Chapter 169 Miscarriage
"I promise you."

Jiang Li blinked. He always agreed quickly. From being unkind at the beginning to helping almost every time now, Jiang Li didn't know what Ji Heng was thinking.

After thinking it over, she said, "Once this matter is over, will King Cheng start a rebellion immediately?"

"If Yongning and the Li family's reputation is ruined and their vitality is severely damaged in this incident, it will speed up his actions."

Jiang Li asked again: "If it's ahead of schedule, will it affect your plans?"

Ji Heng looked at her: "Do you know my plan?"

Jiang Li shook her head calmly: "I don't know. But you are in this position, and King Cheng's every move should have an impact on you."

"Has little effect."

Jiang Li breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I feel relieved."

Ji Heng raised her eyebrows, "You seem to be worried about me."

It was just a simple sentence, but when he said it in a low voice, it seemed to be teasing. Jiang Li felt her face getting hot, and she just said, "Of course, the Duke is still related to my life and worth, and I will have to rely on you a lot in the future."

Ji Heng chuckled and said, "Do you know how the emperor will dispatch troops after King Cheng starts a rebellion?"

"There are General Wuwei and General Pingrong in the current court." Jiang Li asked, "Aren't they these two?"

"Coming from the military, he is relatively young. Compared with the power of King Cheng, he may not have much advantage." Ji Heng said calmly.

Jiang Li said: "But when the previous emperor was alive, he valued civil officials over military officials, so there were not many military generals in the court. These two are already the best...ah, I remember, there are also General Zhaode and Prince Xia!"

Prince Xia was the late emperor's half-brother. Although they were not born from the same mother, the late emperor and Prince Xia were very close and respectful to each other. But later, for some reason, the late emperor sent Prince Xia to the cold northwest to guard the border, and he could not return to Beijing all year round. Now Prince Xia's son is probably about the same age as Emperor Hong Xiao.

This Xiajun Prince was also a very famous General Zhaode, whose soldiers fought bravely. Others speculated that perhaps because of this, the late emperor sent General Zhaode to the northwest instead of demoting him. His soldiers fought bravely, but they were also wild and difficult to tame, and only General Zhaode could keep them in line.

"You also know Prince Xia?" Ji Heng was a little surprised and said, "I know a lot."

After all, when General Zhaode went to the northwest, Jiang Li was not yet born. For a girl of Jiang Li's age, she should have rarely heard of this name. I'm afraid that many people in Yanjing City have long forgotten such a person.

"Is he the one the Duke wants to talk about?"

Ji Heng's eyes dimmed slightly, and he did not answer. After a long while, he slowly raised the corners of his lips and said, "Who knows?"

Jiang Li looked at him, and Ji Heng didn't know what he was thinking, which made his amber eyes seem to have a much darker color. She couldn't guess what Ji Heng was thinking, but she was sensitive enough to realize that this Xia Jun Wang, General Zhaode, might have a profound impact on Ji Heng.

She suddenly thought of another brave and skilled general in Northern Yan, Ji Heng's biological father, General Jinwu Ji Minghan. In the past, there was the Northern Jinwu and the Southern Zhaode. In terms of military merit, the two were probably equally matched. If Ji Minghan had not disappeared, then it should be Ji Minghan who should fight against King Cheng now, instead of General Zhaode who had to travel thousands of miles to dispatch troops.

Ji Heng... maybe he was thinking of his father, Jiang Li thought silently.

……

After meeting Ji Heng at the Duke's Mansion that day, Jiang Li did not do anything else.

Since Ji Heng has already agreed to help, it will definitely not be just a verbal promise. Jiang Li knows that as long as Ji Heng's people stir up trouble in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, the fire between the Li family and Princess Yongning will sooner or later burn. And there will be no need for others to do anything afterwards, they can make the fire burn more and more fiercely until they are burned out.

After she left the Duke's Mansion, she frequently thought of the Xia Jun Wang that Ji Heng had mentioned that day. Ji Heng would not mention this person for no reason, and Jiang Li thought that Ji Heng's attitude towards this person was too strange. But Xia Jun Wang had been away from Yanjing City for more than 20 years. Twenty years was enough for people who knew him to pass away, and even the emperor who asked Xia Jun Wang to go to the northwest was gone. There were very few people who knew him, and Jiang Li had no way to understand this strange prince.

She couldn't ask Jiang Yuanbai. If Jiang Yuanbai heard her asking about this person, he would think more and even have doubts. But Jiang Li still had one person to ask, that was Xue Huaiyuan. When she went to the Ye Mansion to see Xue Huaiyuan, she asked about some things about Prince Xia. Although Xue Huaiyuan didn't know much, he knew some rumors. And Xue Huaiyuan wouldn't ask Jiang Li why she wanted to inquire about these things. He would answer whatever Jiang Li asked, and his attitude was gentle, as before.

Jiang Li seemed to have returned to the past days, was taught by his father, and gradually grew up.

Almost a month passed in the blink of an eye like this quiet time. After a month, the accumulated activities in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion had come to a conclusion.

……

There has been a happy event in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion recently.

Everyone in Yanjing City knew that Princess Yongning was pregnant after marrying into the Right Prime Minister's Mansion for more than a month. This was a blessing for the Li family, and also a happy event for the Li family. The emperor ordered the Li family to take good care of Princess Yongning. So the servants of the Li family almost worshipped Princess Yongning as a god in heaven, and gave her everything she wanted on weekdays. Others also had to say that this princess was different after getting married. Not only was she not bound by the slightest shackle, but she became more and more free and easy.

Princess Yongning lived in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion. Supplements were continuously delivered to her, and she took pregnancy-protecting medicine every day. It seemed that the Li family was very caring towards this child. But somehow, Princess Yongning always felt that every time Li Xian looked at her belly, there was no warmth in his eyes, but instead a sense of indifference.

This made her very uneasy, and she always suspected that Li Xian had discovered the identity of the child. Meixiang had been comforting her, saying that if Li Xian really found out that the child was not a descendant of the Li family, why would he take such good care of Princess Yongning. If the Li family got the news, they would definitely ask for an explanation. After all, the Li family was not wrong and would never swallow their anger.

Princess Yongning thought about it and felt that it made sense, so she rested and took care of the baby. She touched her belly and said, "In a few days, this baby will be three months old."

Three months may seem like a short period of time, but Princess Yongning has been through a lot. First, she found out she was pregnant, then she failed to ask the emperor for a marriage, and instead married Shen Yurong. On the wedding night, she tried every possible way to get away with it, and then she finally made up a perfect reason for the appearance of the child. Everything here was not easy, and she was always on edge.

Princess Yongning had never had anything to fear, but she was really uneasy these days. She was always tossing and turning, and coupled with Shen Yurong's ruthlessness and the discomfort of her pregnancy, her beautiful face withered in just a few months. She looked haggard and weak, no longer beautiful as before.

She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help muttering to herself: "I'm afraid Shen Lang would be disgusted if he saw me like this..."

She suddenly thought of Xue Fangfei. After Xue Fangfei had an affair, she was confined to the mansion and fell seriously ill. She took medicine every day and became haggard. When she saw Xue Fangfei for the last time, Xue Fangfei was no longer as bright as before. There was no trace of self-pity or even despair on her face. She spoke to herself calmly with bright eyes.

Perhaps it was that calmness that angered Yongning even more.

Yongning looked at her miserable appearance in the mirror, and thought of the woman who became even more beautiful despite being in a desperate situation. She suddenly felt a nameless fire in her heart. She threw the mirror and said angrily, "I don't want to stay in the house anymore. Let's go out for a walk."

"Okay." Meixiang hurried over to support her.

The servants in the Right Prime Minister's Mansion would all bow to Princess Yongning when they saw her, but Princess Yongning felt annoyed when she saw people today. She felt dizzy from the people coming and going, and she became more and more annoyed. And somehow, after leaving the house, she always felt her heart beating very fast, as if something was going to happen.

She asked Meixiang to support her and walked towards Li Xian's yard.

Although Li Xian's courtyard was remote, it was quiet. There were no other servants there. There was only a mute who was locked in a study. The mute could not speak, and she could also walk around in the courtyard instead of going into the study, which would give her some peace and quiet for a while.

I don't know if Li Xian's courtyard was specially arranged by Li Xian. After walking for a while, I couldn't see any servants. After walking a dozen steps, I could see Li Xian's courtyard. Princess Yongning said, "Li Xian is good at choosing a place."

Meixiang was about to speak when suddenly a man jumped out from the bushes behind her. Before Meixiang could react, the man slashed her neck with a knife and she fainted. Princess Yongning screamed, and the man reached out and pushed her hard. Behind the bushes was a decorative staircase about five feet high. Princess Yongning fell down after being pushed!

She screamed, then her vision went dark and she passed out immediately.

……

On this night that seemed like any other ordinary day, the Right Prime Minister's Mansion suddenly became busy.

The imperial physician in the palace got the news and rushed to the Right Prime Minister's residence in the middle of the night. This was the sister of King Cheng, Princess Yongning, and the child in her belly also had royal blood. What would happen if something happened to her? But after checking Princess Yongning's pulse, the imperial physician could only shake his head and sighed to Li Xian.

Li Xian then realized that the baby in Princess Yongning's belly was gone.

He immediately put on a sad expression, as if he didn't want to say a word. It was Li Lian and Li Zhongnan who sent the doctor away. He sat on the stool in front of Princess Yongning's bed, looking at Princess Yongning, and could hardly suppress the smile on his face.

Over the past month, Li Xian had prepared countless ways to make Princess Yongning's baby "accidentally" miscarry. But no matter what he did, Princess Yongning was safe and sound in the end. The oil poured on the ground, the abortion-inducing drugs in the incense, and the medicinal materials added to the food without making a sound, all of them were useless. I think Princess Yongning was really nervous about the baby in her belly, and she didn't want anyone to do anything for her, so none of them came in handy.

Li Xian felt a headache. He couldn't deprive the child with blatant behavior, otherwise the royal family would blame them for not taking good care of the princess. But if he couldn't find an opportunity to do it, Princess Yongning's child would grow bigger and bigger. The older the child, the more dangerous the miscarriage. Although all the Li family members would not be sad about the death of Princess Yongning, at this time, they still needed Princess Yongning to maintain the relationship with King Cheng, so that King Cheng would feel guilty about the Li family because he owed them, and thus compensate them.

Therefore Princess Yongning cannot die.

He was still worried about this matter, not knowing how to make Princess Yongning abort the baby without anyone noticing. Unexpectedly, he heard screams from near his yard today. When he ran over, he found that Princess Yongning and her maid were lying on the ground. The maid was unconscious, and Princess Yongning fell on the steps, with blood all over her body.

At first, Li Xian was nervous for a moment, thinking that an assassin had entered the palace and Princess Yongning was dead. But after the imperial physician came and carefully examined her, he found that Princess Yongning had no injuries except for the fall, and she had miscarried.

Li Xian was very happy from the bottom of his heart. Li Lian said that maybe Princess Yongning accidentally fell while walking, so she miscarried. But the unconscious maids around him couldn't explain it clearly. Li Xian had always hoped to make Princess Yongning lose this evil child in a gentle and unnoticeable way, so how to make Princess Yongning fall must not be his order. But this solved one of his problems, so his expression became relaxed.

While thinking about this, Princess Yongning woke up.

Princess Yongning was startled when she saw Li Xian for the first time. She seemed to have not expected that Li Xian would be in her room. Then, Princess Yongning's face changed drastically, as if she remembered what happened before, and she subconsciously touched her belly. Her belly was flat, and she looked at Li Xian and asked tremblingly: "This palace..."

"Princess," Li Xian sighed deeply and looked at her sadly: "The child is gone, our child is gone."

When he said "we", a hint of irony flashed across Li Xian's eyes. He was not sad at all. If the woman in front of him was not Princess Yongning, not the sister of King Cheng, she would not even have a life now. How could she just lose a bastard?
Princess Yongning stared at him blankly, and suddenly shouted, "Impossible!" She stood up and tried to get out of bed, shouting, "I want to find the imperial physician. You are deceiving me. How could I not have a child?"

"Princess!" Li Xian suppressed his disgust and grabbed her arm, saying in a painful voice, "It's true! You fell down the stairs, the imperial physician has been here, the child is gone, you have to take care of yourself, we will have another child in the future."

"I fell down the stairs..." Princess Yongning murmured, "Yes, no, I didn't fall down the stairs, someone pushed me!" Princess Yongning grabbed Li Xian's arm with her backhand, "Li Xian, someone in your house tried to assassinate me. He pushed me down and caused me to lose my child!"

Li Xian's heart was moved, but his face remained calm. He asked: "Princess, can you see the face of the person who pushed you?"

Princess Yongning shook her head: "No, he covered his face, I couldn't see anything."

Li Xian heaved a sigh of relief. Princess Yongning looked at him again and said hatefully, "He was the one who killed my child. The guards in your Li Mansion were so lax that I was in danger. This is your fault. I will explain this to the Concubine Dowager and tell my eldest brother that if this man is not found, I will not be a human being until my tendons and skin are peeled off!" At the end, she gritted her teeth and it was obvious that she hated this man to death.

Li Xian was shocked by Princess Yongning's cruelty. He didn't expect that Princess Yongning would value the evil child in her belly so much. At this time, she was still thinking about revenge for the child in her belly. He was thinking about how to comfort Princess Yongning. Suddenly, a crying voice called "Your Highness" came from outside. Meixiang stumbled in from outside.

This maidservant always stayed by Princess Yongning's side, and it seemed that Princess Yongning trusted her very much and regarded her as a confidant. Meixiang fell down in front of Princess Yongning's bed and cried, "It's all my fault. I didn't protect the little prince well..."

Princess Yongning closed her eyes, then suddenly slapped Meixiang hard, angrily saying, "It's all your fault! If you were smarter and had found this person earlier, if you hadn't been knocked unconscious by her, my child wouldn't have died! Bitch!"

Meixiang was slapped for no reason. She didn't say a word, but just covered her face and sobbed. Princess Yongning watched and her own tears fell. She said in a sad voice: "My child..."

She married into the Li family to save the child, and she couldn't wait to enter the house, just to give the child in her belly a suitable identity. Now that the child is gone, everything she did before is meaningless, so why should she stay in the Li Mansion? Moreover, she married Li Xian for nothing. If she had known this would happen, she might as well have listened to Concubine Liu earlier, or followed Shen Yurong's advice and took the medicine to get rid of the child directly, and she didn't have to marry into the Li family. Now she is still free, and she can still marry Shen Yurong if she has the chance.

Now that she had lost both her wife and her army, Princess Yongning didn't know where her future lay and became very confused.

Li Xian couldn't help but feel happy when he saw her distraught look. Princess Yongning treated the Li family as fools and wanted to marry into the Li family with her child without asking the Li family for permission. Now that the child was lost, she still acted like she was heartbroken. However, the Li family knew that the child was not Li Xian's, so they would not shed a single tear for the child.

Why bother?
He pretended to comfort Princess Yongning, but the more he did so, the more Princess Yongning didn't want to see him. If she hadn't gone to Li Xian's courtyard, she wouldn't have suffered such a bad fate. Princess Yongning blamed everyone she could.

After Li Xian left, Princess Yongning sat on the bed, staring blankly at the sky, and said, "It's all over..."

Mei Xiang sobbed, "Your Highness, don't say that."

"What should I do?" Princess Yongning pretended not to hear. "Now that I am a member of the Li family and I have no children, all this is meaningless. Shen Lang will not want me anymore, and I don't want to marry Li Xian. Everything is over..."

"Your Highness, please don't say that." Meixiang crawled in front of Princess Yongning, "Even if it's for the dead little prince, you have to cheer up! This time it's clear that someone is plotting against you, you have to avenge the little prince!"

Princess Yongning seemed to be awakened by Meixiang's words. She looked at Meixiang and said, "Yes... I still want to avenge my child. Someone was clearly plotting against me on the way. Someone didn't want me to have his child and wanted to harm my child... I must find him!"

Other things would be fine, but a man in black suddenly appeared in the Right Prime Minister's residence. He didn't kill Meixiang and her, but pushed her down. It was obvious that he was after the baby in Princess Yongning's belly. Who was he to kill her child?
Princess Yongning's anger and hatred almost reached its peak at this moment. She had compromised for the sake of this child, but in the end, she was still schemed and lost this child. No matter who the other party was, she would make the other party regret it for the rest of his life!

"That person should still be in the Right Prime Minister's Residence." Mei Xiang said, "Your Highness, you must not leave the residence at this time, and you must not say that you are going back to the Princess' Residence or to the palace to recuperate. Since that person appeared from the Right Prime Minister's Residence, no outsiders will enter the Right Prime Minister's Residence during the day, so it is possible that he is someone in the residence. If you look carefully, you will always find clues. Your Highness, I will find out who the person is and avenge your little prince!"

Princess Yongning seemed to be infected by Meixiang's emotions and slowly calmed down. She said, "That's right, I can't just leave like this. I want the Li family to give an explanation. This is the Li family's dereliction of duty. When we find that person, I will make him pay a hundred or a thousand times, and he must pay the price in blood!"

……

No one else in the Li family knew what Princess Yongning and Meixiang said. On the other side, Li Xian was talking to Li Zhongnan and Li Lian.

"Is this really not what you did?" Li Zhongnan asked.

Li Xian shook his head: "I won't use such a direct method to give others a handle."

Li Zhongnan looked at Li Lian, and Li Lian also said: "It's not me. I never dare to interfere in my elder brother's affairs."

Li Zhongnan was surprised and said, "That's strange. Could it be that an assassin really entered the mansion? We have sent people to investigate today, and there is nothing wrong in the mansion."

"Or did your confidant solve it for you, brother?" Li Lian asked, "Knowing that you were worried about this matter, he took the initiative to attack?"

"How is that possible?" Li Xian said, "Since he did it, he should come to claim the credit, but now I can't even see him. But no matter what, this has relieved my worries, so I should thank him."

"It may not be a good thing." Li Zhongnan frowned and said, "After all, she happened in our house, and she was an assassin. Princess Yongning has always been arrogant and domineering. It's easy to deal with Concubine Liu, but if she tells this to King Cheng and exaggerates it, I'm afraid King Cheng will have some complaints about our Li family."

"Speaking of who is sorry for whom, isn't that woman the one who is more sorry for our Li family? King Cheng even wants to make us wear a green hat. Not to mention that we don't know who did this, even if it was really us who did it, King Cheng is also in the wrong. You can't let our Li family raise someone else's son, right? Why doesn't King Cheng raise his own son?" Li Lian said.

Because of the fact that Princess Yongning was secretly pregnant, the Li family finally developed a grudge against King Cheng. This was really too unkind of a thing to do.

"That being said, he is our master now, and we have no choice but to accept his arrangements." Li Zhongnan's face was as gloomy as water. "Xian'er, I think you should investigate this matter thoroughly in the mansion. If you really can't find out, you should give Princess Yongning the explanation she wants."

This means that she is looking for a scapegoat. Princess Yongning is looking for the murderer now, just to find an opportunity to vent her anger. If the murderer is not found, Princess Yongning will most likely point the finger at the Li family. If she finds a "murderer" to vent her anger and hatred, then the matter will be over.

Li Xian said: "I understand, father."

Li Zhongnan looked out the window. The night sky was thick and dark. He said, "At this critical moment, just go along with her and don't argue with King Cheng. We'll talk about everything later."

……

At the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, the news of Princess Yongning's miscarriage had not yet spread, but Zhao Ke told Jiang Li as soon as possible.

"So fast?" Jiang Li asked Zhao Ke, "Did Princess Yongning and the Li family have any suspicions?"

Zhao Ke shook his head.

Jiang Li was relieved. She thought that the Li family and Princess Yongning were most concerned about who the murderer was. As for whether the baby in Princess Yongning's belly was real or fake, they didn't study it carefully. I don't know what method Ji Heng's people used to make the abortion perfect. They made the drug disappear after three months, and the pregnancy was not seen. This was perfectly covered up.

There is probably no problem in the world that he cannot solve.

"Princess Yongning wants to find the murderer. In order to keep the peace, the Li family will definitely give Princess Yongning a 'murderer' within the next few days. They will make up a convincing story with solid evidence, and Princess Yongning is no exception. Moreover, with Princess Yongning's brain, she will not doubt the truth of it, and will only vent her anger first."

Zhao Ke listened silently, knowing that Jiang Li was about to give instructions next.

Sure enough, Jiang Li turned to him and smiled, "I'll have to trouble Brother Zhao for the next thing."

"Please speak, Second Miss." Zhao Ke said.

"We have to find a way to tell Princess Yongning that the one who wants to kill the baby in her belly is none other than her husband, Mr. Li. Mr. Li has learned the secret that Princess Yongning cheated on him. To be fair, Princess Yongning should also know one of Mr. Li's secrets."

"Princess Yongning has to discover Master Li's secret," she said.

Zhao Ke shuddered, thinking that Miss Jiang was really powerful. She could easily make the Li family and Princess Yongning fight to the death with just a few words from a distance. This was going to be a big joke for the Li family and Princess Yongning. No, maybe it wasn't a joke, but it was going to be their fate.

I don’t know what the grudge is.

Zhao Ke took the order and left. Jiang Li looked out the window. It was a spring day, and the stars in the sky gradually increased in number, twinkling and very bright.

The weather will be very good tomorrow, she thought.

(End of this chapter)