Proud Feather

Chapter 61 Crying
The imperial physician arrived soon and the news was passed on to the emperor.

Coincidentally, the virtuous concubine was talking to the emperor about palace affairs, so they came to Yongchun Palace together.

"Father!" Pang Yu seemed to have seen a savior and said anxiously, "You are finally here, come and see mother! She, she..." He began to choke up when he said the last sentence.

Her behavior startled the emperor, but fortunately, Concubine Xian spoke first: "Princess Xin, get up quickly. You are pregnant and you must not hurt yourself. What are you standing there for? Help her up!"

"Yes." The palace maids rushed forward and surrounded Pang Yu. He could no longer kneel or cry.

This reminded the emperor, and he nodded in agreement: "What the virtuous concubine said is true. You and He'er have been married for so long, and it was not easy for you to get pregnant. Everything should be based on the child."

This interruption instantly diluted the atmosphere of Concubine Shu's serious illness. Pang Yu could only reluctantly respond with a "yes" and lowered his head to wipe away his tears: "Your son will be careful. Your Majesty, please check on Mother first!"

The emperor then turned his attention to the interior.

"Your Majesty!" Caizhi knelt before the bed and cried, "Please save the Empress! These days, the Empress has been devoted to worshipping Buddha, eating little, sleeping little, and reciting scriptures and copying books day and night before the Buddha. Whenever I mention it, she says she is sorry for the Empress, and that I can't show my sincerity otherwise. But the Empress's health is not very good to begin with, how can she endure this? Please tell the Empress to take care of herself!"

The emperor looked over and saw Concubine Tian lying motionless on the bed, her face pale and pale, her cheeks sunken from thinness. Add to that the dark blue curtains and the moon-like pillow, and the feeling of gloom and desolation washed over her, making her feel desolate.

"Shufei!" The emperor held her hand, but was startled. "What is this?"

Shufei's wrist was wrapped in thick gauze, which faintly revealed the smell of blood.

Caizhi cried, "This is what the Queen left behind when she copied the scriptures."

"Nonsense!" the emperor was furious. "How could copying scriptures cause such injuries?"

"It's true." Caizhi wiped her tears and took the scripture handed to her by the palace servant, "Look."

The emperor flipped it open and saw lines of dried blood written on it.

"This……"

Caizhi then pulled out Concubine Shu's other hand, the fingers of which were covered with plasters, and said, "Your Highness has copied so much, and no matter how I persuade you, I won't stop. She said she wants to provide for the Empress and the Crown Prince... Your Highness blames herself for not protecting the princess and wants to apologize to them."

The emperor was obviously moved and sighed, "Why is she doing this? This is none of her business."

Caizhi said, "The Queen said that it was the Tian family who did the evil, and she can't excuse herself."

After the incident at the Dahuai Temple, the emperor had become somewhat dissatisfied with Concubine Tian Shu. Tian Hui'er had been in and out of the palace since she was young, and she had developed such a bad temper. What did Concubine Shu teach her on a daily basis? Now that all the dissatisfaction had dissipated, how could a loving mother raise a bad child? Tian Hui'er was only his niece after all, so how could Concubine Shu blame her?
"Where is the imperial physician? How is Concubine Shu?"

The forgotten imperial physician was finally brought over. He reported, "Your Majesty, Concubine Shu's pulse is as thin as a thread, a symptom of both Qi and blood deficiency. I believe she has been overworked and eating too little lately, which has weakened her body. She fainted from a fit of anger."

The emperor felt relieved that there were no other symptoms. He then asked, "According to you, can Concubine Shu recover?"

The imperial physician replied, "Your Majesty, the deficiency of Qi and blood can be severe or minor. If you take good care of yourself and replenish the deficiency, you will gradually recover. However, if you let it go unchecked, you will exhaust your energy and eventually die."

The emperor nodded and said, "Okay! I'll leave the care of Concubine Shu to you. If Concubine Shu recovers, I will definitely reward her. But if she doesn't, you will be held accountable!"

"Yes!" the imperial physician responded respectfully and went to the outer room to carefully consider the prescription.

"Wait," the emperor called him, "Can Concubine Shu wake up now?"

The imperial physician replied, "I can now use acupuncture to wake up the Concubine Shu."

The emperor released his hand and said, "Then use it!"

"Yes." The imperial physician walked into the inner room, opened the medicine box and took out the golden needles.

Just as he was wiping the golden needle, Concubine Shu's brows twitched. Caizhi was surprised: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, are you awake?"

The imperial physician hurriedly took back the golden needle, looked carefully at Concubine Shu's face, covered his hand with a handkerchief and rubbed it for a while. Sure enough, Concubine Shu moaned softly and opened her eyes.

"My Queen, you finally woke up!" Caizhi cried with joy.

Concubine Shu looked bewildered: "What am I doing..." Then she looked at the emperor's face and was about to stand up, "Your Majesty!"

The emperor held her down and said, "Don't move. Just lie down!"

The others tactfully stepped aside, leaving the seat by the bed for the emperor.

"Your Majesty, why are you here?" Concubine Shu stared at him intently, her expression mournful. "It was Caizhi who acted on her own initiative and alarmed you, wasn't it? Alas, I am truly ashamed. I was only intending to reflect on my mistakes, but ended up mobilizing so many troops."

The emperor patted her hand and said softly, "Don't think too much. I know what you mean. You didn't expect me to faint."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Shu burst into tears: "Your Majesty is so tolerant of me. I really am... Your Majesty, I am so sad! Since the death of the Crown Prince, I have been restless day and night, and I keep dreaming about the Empress. Who knew that the Princess would be murdered again... I am not trying to express my feelings to you, I just can't get over the hurdle in my heart..."

She cried so sadly that the emperor also felt sad.

"I am a lucky person. If it weren't for the favor from Your Majesty, how could I have the opportunity to accompany Your Majesty? Not to mention having He'er. This is a great blessing. I am afraid I can't handle it, and I always want to do more. But things have not turned out as I wished, which makes me even more anxious..."

The emperor nodded gently. "I understand, but you also have to understand. I shoulder all your luck and blessings. There's nothing I can't handle. It's just a matter of following the will of heaven..."

This conversation was clearly heard outside. The virtuous concubine who came with her looked calm, but sighed in her heart.

In their early years, the emperor and empress were deeply in love and had no concubines. In the palace, except for Consort Shu, who was an old friend of the empress, all other concubines came later.

Consort Xian was selected into the palace after the emperor ascended the throne, and she wasn't particularly favored before. Her rise to the rank of one of the Four Consorts was due to her family background and seniority. She knew her place, and usually didn't compete with Consort Tian Shu. But to say she was truly selfless wouldn't be the case.

This time, Concubine Shu committed a crime, and the emperor handed over the palace affairs to her and summoned her to accompany him more often, so it was inevitable that she had some thoughts.

But now seeing the emperor and the concubine like this, that thought faded away again.

It was obvious that Concubine Shu was putting on a show, but the emperor was under her control. What could anyone else do? Her house arrest order would likely be lifted soon.

The virtuous concubine was full of thoughts. She turned around and found Chu Ling standing at the door.

When Concubine Shu fainted, Yongchun Palace was in chaos and no one cared about her for a while.

Chu Ling just held the door, staring into the room, not knowing what he was thinking.

Xianfei's heart moved, and she stepped forward and whispered, "Princess? What's wrong with you?"

Chu Ling didn't move, still with the same expression, biting her lips and not moving.

The virtuous concubine sensed something was wrong and forcibly pulled her hand away from the door, shouting, "Princess! Princess! What's wrong with you?"

This shout attracted everyone's attention.

Chu Ling shifted his gaze and stared at her blankly, but did not respond.

Concubine Xian panicked and shouted, "Your Majesty, please come quickly! The princess is in trouble!"

I'm going to tell you that if there's no update before midnight, it's likely to be delayed. I'm sorry, but my status is quite up and down, so please refer to midnight as the standard.