novelhk Chapter 512 Illegitimate Son
Chapter 512 Illegitimate Son
She thought about it and decided to tell the truth, "The Queen Mother's pulse seems slow and sluggish, her menstruation is not smooth, and the evil heat is blocked, and she is weak after being angry. It is indeed a symptom of long-term illness and qi stagnation."
"Your Majesty's body seems to be difficult to conceive, but your pulse is not strong. Excuse me for asking, has Your Majesty ever given birth to a premature baby?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Queen Dowager Yuan stood up with her hair standing on end in anger, like a rooster with its feathers standing on end.
"How dare you! You are talking nonsense. Everyone in this palace knows that I have been taking care of my body since I married the late emperor, but I have not had any children in the past twenty years. How can I allow a wild girl like you to slander me with lies!"
After she finished speaking, she immediately shouted, "Come here, drag this nonsense-talking wild girl out and beat her to death with sticks!"
In the blink of an eye, two blue-clad guards came in from outside, ready to capture Ji Yuntang.
Ji Yuntang's expression was fearless. Even though her arms had been grabbed by two guards, she continued to say, "Empress Dowager, I haven't finished my words yet!"
"In addition to the symptoms I just mentioned, you also have sore waist and knees, dizziness, tinnitus, frequent chest tightness and shortness of breath, and headaches that make you unable to breathe."
"If I'm not mistaken, your symptoms have lasted for 17 or 18 years. You've taken a lot of medicine, but they can only alleviate them but not cure them. Now your headaches and tinnitus are getting worse, and even the medicines you take regularly can't alleviate them."
"To put it bluntly, there is no one else who can cure your condition except me."
"If I die, the Queen Mother's headache will cause a sudden cerebral hemorrhage within half a year. If the situation is good, she will be paralyzed in bed, and if the situation is not good, her life may be in danger."
After Ji Yuntang finished speaking, Empress Dowager Yuan felt a pang in her heart.
She did not tell Ji Yuntang about any of her illness, but what she said was exactly the same as her actual situation.
She has been suffering from headaches for seventeen years, almost eighteen years. At first it was just a slight pain, but it gradually turned into cramping pain, and even her ears started to have problems.
When she attended court, she often could not hear clearly what the ministers said, and sometimes her ears were filled with roaring sounds, like thunder.
Doctor Wei gave her a lot of medicine, but over time, the disease seemed to have become drug-dependent, and the medicine could no longer relieve the pain. Now symptoms of chest tightness and shortness of breath occur from time to time.
Empress Dowager Yuan knew that all this started when she went to a Taoist temple and secretly gave birth to a child.
She had a physique that made it difficult for her to get pregnant. Since entering the palace, she had served the late emperor many times, but there was no sign of pregnancy.
But one time when she went out of the palace to return to her parents' home, she was depressed and drank too much. After an indulgent night with her cousin, she came back unexpectedly pregnant.
Empress Dowager Yuan knew very well that the child she was pregnant with was not the late emperor's, but her cousin Yuan Fan's.
At that time, she felt both scared and happy.
She was afraid that the late emperor would find out, thus implicating her and the entire Yuan family.
The good news was that after seventeen years in the palace, she finally became pregnant.
Empress Dowager Yuan also thought about aborting the child without anyone knowing, but the imperial physician told her that if she aborted the child, she might never get pregnant again in her life.
Furthermore, she was already 34 years old at that time, which was considered an advanced age for pregnancy in ancient times.
Other concubines could give birth, but she alone could not.
Others have children and they are very happy, but she alone has no children.
Although the late emperor doted on her, Empress Dowager Yuan knew that it was only for the sake of the Yuan family's reputation. The so-called doting was just for show to outsiders and to maintain a superficial look.
Once he is able to take back the real power from the aristocratic family, this favor will no longer exist, and what awaits him will be eternal damnation.
Since childhood, Empress Dowager Yuan was brought up by the Yuan family as a queen. She was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and also learned how to wear Hu clothing, ride and shoot.
Even the art of palace fighting and intrigue was taught to her by a special teacher every month.
Every day she is either learning something or on her way to learn something, so she thinks she is different from other daughters of wealthy families and is superior to others.
In order to prevent his daughter from rebelling, Yuan's father instilled in her the idea that whoever holds power controls the world, which also fostered the idea of Empress Dowager Yuan to seize power.
She had a very clear understanding that what she loved was never the late emperor, but the supreme imperial power.
Only power can satisfy her inner desires.
But her inability to conceive has always been her biggest concern.
So, after learning that she was pregnant, she hesitated for a few days and decided to give birth to the child.
In order to prevent the late emperor from suddenly summoning her to sleep with him, Empress Dowager Yuan declined the invitation for the first two months on the grounds of feeling unwell and needing to rest for illness.
Later, as the baby grew bigger, she could no longer hide her bulging belly, so she made the excuse that it was inconvenient to recuperate in the palace, and she wanted to go to a Taoist temple to meditate and pray for the royal family at the same time.
The late emperor knew her ambition and was unwilling to keep such a person by his side.
Therefore, when Empress Dowager Yuan proposed to live in a Taoist temple for a period of time, he agreed without hesitation!
The place she went to happened to be Taibai Mountain, which is known as the best view in the world.
There she gave birth to her first and only child.
Empress Dowager Yuan's cousin Yuan Fan was also a Taoist practitioner. During that period, he moved to Taibai Mountain and took care of Empress Dowager Yuan.
Empress Dowager Yuan was moved by his attentiveness and gradually changed from resistance at first to acceptance.
But there was one thing that became a thorn in Empress Dowager Yuan's heart.
When she was seven months pregnant, the late emperor sent someone to tell her that she was ill and asked her to return to the palace.
At that time, Empress Dowager Yuan's belly was already very big, so how could she dare to return to the palace?
However, the late emperor sent people to urge her again and again, but none of the eunuchs who came saw the Empress Dowager Yuan in person.
The late emperor sensed something was wrong and said he was worried something might happen to her, so he wanted to send the empress to see her.
Empress Dowager Yuan was afraid that her pregnancy would be exposed, so she had no choice but to take the risk. She used the most powerful drug to induce labor and gritted her teeth to give birth to the child.
The seven-month-old child was born with congenital deficiencies and due to malnutrition and poor development, he had to be fed with all kinds of precious medicinal herbs since birth.
As a result, the child is now seventeen years old, but he still looks weak and pale, and has to take medicine every day to stay alive.
She herself also suffered from a number of health problems due to her premature birth and the lack of proper confinement.
These symptoms have accompanied her for seventeen years now, and there has not been a single day when she did not hate the late emperor in her heart.
If he hadn't sent someone to urge her to return to the palace, she wouldn't have taken the risk of using the drug to induce labor, her son wouldn't have been born with congenital defects, and she herself wouldn't have suffered so many sequelae.
It was the late emperor who harmed them and their son like this.