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"Mmm..."

Deciding to act, she covered her forehead and slowly propped herself up with her elbow, making a noticeable sound: "Your Majesty? Empress... Your Highness? What happened to me? Cough cough cough..."

Empress Zhu wiped away her tears and stood up from the ground. Jiang Xinyue pretended to be clueless, looking at Empress Zhu with wide eyes: "Em... Empress... You\'ve... you\'ve already given birth to a little prince?"

She acted utterly incredulous, rubbing her eyes. Seeing that the infant in Empress Zhu\'s arms hadn\'t disappeared, she stiffly turned her head to look at the Xuanwu Emperor: "Your Majesty... Could it be that I\'ve... been unconscious for ten months?"

The Xuanwu Emperor was amused by her words: "What nonsense are you talking about? This is the Fifth Prince born to Court Lady Lan from Yanxi Palace. Unfortunately, Court Lady Lan was ill-fated and passed away after giving birth to him. The Empress is asking me about the child\'s future. What do you think, my beloved?"

Empress Zhu looked at her nervously.

"I... I don\'t understand these matters. I just think we should choose someone who truly loves him and will raise him as her own son, someone who won\'t harm him!"

Empress Zhu had lost several children in succession and might not be able to have more in the future. If she adopted the Fifth Prince, she would likely transfer all the love she had for the eldest and second princes to the Fifth Prince. She would be an excellent mother.

Concubine Zhen spoke with the innocence of a child, not considering the convoluted palace struggles, but instead focusing on what was best for the child.

The Xuanwu Emperor was reminded of his own situation by her words. When it came to raising children, sometimes even birth mothers might not do as well as adoptive mothers.

He raised his hand and stroked Jiang Xinyue\'s smooth hair: "Empress, raising the Fifth Prince in Yikun Palace was Concubine Zhen\'s idea. Did you two discuss this beforehand?"

Empress Zhu immediately knelt down to beg forgiveness: "Your Majesty, please understand. I only learned two days ago that Court Lady Lan was pregnant and about to give birth."

Two days ago, Jiang Xinyue was still unconscious. How could they have discussed it?

"Wah... wah... wah..."

The little one in Empress Zhu\'s arms suddenly started crying. Still kneeling on the ground while holding him, she could only rock the baby, trying to comfort him.

She made "shh shh" sounds to soothe him, clearly experienced in handling children.

Jiang Xinyue quickly tugged on the Xuanwu Emperor\'s sleeve: "Your Majesty, I didn\'t know about this little baby before. I just thought that the way Empress Zhu looked at the Fifth Prince was the same as how my aunt used to look at me. Empress, you must love this child very much!"

Because her aunt had loved her dearly too.

The Xuanwu Emperor didn\'t immediately tell the Empress to rise. Instead, he smiled at Jiang Xinyue: "Your aunt has already been elevated to the status of equal wife by Minister Jiang. Didn\'t you know?"

How could she not know?

Her opportunistic father had already written a letter and sent it in with a eunuch who was out shopping.

But the Xuanwu Emperor disliked palace consorts maintaining contact with their families, so Jiang Xinyue pretended not to know.

"Ah?" She widened her eyes again in surprise: "Who is... Minister Jiang?"

Her adorably foolish reaction pleased the Xuanwu Emperor, who affectionately pinched her nose and said: "I\'ve already promoted your father to the position of Minister of Ministry of Rites. Perhaps he felt that you had contributed to this and therefore elevated your mother to the status of equal wife."

Jiang Xinyue\'s eyes reddened, and she sniffled, speaking in a muffled voice as she acted coy: "I thank Your Majesty, but Your Majesty should inform my father that I didn\'t say a word to help him become the Minister of Rites. It\'s all because he encountered Your Majesty, a true talent-spotter. If he wants to thank anyone, he should thank Your Majesty."

She was joking, of course. She had almost been lumped in with those accused of meddling in state affairs from within the palace.

"Ahem..."

The Xuanwu Emperor had only been teasing her. He coughed a few times to clear his throat: "In that case, Empress, take the Fifth Prince back to Yikun Palace to raise him. I have difficulties with producing heirs, so let the people below be careful."

"Yes, I will give instructions accordingly."

As Empress Zhu was leaving, she gave Jiang Xinyue a grateful look.

"She\'s gone."

The Xuanwu Emperor held her in his arms, patting her back in relief, though it wasn\'t clear if he was comforting himself or Jiang Xinyue.

His deep voice carried a hint of hoarseness: "Tell me, what really happened?"

"I don\'t think it was Consort Shu..."

At that time, Shuang Jiang had twisted her ankle, and Xi Que was supporting her back to Hexi Palace. The woman who claimed to be a palace maid from Jingren Palace led her towards Jingren Palace.

There was a vermilion wooden bridge over the artificial lake, which one had to cross to reach Jingren Palace.

Jiang Xinyue knew how to swim, so she wasn\'t too concerned about safety. Who would have thought that in this moment of carelessness, the palace maid would suddenly strike her back with her palm, pushing her into the water.

Very quickly, someone underwater grabbed her ankle. Although the eunuch who went down to investigate said it was tangled water plants, Jiang Xinyue had grown up by the sea and was an excellent swimmer who could hold her breath for three minutes underwater.

The person wearing a mask to cover their face was a guard, tall and strong, with strength dozens of times greater than hers.

She could only play dead. After tricking the guard into loosening his grip, when he wasn\'t paying attention and came to check her pulse, she suddenly opened her eyes and plunged the golden hairpin in her hand into his chest.

She had used all her strength, but due to the resistance of the water, the hairpin only penetrated halfway into his chest. Even a guard as strong as him couldn\'t have escaped.

"If it was really Consort Shu, how could she possibly use someone from her own palace to summon me? It\'s nothing more than someone trying to frame Consort Shu. The one who harmed me definitely wasn\'t Consort Shu."

The Xuanwu Emperor let out a long sigh of relief. If Concubine Zhen had insisted on punishing Consort Shu without considering the consequences, it would have put him in a difficult position.

With the Wu family gone, keeping Consort Shu and Consort Rong in the palace as figureheads would also serve as a gesture to the Empress Dowager.

Now that she was pregnant, it was even more impossible to take action against her.

Fortunately, Concubine Zhen was sensible. Both in terms of appearance and personality, she completely matched his expectations.

"I\'ve already ordered Wang Dequan to have the Investigative Bureau search for the palace maid and guard you mentioned."

The Xuanwu Emperor rested his chin on top of Jiang Xinyue\'s head: "But I advise you not to get your hopes up too high. Anyone who would do such a thing would have surely covered their tracks thoroughly."

That young palace maid was either dead or hidden away, and wouldn\'t be easy to find.

As for the guard...

The imperial guards who could serve in the palace all had impressive backgrounds. Those without family status had connections, and those without connections had networks. Investigating them would be fraught with difficulties.

However, Concubine Zhen\'s watery eyes were filled with grievance as she gazed at him with adoration. "No matter how powerful they are, can they be more powerful than Your Majesty? This consort believes that Your Majesty will surely capture the villains who harm the concubines in the harem."

She clenched her small fist, her face eager and determined. "When that time comes, this consort will definitely let those villains taste the flavor of her fist."

In an instant, her pale face became animated once again.