Chapter 77: Diagnosis

Jingren Palace.

Inside the hall, warm fragrance wafts, the golden‑threaded charcoal burns brightly, keeping the cold of the winter's twelfth month at bay.

Xu Luoyan leans sideways on the consort's couch, a scarlet silk‑gold phoenix‑tail skirt trailing to the floor, her fingertips lazily toying with the pile of congratulatory gifts stacked like a small hill on the table.

"Your Highness, this is a coral tree from the southern frontier; it is said that placing it in the Sleeping Hall can aid conception," Cai Wei holds a three‑foot‑tall red coral, her face beaming with forced smiles.

Xu Luoyan's red lips curl slightly: "Put it in the inner chambers."

She pats her flat belly, "The Emperor has been visiting often these months; my palace should have good news now."

A commotion suddenly erupts outside the hall.

Wang Jingyi stumbles in, her hair bun in disarray, ash still clinging to her face.

"Mother?" Xu Luoyan frowns, "What's the hurry?"

Wang Jingyi grabs her daughter's wrist, "Cuivei Palace is on fire…"

"Burn it well!" Xu Luoyan claps her hands, a light laugh, her cinnabar‑tinted nails glinting blood‑red in the candlelight, "Better burn that wretch to ash."

"She seems… pregnant."

The words hit her like a bucket of ice water poured over her head. Xu Luoyan's smile freezes on her face; after a moment she forces a few words out between her teeth, "What did you say?"

Wang Jingyi sighs and sits down, "The Emperor himself carried her out; the imperial physicians have already reported it."

"Splash!"

Xu Luoyan violently flips the tables, exquisite delicacies shattering across the floor.

She, barefoot, steps over broken porcelain, snatches the embroidered "Longevity" banner hanging in the hall, "Out! Everyone, get out of my palace!"

The women tasked with celebrating longevity flee in terror; a young maid, unable to dodge, receives a slap across the face, "Deaf? I'm telling you to get out!"

Her scarlet skirt sweeps over the wreckage; Xu Luoyan grabs her cloak and rushes outward.

Wang Jingyi hurries to block her, "Yan'er, it's not the time to get involved; you'd better pretend to be deaf and mute."

"Let go!" Xu Luoyan flings her mother aside, her meticulously painted brows and eyes twisted terrifyingly, "I want to see how that wretch conceived a dragon's seed."

Xu Luoyan, oblivious to the cold, strides unevenly toward Cuivei Palace.

"You can't go!" Wang Jingyi cries, chasing after her.

Xu Luoyan looks back with a snarling grin, the golden phoenix Step Shake swinging wildly, "I'll see for myself."

Her voice suddenly sharpens, "Which wild spawn dares to masquerade as a dragon embryo!?"

Now that she has finally reclaimed her consort rank, how could she be knocked off the pedestal again by Wan Tang?

The fire at Cuivei Palace has been extinguished; blackened beams still drip water, forming tiny puddles on the blue‑brick floor.

Inside the Side Hall, it's warm as spring; newly replaced silver‑threaded charcoal burns brightly in a gilt fire basin, dispelling the winter chill.

Wan Tang leans half‑reclined on a bed draped in embroidered silks; her plain white inner garment accentuates her slenderness, with only a faintly rounded belly hinting at life.

Chu Yunzheng sits at the bedside, a medicine bowl beside him still steaming.

He reaches out to smooth the corner of her quilt, speaking gently, "Still cold?"

Wan Tang lightly shakes her head, a soft, graceful smile lifting the corner of her lips, "With the Emperor here, I am not cold."

Her voice is gentle, her eyes holding just the right amount of dependence, as if the man before her were still the sovereign to whom she had given her whole heart.

But only she knows that everything is a façade.

It's like every time Chu Yunzheng looks at her, his gaze always carries a hint of doubt.

【Xu Luoyan has gone mad, charging this way; who knows what trouble she'll cause Wan Tang now.】

【Now that Xu Luoyan has regained favor, her temperament has changed a lot; in the Emperor's eyes, she is now quite obedient.】

【Wan Tang still hasn't cleared the suspicion of a false pregnancy, and with Xu Luoyan nearby, it's hard to handle.】

Wan Tang chuckles, "Just in time."

She loves to act; Wan Tang lets her keep going mad.

How can one who can't control their emotions fight her?

She lightly brushes her abdomen with her fingertips, tears welling in her eyes yet stubbornly refusing to fall.

"Emperor," she whispers, voice trembling with countless grievances, "I know you still have doubts in your heart."

Chu Yunzheng sits at the foot of the couch, his gaze heavy as he watches her, both compassionate and still wary.

He reaches to stroke her cheek, his thumb brushing the moisture at the corner of her eye, yet says nothing.

Wan Tang grabs his hand, gently pressing it to her abdomen, "This child truly exists; the earlier misdiagnosis I could not refute, but now…"

She chokes slightly, "Emperor, do you still doubt?"

The warmth of Chu Yunzheng's palm eases his expression a bit, yet the doubt in his eyes has not fully faded.

"I know," she lowers her lashes, tears falling just right, "Consort Xu has been in the palace for years without bearing a child; the Emperor harbors regret. I only hope this child can make up for his sorrow."

"Bang!"

The hall door is kicked open violently, cold wind laced with snowflakes rushing in.

If Consort Xu is childless, the whole thing has poured into Xu Luoyan's ears.

The last sliver of reason that remained vanished completely after hearing that.

She practically wishes she could rush in now and tear Wan Tang's mouth apart.

"Wretch! How dare you use a child as a plaything?!"

Xu Luoyan's meticulously made‑up face twists with anger, her scarlet cinnabar pointing at Wan Tang: "First you faked a pregnancy to deceive the ruler, and now you pull this stunt again?!"

"Do you think the Emperor is a fool? After it's happened once, would you allow it to happen again?"

Xu Luoyan's words make Chu Yunzheng's complexion grow even sicker.

The public embarrassment before the civil and military officials lingers, never fading from sight.

If not for this great fire that made Chu Yunzheng feel the fear and panic of losing Wan Tang, these words alone could have made him fling his sleeves and depart.

Chu Yunzheng looked at Wan Tang's face, his affection deepening.

Indeed!

He loves these city‑toppling eyebrows and eyes.

Wan Tang seemed frightened, her body jolted, and she curled entirely into Chu Yunzheng's arms.

Her fingers clenched his dragon‑robe cuff tightly: "Em‑Emperor…"

Chu Yunzheng instinctively shielded her, his cold eyes turning to Xu Luoyan: "What madness are you spouting?"

Seeing Wan Tang's defiant gaze, Xu Luoyan had already completely lost her reason.

She lunged forward, reaching out to yank Wan Tang's collar: "How dare you still collide?"

"Let this palace see whether your belly is real or false!"

"I will make the Emperor see your true face and have you killed!"

"Ah!" Wan Tang shrieked, her collar torn back half a turn, exposing her snow‑white shoulders and a slightly swollen abdomen.

She hurriedly clutched her garments, trembling all over, tears streaming like broken beads: "Noble Consort, why… why must you humiliate me so…?"

Chu Yunzheng erupted in fury, seizing Xu Luoyan's wrist with a grip so strong it nearly crushed bone: "Xu Luoyan! Do you think I am dead?!"

Xu Luoyan winced in pain yet laughed wildly: "Emperor, she deceived you! She must have tied a soft pillow to fake it!"

She pointed sharply at Wan Tang's abdomen: "Look, that belly's shape is off; it must be fake!"

"Did you forget how she deceived you that day?"

Wan Tang heard this and felt as if struck by lightning; her complexion turned deathly pale.

She trembled, releasing the hand that guarded her belly, letting her collar fall open to reveal the obvious pregnant belly: "Noble Consort… must you force me to this?"

She lifted her head toward Chu Yunzheng, tears brimming: "At this point, Emperor, you still do not believe?"

By the end, her breath was like a wisp of air, her whole body swaying as if about to collapse.

Chu Yunzheng looked at her condition, his heart suddenly tightening.

He hauled Wan Tang into his arms and barked loudly: "Attendants! Drag Xu's family to the doorway and have them kneel properly."

"Until the matter is clear, stay right there and listen."

The guards surged forward, but Xu Luoyan thrashed wildly: "Emperor, you've been fooled! She cannot be pregnant, impossible!"

【Xu Luoyan's certainty has a reason: after all, the medicine Wan Tang took to regulate her body was a contraceptive. It was only after Xie Taiyi discovered this and made adjustments that Wan Tang could become pregnant.】

【It isn't that reason, is it? Xu Luoyan must have assumed that every incense in the palace was laced with musk. From the start, the Empress assigned it to each palace, so she was so sure Wan Tang was not pregnant.】

【Little did they know, only the members of their own faction had incense with musk added.】

【Speaking of it, Wang Jingyi truly lives up to being a domestic‑strife prodigy raised by a great family; after staying in the palace for a while, she uncovered this secret.】

The hall was so quiet that a falling pin could be heard, only the charcoal fire occasionally crackling "pop‑pop."

Wan Tang's heart was colder than the snow outside.

Chu Yunzheng flowed down like water, his gaze landing on Wan Tang's conspicuously swollen belly: "To silence the endless rumors, let the Imperial Doctor examine properly."

Wan Tang heard this, tears sliding down, hurriedly shaking her head: "No!"

"Don't…"

"I do not believe them."

Chu Yunzheng's hand rested on Wan Tang's shoulder, his tone leaving no doubt: "Stop this!"

All staff of the Imperial Medical Institute had arrived.

The chief physician knelt before the couch, his finger resting on Wan Tang's slender wrist, brows furrowed; after a long moment he withdrew his hand and respectfully bowed: "Reporting to the Emperor, Consort Wan indeed has a joyous pulse, over four months now."

"Four months?" Chu Yunzheng's pupils narrowed sharply, "Are you certain?"

The chief physician pressed his forehead to the ground: "I, the Old Minister, stake my life as guarantee; there is no error."

Chu Yunzheng sprang to his feet, his dragon robe stirring a cold gust: "Why, three months ago, did every Imperial Doctor say she merely had indigestion?!"

The group of Imperial Doctors knelt in unison, cold sweat dripping: "We… we truly do not know…"

"Do not know?" Chu Yunzheng laughed bitterly in fury, "What use is it for me to keep you lot of uselessness!"

"Emperor," Wan Tang choked out suddenly, tears spilling like broken beads, "I… I said from the start that I did not lie."

She trembled, placing a hand on her abdomen: "This child truly exists!"

"Emperor treats me with such sincerity; why must I resort to such means to vie for favor?"

She thrust her head up sharply, eyes flashing with astonishing light: "Fortunately Heaven has eyes! Fortunately the child is still here! Otherwise… otherwise I would jump into the Yellow River and still not clear my name!"

Chu Yunzheng's heart quivered at her lament, and a scene from the banquet three months earlier flashed in his mind.

Ten Imperial Doctors in unison claimed she merely had indigestion, while Xie Huairen remained unconscious that day…

In a flash, a terrifying thought rose in his mind.

"Li Defu!" Chu Yunzheng bellowed, his voice shaking the hall beams, "Immediately send men to bring Xie Huairen to me; I will question him myself!"

Li Defu staggered in fear: "Emperor, Xie Taiyi has been on leave at home ever since that day's unconsciousness."

"I care not whether he lives or dies!" Chu Yunzheng seized Li Defu's collar, "Even if he is bound, bring him before me!"