The Empress Arrives: Rebirth of Concubine Hua

Chapter 157 Childish and innocent
Ulanara watched the wet nurses drink the medicine written by Doctor Zhang. During this time, the Third Prince had woken up after the servants used wet towels to cool him down, but the little baby was feeling uncomfortable and could only cry with his mouth open.

Tired of crying, the wet nurse's milk was brought to his mouth and the Third Prince drank a few sips weakly.

Ulanara frowned and waited for the wet nurse to feed the Third Prince and coax him to sleep again. She also arranged for the maid to wipe the Third Prince's body, and then she took Jianqiu back to the main hall.

Jiang Fuhai was holding a bowl and waiting for Ulanara.

"Your Highness, I went to the small kitchen in the palace that was used to prepare food and soup for the wet nurses, and I found a bowl of this."

Ulanara looked at the bowl in Jiang Fuhai's hand, which contained some white solid.

"what is this?"

Ulanara frowned.

"Reporting to the queen, I have asked, this is a bowl of boiled lard. I have detained the people in the kitchen and will wait for the imperial physician to come and check it. I have seen the marks on it, it seems to have been used in the past few days."

Ulanara was well versed in medical books and knew that frying crucian carp with lard and then boiling it into a thick soup was very effective in increasing milk production.

"But you got the wrong one? Isn't lard used with crucian carp to increase milk production?"

Jiang Fuhai said slowly.

"I turned the kitchen upside down and found this jar of lard very strange. I asked the people in the kitchen, but no one could tell me where the lard came from. They only knew that the bowl had been placed in a corner of the kitchen a few days ago, and the servant in charge of the kitchen would take the lard every day to fry fish and cook soup."

Ulanara was furious.

"Asshole! How dare you use something of unknown origin to prepare meals for the wet nurse! I think I should clean up my harem!"

Jiang Fuhai lowered his head and said.

"I also think it should be so. The emperor has just ascended the throne, so it is inevitable that there will be disloyal people in the palace. It is better for the queen to take this opportunity to clean up the mess."

After the imperial physician examined the lard, he reported back to Ulanara.

"Your Highness, I just took the lard and found that medicinal herbs were added to it during the refining process. However, the medicinal herbs have a very light taste and cannot be detected without careful identification. However, no matter what medicinal herbs they are, this oil is harmful and useless. If the wet nurse takes too much tonic, her milk will inevitably endanger the Third Prince. This person has ulterior motives."

Ulanara said to Imperial Doctor Zhang.

"I know about this. I will investigate this matter carefully. The imperial physician should keep silent for now."

Doctor Zhang bowed and left.

Ulanara waved to Jiang Fuhai, and Jiang Fuhai moved closer to her.

"Go and check for me quietly to find out the backgrounds of the palace servants in the small kitchen. If anyone dares to do something under my nose, I will not let them off easily."

Jiang Fuhai took the order and left.

When Nian Shilan was conferred the title of concubine, she was granted the power to assist in managing the six palaces, but in this life she had no time to take care of those trivial matters.

Today, she heard that the Queen's palace had urgently invited an imperial physician, so Songzhi asked her if she wanted to go to the Queen's palace to see her and take care of her.

Nian Shilan waved her hand.

"Don't do that. I hate seeing her face the most. Why bother going there and asking for trouble?"

Xiao Linzi came back and said mysteriously.

"Your Majesty, I just heard from the servants in Jingren Palace that the Third Prince has a fever."

Nian Shilan didn't care.

"Isn't it common for children to have a fever? Maybe they have caught a cold or their stomach is not in good condition."

Xiao Linzi whispered.

"No. The palace servant said that it seemed that someone added something to the wet nurse's diet, causing the Third Prince's stomach to be unable to handle the milk and develop a fever due to food accumulation."

Nian Shilan's heart skipped a beat. In her previous life, in order to win the favor of Yinzhen, she forcibly took Cao Qinmo's daughter Princess Wen Yi to the Yiku Palace to raise her. Because Wen Yi could not sleep at night, she asked the wet nurse to drink the sedative and turn it into breast milk to feed the princess. She didn't expect that the third prince would suffer the same trick now.

Based on her understanding of Ulanara in her previous life, Nian Shilan's first reaction was that Ulanara now had a young son and wanted to compete for Yinzhen's favor.

But it doesn't make sense. Even if Ulanara didn't have Yinzhen's favor, even if she had no children, no matter who ascended the throne in the future, she would be the rightful queen mother and empress dowager.

What's more, if it was her who did it, she should have kept the matter under wraps.

There must be something else going on.

Qi Yuebin heard about this during dinner and said it indifferently.

"This major incident may not be caused by the harem. The emperor has just ascended the throne and has only this one son, but his brothers are all fine."

Jixiang paused as he was serving the dishes.

"Your Highness, do you mean that it is related to the previous dynasty?"

Qi Yuebin nodded gently, picked up some food and ate it slowly. After swallowing the food in his mouth, he said, "Come with me to see the third prince later. The child is innocent."

When Qi Yuebin arrived at Jingren Palace, Ulanara was reading a book, and the eunuch came in and said.

"Your Highness, the Queen, Concubine Duan is waiting outside the palace. She said she heard that the Third Prince was ill and came to take a look."

Ulanara put down the book in her hand and said.

"Please come in."

Qi Yuebin greeted and sat aside.

"I heard that the Third Prince was unwell, so I came to see him."

As he spoke, he gestured to Jixiang to present what he was holding, which was a few exquisite bellybands for children.

Ulanara smiled and reached out to pick up the top piece, exclaiming in admiration.

"You are so thoughtful. Look at the pattern on this bellyband. It is so lively."

Ulanara looked at the bellyband and put it back into Jixiang's hand, then said.

"The imperial physician came to see him and said that the Third Prince was fine. He just had indigestion and was suffering from stomach upset."

Qi Yuebin smiled gently.

"I am not blessed with childbearing for the time being, and I didn't know that this indigestion could also cause a child to have a fever. But, I remember that the Third Prince was only five months old, and was still being fed by a wet nurse. How could he have indigestion?"

Ulanara said.

"Sister is still young and won't serve the emperor for long. Don't be anxious. You will eventually have your own children. To be honest, it was because the wet nurse took too much tonic that the Third Prince got sick after drinking the milk."

After saying this, Ulanara smiled and observed Qi Yuebin's expression, only to find that she was very frank.

Qi Yuebin still smiled softly.

"Yes, I served the emperor for a short time before he ascended the throne. Everyone knows that the emperor has only one son, and we women only pay attention to matters such as giving birth to children. Has the queen carefully checked the wet nurse?"

Ulanara's heart moved. Yes, the emperor has only this one son, but the emperor has many brothers who are in their prime.

Jiang Fuhai hurried over and was about to speak when he looked up and saw Qi Yuebin.

Ulanara knew what he was worried about and said.

"No problem, go ahead. What's the matter?"

Jiang Fuhai knelt down and said.

"Reporting to the Queen, I have carefully checked the backgrounds of those servants as you instructed. One of the palace maids has a lover who is a guard beside the Eighth Prince."

"Then what? Keep talking."

"Yes. I interrogated the maid alone. She refused to confess at first. It was only when I took the letter I found under her pillow that she confessed. It was also because the maid was stupid. She thought that the letter was written by the guard himself and was reluctant to burn it. That's how she got the evidence."

After Jiang Fuhai finished speaking, he glanced at Ulanara's expression.

"Does the Emperor know about this?"

Jiang Fuhai replied respectfully.

"I have not yet dared to report to the Emperor without permission, so I will report to the Empress first."

Qi Yuebin looked at Ulanara, and Ulanara also looked at her.

"My sister is right. What do you think we should do about this?"

Qi Yuebin pondered for a while and spoke slowly.

"I am a woman, and this matter involves the previous dynasty. I think that the emperor must come forward to carefully examine it."

Ulanara smiled, her eyes full of admiration.

"Then listen to my sister. Let the emperor judge the case, and I won't have to worry about anything."

When Nian Shilan was about to go to bed at night, he got up and called Xiao Linzi, whispering a few words to him.

Xiao Linzi left the palace as soon as the palace gate opened the next day, saying that Concubine Hua was used to using rouge from Xianzi Tower and he wanted to go buy some more.

After leaving the palace, Xiao Linzi turned a few corners and entered a narrow alley. When he came out from the other end of the alley, Xiao Linzi had changed his clothes.

Xiao Linzi hired a carriage and hurried to the Nian Mansion.

(End of this chapter)