Are you trying to steal someone else's things?
"Your Highness, what's wrong?" The maid's shrill scream pulled Shen Lixue back to her senses. She looked up and saw Consort Li clutching her lower abdomen, half-squatting, her forehead covered in cold sweat, blood staining her clothes and flowing onto the ground...
A faint smell of blood permeated the air...
Chapter 195: Applying Aphrodisiacs
"It hurts, my stomach hurts so much!" Li Fei clutched her abdomen with both hands, beads of cold sweat dripping from her forehead, her beautiful face contorted in pain.
"Consort Li has miscarried!" Ye Qianmei stared in horror at the blood all over the ground and screamed.
Everyone looked down and saw streaks of blood flowing down Consort Li's skirt and dripping onto the bluestone ground. Their eyes were filled with shock and confusion: She was fine just now, how could she suddenly bleed?
The Empress stood up, graceful and composed, and calmly directed the palace maids: "Imperial physician, quickly call the imperial physician... You few... quickly help Sister Li to lie down over there..."
The palace maids quickly brought over several dining tables, pieced them together to form a makeshift bed, laid out several layers of clothes, and carefully lifted Consort Li onto the bed.
Blood flowed rapidly down her clothes. Consort Li was pale and weak, her lips moving as she murmured repeatedly, "Imperial Physician, save my child, you must save my child..."
The imperial physician hurried over, gently took Consort Li's wrist to check her pulse, and felt the pulse under his fingers getting weaker and weaker, his gaze becoming increasingly solemn.
"Imperial Physician, how is Sister Li?" the Empress asked softly.
The imperial physician withdrew his finger, took out his silver needle kit, and inserted the gleaming silver needles into the acupoints. The blood flow gradually slowed down. He shook his head and sighed softly, "Your Majesty, Consort Li's fetus was already unstable, and the bleeding was very rapid. The child cannot be saved."
What? Her child is gone?
Consort Li felt a sudden thud, and her body instantly stiffened. After several years in the palace, she became pregnant and was overjoyed. In just a quarter of an hour, she could clearly feel that the Empress Dowager valued her, the concubines were accommodating to her, and the Emperor doted on her, putting her first in everything. She felt like she was in heaven.
Before she could fully savor the hope and joy her child brought her, the child vanished in the blink of an eye. She lost her most prized pregnancy, plummeting from the heights of the clouds to the hard ground, shattering into pieces.
His eyes were glazed over, and his face was ashen. How could this be?
"Shen Lixue, if you don't want to give the Purple Jade Beads to Consort Li, you can say so directly. Why did you so cruelly kill her child?" Ye Qianmei glared angrily at Shen Lixue, shouting loudly with righteous indignation.
"Ye Qianmei, don't make false accusations." Shen Lixue's cold eyes were as icy as the coldest winter ice: "When Consort Li miscarried, I was at least three steps away from her. In full view of everyone, how could I have harmed her silently?"
"Your Majesty was perfectly fine just now, but after you put on your purple jade bead, the child disappeared. Do you dare say you didn't do it?"
Ye Qianmei, fearing that others would not know that Consort Li's child was killed by Shen Lixue, suddenly raised her sharp, angry voice, which resounded in every corner of the banquet hall: "Do you think I didn't see your anger and resentment when you handed over the Purple Jade Pearl? You hated Consort Li for taking your Purple Jade Pearl, so you ruthlessly killed her child."
All the suspicious gazes turned towards her. The purple jade bead was given by Prince An to his wife to protect her pregnancy. For Consort Li to come and protect her own pregnancy was to steal someone else's love and go too far. They also saw Shen Lixue's brief hesitation and said that it was not impossible for her to harbor hatred and secretly harm Consort Li's unborn child.
Shen Lixue coldly looked at Ye Qianmei: "That string of purple jade beads has been on my wrist for at least half an hour, and I am unharmed, which proves that there is nothing wrong with the purple jade beads..."
Ye Qianmei snorted coldly and said arrogantly, "This is where your cleverness lies. When you wore it, the purple jade bead was clean. But when you took it off your wrist and gave it to Consort Li, you tampered with it..."
"Ye Qianmei, have you ever seen a pregnant woman carrying drugs that could harm the fetus?" Shen Lixue's cold eyes were like ice: "Moreover, Consort Li had just put on the purple jade bead and then something happened to her. Even if something was placed inside, it couldn't possibly take effect so quickly..."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Qingyan prioritizes offspring, and pregnant women are always extra careful. Their clothes and jewelry are thoroughly inspected to ensure they are harmless. Would Shen Lixue, who is pregnant, wear drugs that could harm her own child? It just doesn't make sense.
"In the capital of Qingyan, who doesn't know that the Princess Consort of Anjun is a highly skilled physician? You specially prepared a dose of poison, and after taking the antidote beforehand, wearing that purple jade bead for three days and three nights would be fine. It's just a pity that Consort Li didn't have the antidote, and her child was killed innocently..."
Ye Qianmei sighed softly, gently wiping the corner of her eye with a silk handkerchief, looking sad and sympathetic.
"Princess Ye's description is so vivid, it's as if she did it herself. Even I'm starting to believe that I really did tamper with the Purple Jade Bead..." Shen Lixue looked at Ye Qianmei, her lips slightly raised, a half-smile on her face.
Ye Qianmei's small face instantly darkened. She glared fiercely at Shen Lixue and angrily rebuked, "Shen Lixue, don't make false accusations! Everyone saw clearly just now that Consort Li didn't touch anything except your Purple Jade Bead. This is enough to prove that it was your Purple Jade Bead that harmed her. You are also a mother, yet you are so ruthless. Aren't you afraid that your child will suffer retribution?"
"There were so many people in the banquet hall. Just because Consort Li didn't come into contact with anyone doesn't mean that others didn't come into contact with her." Shen Lixue looked at Ye Qianmei calmly: "Since Princess Ye suspects that there is something wrong with my Purple Jade Bead, let the imperial physician examine it carefully."
"Fine, let's see how you argue when the Purple Jade Bead is found to have problems." Ye Qianmei snorted arrogantly, bending down to remove the Purple Jade Bead from Consort Li's wrist. Warm sunlight shone into the room through the lattice window, making her fair hands glow with a smooth, delicate luster.
Shen Lixue's beautiful eyes narrowed, and she moved with lightning speed. The instant Ye Qianmei's fingers touched the purple jade bead, she reached out and grabbed her wrist: "Princess Ye, the imperial physician is examining the purple jade bead, not you. Why are you touching the purple jade bead?"
"I was just helping the imperial physician remove it, what's wrong with that?" Ye Qianmei's eyes flickered slightly, her tone arrogant, but her confidence was somewhat lacking.
"The imperial physician is standing right next to Consort Li. He can pick it himself. Even if men and women shouldn't touch each other, there are palace maids present. You are a noble princess of the Western Liang Kingdom. How could we trouble you with such a matter?" Shen Lixue said coldly.
"Moreover, only Consort Li and I touched the Purple Jade Bead. After the imperial physician's examination, it will be clear who is right and who is wrong. If Princess Qianmei also came into contact with the Purple Jade Bead and something happened, would it be my fault or Princess Qianmei's fault?"
"I have no grudge against Consort Li, in fact, we are friends. Why would I harm her? You're just trying to frame me because you're afraid Ziyuzhu will find out something." Ye Qianmei's beautiful eyes blazed with anger as she suddenly raised her voice, sharp, fierce, and furious.
Looking into Shen Lixue's clear, cold eyes, he felt a sudden, inexplicable panic, as if she had seen through the secrets in his heart.
"Having touched the purple jade bead makes you a suspect. If Princess Ye doesn't want to get involved, she should stand still and wait for the imperial physician's examination results," Shen Lixue said coldly, her eyes as cold as a deep pool.
"I'll wait then." Ye Qianmei refused to back down, turning to the imperial physician and coldly asking, "Imperial Physician, what's on the purple jade bead?"
The string of purple jade beads consisted of twenty beads. The imperial physician held them in his hand and examined them carefully. The lustrous purple color shone like crystal grapes in the sunlight, breathtakingly beautiful. The imperial physician stared at the purple jade beads, his brows furrowing tightly.
Shen Lixue's gaze narrowed slightly: "Imperial Physician, is there any medicine that could harm the fetus applied to the beads?" This string of purple jade beads was not the one Dongfang Heng gave her, but an ordinary string of purple beads. When she took off the purple jade beads, she secretly switched them when Consort Li was not paying attention.
She wore a light purple Xiang skirt, purple hairpins, earrings, and pearl flowers, and used a purple silk handkerchief. Her entire body was purple, and the switch went smoothly without anyone noticing.
The imperial physicians were experienced and knowledgeable. When he carefully examined the purple jade beads, he discovered that they were not genuine purple jade beads. He hesitated whether to reveal this, but Shen Lixue asked him at the right moment, and he suddenly understood. He was checking whether there was any medicine on the beads, and nothing else mattered: "Your Highness, the beads are strung normally, there is no problem at all."
Everyone nodded in understanding: Ziyu Pearl was fine, and Consort Li's miscarriage had nothing to do with Princess Anjun, so how could she have miscarried so easily? Even if a fetus is unstable, it's impossible for a baby that's over a month old to just disappear like that.
"The purple jade bead is fine, so you must have tampered with it when you handed it to Consort Li." Ye Qianmei glared at Shen Lixue, accusing her mercilessly. She was determined to make Shen Lixue prove guilty of harming Consort Li's unborn child.
“In full view of everyone, I delivered the Purple Jade Beads without touching Consort Li at all. Consort Li’s miscarriage was indeed caused by someone tampering with the child, but that person was not me.”
Shen Lixue smiled slightly, but her dark eyes reflected a cold, sinister light that sent chills down Ye Qianmei's spine. Did Shen Lixue know something?
I must strike first and pin the blame on her.
Ye Qianmei's lips moved, about to angrily rebuke Shen Lixue, when Shen Lixue suddenly grabbed her wrist and stretched it out in front of the imperial physician: "Imperial physician, take a look, is there a problem with this hand?"