In the room, Luo Bingqing's screams continued to echo. Si Feng paced outside the door, his face etched with anxiety. When he saw basins of blood being carried out, a chill spread from the depths of his heart, leaving him frozen in place like a quail.
"How is Miss Luo?"
"Miss Luo had a fall and went into premature labor. It's just that the baby is only seven months old, and I fear it might not be well," the maid said, then hurried back in with hot water.
Fortunately, the mansion had a midwife skilled in delivery and an imperial physician to assist. Si Feng waited anxiously, and seemed to hear a faint cry. When he listened closely, it was gone, and he immediately thought he was hallucinating.
Just then, the imperial physician opened the door and nodded to Si Feng, "I did my best."
"How is she?"
"The madam is fine, but the baby is premature, too small..." The imperial physician sighed, "I fear..."
Si Feng didn't bother to hear what the imperial physician said next and rushed in. Luo Bingqing had fallen asleep from exhaustion. The maid held a baby, and seeing Si Feng enter, quickly stepped forward, "My lord, it's a young master."
Si Feng looked at the child in the swaddling clothes, who was like a newborn kitten, with a soft gaze. He couldn't help but reach out and touch his cheek. The child, as if startled, began to cry softly, his voice as weak as a newborn kitten's mew.
"We need to find a wet nurse quickly," the midwife suggested after a glance. "Also, Lord Si Feng, it would be best to ask Divine Doctor Ye to take a look, especially since it's a premature birth, to prevent any accidents."
Si Feng nodded repeatedly at this, his gaze falling on the person on the bed, "Move Miss Luo to a clean room, change her clothes, and take good care of her."
"Yes, Lord Si Feng."
Si Feng reached out to hold the child, but the baby was so small and soft. Si Feng's outstretched hand retracted, fearing he might not handle it with care and hurt the child.
"I'll go find a wet nurse and Divine Doctor Ye. You all take good care of the child."
"Yes."
At the morning court, officials from the Censorate once again impeached the Empress Dowager and Prince Qi, but were rebuked by the Emperor, who berated the entire court. Unless evidence was produced, no one was to mention this matter again.
As for the true evidence, the betrothal letter with the birthdates, it had already been burned by the Emperor. He would just consider Nangong Yi as his adopted son and let him be a carefree prince for life. As for the Empress Dowager, she could not be kept. However, to deal with the Empress Dowager, the Jin family had to be dealt with first!
At this moment, Nangong Yan arrived late, "Father Emperor, your son is late."
The Emperor frowned, "You are becoming more and more lazy, even arriving late for court."
"Please forgive me, Father Emperor. Something has happened in Fourth Brother's residence. Fourth Brother was seriously injured. Your son went to the Imperial Hospital to summon an imperial physician, and only then did I arrive late."
"Fourth Brother is in trouble? What happened?" the Emperor asked in surprise.
"This morning, when your son left, he heard a loud bang. He sent someone to investigate and found that it came from Prince Qin's mansion. Fearing for Fourth Brother's safety, your son rushed to Prince Qin's mansion and found that the courtyard where Fourth Brother lived had been flattened. Fourth Brother was seriously injured by the explosion and is in critical condition. The young servant who served him was even blown to pieces!"
"Damn it, what is going on lately? First Xiao Zhen was murdered, and now Prince Qin is severely injured at his mansion by an explosion for no reason. Will I be next?"
"Please, Your Majesty, calm your anger!"
"Calm down? What else can you do besides telling me to calm down?" The Emperor threw the memorial in front of him at an official, "Have the murderers of Xiao Zhen been caught?"
The official lowered his head, not daring to speak. Let alone the murderers, not even a shadow of them had been found!
"My Ninth Princess is missing, have you found her?" the Emperor roared with rage. "You can't do anything right, yet you spend all day dwelling on gossip and endlessly repeating yourselves like gossiping old women. I raised you not to chatter about domestic affairs all day!"
Seeing the court officials like quails, heads bowed, not uttering a sound, the Emperor became even more enraged. "Send the best imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital to Prince Qin's mansion to treat Prince Qin. If you cannot cure Prince Qin, bring your heads to see me!"
"Your subject obeys."
"Minister of Justice, how is the investigation into the murder of Xiao Zhen progressing?"
The Minister of Justice stealthily glanced at Xiao Man, but Xiao Man remained indifferent, her heart filled with worry. Nangong Yu's courtyard had been flattened, how badly was he injured?
"Replying to Your Majesty, there are leads."
"There are leads, but have the murderers been found?"
"This..." The Minister of Justice gritted his teeth, "The evidence I have points to the Princess Consort of Prince Qi and the case of General Xiao Zhen's murder!"
"Nonsense!" Grand Tutor Du immediately reprimanded, "The Princess Consort of Prince Qi is a weak woman of the inner chambers. How could she kill the highly skilled General Xiao? You are slandering her!"
"Your Majesty, what your subject says is the truth. At the scene of General Xiao's murder, we found a shard. After investigation, this shard came from a piece of jewelry from the Treasure Pavilion called the Seven-Colored Lotus, a recently popular pendant, very expensive and rarely afforded. In this vast capital, only thirteen people have purchased the Seven-Colored Lotus."
"That still doesn't prove that the Princess Consort of Prince Qi is suspected of murdering General Xiao!"
"Furthermore, someone witnessed a carriage leaving the city. The horse pulling the carriage was a Northern Rong warhorse! And in this vast capital, besides the army, only three people own Northern Rong warhorses. Your subject recalls that General Xiao brought back three Northern Rong warhorses and contributed them to Your Majesty. Your Majesty bestowed one to Prince Qin, one to General Xiao, and the last one was bestowed to Major General Xiao."
"Then, where did the Princess Consort of Prince Qi obtain the Northern Rong warhorse?"
"Major General Xiao's warhorse naturally went with Major General Xiao to Cloud City. Prince Qin's warhorse is intractable, and it is said that only Prince Qin can ride it. Let alone pulling a carriage, it would be fortunate if it didn't flip the carriage. The remaining horse is the General's horse. And the General doted on Princess Yongning, gifting it to her as a birthday present when she came of age."
"That horse, this Princess gifted it to His Highness Prince Qi when he turned sixteen as a birthday present. Many people know this," Xiao Man said indifferently.
A hint of doubt flashed in Grand Tutor Du's eyes, but his expression remained calm. "Your Majesty, someone using Prince Qi's horse does not mean that person is the Princess Consort of Prince Qi! Moreover, the Princess Consort of Prince Qi is merely a weak woman, how could she kill a strong, highly skilled man?"
"Grand Tutor Du, what your subordinate said is that the Princess Consort of Prince Qi is related to the case of General Xiao's murder, not that she killed General Xiao. Your eagerness to absolve her seems like trying to cover something up," Minister Wen said slowly. "Could it be that the Princess Consort of Prince Qi is not only related but also participated in the murder of General Xiao?"