Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 483 Consort Chun (2)

The Empress's maternal family had deep roots, so it was impossible for them to be overthrown so easily.

However, Meng Shu had been perfectly timed from the moment she entered the flower hall. With her precise control of the timing, she ultimately forced the emperor to make such a decision, which was already a remarkable achievement.

After all, confinement and house arrest are worlds apart.

The former is tantamount to falling from the clouds into the mud, and it also crushes the dignity and honor of an empress in the dust in front of everyone in the palace.

Unlike the Xie and Qu families who were imprisoned in the inner palace, this was different.

Previously, the Second Princess's birth mother, Lady Shen, was also imprisoned in a small side hall of Shujing Palace. A door blocked out all sunlight and human sounds. She was imprisoned like that for a whole year until the Shen family father and son fought bloody battles in the northern frontier, and their military achievements moved the Emperor's heart. In addition, in order to save face for the Second Princess, the Emperor issued a decree, and Lady Shen was able to see the light of day again.

This time, the Empress, like Lady Shen, was imprisoned in Renming Palace.

But she... probably won't have the same luck as the Shen family.

As Meng Shu watched the Empress being led away by the palace servants, a cold, sharp glint flashed in her eyes. Now that she had begun her counterattack, she would not leave the other party with any chance of turning the tables.

In fact, Consort Shun's entry into the palace is enough to show that once the door to Renming Palace is closed, it will never be opened again.

Every move the emperor makes in court, every struggle he makes, is like a bronze mirror, and will soon be reflected in the small space of the inner palace.

As the sound of the Empress being escorted away from the flower hall faded into the distance, the remaining concubines in the hall, some with fear hidden in their eyes, some with a veiled smile on their lips, and most with their eyes lowered, dared not make a move.

Meng Shu looked up at Consort Shun, while Consort Han kept her head down the whole night and did not utter a sound.

Empress Dowager Zhou tightened the swaddling clothes in her arms and said to Empress Dowager Jiang beside her, "Come with me to see Consort Chun's child. She was not very healthy to begin with, and now she has risked half her life to give birth to the imperial heir."

Empress Dowager Jiang immediately bowed slightly. Even though she was now honored as Empress Dowager, the old sense of hierarchy was still ingrained in her bones when facing Empress Zhou, who had once held the Phoenix Seal, and she felt a hint of inexplicable fear.

Upon seeing this, Aunt Mei quickly got up and carefully took the swaddling clothes from Empress Dowager Zhou's arms. The palace servants from Shou Kang Palace and Ci Ning Palace then left the flower hall.

"It's late, everyone can go home now."

The Emperor raised his hand and waved it, his tone tinged with weariness.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we shall take our leave."

Consort Shun was the first to curtsy, and the other concubines quickly followed suit, kneeling and taking their leave.

As everyone left the flower hall, Yun Baolin paused slightly, her eyes involuntarily glancing towards the maternity ward. She longed to visit her cousin and was pondering how to begin when Qi Pin gently tugged at her wrist beside her.

Yun Baolin pursed her lips, suppressed her thoughts, and silently followed Consort Qi behind Consort Shun, gradually retreating from Huining Palace.

As soon as they stepped out of the palace gate, Consort Qi lowered her voice and reminded her, "Sister, please go back to Ganlu Palace with peace of mind. With Consort Jin inside to take care of things, Consort Chun will definitely be fine. Right now, the Emperor and the two Empress Dowagers are both here. If we go over now, it will only cause trouble. It would be better to wait a couple of days until we have prepared the congratulatory gifts before we come to visit."

After Qi Pin's words, Yun Baolin suddenly came to her senses.

The Emperor has just promoted my cousin to the rank of Imperial Concubine, making her the first among the four imperial concubines of the first rank. She is now the most honored person below the Empress. Her status as a mother is elevated by her son, which is an immense honor and prestige.

She nodded quickly, her tone a mixture of surprise and joy, with a hint of undisguised envy: "Sister Qi Pin is right. I was only busy preparing things like gold locks to add to the festive atmosphere before, but now I want to congratulate my cousin on this imperial concubine's birthday as well."

Consort Qi shook her head slightly upon hearing this.

Consort Chun's promotion after childbirth was expected; she had written to her father in Jinzhou half a year ago, instructing the family to prepare appropriate congratulatory gifts in case of unforeseen circumstances. Yun Baolin, Consort Chun's cousin, seemed to have only just remembered this...

......

Meng Shu followed the Emperor to the maternity ward. When they reached the corridor, she lagged behind by two steps and turned back to look at Donggua. She reached out and gently squeezed Donggua's fingertips. "Were you frightened? Why is your face so pale?"

With a pained expression, Donggua whispered in her ear, "Shushu, that Imperial Physician Cui bumped into a pillar just half a step in front of me... 'bang!' and his head just..."

Green Willow quickly pulled her behind her and whispered, "Why are you saying these things to Her Majesty now? Be careful not to offend Her Majesty's ears!"

"It's alright."

Meng Shu gently shook her head and rubbed the winter melon in her palm.

She had experienced a similar situation once before.

Zhao Di, who was sold by Ju Chang and imprisoned with her, crashed into the wall and fell to the side with her eyes still open.

Inside the production pavilion.

Consort Chun was still unconscious. Empress Dowager Zhou summoned Physician He to her bedside, carefully inquired about her pulse, and personally checked Consort Chun's forehead temperature before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"It's almost the end of Hai hour. Your son will escort Mother back to the palace to rest," the Emperor said gently.

After the Emperor and the two Empress Dowagers' entourage had departed, Aunt Mei, along with Mengzhu, Ruizhu, and Mingyue, knelt down and were about to kowtow to Meng Shu in gratitude. Green Willow and Winter Melon, quick-witted and agile, immediately stepped forward to help them up.

Green Willow helped Aunt Mei up while smiling and said, "Auntie, what are you doing? At this crucial moment of childbirth, it's only natural for our Lady to take care of the Imperial Concubine. Now that mother and child are safe and sound, and Madam Yun can enter the palace tomorrow, isn't that a great joy?"

Meng Shu nodded and said softly, "The imperial physician estimates that Wan'er won't wake up until early tomorrow morning. He has asked the kitchen to prepare some soup and porridge for her when she wakes up. It's getting late, so let's go back first and come to see her again tomorrow."

Aunt Mei's eyes were slightly red, and she tightly gripped her handkerchief, saying, "The entire Lin'an Marquis's mansion will forever remember Her Highness's righteous kindness today. Mingyue, go and see Her Highness off. The roads are slippery after the rain, so please be careful."

"Yes." Mingyue responded and stepped forward, taking a ram's horn palace lantern.

Meng Shu didn't say anything more and turned to go into the inner room. The candlelight inside was dim, and Wan'er was sleeping soundly, her brows still showing signs of postpartum fatigue. She stood by the bed for a moment before turning and leaving Huining Palace with Green Willow and Winter Melon.

In the darkness of night, the bright moon held a palace lantern in front, its light spreading across the damp blue bricks, casting the shadows of a group of people moving silently.

Holding the palace token of Lingcui Palace in her hand, Green Willow whispered to Meng Shu, "Your Majesty, when this servant led Lord Tong to the Imperial Hospital for questioning, Physician Cui was indeed acting out of guilt."

"The two imperial physicians, Lu and Chen, stayed up all night checking the medicinal materials. Only he left his duty room twice. Lord Tong pressed on with his questions, and I took advantage of the chaos to have Donggua press half a fingerprint on the last page of the medical record. It hadn't even been compared yet. When Imperial Physician Cui heard that a fingerprint had been left, he... panicked and committed suicide by hitting his head against a pillar."

Meng Shu said calmly, "Peeping into the affairs of concubines is a capital offense. Since he dared to do so, he must have already considered the worst possible outcome."

Mingyue was dumbfounded. "So there were no fingerprints on the medical record at all. No wonder Donggua was called away by Lvliu as soon as he put down the ginseng soup... The rest of us are about the same size as Donggua... and the thickness of our fingers is about the same as Doctor Cui's."

Donggua rolled her eyes in annoyance, "You better walk properly!"

......