"Mom, I finished bathing." Before the words were fully spoken, the person had already run inside, and upon seeing Fourth Master Xiao was also present, cheerfully called, "Dad!" He ran over and unceremoniously squeezed between the two to sit down. "When are we having dinner? I’m so hungry."

Fourth Master Xiao furrowed his brows, "Why do I keep hearing you say you’re hungry all the time?" Zhi tilted his head and replied, "Mom says I’m growing, that’s why."

Xiqiu pursed her lips and smiled lightly, rubbed Zhi’s head, and seeing Fourth Master Xiao furrowing his brows because of being contradicted, she said, "He went mountain climbing with Lord Zhou this afternoon."

Fourth Master Xiao raised his brows in surprise and asked Zhi, "You went mountain climbing with Lord Zhou?"

Zhi nodded his head, "Fourth Uncle is really nice!" Exhausted, even Fourth Master Xiao couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking of Zhou Bohan, frail and scholarly, accompanying the always quick and disappearing Zhi mountain climbing...

Two days later, Madam Le entered the palace to pay respects to Le Xiu; since she wasn’t her biological mother, there wasn’t much to say. After sitting for a while, Le Xiu accompanied her to bid farewell to the Empress. As soon as they entered Fengwu Palace, a little eunuch came charging towards Le Xiu, and Madam Le, alarmed, quickly reacted by turning her body to shield Le Xiu.

Luckily, the little eunuch appeared to be only seven or eight years old, so the collision with Madam Le wasn’t heavy.

The Eldest Prince frowned and came over, coldly pointing at the eunuch, "Someone, take this blind thing and beat him to death!" After saying this, he clasped his fists to apologize to Madam Le and Le Xiu.

"It’s no big deal, Eldest Prince need not be so concerned." Le Xiu, pale-faced, sidestepped the Eldest Prince’s courtesy. Madam Le also smiled and replied, "Indeed, Eldest Prince, don’t blame him; we came in too suddenly." Nevertheless, she tightly held Le Xiu’s hand.

The Eldest Prince’s gaze turned to Madam Le’s hand, his eyes dark and deep. Once Le Xiu had entered the palace, he angrily commanded, "Beat him!" Immediately, several older nannies took away the little eunuch, pinned him to a bench, and gagged his mouth, starting to beat him mercilessly.

The child, only seven or eight, with tender skin, started bleeding after just over ten strikes before passing out with his eyes rolled back.

The Second Prince, cowering behind a nanny, shyly peeked his head out and said to the Eldest Prince, "Brother, stop... stop hitting." His face already white with fear.

The Eldest Prince turned back and coldly glanced at him, "A woman’s compassion." He paused then added, "Such reckless, brainless people are better off dead!" Saying this, he turned to those around him, "He is the example; all of you should be on guard in the future."

The surrounding area was deathly silent, no one dared to speak!

The Second Prince weakly stared at the bloody, exposed rear and fainted, flipping his eyes.

Amid the chaos, everyone rushed to support the Second Prince, and the Eldest Prince scolded, "Drag him away!" Then he turned to look at the Second Prince. Amid the commotion, the Empress and several others inside, including Le Xiu, heard the noise. Following the Empress out the door, she impatiently asked, "What happened? Such a mess." Her gaze swept over the eunuch being dragged out, repulsed, "Get rid of this eyesore quickly." Then she saw the Second Prince being carried, she asked, "What’s wrong?"

Someone quickly reported the cause, and the Empress furrowed her brows, "That child is just timid." She then instructed Nanny Mao, "Send them back and call for the Imperial Physician to take a look."

Le Xiu, watching the bloody and mangled eunuch being dragged out, trembled, leaned against Madam Le, and fainted onto her. Madam Le panicked exclaimed, "Imperial Concubine, what’s wrong?" clearly flustered.

Upon seeing this, the Empress was immediately shocked. Nanny Mao reached out to support Le Xiu, her elbow unexpectedly or accidentally pressing against Le Xiu’s abdomen...

Le Xiu fainted.

That night, the palace was in disarray, with the Second Prince burning with fever, muttering through the night, while Consort Le returned to her palace crying about stomach pain. The Emperor was busy all night, and the palace doctors were also in turmoil...

Sheng Shan was enraged, pointing at the group of Imperial Physicians and scolded, "All useless!"

Madam Le was kneeling beside him, holding a handkerchief and softly crying, clutching the unconscious, paper-faced Le Xiu’s hand, filled with unspeakable grief.

The Emperor listened to the sobbing filled room, unease gnawing at him.

"Your Majesty." The Empress entered from outside with Nanny Mao and several close attendants, "The Second Prince is better now; his fever has subsided, there’s no need to worry."

The Emperor tightly furrowed his brows, looking at the Empress, "You tell me, how is it that so many things happened in one afternoon?"

The Empress was taken aback and then explained, "That little eunuch truly deserved to die; his clumsiness... I wonder if he ran into Miss Le... As for the Second Prince, he is always timid and can’t stand the sight of blood..." She sighed deeply.

The Emperor looked at her deeply and said no more, just as Jinyu rushed out from inside with a pale face, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, it’s bad."

"What is it?"

Jinyu’s face was full of terror, stammering, "Mother... mother... bleeding non-stop..."

This was indeed an unusual situation, even the Empress was surprised.

Xiqiu woke up from sleep and asked the just returned Fourth Master Xiao from the palace, "Did Consort Le have a miscarriage?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Yes." Fourth Master Xiao loosened his hair and replied as he removed his outerwear, "They say she was frightened."

Xiqiu immediately lost her sleepiness and asked, "Why was she frightened like that?" Fourth Master Xiao recounted the events in the palace that afternoon, "That little eunuch was severely beaten, and just as he was dragged away, Consort Le was coming out of Fengwu Palace."

The eunuch indeed deserved death; the words of the Eldest Prince were not without reason. Yet, even for execution, there are many ways...

Xiqiu also got out of bed, sitting opposite Fourth Master Xiao, her expression extremely somber.