Forbidden Autumn, Summer, Winter and Spring Rebirth

Chapter 180 176. There Must Be a Demon

As winter came, the palace finally held a ritual.

The ritual lasted for half a month. The abbot of Guoan Temple asserted that if there was no improvement, it was God's will and karma, and the emperor should not force it.

What the host said reminded the emperor of the conclusion drawn by Ji Weisheng, the chief envoy of the Imperial Observatory, after observing the celestial phenomena at night.

The main star is dim, and the small stars are moving away, as if they dare not approach, and there are signs that they are getting farther and farther away.

When asked about the meaning of this, Ji Weisheng hesitated and only said that the emperor should take care of himself and do more good deeds.

Just these two sentences are enough to risk one's life. If I say any more, I'm afraid it will really bring disaster to the clan members.

To cultivate more merits, doesn't that mean that my merits are not enough?
Thinking again about God's will and the theory of cause and effect, could this be God's punishment for me?
The emperor was tormented by this thought all day long and suffered from nightmares at night, and he became more and more listless day by day.

On this day, the imperial physician came to report that Qin Changzai, the concubine of Chuxiu Palace, had died in her womb and that strong medicine was needed to induce an abortion.

Within ten days, Xu Changzai of Jingyang Palace also had a period. The imperial physician tried his best to treat the baby but still failed to save the dragon fetus.

Then came the third and the fourth.

In just over a month, of the five pregnant ladies, only Concubine Wu in Chuxiu Palace was still struggling to hold on.

The emperor suffered blows one after another, but he still forced himself to keep up his spirits and take care of the condition of Concubine Wu and the dragon fetus every day. He was often so worried that he had difficulty swallowing.

He even issued a decree early on that if Concubine Wu gave birth to a dragon baby safely, regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl, she would be promoted to the position of concubine immediately.

The end of the year is approaching again, and this year's New Year's Eve and New Year are destined to be unpeaceful.

The Emperor received reports these days that Concubine Wu's health had improved and there was no longer any danger to the dragon fetus. The Emperor was overjoyed and sent a stream of rewards to the Chuxiu Palace, attracting the attention of the entire palace.

The Imperial Concubine conveyed the emperor's wish that this year's New Year's Eve banquet should be more lively to dispel the bad luck in the palace.

Afterwards, he began to prepare for the palace banquet with the two imperial concubines.

This year's New Year's Eve was really lively, and the fireworks were more varied than in previous years.

Concubine Wu, who was nearly five months pregnant, was arranged to sit at the lower left of the emperor. During the meal, the emperor frequently looked at her. When he saw that she took a few more chopsticks of a dish, he would send his own dish to her and reward the imperial chef who prepared the dish.

He also ordered Eunuch Su to prepare an imperial hand warmer for Concubine Wu to warm her hands, and even the tea she drank had to be the same as the emperor's.

Such honor and favor naturally stole the limelight. Concubine Wu became a little too proud of herself for a moment. Even though she felt a little unwell, she insisted on staying at the banquet.

In fact, Concubine Wu felt a little uncomfortable at the beginning of the banquet. Her hand warmer was a little cold, so she took the hand warmer from Concubine Guiren to warm it up. After a while, Eunuch Su brought the imperial hand warmer and specifically mentioned that it was the emperor's special order.

She returned the precious person's hand warmer, and happily sat down holding the emperor's hand warmer. After a while, she ignored the slight pain in her lower abdomen, but it only lasted for a moment.

She hesitated whether to report this to the emperor, but the emperor's favor and appreciation made her give up the idea.

If she said she was not feeling well at this time, she would definitely be sent back to the palace, and this banquet where she was supposed to be the center of attention would have nothing to do with her.

Unexpectedly, as time went by, she felt more and more frequent cramps in her lower abdomen, even accompanied by a feeling of falling. She realized something was wrong and was about to report it to the emperor when she suddenly heard her personal maid screaming.

"My lady, there is so much blood, my lady..." The maid was so panicked that she couldn't speak.

The hall suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked towards Concubine Wu.

There was a pool of deep red blood under Concubine Wu's table.

Concubine Wu looked down and fainted without saying a word. Her face was pale and bloodless.

The emperor shouted urgently, "Quickly call the imperial physician, imperial physician!"

There was a commotion in the hall, and Concubine Jing hurriedly ordered people to carry Concubine Wu into the back hall, and sent people to move most of the charcoal basin over. At this time, no one noticed that Concubine Gui was whispering a few words to the maid, and the maid took her hand warmer and hid it in her sleeve, and quietly left the hall.

No one had cleaned up the deep red bloodstain yet, and the emperor felt that the red color was stinging and burning his eyes.

The screams of Concubine Wu from the back hall could be heard one after another, and the hall fell into complete silence.

Finally, an imperial physician came out tremblingly to answer.

"We, the ministers, were incompetent and failed to save the dragon fetus. Concubine Wu...had a miscarriage."

The emperor stood up suddenly, then staggered. Su Peisheng quickly caught him.

The emperor said in a stern voice, "How could you have a miscarriage for no reason? Check for me!" Then he began to choke and cough as if he was out of breath.

Unexpectedly, his cough became more and more severe, and he eventually fainted.

There was another round of chaos and war. The Imperial Concubine ordered people to settle the emperor down and summon the imperial physician to treat him.

Concubine Jing ordered everyone to disperse first.

Xia Dongchun naturally would not stay to make trouble, so he returned to the Yanx Palace and asked the people on duty to pay attention to the movements outside and the others to go to bed early.

The next day was New Year's Day, but there was no festive atmosphere in the palace.

The news came early this morning that the ladies of honor did not need to come to the palace to pay homage this year. When outsiders asked about it, they were only told that the Imperial Noble Consort was seriously ill, and that Noble Consort Jing and Noble Consort Hui were taking care of her and managing palace affairs and had no time to spare.

This was the Imperial Concubine's idea. The Emperor was still unconscious at the moment.

There is no need for early morning court during the New Year holidays, so the matter of the emperor's coma can be suppressed for a few more days. The imperial concubine couldn't explain why she decided to block the news of the emperor's coma. She just felt uneasy, and thought it would not be good for the emperor to be reported to be seriously ill during the New Year holidays.

Concubine Wu had just suffered a miscarriage and had been severely traumatized both physically and mentally. Since waking up, she could only hug the quilt and cry silently, without speaking or laughing, and refusing to eat or drink.

The Imperial Noble Consort arranged for concubines to take turns to tend to the Emperor. Noble Consort Wu was also being looked after by Noble Consort Jing. After repeated confirmation that there was no news in the capital that the Emperor was in a coma, the situation was temporarily stabilized.

Today is the third day of the first lunar month. The emperor has been in a coma for three days and the imperial physician is still helpless.

One day, Xia Dongchun came back from attending to the illness and saw Concubine Ji was already waiting for her.

Ever since Concubine Nian passed away, she and Concubine Ji had not spoken to each other alone for a long time.

Just as he was about to serve her some tea, he was interrupted by her. She grabbed his wrist with one hand and took him into the inner room with a little force.

"I have something to say to Sister Chang Fei, so you all go outside and serve." She sent the palace servants away without saying anything and closed the doors and windows.

Xia Dongchun suddenly felt a little nervous. He sat up straight and was about to ask, but Concubine Ji spoke in a low voice.

"Sister, do you have any doubts about the fact that all five concubines were found to be pregnant at the same time?"

It was indeed because of this, Xia Dongchun thought to himself.

Xia Dongchun did not answer, but just looked at Concubine Ji quietly, waiting for what to come.

Concubine Ji continued to ask, "Sister, the sky is really going to change."

Xia Dongchun looked at her in confusion after hearing this puzzling remark, but she knew in her heart that Concubine Ji was not speaking without purpose.

"Don't beat around the bush, be brief and to the point." Xia Dongchun urged.

"Those five people were all fake pregnancies."