Suspected Pregnancy

Emperor Jing'an seemed not to notice anything unusual about Hua Meng. After giving Jiang Chan a few more instructions to take good care of her, he dismissed her.

Once Jiang Chan had withdrawn, Hua Meng came back to her senses.

Hua Meng felt that the room seemed a little hot. She wanted to get up and leave, but felt that doing so would be too abrupt.

After some thought, Hua Meng ultimately held back and stayed where she was.

Just as Hua Meng was wondering what to do, Emperor Jing'an suddenly reached out and took her hand in his.

"Your Majesty?" Hua Meng looked at Emperor Jing'an in confusion. Seeing his solemn expression, she frowned and asked, "Your Majesty, is something weighing on your mind?"

Hua Meng had asked directly, but Emperor Jing'an did not think there was anything improper about her question.

"I was only thinking of the state of my health."

Though Emperor Jing'an had put it delicately, Hua Meng understood what he meant.

"Your Majesty, as for the state of your health, we must wait to hear what the physicians and Imperial Physician Jiang say." Seeing that Emperor Jing'an still looked unhappy, Hua Meng continued, "Though I have only just begun learning to make medicine, I know that nothing is worse for a patient than letting worries knot up in the heart. You would do better to set your mind at ease."

As Hua Meng comforted Emperor Jing'an, she wondered whether she should give him the Detoxifying Spirit Spring.

But the Detoxifying Spirit Spring was so effective. If she gave Emperor Jing'an a drop of the Spirit Spring directly, would it arouse suspicion?

At that thought, Hua Meng abandoned the idea of giving Emperor Jing'an the Detoxifying Spirit Spring directly.

Though Hua Meng's words did not completely undo the knot in Emperor Jing'an's heart, her sincere reassurance still put him in a much better mood.

"Then how are your studies in medicine-making going?" Emperor Jing'an looked at Hua Meng and saw a trace of shyness appear on her face at his question. Finding it amusing, he asked, "You said before that you wanted to make some pills to ward off the heat. Have you started?"

The weather was not so hot yet, but since Emperor Jing'an had asked, Hua Meng nodded. "I have already begun learning from Nanny Jiang. Once the first batch of pills is ready, I will be sure to send some to Your Majesty."

Emperor Jing'an had not expected Hua Meng to answer that way. As he marveled to himself that the young girl truly had no reservations, daring to offer him medicine, he also began to look forward to the first batch of pills she had mentioned.

Hua Meng had just thought of the method in a flash of inspiration. She could put a drop of the Spirit Spring that cured a hundred poisons into a medicine pot, then make a batch of medicine into many pills. That way, if Emperor Jing'an took one pill a day, the Spirit Spring's effects would not be so obvious.

Now that she had an idea, Hua Meng began considering what kind of pill she should make first.

For now, however, the most pressing matter was leaving the palace again the next day.

This time, with the experience of their previous trip, leaving the palace went much more smoothly.

By the time Hua Meng and Emperor Jing'an reached the Hua Family, the two elderly physicians and Imperial Physician Jiang were already waiting there.

As soon as the two elderly physicians saw Emperor Jing'an, they praised how well his health had been nurtured lately.

"Your complexion is much better than last time, honored sir. It seems you truly listened to my advice."

No matter how skilled a physician was, he dreaded encountering a patient who would not follow medical advice.

They had already noticed last time that their patient was either wealthy or noble, so for the past ten days or so, they had worried that this patient of exalted status would not follow their instructions.

Yet when they saw him today, they could tell even before taking his pulse that this honored guest had taken their words to heart.

After the two fellow disciples had each taken his pulse, they exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Your health is recovering well, honored sir."

At those words, Emperor Jing'an, who had worried that his condition was beyond cure, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"You must continue taking the previous prescription for another seven days. I also have several recipes for nourishing dishes here; you need only eat one each day."

As soon as the junior of the two fellow disciples finished speaking, his senior glanced at Emperor Jing'an. Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, he mustered his courage and said, "My junior brother and I have carefully studied your pulse over the past few days, honored sir, and found that your kidney water is weaker than an ordinary person's. If you wish to have children, it would be best to have less intercourse."

Emperor Jing'an was taken aback.

Because he had been so anxious to have children before, though he had no one he loved, he had summoned a consort to serve him in bed almost every other day.

Only in the past few days had he refrained, out of concern for the medicine's effects. But given his position, if he continued to summon no consorts to his bed, it would surely arouse suspicion.

Hua Meng, who had been sitting quietly in the inner room listening, thought of this as well.

Over the past few days, Emperor Jing'an had visited the harem, but he had not done anything.

For now, it could be said that he was busy with court affairs or enamored of her, a consort newly arrived in the palace. But if this continued, it would surely arouse suspicion.

After all, in most people's minds, since Emperor Jing'an was so anxious to have children, he ought naturally to be sowing more seed.

Seeing that Emperor Jing'an remained silent, the two fellow disciples exchanged a glance, and the senior spoke again. "Though my junior brother and I have not been able to determine what drug you were given, honored sir, we discovered that if an ordinary man could have a child after ten bouts of intercourse, you would need ten thousand." After saying this, he looked up at Emperor Jing'an and saw his face darken, but he ultimately mustered his courage and continued, "Yet the more intercourse you have, honored sir, the worse your kidney water becomes."

Imperial Physician Jiang also knew these conclusions, so when Emperor Jing'an questioned him after the two physicians left, he nodded firmly.

"Your Majesty must indeed have less intercourse from now on, and should also eat more nourishing dishes in your daily meals." As for medicine, naturally, it was best not to take it if possible.

Since even Jiang Xin said so, Emperor Jing'an could only accept it.

Only after Imperial Physician Jiang had also left did Hua Meng emerge from the inner room.

She looked at Emperor Jing'an sitting in his chair, staring ahead with an unfocused gaze. She sighed inwardly, went over and crouched down, then rested her head sideways on his knee.

"Your Majesty, I am here with you."

Hearing those words again, Emperor Jing'an clearly felt a warm current flow through his heart.

He raised his hand, placed it on the back of Hua Meng's head, and patted her gently.

Neither spoke again, but both knew that there was now something between them that had not been there before.

Since Lin Ming had not come to the Hua Family today, Emperor Jing'an and Hua Meng left much earlier than they had last time.

It was still early, and Emperor Jing'an did not know when he would next leave the palace, so he took Hua Meng for a stroll through the streets.

Toward the end of the wei hour, Emperor Jing'an brought Hua Meng back to the palace.

This time, with the lesson of their previous outing, no one in the harem dared to say anything out of turn.

Perhaps because he was in a bad mood, Emperor Jing'an ordered someone to escort Hua Meng back to Sparrow Plume Palace after they returned. He himself went back to Phoenix Approaches Palace to wash up, then headed to Chaohuang Palace to have supper with the empress dowager.

Had Emperor Jing'an gone to another consort, someone might have laughed at Hua Meng, but he had gone to see the empress dowager, so naturally no one dared say anything out of turn.

When Hua Meng returned to Sparrow Plume Palace and washed up, she collapsed onto the couch, drained of strength. "I wasn't this delicate before. Now that I've entered the palace, I've grown more delicate than I used to be."

Hua Meng spoke casually, but before Qiu Die and Ling Cui could respond, Jiang Chan, who had been standing quietly to one side, suddenly stepped forward and stared at Hua Meng. "Your Highness, besides feeling weak, do you have any other symptoms?"

Hua Meng did not understand why Jiang Chan asked, but remembering that she came from the Jiang Family, a family of imperial physicians, she immediately thought carefully about what had been unusual with her lately.

"I just feel weak and sleepy, but my appetite is good."

Though Hua Meng had been reborn, she had only lived to sixteen in her previous life. During the twenty years she had spent drifting afterward, she had indeed seen many things, but she had not studied medicine.

So when she heard Jiang Chan's question, she could not help growing nervous.

After listening to Hua Meng, Jiang Chan first nodded, then looked at her and asked, "May I ask when Your Highness's monthly courses usually come?"

Hearing Jiang Chan's question, Hua Meng had yet to react when Ling Cui spoke up first. "Her Highness's courses usually come on the first or second day of each month."

As soon as Ling Cui finished, Jiang Chan nodded and continued, "If Your Highness's courses come at the beginning of each month, then you entered the palace on the eighth of this month, and after His Majesty came on the night of the seventeenth, you have felt weak all over and sleepy for more than ten days now..." At this point, Jiang Chan looked up and saw that Hua Meng and the others all looked puzzled. She laughed and shook her head. "I suppose Your Highness does not know about such things, but the Jiang Family has a way to calculate the days when pregnancy is most likely. Since Your Highness's courses come at the beginning of each month, the days around the middle of the month are when you are most likely to become pregnant."