Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 346 Fetal Movement Disturbance
"Farewell, Your Majesty!" It was Liu Ruoyu's turn to be on duty today, so as soon as the group walked out of Rijing Gate, Wang An and Wei Chao brought their eunuchs to pay their respects to the emperor.

"Go." Zhu Changluo did not stop, just waved his hand and continued to walk towards Jingren Palace.

When the procession reached the corner of the alley, Shi Fuming, who had delivered the imperial edict, followed. This time, he did not run past Liu Ruoyu directly to the emperor's side. Instead, he walked obediently, half a step behind the eunuch who was nearly twenty years younger than him.

Zhu Changluo came to Jingren Palace accompanied by two eunuchs and a group of palace officials.

As early as an hour ago, Jingren Palace had received the news that the emperor was coming, but because it was not yet time for the court bell to ring, there was no one waiting at the palace gate to pay tribute to the emperor except the eunuchs on duty.

Zhu Changluo entered the Jingren Palace and was immediately noticed. The eunuchs and palace maids immediately stopped their work and knelt down to kowtow in the direction of the emperor. Soon, the Jingren Palace, which had been bustling with activity, became quiet.

Upon learning that the emperor had arrived early, Consort Yi Fu Xueqian and Consort Xian Zhao Yuxian hurriedly brought people to greet him. To Zhu Changluo's surprise, but not entirely surprising, Consort Kang Li Zhulan was also in Jingren Palace.

After the ploughing ceremony, the Ministry of Rites finally finished arranging the ceremonies and submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting the posthumous honoring and canonization of the concubines.

Zhu Changluo genuinely disliked these tedious and expensive ceremonies. However, he knew very well that these women, destined to live in the palace for their entire lives, truly cared about the formalities and needed these statuses. Therefore, he patiently set aside time to attend the two collective ceremonies, with the Chief Minister Fang Congzhe and the Minister of Rites Xu Guangqi acting as the chief and deputy envoys respectively.

After the two ceremonies, the concubines all had their own titles.

The late Crown Princess Guo was posthumously named Empress Xiaoyuan; Wang, the mother of the eldest son Zhu Youxiao, was posthumously named Imperial Noble Consort Duanjing. Under these rules, regardless of life or death, those with sons and daughters were generally given the title of Consort; those without sons and daughters who served in the Imperial Residence for more than ten years were given the title of Concubine; and those without sons and daughters who did not serve in the Imperial Residence, or who served in the Imperial Residence for less than ten years, were all given titles below Concubine.

The reason why we say "most" is because there are six exceptions to this rule. They are the two imperial concubines, Li Zhulan and Li Qinfang, and the four imperial concubines, Mi Mengshang, Pu Mei, and Shao Sishen, respectively.

The reasons for these six concubines' exceptions to the rules varied. It's widely speculated that the two Li sisters were granted the title of Noble Consort and Mi's title of Imperial Consort due to the emperor's personal preference. The two Park sisters were granted Imperial Consort titles due to their special status, earning them special attention from the Ministry of Rites. And Shao was also granted Imperial Consort status because she was pregnant with a dragon fetus, poised to bear children for the royal family.

But regardless, there wasn't much discussion about this within the court or the public, as everyone felt the emperor was being fair. At least he didn't posthumously confer the title of imperial concubine on the mother of the eldest prince, or imperial noble consort on the mother of the fourth prince.

"Your Majesty, I, Li Zhulan, Fu Xueqian, and Zhao Yuxian, greet you." A noble, a concubine, and a maid came before the emperor and saluted.

"No gift."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Why are you here?" Zhu Changluo looked at Li Zhulan.

Li Zhulan lowered her eyebrows and raised the corners of her mouth, revealing a charming yet elegant smile. "According to the date, Concubine An will give birth in just one or two months. Although I'm not very old, I'm an experienced person after all, so I come to visit often. I'm so surprised to see the emperor here."

Zhao Yuxian's good mood soured upon hearing this. She felt that Li Zhulan was secretly trying to deceive her, and that she shouldn't be here at this time. Zhao Yuxian cursed inwardly: "Why don't you just go back to your West Warm Pavilion? Why do you have to play the game of chance encounter here?"

Zhao Yuxian guessed correctly. Li Zhulan did come here intentionally to have a chance encounter with the emperor and make her presence felt.

Although Zhu Changluo wanted to call out the concubine's name that night, whether to go to the palace or summon her directly to the Qianqing Palace after naming her was entirely up to him. Moreover, even if arrangements were made, the eunuchs in charge of sleeping with the emperor, mainly Wang An, would never reveal the emperor's whereabouts to any concubine.

However, Li Zhulan knew that the emperor had changed his ways and would often visit Shao Sishen in Jingren Palace. Even if he didn't stay overnight, he would occasionally show up. As long as she insisted on coming to Jingren Palace every day, she would definitely run into the emperor there.

"It's good to move around more." Zhu Changluo's gaze didn't linger on Li Zhulan for too long. He turned to look at Fu Xueqian. "Where are the children?"

Fu Xueqian was about to speak when Li Zhulan came up again. "Ti'er brought Yan'er and Jing'er to the Qing Palace to play with me."

In the imperial palace, "Xiao Ye" was a special title, as opposed to "Huang Ye," and could only be used to address the crown prince. Although Zhu Youxiao had not yet been officially conferred the title, this title had already begun to become popular, especially after Zhu Youxiao's mother, Wang, was posthumously conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort.

"Did I ask you?" Zhu Changluo gave Li Zhulan a dissatisfied look.

"Hmm," Li Zhulan pursed her lips and blinked, the coquettishness on her face turning into sadness. "I thought I was asking, but Master, you don't understand."

"Alright." It was hard for Zhu Changluo to resist this, but the good thing about him was that he had a strong will. "When you're done being surprised, go back. I didn't come here to see you today."

Zhao Yuxian cheered in her heart: Your Majesty is wise.

But Li Zhulan whispered at this time: "Ti'er hasn't come back yet. She hasn't seen the Emperor for a long time."

"You." Zhu Changluo ignored her, but did not force her to leave.

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When Zhu Changluo and the three concubines entered the main hall in the front courtyard of Jingren Palace, Concubine An Shao Sishen was still seated on her couch. A small tea table sat on top of her bed, and on top of it sat a small pillow. Shao Sishen's left hand rested on the pillow. Beside her, Liu Yun, a sixth-rank female official appointed by the eunuch Cao Huachun, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, was gently pressing the wrist of her left hand, feeling the pulse in her lower abdomen.

Seeing this, Zhu Changluo did not immediately approach to interrupt, but sat quietly at the table in the main room. His arrival slightly disturbed Shao Sishen's mood, but it did not affect Liu Heng's pulse diagnosis.

After half a quarter of an hour, the pulse diagnosis was over. Before Shao Sishen could stand up, Zhu Changluo walked over. "No need to bow."

"Yes." Zhu Changluo noticed keenly that compared with before, there was a hint of sadness in Shao Sishen's smile.

"How's your pulse? Will the delivery be safe?" Although Zhu Changluo had never met Liu Yong, he could already guess her identity from her official uniform and the way she felt his pulse. Liu Yong didn't even need to look closely at the dragon pattern on Zhu Changluo's clothes; just by looking at his beard, she knew the man before her was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

"Reply to the Emperor." When she replied, she no longer had the calmness she had when taking the pulse.

"Just say whatever you want to say. There's no need to be nervous." Zhu Changluo held Shao Sishen's hand and stroked it gently.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Shao is experiencing signs of fetal movement."

"What does fetal movement disorder mean?" Zhu Changluo turned his head and looked at Liu Heng.

The moment she met the emperor's eyes, Liu Heng became even more nervous. If she were to feel her own pulse, it would undoubtedly be disordered.

Unable to bear the emperor's questioning gaze, she quickly lowered her head. "Fetal movement is a feeling of falling, lower back pain, abdominal pain, or discomfort caused by heaviness, followed by a small amount of bleeding, which indicates fetal restlessness."

"Why?" The emperor's voice was just a little louder, and everyone in the hall fell silent.

"Reply to the Emperor." The eerie silence around them made Liu Ying feel a tremendous pressure bearing down on her. "The pathogenesis of fetal restlessness is damage to the Chong and Ren meridians, resulting in a weakened fetal core. Symptoms can be both asymptomatic and symptomatic. Asymptomatic cases are often due to kidney deficiency, while symptomatic cases are often due to blood heat and blood stasis. Concubine Shao, it's likely a mixture of both. You may experience miscarriage."

"How to treat it!" Zhu Changluo frowned. "Give me a prescription and I'll get it ready."

"Your Majesty, I've only read medical books, and I've never prescribed a prescription for treating fetal restlessness. Everyone is different, and a copycat approach won't work. I wouldn't dare prescribe a dosage." Liu Yun kept shaking her head. "I can't do that."

After leaving the Imperial Household Department yesterday, she was largely led by Hu Shangshi to perform tasks such as body searches, physical examinations, measurements, and check-in. Afterward, Hu Shangshi even lectured her on palace etiquette. It wasn't until today, after lunch break, that she donned her ill-fitting old official uniform and began her first pulse diagnosis. She immediately sensed that Concubine Shao's pulse wasn't right, clearly indicating kidney deficiency. However, this wasn't enough to support her conclusion of "fetal disturbance." She questioned Concubine Shao herself, but she remained evasive and refused to speak.

It was not until she repeatedly questioned Concubine Fu, who slept with Concubine Shao, and repeatedly explained the pros and cons, that Concubine Fu was willing to pull Liu Ying aside and said that Concubine Shao occasionally had a small amount of bleeding in her lower body. Only then did she dare to conclude that the fetus was "uneasy."

"Go! Call the imperial physician." Zhu Changluo turned around and gave orders to Liu Ruoyu who was standing behind him.

"Yes!" Liu Ruoyu immediately ran out like the wind.

Ding! The moment he opened the door, the clock struck 3:45 PM.

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When the bell rang at 15:00 pm, the Prime Minister Fang Congzhe was the first to put down his pen.

Fang Congzhe was only pretending. If the emperor and three eunuchs in the Southern Study had finished approving all the memorials before the court officially ended, then the five cabinet members responsible for implementing the preparatory procedures for central decision-making would have completed their work long before then.

Fang Congzhe had originally thought that this Liaodong incitement case would spark widespread public outcry, just like the previous "Zou and Zhao Party Case," and that the cabinet would once again be overwhelmed by impeachment letters containing a wide range of opinions. Drafting these matters was a very demanding task, and if one wasn't careful, they could easily bring disaster upon themselves.

According to Fang Congzhe's experience, if such a situation had occurred during the Wanli era, senior officials who maintained a neutral stance would often be attacked by both sides. However, those who did not maintain a neutral stance would be accused of attempting to manipulate public opinion like Zhang Juzheng and Shen Shi. For a long time, Fang Congzhe was even puzzled as to why these two premiers, with their very different styles, were being compared together.

But to his surprise, after a whole day, the cabinet had only received three relatively mild impeachment letters, and these letters only targeted the Seljuq Turk who had been shouting at the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall. These three impeachment letters didn't even mention Xu Guangqi. The emperor, imitating the previous emperor, employed his ancestral method of "keeping the letters within the court without reporting them" and simply withheld the three impeachment letters.

He didn't like fighting, and naturally he was happy to see peace and tranquility in the government. But his intuition told him that this matter wouldn't be resolved so easily. Not to mention the long-term consequences, there was also someone like Shen, who had dealt a severe blow to the Jesuits, watching over him in the cabinet.

Fang Congzhe speculated that the situation was so calm and delicate because the Censorate, the agency handling the case, remained silent. Everyone, including the emperor, was waiting for Zhang Wenda to produce a report that would determine the nature of the matter. Only when the Censorate reached a definitive conclusion would the court truly become lively.

Fang Congzhe left the duty room, and Shen immediately followed him. Before leaving the Forbidden City, he approached Fang Congzhe's sedan chair in front of the other three cabinet members and asked softly, "Prime Minister, can I go to your house for some tea?" He had wanted to talk to Fang Congzhe during his lunch break, but Fang Congzhe was pulled away by Ye Xianggao to talk, so he could only wait until now to approach him.

"Okay." Fang Congzhe was still planning to break up with Shen. "If the round trip doesn't bother you, come with me."

"Of course it's not too far." Shen replied with a tone half a degree higher than before.

After leaving Donghua Gate, Fang Congzhe's sedan chair did not stop to wait for Shen. So the sedan bearers carrying Shen had to speed up and catch up.

About a quarter of an hour later, the sedan chairs of the Fang and Shen families arrived at Chongjiaofang.

This time, Shen didn't speak as soon as he entered the room. Instead, he followed Fang Congzhe to the reception room and sat down. He waited until the Fang family's servants brought tea and cakes before saying, "Prime Minister, what do you think about the situation in Liaodong?"

"There are many things happening in Liaodong. Which one are you talking about?" Shen threw out a witty remark, and Fang Congzhe responded with confusion.

"Of course it's the fault of those foreigners," Shen said. "They're destroying the orthodox teachings and teaching people not to worship Confucius or offer sacrifices to their ancestors. They're intentionally disrupting Chinese traditions and causing China to once again become a barbarian nation. Their evil ambitions are crystal clear."

"So you're talking about this." Fang Congzhe, having drunk a good bit of tea in the duty room, was feeling hungry. He took a piece of rice cake dotted with black sesame seeds from the tray of pastries brought by the servant and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing as he said, "My attitude remains the same as it was in the 44th year of the Wanli reign."

"The Prime Minister is wise!" Shen breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up and saluted Fang Congzhe again.

(End of this chapter)