The Empress of Zhen Huan Reborn

After everyone had left, the emperor slowly reached out his hand and lifted the blanket that wrapped the child in Nian Shilan's arms. When he saw the Fifth Prince's face clearly, his expression changed drastically, and he was filled with astonishment.

The emperor could not accept the sight. He stared at the so-called "monster" with wide eyes, his heart filled with disbelief and fear. The child looked too strange, totally unlike a normal baby who was cute and innocent. The emperor could not imagine that such a deformed child was actually his own flesh and blood, and a strong sense of disappointment surged in his heart.

After a moment of silence, the emperor finally came back to his senses. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner turmoil, and then gave an order to Su Peisheng beside him: "Su Peisheng, convey my order later. Say that the fifth prince died of premature birth due to extreme weakness. Bury him in the imperial mausoleum to comfort his soul."

However, just as he finished speaking, the emperor seemed to have thought of something, frowned and thought for a while, then added: "After the order is passed, quietly abandon the fifth prince to the mass grave. Don't let anyone find out about this, understand?"

Nian Shilan listened to the emperor's words quietly. Although she was surprised, she did not show too much surprise. She had long known the emperor's ruthlessness, and this kind of cruel behavior was not unfamiliar to her. The fetus in her belly lost its life because of the emperor's calculations, and now facing the experience of the fifth prince, she could only sigh helplessly.

Originally, Nian Shilan had a glimmer of hope, thinking that perhaps the emperor had never seen his unborn child, and that he was concerned about the power of the Nian family, so he killed the Fifth Prince. But now, seeing how decisively the emperor treated the Fifth Prince, she understood completely - the emperor was such a cruel person, and it had nothing to do with any other factors.

Thinking of this, Nian Shilan's eyes gradually dimmed. She stared at the emperor silently, secretly lamenting the unfairness of fate.

Nian Shilan didn't want to get involved, but when she looked down at the cute child in her arms, she couldn't help but think that she might never be able to have children again in the future. So she plucked up the courage to plead with the emperor: "Your Majesty, please have mercy and keep this prince! After all, he is your own flesh and blood."

The emperor stared at Nian Shilan, a trace of anger appeared on his face, and he said sternly: "I will never keep such a monster-like child!" At this moment, Noble Lady Fucha suddenly woke up in the palace. When she heard the emperor's words, she was stunned and could not recover for a while.

When Fu Cha Guiren's personal maid Duo'er saw her master wake up, she hurried forward and asked with concern: "My lady, how do you feel? Do you need some water?" Fu Cha Guiren calmed down, looked at Duo'er, and said anxiously: "Where is my child? Hurry and bring my child to me to see."

The Emperor and Nian Shilan could hear the conversation in the palace clearly. They fell silent for a while, not knowing how to respond. The Emperor was filled with disgust, thinking that Noble Lady Fucha was really useless. He usually took good care of her and provided her with fine clothes and delicious food, but she unexpectedly gave birth to a deformed freak prematurely. At this moment, the Emperor had already classified Noble Lady Fucha as an unlucky person in his heart.

Duo'er stepped out of the palace gate and saw the emperor and Concubine Hua standing side by side in front of the palace. Concubine Hua was holding the Fifth Prince carefully in her arms. Just as Duo'er hesitated, the emperor had already stepped into the palace, and Concubine Hua followed closely behind him, holding the Fifth Prince in her arms, with a solemn expression.

At this time, Noble Lady Fucha happened to catch a glimpse of the child in Concubine Hua's arms, and she suddenly felt uneasy. She mistakenly thought that Concubine Hua wanted to take her child away, so she opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound, the emperor spoke first: "The fifth prince was born prematurely and was weak, so he unfortunately died. I have decided to bury him in the imperial mausoleum to comfort his soul. You just need to rest and take care of your health."

The emperor's words were cold and ruthless, without any warmth at all. He stared at Noble Lady Fucha with a look of deep disgust. Noble Lady Fucha was struck by lightning when she heard this, and her emotions instantly went out of control. She widened her eyes, her face full of astonishment, and desperately wanted to take the child back from Concubine Hua.

Hua Fei was keenly aware of Fu Cha Guiren's intention, but did not stop her. Instead, she obediently handed the child to Fu Cha Guiren. Upon seeing this, Fu Cha Guiren immediately reached out to take it, her eyes full of grief and despair.

When Noble Lady Fucha looked at the purple, wrinkled, ugly and weird "child" in front of her, she was stunned. Her eyes widened, her face was full of disbelief, her lips trembled slightly, but she couldn't say a word. Was this child really born after ten months of pregnancy and untold hardships? Why did he turn into such a terrible monster?

However, when she recalled what the emperor had just said to her, a strong desire to survive surged in her heart. She fell to her knees with a plop, begging the emperor with tears in her eyes to spare their lives. But the emperor just looked at her coldly, then turned his head away without hesitation, ignoring Noble Lady Fucha's pleading.

Then, the emperor ordered Su Peisheng to lead a group of guards to quietly take the fifth prince out of the palace and never let him appear in front of the public again. When Noble Lady Fucha heard this decree, she was heartbroken and grief-stricken. She could not accept the fact that her newly born child was about to be taken away from her, and her emotional excitement caused severe hemorrhage.

Seeing this, Nian Shilan, who was standing by, hurriedly signaled Su Peisheng to temporarily leave the Fifth Prince alone and quickly summon the imperial physician to treat Noble Lady Fucha. The emperor looked at Nian Shilan silently, with a hint of complex emotions flashing in his eyes, but he still didn't say anything. After receiving the order, Su Peisheng immediately ran away, all the way to the Imperial Hospital.

Not long after, Su Peisheng came back to the palace with the imperial physician, panting. This time it was the imperial physician Wen. Nian Shilan did not bother to let the imperial physician Wen greet her, and anxiously urged him to go and treat Noble Lady Fucha. Imperial physician Wen did not dare to delay, and hurried to Noble Lady Fucha's bedside and began to carefully examine her physical condition.

Doctor Wen came out in a hurry, knelt on the ground with a plop, saluted and said, "Reporting to the emperor, Empress Hua. Noble Lady Fucha was seriously injured after giving birth and is extremely weak. Her emotions fluctuated too much this time, resulting in excessive blood loss. I really can't save her. Noble Lady Fucha is afraid that she will not live long. She told me that she wanted His Majesty and Empress Hua to come in, and she had something to say to you two." The emperor waved his hand, indicating that Nian Shilan could go in, and he walked to a chair beside and sat down.

Nian Shilan did not dare to delay and hurried into the bedroom, only to see Noble Lady Fucha dying. Due to excessive blood loss, her face was as pale as paper, without a trace of blood.

When Noble Lady Fucha saw Nian Shilan coming in alone, she smiled helplessly, "Empress Hua, I beg you to save the Fifth Prince. If the Emperor finds the Fifth Prince annoying, please let him move to the Old Summer Palace with my personal maid, away from the Emperor's sight. I only ask the Emperor and the Empress to spare the Fifth Prince's life. He is just an innocent child."

Nian Shilan looked at Noble Lady Fucha and sighed, "I can only say that I will do my best."

Fu Cha Guiren understood that Nian Shilan also had her own difficulties. After all, she had to obey the emperor. If the emperor was determined not to let the fifth prince live, who would dare to disobey his order?

Noblewoman Fucha paused for a moment and continued, "Since I became pregnant, the Queen has been very caring towards me. She often sent me large amounts of fish and shrimp, saying that eating these fish and shrimp would make the child born smarter. I never thought that my child would..."

Before Noble Lady Fucha could finish her words, she died with her eyes wide open, as if she died with her eyes open.

When Nian Shilan heard Noble Lady Fucha mention that the Queen had sent fish and shrimp, she felt that there must be something fishy about it. Given how cunning and treacherous that old vicious woman was, how could she be so kind?

Nian Shilan finally stretched out her hands tremblingly, gently closed Noble Lady Fucha's wide-open eyes, lowered her voice, and whispered in Noble Lady Fucha's ear: "If there is a good opportunity, I will definitely seek justice for you and the Fifth Prince."

When Nian Shilan walked out of the bedroom, she ran into the emperor who was staring at her, as if waiting to see what she had to say.

Nian Shilan walked up to the emperor, knelt on both knees, and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, Noble Lady Fucha has passed away. I dare to ask Your Majesty to wait for some time before dealing with the Fifth Prince. Now that Concubine Hui and Concubine Wan are both pregnant with the dragon's offspring, it is really not appropriate for the palace to add to the funeral. I hope Your Majesty will think twice."

The emperor sat upright on the chair, his eyes as sharp as torches, staring at Nian Shilan intently, and Nian Shilan also calmly endured the emperor's gaze and said no more.

After a long time, the emperor slowly spoke: "In this case, I will leave the Fifth Prince to you and take him back to Yikun Palace for the time being." After Nian Shilan kowtowed to express his gratitude, he picked up the Fifth Prince and returned to Yikun Palace.

Nian Shilan sat on the couch in deep thought for a long time. She instructed Zhou Ninghai, "Zhou Ninghai, quickly go and quietly call Ji Weisheng, the deputy envoy of the Imperial Observatory, to come to me. Do not alert anyone else."

After Zhou Ninghai received the order, he quickly sent someone to invite him in. Not long after, Ji Weisheng followed Zhou Ninghai into the hall.

"I am Ji Weisheng, your humble servant, and I am here to pay my respects to Her Majesty Hua Guifei." Ji Weisheng bowed deeply and respectfully, secretly trying to figure out why Guifei Hua Guifei had summoned him.

"Get up. I called you here because I have something important to entrust to you." Nian Shilan said calmly.

Nian Shilan knew very well that in the previous life, Zhen Huan and Shen Meiyu had already bribed Ji Weisheng. She also knew that this man was kind-hearted and valued filial piety. Her parents were in poor health, and in the previous life, she only sent people to cure his parents' illness, and Ji Weisheng then obeyed Zhen Huan and Shen Meiyu.

Nian Shilan looked at Ji Weisheng and said solemnly: "The matter I want to entrust to you is of vital importance. If you can handle it, I will definitely not treat you unfairly. But if you dare to leak even a word, you will definitely know what I will do."

Ji Weisheng nodded repeatedly, indicating that he was willing to follow Nian Shilan's orders.

After Ji Weisheng stepped out of the Yiku Palace, he rushed to the Yangxin Palace without stopping and requested to meet the emperor.

When the emperor heard Su Peisheng's report, he was a little surprised. The emperor had planned to summon the Imperial Observatory after finishing his government affairs to inquire about the matter of Concubine Fucha giving birth to a monster. Seeing this, he asked Su Peisheng to summon him into the palace.

"Your humble servant, Ji Weisheng, the deputy envoy of the Imperial Observatory, pays his respects to the emperor." After Ji Weisheng entered the hall, he immediately saluted to the emperor.

The emperor glanced at him indifferently and asked, "Get up. Why are you here? Where is the chief envoy of the Imperial Observatory?"

Ji Weisheng, the deputy envoy of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, recalled Nian Shilan's instructions just now and replied, "Your Excellency is in poor health. I came here this time because when I was observing the sky last night, I was surprised to find that the Ziwei star was shining brightly, and five stars were in a row. This is an auspicious sign that is rare in a century."