two men from the trade association were not dealt with in advance, it was clear what the Fourth Prince was thinking.

Jun Yuyan had returned from the Palace by the afternoon.

Upon his return, he went to see Murong Jiu first.

"Consort Qin gave premature birth to a prince today," he said.

Murong Jiu expressed her surprise, "Today? She was virtually at full term, wasn’t she?"

She remembered Jun Yuyan telling her about Consort Qin.

Initially, they both suspected that Consort Qin was carrying the Fourth Prince’s child, conceived a month earlier than claimed.

"Yes, by calculations, she was at full term already. However, she deliberately starved herself during pregnancy, which made the child very small upon birth, appearing to be premature. Empress Mother, she turned out to be the culprit behind Consort Qin’s unexpected premature delivery."

"What happened?"

Although she had no fondness for Imperial Noble Consort Qi, she knew that an attack on Imperial Noble Consort Qi was an attack on Prince Ling’s Mansion.

Jun Yuyan explained the reason to her.

The Empress was under confinement, and while Imperial Noble Consort Qi was in charge of the harem, last night an Imperial Bodyguard discovered a pregnant Palace Maid in the Cold Palace who was handed over to the Imperial Noble Consort under suspicion of illicit relations with a guard.

"We were already aware of this and had notified Empress Mother, who knew that the Palace Maid was not truly pregnant, but had severe bloating due to a medicine, causing her pulse to suggest pregnancy, again, a result of the medication. Upon seeing her, Empress Mother was mindful that the maid might have been used to plot against her, so she did not interrogate her but detained her instead."

"Unexpectedly, the next day, due to negligent supervision, the maid escaped and ran to Consort Qin’s palace, intending to kill Consort Qin, scaring her into premature labor."

Murong Jiu frowned and asked, "So the Emperor suspects that Empress Mother incited the maid to harm Consort Qin?"

"The Emperor is now engrossed in alchemy and doesn’t want to bother with these matters. Just the night before, the Taoist participating in the alchemy had just mentioned that the Immortal Pill needed the blood of an infant related by blood. The next day, Consort Qin went into premature labor, the Emperor took some blood, and immediately concocted the Immortal Pill. Overjoyed, and to make amends to Consort Qin, he used this excuse to severely punish Empress Mother, not only demoting her to Consort Qi but also promoting Consort Qin to Imperial Noble Consort."

The more Murong Jiu heard, the more absurd it seemed.

The so-called Taoist Immortal Pills were nothing more than laughable scams, a self-deceiving ruse. Throughout history, has anyone ever truly become immortal?

She, following her master, had indeed seen many wealthy gentlemen die from consuming Immortal Pills, some with faces as yellow as paper, and some with bodies turning green, which really meant they had been poisoned by the pills and were beyond medical help.

In her memory, the Second Prince also once found an old Taoist for the Emperor, nicknamed "Old Immortal," or some such title.

So she asked, "Is this person known as ’Old Immortal’?"

"It wasn’t him, but there indeed was such a person whom the Second Prince sent into the palace. That old immortal was caught on the spot for lechery, molesting a palace maid, and was beheaded by the Emperor. The person now is a middle-aged itinerant Taoist whom our father personally invited into the palace after we left the Capital City," Jun Yuyan carefully explained to her.

This itinerant Taoist, self-proclaimed True Person Zi Chen, was encountered by the Emperor during a visit to the Imperial Monastery to see the Empress Dowager.

At the time, the Emperor was incognito, and no one knew of his schedule. And there, the Emperor chanced upon True Person Zi Chen when a child fell into a pond and came out lifeless. But to everyone’s amazement, after True Person Zi Chen blew a breath of "immortal qi" toward the child, he suddenly came back to life.

The people around were utterly astonished, but when they turned back, True Person Zi Chen, the life-saver from just now, had disappeared.

The Emperor had skilled Imperial Bodyguards with him, so it was easy to "invite" the person over.

Afterward, True Person Zi Chen was taken into the Imperial Palace as an honored guest by the Emperor to concoct Immortal Pills for him.

Jun Yuyan had people inquire about him and found out that Immortal Zi Chen claimed to be a hundred and eight years old, and his master had lived to the age of one hundred and twenty-eight before achieving immortality and ascending to heaven.

The Emperor might not dare to indulge in the fantasy of ascending to immortality, but he certainly wishes to live decades longer and, just like True Person Zi Chen, to show no signs of his true age.

Murong Jiu’s brows were tightly furrowed; this True Person Zi Chen hadn’t appeared in her dream.

"This must be the work of the Fourth Prince. The one who benefits from this is Consort Qin, ah, I should call her Imperial Noble Consort Qin now," she said.

Jun Yuyan nodded, "Indeed, the higher her concubine’s position, the greater her benefits. The Young Prince provided his blood as a primer for the Emperor to concoct pills, and the Emperor will also dote on him by association. He was just born, and the Emperor has already bestowed upon him numerous treasures."

"I just worry that the Emperor might eventually come under the complete control of this True Person Zi Chen." Due to the sudden appearance of this person, Murong Jiu felt somewhat troubled in her heart.

"Don’t overthink it. Everyone has a weakness, and it’s only a matter of time before his is uncovered," Jun Yuyan consoled her in return.

"Prince is right!" Murong Jiu’s spirits lifted, and she spoke earnestly, "I’ve written a list—everyone on it needs to be eliminated. Can the Prince dispatch people to take care of it as soon as possible?"

Although Jun Yuyan was surprised inside, recalling that Ah Jiu mentioned she had a dream, he didn’t ask further questions and took the list from her hands. He glanced through it and saw it contained dozens of people with their life stories detailed thoroughly.

Some were from the Capital City, others were from various places.

"Make sure to send trusted subordinates. There’s no need to gather any evidence. Make the move swiftly."

These people had all appeared in a vision she had, some loyal to the Second Prince, others to the Fourth Prince, all of them abettors in tyranny.

The Fourth Prince would surely have made arrangements ahead of time, like hiding evidence, but Murong Jiu felt evidence was no longer important. Only their death could sever the connection between the Second and Fourth Princes and them.

The faction of the Imperial Princes was too well-hidden; rooting them out completely would be impossible, but this would at least serve as a major deterrent to others.

The list provided by Murong Jiu contained names of significant figures who could bring considerable benefits to the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince.

After they die, the evidence might be destroyed, but as long as she was there, there would come a day when those who had been wronged by them would have their names cleared.

Jun Yuyan was quick to act, calling for his people to go to the study without even taking a drink of water.

Murong Jiu also continued to ponder deeply.

This was just the beginning of the struggle against the Fourth Prince.

Imperial Palace.

Consort Qi was confined within her palace. This day, upon waking from her noon rest, she suddenly fainted to the floor.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.