Chapter 182 - 183: Joyful Pulse
In the nick of time, an announcement suddenly rang out from outside the hall—
"The Emperor has arrived!"
The female official froze, instinctively turning to look outside.
The Emperor strode in, silhouetted by the sun. Behind him followed a retinue of palace maids and eunuchs, an imposing sight.
The female official hastily put down her disciplinary ruler and knelt with the others to pay respects.
"This servant greets Your Majesty!"
The moment the Empress saw the Emperor, her heart sank.
She slowly stood and curtsied to the Emperor.
"I greet Your Majesty. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Do you have any instructions?"
The reason the Emperor came to Fengyi Palace was because Si Yun had just used the token to request an audience with him. She claimed that Hua Jieyu and Lady Hua might be in danger and pleaded for him to rescue them.
Normally, the Emperor wouldn’t need to personally attend to such a minor issue. He could have simply sent someone to investigate.
However, he happened to have a light schedule today. Since he was idle anyway, he decided to come himself.
The Emperor smiled. "I heard things were quite lively here, so I came to join in on the excitement."
His gaze swept across the room. He saw not only Xi Xiang lying on the ground, barely breathing, but also Hua Jieyu and Lady Hua being held captive.
The nanny who had been covering Hua Qingqing’s mouth had already let go.
Hua Qingqing pleaded urgently, "Your Majesty, I beg you to save my sister!"
The Empress spoke sternly.
"Hua Jieyu allowed her subordinate to bribe the Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen, breaking palace rules.
In light of her pregnancy, I have decided to spare her this time.
But Lady Hua just publicly defied me, so she must be punished."
The Emperor was surprised. "Hua Jieyu is pregnant?"
Hearing this, Hua Qingqing felt a pang of guilt.
It was true her monthly bleeding hadn’t arrived, but that didn’t necessarily mean she was pregnant.
Besides, she hadn’t told anyone. ’My sister must have made up the pregnancy claim on the spot,’ she thought.
Now, facing the Emperor’s question, Hua Qingqing dared not hide the truth and could only answer honestly.
"I... I don’t know."
The matter of an imperial heir could not be taken lightly.
The Emperor immediately ordered someone to summon an Imperial Physician and had Hua Jieyu and Lady Hua released.
Seeing this, the Empress was very displeased but didn’t show it.
She didn’t believe for a second that Hua Jieyu was pregnant.
After all, Hua Jieyu had only been in the palace for four months, and the number of times she had been summoned for favor could be counted on one hand. How could she be so lucky as to get pregnant?
The Empress guessed that Hua Manman must have lied to save Hua Qingqing from punishment.
The Empress eagerly awaited the Imperial Physician’s arrival. ’I can’t wait to see the Emperor’s face when he finds out Hua Jieyu isn’t pregnant.’
Based on her understanding of the Emperor, he hated being deceived and played for a fool more than anything.
’Once he finds out Hua Jieyu isn’t pregnant, his opinion of her and Lady Hua will plummet. He’ll think the sisters ganged up to make a fool of him.’
’Then, when I move to punish these sisters, the Emperor certainly won’t stand in my way.’
Hua Qingqing thanked the Emperor, but her heart was filled with deep anxiety and unease.
She kept glancing at her younger sister standing beside her.
’My sister had to lie about my pregnancy just to save me.’
’If the Emperor gets angry later, I’ll take all the blame. I can’t let my sister get dragged into this.’
Soon, the Imperial Physician arrived in a hurry.
The one who arrived was Doctor Zhang. His specialty was gynecology, and he frequently examined the Concubines of the rear palace. He was thus exceptionally familiar with the "joyful pulse," as a pregnancy was called.
He skillfully took out his diagnostic tools and began to check Hua Jieyu’s pulse.
The Emperor really hoped that Hua Jieyu was truly pregnant.
Though he already had several sons, he had just lost the Crown Prince. His mood was at a low point, and he desperately needed some good news to lift his spirits.
Furthermore, the Crown Prince’s unexpected death had caused unrest at court and among the people. Some were letting their imaginations run wild, even starting to wonder if this was a warning from the heavens against the Great Zhou Dynasty.
If left unchecked, it was very likely that opportunistic people would exploit the situation, blow it out of proportion, and make matters worse.
If Hua Jieyu’s pregnancy was real, then the Emperor could use this good news to dilute some of the negative impact brought by the Crown Prince’s death.
Everyone present was lost in their own thoughts.
Only Hua Manman was the calmest.
She remembered that in "Palace Intrigue," the female lead, Hua Qingqing, had luckily become pregnant less than four months after entering the palace.
But because Hua Qingqing had no experience with this and had no one around to give her pointers, she had no idea she was pregnant.
It wasn’t until Lady Li, out of jealousy, deliberately framed Hua Qingqing and caused her to have a miscarriage that Hua Qingqing finally found out she had been pregnant.
However, it was too late.
The child was gone. Hua Qingqing was powerless to change it and could only weep in silence.
And this became a crucial step in Hua Qingqing’s turn to darkness.
To avenge her unborn child, she forced herself to become ruthless and cruel.
It was precisely because Hua Manman knew about this pregnancy plot point that she dared to say in front of so many people that Hua Qingqing might be pregnant.
And she also had a small, selfish motive.
’If Hua Qingqing finds out about her pregnancy earlier, perhaps she could save her first child and avoid the tragedy of a miscarriage.’
At the same time, Hua Manman also understood a very important piece of information from this—
The system considered the female lead’s safety to be extremely important.
The system wasn’t supposed to let Hua Manman reveal future plot points. It wasn’t even supposed to let her think about it.
But just now, she had revealed the plot point of Hua Qingqing’s possible pregnancy in front of so many people, yet the system didn’t issue a warning or inflict any punishment.
And before, when Hua Manman had bargained with the system, it had ultimately chosen the task of ensuring the female lead’s safety over another important plot-related task.
From this, it was clear that the system placed great importance on the female lead’s safety.
It would even make a certain degree of concessions for it.
Hua Manman was very happy about this discovery.
All along, she had been very passive when facing the system, often being led by the nose.
This made her feel very uncomfortable.
But now she had a small bit of leverage over the system.
This might become an opportunity for her to change her own situation.
The system sensed her little scheme and immediately issued a warning.
"Host, please focus on completing the mission. Don’t get any wild ideas!"
Hua Manman replied cheekily, "You got it~"
System: "..."
It inexplicably had a very bad feeling.
As everyone watched, Doctor Zhang withdrew his hand. He stood, bowed to the Emperor with his hands clasped, and said with a smile.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Hua Jieyu is indeed with child."
As soon as these words were spoken, not only was Hua Qingqing stunned, but even the Empress was a bit dazed.
She even suspected she had misheard and couldn’t help but press the question.
"Are you certain you made no mistake? Is it truly a pregnancy pulse?"
Doctor Zhang said seriously.
"Please rest assured, Empress. I can guarantee it with my life—it is absolutely a pregnancy pulse.
It’s just that Hua Jieyu is still in the early stages of her pregnancy, so the corresponding pulse is not yet obvious.
If the Empress is not convinced, you may wait another half-month and have other Imperial Physicians re-examine Hua Jieyu.
By then, you will know if I am speaking the truth."