Chapter 102: The Poisonous Plot of Infertility

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Consort Lian leaned weakly against her pillow, her face drained of all color, her chin so sharp it was almost just bone.

Seeing Consort Lian in such a state, Chu Jinyao sighed inwardly, “Consort Lian, your body is your own; you must take care of it.”

Consort Lian’s expression was full of grief. She clutched a tiny red garment in her hand, and tears began to stream down her face again. “It was only two more months… It’s my fate, I am unworthy of giving birth to a royal heir. If he had been born to one of the other consorts, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Holding the small garment, Consort Lian sobbed bitterly. Even as an outsider, Chu Jinyao couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness. She found herself unable to say the usual comforting words like, “You’re still young, you’ll have another chance.” They both knew the truth—Consort Lian’s favor in the palace had depended solely on the child. Since the royal prince’s miscarriage, the emperor had only visited her briefly on the first day, and then never returned. The emperor was fickle, and with all the women in the palace vying for his attention, Consort Lian had no hope of ever carrying another child.

Not only had she lost her child, but her future was now uncertain—a situation too painful for anyone to bear. Consort Lian’s eyes were red from crying, and Chu Jinyao sat with her for a while, softly comforting her, “Consort Lian, you’ve had a miscarriage, and your body is weak. Be careful not to cry too much and hurt your eyes. We must always look forward. If the fourth prince has a spirit in heaven, he would not want to see you like this.”

Consort Lian remained lost in her grief, staring blankly ahead, unsure if she had even heard the words. Chu Jinyao paused for a moment and then gently changed the subject, focusing on the garment Consort Lian was holding. “Consort Lian, did you make these clothes yourself?”

“Yes,” Consort Lian looked down at the small, delicate tiger-patterned clothing in her hands, her expression a mixture of tenderness and sorrow. “This is a style from my hometown. I’ve been in the palace so long that I’ve forgotten the details, so I could only make them from memory.”

Chu Jinyao continued asking Consort Lian about her hometown, carefully guiding the conversation and learning many details about the time before and after the miscarriage. Consort Lian had been very cautious, knowing she had no family background to protect her in the palace. Ever since she became pregnant, she rarely left her quarters, being extremely careful with what she ate and drank. Chu Jinyao listened for a long time but couldn’t find any obvious mistakes.

She noticed a small incense burner tucked away in the corner of the inner room and asked, “Consort Lian, what kind of incense do you normally use?”

Consort Lian followed Chu Jinyao’s gaze to the incense burner in the corner and shook her head. “I’m not used to the smell, so I rarely burn incense. And after I became pregnant, I stopped using it altogether.”

Consort Lian wasn’t from a wealthy family, so she never had the habit of burning incense. Chu Jinyao nodded thoughtfully. After chatting with Consort Lian for a little while longer, she stood up to leave, not wanting to disturb her rest any further.

Consort Lian tried to get up to see her off, but Chu Jinyao gently stopped her. The maid helped Consort Lian back onto the bed as she coughed lightly, covering her mouth with her hand. She then turned to her maid and said, “It is very kind of the Crown Princess to still remember me. I cannot see her off myself, so Guiyan, please escort the Crown Princess out.”

Guiyan, Consort Lian’s trusted servant, curtsied to Chu Jinyao and then led her out. Chu Jinyao was full of doubts as she left. She had come to see if she could find any clues related to the witchcraft accusations but ended up more confused than ever. Consort Lian had taken so many precautions, yet she had still been targeted and lost her child, nearly losing her life as well.

Chu Jinyao vaguely sensed something from Consort Lian’s words, but the insight slipped away before she could grasp it.

As they were leaving, they came across a maid carrying a pile of clothes to the backyard to wash. When the maid saw Chu Jinyao, she immediately knelt down, trembling with fear.

Guiyan didn’t think much of it, but Chu Jinyao paused, finding it odd. She asked, “Are those Consort Lian’s clothes?”

The maid, shocked that the Crown Princess was speaking to her, stammered in fear, “Yes, Your Highness, these are the lady’s clothes.”

Guiyan looked at Chu Jinyao curiously and asked, “Your Highness, is there something wrong with the maid?”

“It’s nothing,” Chu Jinyao smiled lightly, “I was just asking casually.”

Guiyan was still skeptical, but she let it go.

After returning to her palanquin, Chu Jinyao quietly instructed her attendant Eunuch Qian, “Find a way to sneak into Consort Lian’s backyard and secretly take one of her garments.”

Eunuch Qian was visibly surprised, but he didn’t ask questions, following her orders faithfully. Linglong, who had overheard the command, was curious and asked once they returned to Qide Hall, “Your Highness, why do you need Consort Lian’s clothes?”

Some eunuchs had peculiar habits, occasionally stealing clothing for their own purposes. But why would the Crown Princess take Consort Lian’s clothes?

Chu Jinyao found it rather awkward to explain. That was why she had sent Eunuch Qian to handle the matter quietly. She couldn’t explain everything just yet, so she simply said, “I need them for something important.”

She suspected the garments held the answer she sought.

That day, after Empress Xiao Qi’s plan had failed, the Crown Prince, Qin Yi, had quickly learned about the witchcraft accusation. He was growing increasingly frustrated with Empress Xiao Qi. Like an annoying fly, she kept buzzing around, using underhanded and disgraceful tactics. But since no concrete evidence had been found, the matter remained confined to the harem, where Qin Yi couldn’t intervene directly. He did, however, assign Chu Jinyao additional manpower to help with her investigations.

With Qin Yi’s assistance, Chu Jinyao’s inquiries progressed rapidly, and before long, Eunuch Qian returned with the garment she had requested.

Chu Jinyao picked up the fabric and sniffed it, detecting a faint, lingering scent. Linglong, standing by her side, became even more puzzled. “Your Highness, what exactly are you looking for?”

“Consort Lian claimed she doesn’t like using incense, and she stopped burning it completely once she became pregnant. At the time, I had a feeling something was off, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. When I saw that maid with the laundry, it finally hit me. Consort Lian says she never uses incense, but every time I’ve seen her, there’s been a faint fragrance on her clothes. It’s subtle, but unmistakable,” Chu Jinyao explained as she carefully examined the garment. Her face turned grave as she instructed, “Get me some needles and thread. We need to unpick the stitching in this part of the fabric.”

Linglong realized the gravity of the situation and rushed to gather the supplies. Following Chu Jinyao’s instructions, the maids carefully unpicked the embroidery around Consort Lian’s chest. The palace’s embroidery was known for its opulence, often featuring patterns of flowers and birds stitched with gold thread. Chu Jinyao lifted the gold thread and examined it closely before summoning Eunuch Qian again. She gave him quiet instructions to investigate further.

After some time, Eunuch Qian returned with a serious expression. He whispered to Chu Jinyao, “Your Highness, you were right. The gold thread has been treated with musk and safflower. The thread was specially prepared, but since the palace is full of fragrances, the scent of the embroidery was masked.”

Chu Jinyao felt a sense of grim confirmation wash over her. A chill ran down her spine. Empress Xiao Qi must have bribed the embroiderers in the imperial wardrobe to lace the thread with these substances. While each individual garment carried only a trace of the scent, over time, the accumulation of musk and safflower could have devastating effects—especially since the nobility often wore heavily embroidered clothing, even undergarments. With such prolonged, close contact, it was no wonder that after so many years, no one in the palace could conceive a child.

The thought shocked Chu Jinyao to her core. The imperial wardrobe provided clothing for everyone in the palace. How long had she herself been wearing such garments?

Linglong and the others noticed Chu Jinyao’s sudden pallor and immediately became alarmed. “Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

Chu Jinyao steadied herself, her face ashen. “Take out all my clothes from the wardrobe—quickly!”

Sensing the urgency, Linglong hurried to follow the order. As Chu Jinyao rose to her feet, she swayed slightly, and Linglong rushed to support her. “Your Highness, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Chu Jinyao said, though her voice lacked its usual steadiness. She personally inspected each piece of clothing, searching for any that might have been affected. Luckily, Chu Jinyao had never liked the cuts provided by the imperial wardrobe and often commissioned her own garments, which her maids embroidered themselves. This meant her exposure to the tainted thread had been minimal, likely sparing her from serious harm.

Her maids turned pale as the realization of what had been happening dawned on them. One of them, Ji Gěng, asked nervously, “Should we summon a doctor to examine you?”

“No,” Chu Jinyao shook her head. “Empress Xiao Qi’s influence runs deep. We can’t afford to alert her just yet. If the doctor is in her pocket, it would ruin everything.”

When Qin Yi returned to the Eastern Palace that night, he immediately sensed something was off.

The attendants were still dutifully serving them, but there was a noticeable tension in the air. Everything seemed too quiet. Qin Yi didn’t show it, but he spent the meal discreetly observing Chu Jinyao. By the end of the meal, he understood where the problem lay.

After dinner, as the maids cleared the table, Qin Yi took Chu Jinyao aside and sat her down. She had been unusually quiet all evening, and he finally asked, “What’s wrong?”

Chu Jinyao was startled. “I thought I hid it well. Was it that obvious?”

“Not to most people,” Qin Yi replied, gazing intently into her eyes. “But it’s obvious to me.”

Chu Jinyao sighed in defeat, “I didn’t know how to tell you yet. I tried my best to hide it so as not to spoil your appetite, but you still noticed.”

“Tell me,” Qin Yi said softly, his voice full of concern.

“It’s about… children.” Chu Jinyao’s voice faltered, and she looked down, her heart heavy. She couldn’t help but wonder if the reason she hadn’t conceived yet was due to her own body or if Empress Xiao Qi’s schemes had already succeeded in harming her.

Chu Jinyao knew it was a dangerous thought to entertain, but she couldn’t stop herself.

She hesitated before speaking again, “Your Highness, I had an investigation done today. Let me start by explaining what happened with Consort Lian.”

Consort Lian’s fate was truly pitiful. After all these years, no one in the harem had conceived. Only Consort Lian had become pregnant with a royal heir. At first, everyone had thought she was simply lucky. But now it seemed Empress Xiao Qi’s hand had been at work behind the scenes all along.

Empress Xiao Qi’s method was incredibly insidious. Everyone in the palace was careful about what they ate and drank, but no one would have suspected their clothing. The imperial wardrobe provided clothing for all the women in the palace, made from fine materials brought in as tributes. The local officials who sent these tributes wouldn’t dare tamper with them, so the problem wasn’t with the fabrics—it was with the embroidery.

The palace embroiderers were renowned for their skills, and one particularly talented embroiderer was in high demand among the favored consorts. But this woman was in Empress Xiao Qi’s pocket. She used specially treated threads, which were soaked in substances like musk and safflower. The subtle scent of these threads was masked by the general incense that filled the palace, so no one noticed. Over time, exposure to these substances took its toll. Chu Jinyao couldn’t even guess how many other embroiderers Empress Xiao Qi had bribed in the imperial wardrobe. Meanwhile, the unsuspecting consorts were paying the price for her jealousy.

Consort Lian had been a lowly palace maid. Even after receiving favor, she wasn’t officially recognized with a title and had no access to the imperial wardrobe, which is why she had escaped the effects of the poisoned threads and become pregnant. When her pregnancy was discovered, Empress Xiao Qi’s fury was impossible to contain.

Not willing to let Consort Lian deliver a healthy child, Empress Xiao Qi had tampered with her clothing, ensuring she miscarried at eight months. She had even taken a lock of Consort Lian’s hair, burning it and leaving it in the back garden to frame the Eastern Palace. By scattering petals from the purple zicui flower, Empress Xiao Qi had drawn everyone to the Eastern Palace, intending to “accidentally” uncover a witchcraft doll buried beneath the flowers. The doll had a swollen belly, clearly meant to represent Consort Lian’s unborn child, and it was covered in needles with her birth date attached.

But Empress Xiao Qi’s plan had backfired. The purple zicui flowers were so delicate that when the soil around them was disturbed to bury the doll, Chu Jinyao had noticed the flowers wilting. Sensing something was wrong, she had unearthed the doll before Empress Xiao Qi could use it to frame her. This early discovery had foiled Empress Xiao Qi’s attempt to accuse the Eastern Palace of using witchcraft to harm Consort Lian’s child.

Since Chu Jinyao had presented the doll herself, the evidence wasn’t as damning, and Empress Xiao Qi’s accusations lacked weight. The emperor couldn’t definitively conclude what had happened.

After this, Chu Jinyao had gone to see Consort Lian. Since Empress Xiao Qi had used a particularly strong dose of musk to ensure Consort Lian would miscarry, her garments had reeked of the scent. That was the clue that had tipped Chu Jinyao off. Consort Lian had said she didn’t use incense, but her clothes were infused with a lingering fragrance, which she and her maids had thought was just part of the clothing from the imperial wardrobe. They had no idea it was Empress Xiao Qi’s trap to claim both Consort Lian’s life and her unborn child.

Qin Yi’s expression grew darker as he listened. “She dared to tamper with your clothing?”

“With the embroidery,” Chu Jinyao corrected.

To Qin Yi, it made no difference. His mind worked quickly. Now he understood why Chu Jinyao had been upset all evening. She must have been wondering whether Empress Xiao Qi’s scheme had affected her too. Qin Yi didn’t care about the other women in the palace, but this involved Chu Jinyao—and that was unacceptable. His face became frighteningly cold as he summoned his eunuch, Xiao Linzi. “Go summon Imperial Physician Gao immediately.”

This time, Chu Jinyao didn’t object. During the day, she hadn’t dared call for a doctor, fearing that any doctor might be in Empress Xiao Qi’s pocket. But with Qin Yi’s involvement, she knew the physician would be trustworthy.

Before the doctor arrived, Qin Yi held Chu Jinyao’s hand tightly, his grip so firm it hurt. Chu Jinyao endured the discomfort, not wanting to pull away. At a time like this, only his presence could ease her anxiety.

“Nothing will happen to you.”

Under the lamplight, Qin Yi’s eyes shone with intensity, filled with an unwavering determination. There was also a dangerous glint in his gaze, promising retribution. As Chu Jinyao looked into his eyes, she felt her nose tingle, the weight of her emotions overwhelming her. “Mm.”

She didn’t dare imagine what she would do if she really had been harmed by Empress Xiao Qi’s schemes, if she were left without the ability to have children. But at that moment, Chu Jinyao was willing to place all her trust in Qin Yi.

Qin Yi wouldn’t let anything happen to her.