Chapter 45: Disfigured Palace Maid vs. Cold-blooded Emperor
After leaving the court.

"Your Majesty, what do you think the Emperor means?"

Prince Duan was walking on his way out of the palace. Hearing this, he looked at the tutor who was following him and whispered, "I don't quite understand it either, but the child in Imperial Concubine Yao's belly..."

He did not continue.

It's just that the words cannot be kept.

The Grand Tutor naturally understood what Prince Duan meant, and he came over and whispered, "Of course I fully support His Majesty!"

Prince Duan smiled at him, looked around, and then whispered to the Grand Tutor, "I will definitely not treat you badly!"

The two smiled at each other, without saying a word, and they both understood what the other meant.

Prince Duan quickly returned to the palace and then went directly to the main courtyard to find Princess Duan.

The main courtyard of Prince Duan's Mansion, Xihe Hall.

Princess Duan held a cup of tea in her hand, looking at the garden outside the window, wondering what she was thinking.

Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching and knew who was coming. She smiled and stood up and went out to greet them.

"The prince is back?"

When Princess Duan saw Prince Duan, she walked up to him with a smile, naturally took off his outer robe, and put it aside.

"What's the Queen doing?"

Prince Duan casually sat on the couch, half leaning back, looking at Princess Duan and asked.

Princess Duan smiled and walked over to sit next to him. "As expected, the Queen has taken the bait. Some time ago, one of the Queen's people came to me secretly and said that she wanted the Mother-Loving Powder. I gave it to her, but it was to return the mother and the child."

Zi Mu Gui is a strong poison specifically designed for pregnant women. If either mother or child is exposed to it, both will die.

Or the kind that can't be saved.

"Presumably, the Zimugui will soon be used on Concubine Yao."

Princess Duan looked at Prince Duan and laughed cruelly.

"Well!" Prince Duan nodded slightly, with satisfaction on his face, "You did a good job."

"Remember to clean up the mess and never let anyone find out." He warned seriously.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I understand!"

Princess Duan's face turned serious and she said seriously.

He paused, frowned again and said: "But we can't rely entirely on the Queen, we have to make preparations for both situations!"

"What does Your Highness plan to do then?" Princess Duan leaned closer and asked.

Prince Duan glanced at her and smiled mysteriously, "Of course it's to give my good brother some excitement during the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Princess Duan seemed to understand, but seeing that the prince had his own plans, she did not ask any more questions.

The sun sets in the west, and Ye Beichen arrives at Yuexian Palace in the afterglow of the sunset.

When Ye Beichen saw Yu Yao, he kissed her forehead and said, "How was your day? Was your child well behaved?"

Yu Yao took his hand and placed it on her belly. "The child is only three months old. Your Majesty can ask this question again when I am five months pregnant!"

Ye Beichen smiled slightly, "It's me who is anxious!"

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician came to check my pulse today and said that I might be pregnant with twins!"

Yu Yao thought of something and suddenly said.

"Twins?"

Ye Beichen was stunned for a moment, and his eyes instantly fell on her stomach.

Having twins may be a good thing in an ordinary family, but it may not be a good thing in a royal family.

It would be fine if they were two princesses, or twins, a boy and a girl.

But if there are two princes, one of them must be killed.

Especially when there are no other princes and an heir is urgently needed, it is even more unlikely that the other one will survive.

Seeing his serious expression, Yu Yao knew what he was thinking.

Then, she knelt down at Ye Beichen's feet and said, "Your Majesty, I beg you, if you really give birth to two princes, please send the other one out of the palace, send him far away, and give him a chance to live!"

She was pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, so she wasn't worried at all, but she still had to pretend.

Ye Beichen couldn't bear it, so he gently pulled her up from the ground and sighed softly, "This is also my child. How could I bear to kill my own child?"

"I promise you, even if you give birth to two princes, I will definitely protect the life of the other one."

He said seriously again.

According to convention, and for the sake of the stability of imperial power, there is no way the other one could survive under such circumstances.

After all, it was his child, how could he have the heart to kill him?
Yu Yao and Ye Beichen discussed it and decided not to disclose the news of the twins and keep it a secret for now.

It’s best to keep it a secret until delivery.

No one knows. If two princes are really born, the other one can be sent away quietly at that time.

Then she announced publicly that she had given birth to a child.

Ye Beichen even went to the Imperial Medical Service and used threats and bribes to persuade Imperial Doctor Zhou not to disclose the news that Concubine Yao was pregnant with twins.

"From now on, Imperial Concubine Yao's pregnancy will be handed over to you. You should know what to say and what not to say!"

Faced with the emperor's threats and inducements, Doctor Zhou had to agree to everything with a bitter face.

Yu Yao was also very cooperative and tried to wear loose clothes on weekdays.

Although it's only three months now, I'm gradually showing my pregnancy.

The belly of twins is much bigger than that of a single baby, so covering it up a little can help prevent others from noticing it.

Ye Beichen even hid this from the Empress Dowager, so the less people know about it, the better.

To prevent others from noticing her belly, Yu Yao seldom left Yuexian Palace.

But even if he didn't go out, he still had to pay his respects to the Queen every day.

But the Queen acted as if she didn't know that she was pregnant and still saw her coming to pay her respects every day with a bulging belly.

The look on her face showed no intention of exempting her from greetings at all.

Today, on her way back from paying her respects, she had an accident.

First, he almost fell off the sedan chair.

The reason was that oil was spilled on the ground of the palace road, and the eunuchs who were carrying the sedan chair could not stand firmly.

Yu Yao reacted quickly and flew down before the sedan chair fell.

But as soon as she touched the ground, a mad wild cat jumped out from the roadside.

The wild cat pounced straight at her stomach.

It was obvious at first glance that someone had planned this for a long time and wanted to get rid of her belly.

Yu Yao sneered, and without waiting for the wild cat to pounce on her, she slapped the mad wild cat to death with one palm.

Although she was fine, she was somewhat frightened, but fortunately there was no problem.

When Ye Beichen found out about this, he was extremely furious and immediately sent someone to investigate.

In the end, the clue was actually traced back to Qin Gengyi, the former Concubine Zhao.

Qin Gengyi held a grudge against Yu Yao and made small figures to curse Yu Yao in the palace every day.

Cursing her to die a miserable death, with two lives lost.

When Ye Beichen found out, he naturally couldn't bear it, and the little affection he had for Qin Gengyi in his heart completely vanished.

She was sentenced to death directly by an imperial decree.

I heard that when Qin Gengyi received the imperial edict, he refused to die and kept clamoring to see Ye Beichen.

Ye Beichen did not go to see Qin Gengyi, but ordered coldly: "Since she refuses to die, then you should send her off in person."

Qin Gengyi died soon after, strangled to death by Eunuch Cha, the apprentice of Eunuch Fu.

I heard that his eyes were wide open and he died with his eyes open.

He was finally wrapped in a straw mat and thrown into a mass grave outside the palace without even a grave.

It's pitiful, sad and hateful.

Qin Gengyi's incident caused great shock to the court and the harem, and also made more people see how much the emperor valued Concubine Yao.

Now, no one dares to offend her.

Of course, many people acted secretly.

The Queen was angered by Ye Beichen and punished her several times, and even humiliated her in ways that were both overt and covert.

Even on the first and fifteenth days of each month, he did not go to Fengyi Palace to rest.

Just rest in Yu Yao's Yuexian Palace.

Everyone in the harem was laughing at the queen. The queen was just out of favor before, but now she has lost even respect.

The most obvious thing is that when paying respects, there are many more voices of rebuttal.

Some were even bold enough to confront the queen directly and make sarcastic remarks to her from time to time.

His expression and words were no longer as respectful as before.

(End of this chapter)