Chapter 26 Mother and Daughter
After returning home, Yinzhen listened to Su Peisheng's report of what happened in the backyard. He was very annoyed with Li's stubbornness. Since Yihuan had already dealt with it, he kept it in mind and said nothing more.

After being warned by Yihuan, and under the earnest persuasion of Nanny Jin, Li finally stopped causing trouble and stayed in the East Courtyard to take care of her pregnancy, waiting for the arrival of the little prince.

The weather in August was unusually hot and humid, and Li's stomach finally showed signs of moving.

After Honghui was three years old, Yinzhen began to teach him personally, checking his homework every day without slacking off. One day, when he was reciting his lessons, he heard the news of Li's rebellion, so Yinzhen and Yihuan went to the East Courtyard together.

As soon as she entered the room, Yihuan frowned, and saw the eldest princess kneeling at the door with messy hair, hugging her arms and crying very sadly.

The maids and servants in the East Courtyard were going in and out in a panic. No one looked after the eldest princess and just left her kneeling there.

Yihuan took two quick steps and tried to help the eldest princess up, but she was so stubborn that she refused to get up no matter what.

When I got closer, I could hear her repeating over and over again, "I've harmed my mother and my younger brother."

What are you talking about? Yihuan signaled Nanny Chen to take her away quickly. How could a child be allowed to participate in the childbirth of this woman?

Nanny Chen was very strong and half-forced the little girl to take her away.

The maids and servants in the room watched but did not dare to stop them. Yihuan and Yinzhen sat down and called Nanny Jin out.

"What's going on? It's a mess!"

Nanny Jin hesitated for a while and finally told the truth: "The eldest princess came to eat with Li Gege early this morning, but not long after, our princess felt severe abdominal pain. We asked the palace doctor to see her, and he said that she had come into contact with tigers and wolves."

"The court doctor said that Li Gege is too pregnant and is about to give birth due to the stimulation of drugs. Fortunately, the midwife is always there. I asked the court doctor to find out how Li Gege came into contact with the dirty things."

"I didn't expect it was the sachet that the eldest princess wore." Nanny Jin knelt down and continued, "I also know that the eldest princess was so young that she must have been plotted against by others, so she became an accomplice. It's just that Li Gege was in so much pain that she was angry and didn't think carefully, so she made the eldest princess kneel down and confess her guilt."

Yihuan almost laughed out of anger when she heard this: "The eldest princess is the legitimate mistress of the mansion. I don't know which name your Li Gege is the mistress of the royal family. How dare a servant lay hands on the mistress? The East Courtyard is so powerful!"

"Your master has given birth, you go and receive your punishment. You know what you can and cannot say. Are you the judge, Madam, and you can accuse others of being accomplices without even opening your mouth?"

Although the eldest princess was born from Li Gege's belly, as long as Li Gege did not become a concubine, she would be a servant in the Beile Mansion.

In the delivery room, Li Gege had a difficult delivery and her wailing was intermittent.

Yihua motioned Hongxiao to take out the ginseng they had brought: "Show it to the palace doctor. If there is no problem, give it to Li Gege."

"I dare not." Nanny Jin felt that every word from the Lady was like a slap in the face.

"You are her wet nurse, go to the delivery room and help." Yihuan listened to Li's voice and didn't want to argue any more at this time.

Yinzhen looked at the purses scattered on the ground, reached out to pick one up, leaned in to smell it, and there was a pungent fragrance.

The court doctor knelt at the door and saw that his master had noticed him, so he pricked up his ears and waited for questions.

"Su Peisheng, take it and burn it." In Yinzhen's heart, the child in Li's belly is important, but his daughter's reputation is equally important. This source of disaster cannot be kept.

Yinzhen wiped his hands and looked down at the court doctor: "What's in your purse?"

The court physician suddenly had an idea and said in a trembling voice: "To answer my master's question, it is just a spice to repel mosquitoes, nothing else." "Remember what you said today, go out and kneel down." Yinzhen's voice was cold, and there was no warmth in his eyes.

Yihuan called the maid in Li's room and said, "The housekeeper who serves the eldest princess is here to ask questions."

After a while, a well-dressed woman came over and pretended to be calm and saluted: "Your servant Bao greets Lord Beile and his wife."

"Madame Bao, please stand up. After all, you are a housekeeper who came out of the Empress's palace. When something like this happened to the eldest princess, we can't even find the person who brought her back. I have to ask for help again and again. Is this the rule that Yonghe Palace taught you?" Yihuan was angry. She just watched for fun the women in the backyard tripping each other up, but why did they use such means on the child?

Bao's face burned with pain when she heard this. She had been treated with great courtesy since she came to the Prince's Mansion. The young master she was taking care of was not a very opinionated person. She had become lazy over time and didn't expect to be caught.

"Madam Bao, why don't you tell us who the eldest princess has been hanging out with and what she has been doing these past few days? Tell us everything in detail," Yihuan continued to ask.

Aunt Bao was speechless and stammered, "Just... with Li Gege."

"Hmph, Madam, please shut up." Seeing that the old woman really knew nothing, Yihuan called over the personal maid who was taking care of the eldest princess.

The maid Hua'er knelt on the ground in fear and spoke incoherently for a long time, but Yihuan understood what she said.

It was Wu. Recently, Wu was always hanging out in the northwest corner of the garden, which was the only way out of the eldest princess's residence. After going there a few times, she was able to say a few words to the eldest princess.

The eldest princess was neglected by Li since she was young, and she longed for her mother's favor the most.

Wu seized on this point and told her that Buddha had told her in a dream that Li would only have a son if she gave birth today, and would only give birth to a daughter if she gave birth at any other time.

When the eldest princess heard this, she wanted to make Li's wish come true. Wu gave her a purse and said that Li had asked for a guarantee that she would give her a younger brother today. She was so looking forward to the birth of a younger brother that Li would be nicer to her.

This is how we ended up with this ridiculous farce today.

The things in the purse were probably musk and other items that could easily cause miscarriage in women. Where did Wu get these dirty things? Yihuan thought that she needed to investigate the Prince's Mansion thoroughly.

Yinzhen slammed the table, furious: "Stupid! Wu is so audacious, it's despicable, but if Li hadn't provoked trouble a few days ago, how could there be today's chaos? None of them are worry-free!"

Yihuan nodded slightly when she heard this. When Li was arrogantly humiliating people, she probably didn't expect that being stabbed would be so painful.

Wu's move was truly heartbreaking. From then on, Li and the eldest princess could no longer be close mother and daughter.

Fortunately, God was really kind to Li, and two hours later, she gave birth to a boy safely.

When the midwife brought the baby out, Yihuan could tell at a glance that it was a healthy baby, and looked very similar to Honghui when he was just born.

In the end, for the sake of the child, Yinzhen did not blame Li too harshly. He once again told her not to cause trouble and left.

Before leaving, he sentenced Wu to life confinement, and she was never allowed to leave the yard again.

After all, she is a princess bestowed by the emperor. If something like this happened, it was always due to the poor management of the household, which would damage the reputation of the princess. The only way was to make a big thing small or a small thing nothing.

(End of this chapter)