Song Yaoyao: *[Of course. The more people there are, the more trouble there is!*
*The Empress Dowager was right to worry.]*
Guagua continued:
*[So the Empress Dowager specifically instructed the Empress to take extra care of Noble Lady Qi.*
The Empress then assigned a matron and two palace maids to look after her.
But when she was eight months pregnant, something still happened.
Noble Lady Qi suddenly slipped and fell on her way to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager.
Blood immediately began flowing from between her legs.
The maids and matron attending her were terrified. Some hurried to summon an Imperial Physician, while others reported the incident to the Empress and the Empress Dowager.
After the Imperial Physician arrived, he said Noble Lady Qi was going into premature labor.
Noble Lady Qi was taken into the birthing room.
Meanwhile, the Empress had already sent people to investigate why Noble Lady Qi had fallen.
Before long, the investigators returned.
Someone had poured oil and scattered soybeans along the path Noble Lady Qi had taken.
This was a brazen attempt to murder an imperial heir!
Upon learning this, the Empress and the Empress Dowager immediately ordered the investigation to continue.
While Noble Lady Qi was giving birth, someone tampered with things again, intending to claim two lives with one corpse.
The people sent by the Empress Dowager caught the culprit red-handed.
Seeing that she had been exposed, the midwife bit down on the poison hidden in her mouth and died on the spot.
In the end, after surviving death by a hair's breadth, Noble Lady Qi finally gave birth to the Sixth Prince. But after those two attempts on her life, she hemorrhaged and died right there.
The Sixth Prince lost his birth mother the moment he was born.
*The Empress Dowager could not bear the sight of that tiny, red-faced baby, so she had the Empress raise him as her own son.]*
Hearing this, the Sixth Prince finally understood everything. As a child, he had heard plenty of rumors claiming he was not the Empress's biological son.
He had asked his mother about it, too. She had dealt with those wagging tongues and told him he was indeed her biological son.
It seemed only his second brother was his mother's biological son.
Everyone around them thought, So the Sixth Prince was the Empress's adopted son. Only the Second Prince was Her Majesty's biological son.
Had they just heard a secret of the imperial family?
Would they be killed to keep them quiet?
So many people had heard it. They should be fine!
Song Yaoyao asked: [Does the Sixth Prince know about this?]
Guagua: *[No.*
*The palace issued a ban back then, forbidding anyone from discussing the Sixth Prince's origins. Even those who wagged their tongues were dealt with by the Empress.]*
Song Yaoyao: [I really want to know who was trying to kill Noble Lady Qi.]
Guagua: *[Come to think of it, Noble Lady Qi really was terribly unlucky.*
*She was only a lowly noble lady, yet several different groups targeted her!]*
Song Yaoyao: [What? Several groups?]
Guagua: *[Yes.*
The first was Noble Consort Liu. Although she enjoyed unrivaled favor throughout the six palaces, she had never had any children. Naturally, she was unhappy to see the other consorts getting pregnant.
She had someone find out Noble Lady Qi's schedule and route, then pour oil on a path Noble Lady Qi had to take.
The person Noble Consort Liu sent thought the plan was as seamless as a heavenly robe, but someone serving Consort Liang still witnessed the oil being poured.
Only after Noble Consort Liu's agent left did Consort Liang's maid dare to emerge quietly. When she returned, she told Consort Liang about it.
*After hearing this, Consort Liang not only failed to stop it, but sent that young maid to scatter another two handfuls of soybeans over the oil-covered path.]*
Song Yaoyao: [Was she afraid Noble Lady Qi wouldn't die thoroughly enough? She even added a second layer of insurance!]
At that moment, the Sixth Prince's face was as black as ink. Thinking of Noble Consort Liu's lofty, imperious manner, then Consort Liang's gentle, serene demeanor, he wanted nothing more than to kill them both.
Guagua continued:
*[Sure enough, just as Noble Consort Liu and Consort Liang had expected, Noble Lady Qi went into premature labor.*
Unexpectedly, Consort Chi also stuck her foot in during the birth.
That midwife was someone Consort Chi had planted at Noble Lady Qi's side long before.
*And just like that, Noble Lady Qi was gone.]*
Song Yaoyao sighed ruefully:
*[Ah, such a beautiful woman, gone just like that. What a pity!*
Aren't Noble Consort Liu, Consort Liang, and Consort Chi all still living perfectly well in the palace?
*Did the Empress fail to uncover the people behind Noble Lady Qi's murder, or was there more to it?]*
Guagua: *[Of course there was more to it.*
*Noble Consort Liu, Consort Liang, and Consort Chi all came from powerful families. Pull one hair, and the whole body would move. So a lowly noble lady's death was simply a death, and in the end, the matter was left unresolved.]*
Song Yaoyao sighed:
[Ah, Guagua, you've said so much, but what does any of this have to do with the Sixth Prince being wrong in the head?]
Everyone else came to their senses as well. Exactly! You've said so much, but what does any of this have to do with the Sixth Prince being wrong in the head?
Hurry up and keep going! We want to know what happened next!
Guagua did not disappoint and continued:
*[Host, don't be impatient. Let me explain it bit by bit!*
The Sixth Prince gradually grew up under the Empress's care.
The Empress treated her adopted son very well. Whatever the Second Prince had, the Sixth Prince would have a share of it too!
When the Sixth Prince was five, he slipped away from the eunuchs and palace maids following him because he wanted to play, and went to the Lotus Pond alone.
Then someone pushed him from behind, and he fell straight into the Lotus Pond.
The Sixth Prince couldn't swim at all. After flailing his short arms and legs a few times, he felt he was about to die. Through his fading awareness, someone rescued him. Before losing consciousness, he saw that a little girl had pulled him out of the Lotus Pond. She wore a necklace around her neck. After committing its appearance to memory, he passed out completely.
The Sixth Prince fell terribly ill that time and spent two months in bed.
Once he recovered, he began asking which families had brought their wives and children into the palace that day.
Several ladies had brought their children to pay their respects to the Empress that day. The Sixth Prince hadn't gotten a clear look at which family's little girl had saved him. He only remembered the necklace.
The Sixth Prince remembered the families who had entered the palace that day and decided to investigate them slowly.
Two years passed like this. At last, during a Palace Banquet, the Sixth Prince saw someone wearing that necklace again.
The necklace was around the neck of Ou Baiqing, the daughter of the Subordinate Third-Rank Swift Guard General.
The Sixth Prince also confirmed that the wife of the Subordinate Third-Rank Swift Guard General had indeed entered the palace on the day he fell into the water.
So the Sixth Prince concluded that Ou Baiqing was the one who had saved him.
After that, whenever the Sixth Prince received anything nice, he would send it to Ou Baiqing.
*You could say that whatever he had, he would unconditionally send her a share. He practically spoiled her up to the heavens.]*
Puzzled, Song Yaoyao asked:
[There's nothing wrong with the Sixth Prince treating his lifesaver well, is there?]
Everyone else also felt that the debt of a saved life was greater than heaven itself. There was nothing wrong with treating the young lady well!
Judging by this incident, the Sixth Prince was still perfectly sound in the head!
Could the truth be different? Was there more to the story?