Chapter 147 - 127: Live and Die Together
Close.
Open.
Close.
Open...
System: [Host, you have now opened and closed me for the tenth time. Do you have a question?]
Jiang Xian: [I’m starting to suspect there’s something wrong with the way I’m opening it.]
On the palanquin, she gently stroked her flat abdomen, finding it hard to imagine a tiny life was already growing inside.
After entering the palace, Jiang Xian hadn’t used any contraception, but she hadn’t tried to get pregnant either.
She was filled with apprehension about the arrival of a new life. In her past life, Jiang Xian had been a "DINK"—double income, no kids—and firmly against marriage. If she hadn’t transmigrated to the Yan Chi Dynasty, she probably would never have had the chance to be a mother. It couldn’t be helped; the blow of pregnancy to a career woman was almost devastating. If she had just been working to make ends meet, she might have managed. But she was a "King Juan," a workaholic who treated herself like a machine. Never mind a pregnant woman, even a physically weaker man would have struggled to keep up with her workload.
To minimize the impact of her menstrual cycle on her work efficiency, she regularly went to the hospital for progesterone shots, ignoring the side effects of forcibly stopping her period. ’What side effect could be more serious than impacting her work?’
Jiang Xian recalled that she was prone to severe menstrual cramps. Once in school, the pain was so bad she curled up in a ball in the hallway and was forced to take a half-day off. Her male head teacher, who was in a bad mood at the time, berated her for her weak willpower. "Are you going to ask your boss for time off for something like this when you start working?" he had asked.
Those words were deeply seared into her mind.
Later, Jiang Xian learned it wasn’t her fault.
The ability to give birth is both a blessing and a shackle for women. As if a psychological illusion, Jiang Xian felt her belly grow heavy.
Jiang Xian: [System, show me all the items related to raising a child.]
[Motherly Love Aura]:
To others, you will radiate a motherly glow. Children under ten will be irresistibly drawn to you and feel a mysterious sense of closeness.
[Fetal Protection Pills]:
After consumption, you will possess an embryo that can withstand any test.
Chug red flower decoctions by the bottle, use musk as incense—nothing will be off-limits.
[Wisdom Spray] [Beauty Spray]:
Parents’ genes not good enough? Just pay to win.
[Gender Selection Pill]:
The system does not encourage any form of gender discrimination, but in the event the Host’s dynasty requires a Princess to be married off for a political alliance, you might need this.
[Genetic Tendency Pills]:
After consumption, the Host can choose whether the baby will take after its mother or father upon birth.
[Multiple Pregnancy Pills]:
Use with caution. Don’t be greedy, or you’ll never stop giving birth.
[Prenatal Education Pills]:
After use, the Host can provide prenatal education to the baby, letting it get a head start. With the system’s help, it will temporarily gain the ability to receive instruction, even if it’s still just a gestational sac.
...
Jiang Xian was dazzled by the choices.
There were even more items for infant care and early childhood education courses.
In the end, she only chose the Fetal Protection Pills. She would consider the others after she finished attending the sick Emperor.
After discovering her pregnancy and deciding to keep the child, Jiang Xian became even more determined to save the Emperor’s life. She had no powerful family at court to back her up, and the various factions would never allow a mere concubine of her rank to control a young emperor from behind the curtain. If the child was a princess, she would need her father, the Emperor, to protect her even more.
"Lady Gu, if you please."
Lost in thought, Jiang Xian found the palanquin had already arrived outside a side entrance of Weiyang Palace. A eunuch helped her down.
As soon as the palace gates opened, she was hit by the strong scent of mugwort.
The ancients believed that mugwort could expel toxic miasmas and prevent illness.
She and Hui Pin entered Weiyang Palace. The gates closed heavily behind them, and the path ahead seemed to darken. Song Yuanzheng, leading about ten Imperial Physicians, came to greet them. All of them were haggard and pale from exhaustion. Because the illness was contagious, the two women put on veils that covered their mouths and noses before going to have an audience with the Emperor.
Hui Pin’s face was deathly pale. She kept asking Song Yuanzheng to confirm the effectiveness of the veil.
Song Yuanzheng grew irritated by her questions. "Wearing a veil is just doing what one can," he said. "If the sickness is meant to spread, it is not something this subject can prevent. If Your Ladyship is so afraid, you needn’t have come in at all." But now that she had entered the gates of Weiyang Palace, she wouldn’t be allowed to leave anyway.
In the end, Hui Pin chose to press the veil tightly against the lower half of her face with her hand.
※
"The Emperor has only just managed to fall asleep. If you two ladies wish to go in, please come out quickly."
Doctor Song said.
Upon hearing this, Hui Pin’s face lit up. "In that case, I’ll wait for the Emperor to wake up and feel a bit better before I go in for an audience."
Jiang Xian said, "I’ll go in for a look. I’ll be quiet and come out quickly."
After Jiang Xian spoke, Hui Pin immediately turned and stared at her.
Jiang Xian felt her gaze but ignored it.
Song Yuanzheng said, "Lady Gu, please go in. Hui Pin can wait outside."
Jiang Xian walked straight in.
The Emperor on the sickbed was pale, with a flush of feverish red spreading across his cheekbones.
Emperor Yan Chi was a handsome man—a fact Jiang Xian had known for some time. But in the past, she had always seen him full of vigor. Even when vexed by court affairs to the point of furrowing his brow, he possessed an unshakeable confidence in his ability to solve any problem. Now, however, he was passed out with fever, his long eyelashes trembling from time to time, a clear sign of restless sleep.
Jiang Xian didn’t dare disturb him, but he opened his eyes. "Who’s there?"
"Your Majesty," she said, moving closer.
The Emperor was delirious from his illness and had trouble recognizing people. It took a moment for his eyes to focus. When he realized it was Jiang Xian, he grew anxious. "Why are you here?! This is madness... Who sent you in here? Lu Ronghua? The Empress, where is the Empress? How could she let you be so foolish! Of all the concubines in the palace, why did it have to be you?!"
He spoke with such urgency that he broke into a fit of coughing.
The coughing fit left his eyelids, brows, and the tip of his nose flushed red. He looked like a sick tiger, swatting a paw at the air in a huff.
The Emperor had always thought himself a fair and just ruler, but at a critical moment like this, the heart inevitably shows its bias. He did not want to see his beloved Gu Pin put herself in danger. He naturally assumed the Empress should have known his preferences and protected his favorite concubine while he was unconscious, and he had already identified the prime suspect.
Convinced that someone had deliberately sent Gu Pin into Weiyang Palace, the Emperor became instantly furious.
He couldn’t catch his breath, and a wave of fear that he wouldn’t live long washed over him.
"Relay my imperial decree! If I do not recover... Lu Ronghua... will be buried with me!"
Since Lu Ronghua wanted Gu Pin dead, he couldn’t bear to let such a venomous woman live on. He had to deal with her now, while he was still lucid.
Jiang Xian quickly helped the Emperor sit up, patting his back gently. "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This servant came of her own volition to attend to you. No one is trying to harm me... Even if others tried to stop me, I would have found a ladder in the middle of the night and climbed into Weiyang Palace. Besides, this servant knows a little Qinggong!"
Being forced to attend the sick would make her pitiable, but that wasn’t the image Jiang Xian wanted.
She was here to show her loyalty; of course, it all had to be voluntary.
This emotional outburst exhausted the Emperor even more. He closed his eyes in Jiang Xian’s arms. "Foolish... Why did you come in? Attending the sick... there are plenty of people for that. Why must you take this risk?"
"Wherever Your Majesty is, this servant will be there too."
’A King Juan employee would never clock out before the boss!’