Chapter 441: Chapter 441

If there was any big news in the palace right now, it was that the Worthy Consort was pregnant again, fifteen years after giving birth to the Second Prince.

Children are rare these days, so this ought to have been tremendous good news. But terrifyingly, under everyone’s watchful eyes, after the imperial physician announced this “good news” with a face full of joy, the reigning emperor’s expression instantly turned ashen. As if something had occurred to him, the Empress beside him also wore a look of surprise.

At the same time, the Worthy Consort—who was being showered with congratulations one after another—went deathly pale in an instant and immediately tried to kneel and step forward.

“Your Majesty, your servant, your servant…”

Before she could finish, the Empress cut in first. Her smile remained impeccably flawless, but a trace of pity flitted across her gaze.

“Sister Worthy Consort, if you’re feeling unwell, you should go and rest for a while.”

When she finished speaking, palace attendants quickly stepped forward and, ignoring the consort’s struggling, firmly escorted her off the banquet platform.

No one who made it to high rank in the palace was an idiot. Though they didn’t yet know exactly what had happened, the emperor and empress’s strange behavior made everyone at the banquet sniff that something was amiss.

“As far as I know, Sister Worthy Consort hasn’t had... ahem...”

In the next instant, the two fell silent, no longer daring to utter another word.

On the high stage, the splendid singing and dancing still went on in idle tones, but now no one had the heart to watch.

Everyone watched as the emperor’s face went sullen and, unable to bear the scene halfway through the banquet, he swept his sleeve and left.

At the table, the consorts grew noticeably quieter.

“Your Majesty, I am wronged, I beg Your Majesty to summon the imperial physician again on my behalf. I am not pregnant, and I have no intention of betraying Your Majesty!”

Not far from the Hall of Governance, in a warm pavilion, the Worthy Consort nearly split her head from kowtowing, yet no matter how many imperial physicians were called, the diagnosis remained the same.

She faced the emperor’s almost predatory gaze.

As if bewildered, as if drained of every ounce of strength, the Worthy Consort suddenly sank to the ground.

But in an instant she seemed to remember something:

“Your Majesty, it must be Lady Jing, it must be her who framed me. Ever since I returned from the flower-viewing banquet a month ago, I have felt unwell.”

And of course, that flower-viewing banquet had been hosted by Lady Jing. Realizing this, the Worthy Consort immediately kowtowed heavily to the emperor.

“I beg Your Majesty, for the sake of the imperial child, to give me a chance to prove myself. I swear, I truly am not pregnant. Someone deliberately set a trap to destroy my family’s line and bury us forever! They’re clearly scheming for Your Majesty’s position!”

“In such a strict inner palace, how could I... how could I...”

One must admit, she indeed gave birth to the only Third Prince and raised him healthily.

After a brief panic, the Worthy Consort quickly found her angle.

The moment she accused someone of plotting for the throne, those words instantly pulled the emperor—who had been on the verge of rage—back to a thread of rationality.

But fate had other plans. Just as Emperor Sheng’an’s expression changed, a dark pool of crimson blood rapidly spread beneath the Worthy Consort’s feet...

Amid the woman’s utterly desperate gaze, the elderly imperial physician arrived and tremulously delivered the verdict:

“Your Majesty, forgive this old minister’s incompetence. The Worthy Consort became too agitated just now, and she has now miscarried...”

At the sound of the words, a new tide of fury instantly gathered on the emperor’s face.

“Fine, fine, worthy consort indeed, what a Yang family woman! Wonderful!”

“Tell me, who is the adulterer?”

A soul-rending cry followed:

Even the self-proclaimed well-informed system took a sharp, involuntary breath.

“Defile the inner palace—that’s nine clans!”

Even without the nine-clan punishment, at minimum the entire family would be doomed, just like in the original life of the host, implicating countless relatives and friends.

Right, it had nearly slipped their mind.

“So this is exactly how the original host’s household disaster happened in a past life.”

Well, now there was no doubt—one hundred percent certain.

“Sigh, how many lives lost for the sake of bringing down the only grown and healthy Second Prince?”

The system couldn’t help sighing. An Ning’s eyes deepened slightly at his complaint.

“But—this... actually works, doesn’t it?”

She glanced at the collapsed Worthy Consort sprawled on the floor, blood soaking her body, yet still screaming hoarsely and begging for her family and child. An Ning said coldly:

“After this, not only is the Worthy Consort finished, but the Yang family behind her is utterly ruined. Unless His Majesty’s sons all die, the Second Prince will never again have a chance at the throne. Even ignoring feelings of disgust, the mere doubt cast on one’s lineage wipes out all of his prospects.”

Not only that, the blame can be nailed squarely onto the Eldest Prince’s birth mother, Lady Jing.

The Worthy Consort has “miscarried”; the child is gone and there is no proof, so it isn’t impossible she was framed. Coupled with the earlier accusation, the emperor—always suspicious by nature—would not have to wait long before attaching the charge of treasonous ambition to mother and son.

Evidence? An Ning thought: to an emperor, evidence is often the least important part.

A clever move, killing two birds with one stone—or rather three.

“Just wait, even if it’s only to keep her in check, Noble Concubine Yu will soon be elevated to consort.”

As she closed her eyes again, An Ning sighed softly in the dark.

But even beyond a successful elevation, this Noble Concubine’s actions were more brazen. Watching her, within the system’s space, personally slip medicine into the emperor’s teacup, the system’s eyes nearly popped out.

“Is she... trying to assassinate the emperor?”

Seeing how practiced the woman’s movements were, An Ning rolled her eyes at the system.

“Not to mention the power the Grand Princess wields nearby, glaring like an eagle, and there are two princes ahead of this—she’s not insane.”

The system had just been about to breathe a sigh of relief when the host casually continued:

“As the saying goes, anger injures the body. At our age, after such a shock, if one becomes so enraged as to harm their health and later can’t bear more children, that’s perfectly plausible.”

That way, even if the emperor is displeased, compared with a frail and deeply suspected Eldest Prince, the Third Prince option rises much higher in value.

So it could be used this way too!

One could imagine how furious the petty, easily offended emperor would be upon hearing the news.

The system huffed and mourned a little for the two princes, especially the Second Prince and his birth mother, and for the whole maternal family behind them...

But before the system could finish its mournful silence, its host told it to pay very close attention in the coming days and to not miss a single detail.

System: “You’re kidding, right? After all this, she still wants to make moves?”