Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved-Chapter 230 - Giving You a Surprise
Chapter 230: Chapter 230: Giving You a Surprise!
Chapter 230 -230: Giving You a Surprise!
Xiao Wen ultimately stayed in the Prince Mansion and didn’t follow the Prince of Yundian back to Yundian Royal Mansion.
However, this was only temporary. Xiao Wen had already agreed with his father to return to Yundian Royal Mansion, he just wanted to wait until his siblings were born before leaving.
The Prince of Yundian couldn’t stay in Capital City for long and, after spending less than ten days with Xiao Wen, he hastily left the city.
Thankfully, his years spent searching for Lady Yu and her son gave him enough experience in disguise to avoid detection.
Because a few days earlier, The Fourth Prince had been suddenly assaulted, prompting the Emperor to order a rigorous search throughout the entire city.
Prince Mansion was searched, of course, but such a large estate made it too easy to hide someone.
The departure of the Prince of Yundian from the city was facilitated by his disguise and stealth.
Murong Jiu felt that the Emperor was contradictory, having four biological sons, yet causing the eldest and Second Prince to fight each other out of favoritism toward his favorite Third Son.
Despite having a beloved woman and son, he still hoped for new heirs to be born.
How is that not contradictory?
The assault on The Fourth Prince was possibly just an opportunity for the Emperor to conduct a thorough investigation, aiming to eliminate the Second Prince’s hidden supporters in favor of the Third Prince, rather than true concern for The Fourth Prince.
Fortunately, The Fourth Prince only sustained minor injuries and was not seriously harmed.
Second Prince now kept a low profile, reportedly no longer leaving his residence and was recuperating in the Prince’s Mansion.
Among the four princes, three had been ennobled, except for the Second Prince who had not yet received a title, his residence still merely called the Prince’s Mansion.
Murong Jiu had discussed with the strategists who stayed behind at the Prince Mansion instead of going to the Frontier Pass, concluding that Second Prince must have learned about the Third Prince’s undisclosed ailment and might be plotting something.
Yet, what concerned her more was the child in the belly of the Princess of the Western Regions, Consort Qin. Whose child was it?
Who would dare cuckold the Emperor?
Inside the palace, there were expert guards, and the concubines’ quarters were strictly managed—doors locked at certain times, with no guards allowed entry, only eunuchs and palace maids.
Could it be a fake eunuch?
Fu Han laughed heartily and playfully tapped her nose, saying, “How could there be fake eunuchs? Security inside the Imperial Palace is very strict. When eunuchs bath, they face each other, and when distributed throughout the palace, a main eunuch must examine them with royal guards present.”
Murong Jiu laughed as well, “Then could it be a highly skilled guard entered Consort Qin’s room?”
“That’s more likely than the eunuch scenario, but still not certain because if a guard leaves his post without permission, he’s easily noticed by others, it’s very strict. However, I recall that over a month ago, there was a palace banquet when the place was crowded and guards often shifted to the Emperor’s side, naturally reducing the number of guards in the inner palace.”
Murong Jiu’s eyes lit up.
“Right, the news said that Consort Qin had been pregnant for more than two months, but pulse diagnosis isn’t completely accurate. It might just so happen that Consort Qin shared the Emperor’s bed a little over two months ago, leading to this pregnancy diagnosis.”
It seems Consort Qin had been prepared, working within and without to conceive in one fell swoop.
The question now was who had helped her.
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Although the Western Regions Royal Family had sent many people, this was the Great Yan Imperial Palace; no matter how strong her subordinates, covering every base completely was impossible.
Who could it be?
Murong Jiu recalled her previous life when the Princess from the Western Regions was also named Consort Qin, but she had never heard of her being pregnant, and the Western Regions Envoy was quite close to the Second Prince.
But in this life, without Wang Baozhu marrying into the Western Regions as a Prince’s Consort, it is unknown if Consort Qin still maintained contact with the Second Prince.
However, the child definitely could not be the Second Prince’s, because he was at the Frontier Pass at that time.
The Third Prince was even less likely, as he lacked the capability.
The Fourth Prince?
The Fourth Prince was also unlikely, known for being extremely cautious and prudent, he probably lacked the courage.
After much thought, they could not figure out the reasoning.
Unable to guess, they stopped trying. Today the sky was rather overcast, and the servants mentioned that there were quite a few fish jumping out of the water. Fu Han was there to provide her with entertainment, so the two went fishing in the pond together. Within just one Shichen, they had caught a whole large wooden barrel full.
Out of nowhere, a wild cat smelling the fish, hid on the pavilion and meowed a few times.
“This wild cat looks really good, with shiny skin and smooth fur.”
Completely white, it was also larger than a typical wild cat. Its limbs appeared strong, and it had heterochromia—one blue eye and one gold.
Unfortunately, Murong Jiu was pregnant at the moment and dared not play with the cat. It would be troublesome if it scratched her.
Previously, when she accompanied her master on rural medical visits, she had seen a strong peasant who had been bitten by a wild cat ten days earlier. He became irritable, hydrophobic, convulsive, and bit people randomly, eventually suffocating to death due to throat spasms that hindered his breathing.
Those bitten by him also showed symptoms days later, presenting the same morbid signs.
Tragically, the person he bit was his own wife. The villagers said the couple had just married and were very affectionate; his wife had just been diagnosed as pregnant.
After that incident, her master never allowed her to touch cats or dogs again.
Even though she had read about such diseases in medical texts before, seeing them firsthand was still profoundly shocking.
After watching the wild cat for a while and with rain about to fall, before heading back, Murong Jiu instructed the servants to leave a few extra fish for this white cat and to feed it whenever they saw it again.
Fu Han, taking note of this, smiled and said, “I knew Xiao Jiu would like these little animals. I have prepared a surprise for you that you will definitely like.”
Murong Jiu’s eyes shone with curiosity, “What kind of surprise?”
“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise anymore. Wait a few more days, and I’ll bring it to you.”
Murong Jiu thought the surprise from her elder brother would be a small cat or dog, as domestic ones generally don’t carry diseases. She remembered that a few months ago in the Capital City, it had become popular to own lion dogs, with many young ladies and wives carrying a white, long-haired dog when they went out.
However, she never expected that the surprise her brother brought was a young white wolf!
Upon seeing her, the little wolf came over and rubbed against her legs, displaying a very affectionate demeanor.
This little wolf, about the size of a puppy just a few months old, could have been mistaken for a dog if not for its pale blue eyes.
The little wolf was cleaned spotlessly, Murong Jiu couldn’t help but pick it up; it was very well-behaved, only licking the back of her hand gently with its tongue, tickling her.
“Third Brother, where did this come from? It seems to recognize me.”
Murong Jiu was quite fond of it, feeling that this little wolf would grow up to be very impressive.
Besides, most of the wolves in Great Yan were gray wolves, white wolves were even rarer, which made it all the more special.
“Eldest Brother and Second Brother had someone bring it back from Hexi, instructing me to train it well before giving it to you. When they found it, it had been abandoned by its pack, probably due to its fur color not fitting in. It was barely alive, only surviving after being fed some sheep’s milk.”
