This matter, whether Prince Gong did it or not, he still knows.
Even though he has been sent to the provinces, Prince Gong will never give up the fight for the throne, nor can he let it go.
He has been at odds with the Crown Prince for years, becoming mortal enemies. If the Crown Prince ascends the throne, even if he spares him, those around him will not.
However, he is not foolish. He has just been sent to the provinces, and hasn’t even stabilized morale in Luozhou. At this mont the most crucial thing is to earn the pity of the Emperor and Empress, in order to possibly return to the capital in the future.
He was even planning to fall ill after so ti, then write to the Emperor claiming he couldn’t eat due to hosickness, and plead to return to the capital.
Why would he incriminate the Crown Prince during the New Year?
Everyone knows that if sothing happens to the Crown Prince, he would be the most suspicious?
As the thought passed, the Third Prince’s body stiffened, sothing exploding in his mind, and his eyes widened slightly.
"Soone is involved in this, who is it?" Prince Gong guessed with a sombre face, "Is it Second Brother, Fourth Brother, Fifth Younger Brother, or perhaps from the maternal family of Sixth Brother?"
Everyone was shocked. The advisors hesitantly said, "Your Highness, the Second Prince and others are all born of concubines. The Empress is still here, and His Majesty is indifferent to them..."
"But what if both the Crown Prince and I are gone?"
Prince Gong couldn’t help but think deeper, and for a mont his mind was filled with all sorts of ideas.
However, they were now far away in Yongzhou, and news from the capital traveled slowly, not to ntion investigating. They could only let those staying in the capital gather information.
So everything they discussed now was based on speculation.
Prince Gong also felt that such discussions were aningless, he gritted his teeth and said, "Let soone investigate, and how should we respond to this? Should we submit a confession, or lant?"
He was referring to the matter of plowing on the day of the second month.
Prince Gong thought if he confessed, maybe the Emperor would think he was admitting to framing and threatening Zhou Man; but if he didn’t, he feared the Emperor would think he was being deceitful.
Prince Gong delved into thought, this matter was crucial, he needed to think carefully about how to write the letter.
The Crown Prince was also pondering, what to do with the talents he had recruited recently, he couldn’t just leave them halfway, could he?
But if he used them, it would be seen as forming a faction, which was also a cri.
In front of the Crown Princess, he said not to worry, but it was not easy to truly handle it perfectly.
The Crown Prince couldn’t help but tap the table, the light in the study stayed on for half a night.
Manbao entered the palace the next day to see the Crown Princess. Finding no issues, she sat and chatted with her, and even observed the Crown Princess playing the zither. It was indeed pleasant to hear, even more so than Bai Shan’s playing.
Seeing Manbao liked it, the Crown Princess smiled and asked, "Why don’t you learn the zither?"
Manbao said, "I know a little, just not proficient, but my Junior Brother is learning."
The zither is expensive; when in Yizhou, the prefectural school suggested learning it, so Bai Shan ordered one to be made, and the teacher knew a bit and taught him so.
Manbao went to see it herself and indeed it was expensive, not just Old Zhou, even she was reluctant to spend so much money on a zither.
The Crown Princess laughed, "Girls should know so music, it can be a solace when feeling down."
The Crown Princess suddenly beca interested, "Why don’t I teach you?"
Manbao was in the palace under the pretense of giving the Crown Prince acupuncture, which usually took about an hour, so today she had to stay in the palace for the sa duration.
But the Crown Princess was healthy, even pregnant Manbao didn’t need to do anything in particular, she only took her pulse and quietly discussed so precautions during pregnancy.
Since it was still secret, they spoke in hushed tones when alone, not daring to speak loudly, which freed up the rest of the ti.
The Crown Princess simply pulled Manbao along to teach her music, chess, and painting.
She didn’t need to be taught writing, Manbao’s calligraphy was quite good.
Two large sheets of writing daily was Mr. Zhuang’s non-negotiable baseline.
Since they couldn’t leave the palace early, and with nothing else to do, the Crown Princess was willing to teach, and she was willing to learn.
Thus while the Crown Prince was busy with calligraphy, the Crown Princess would pull Manbao to play the zither, play chess, chat, and unexpectedly, having Manbao around helped ease the Crown Princess’s tension quite a bit.
The next day, Manbao again entered the palace on ti to give the Crown Prince acupuncture, and while waiting to remove the needles, she learned a new tune from the Crown Princess.
Manbao changed the needle technique for the Crown Prince, now giving two sets every other day, so the ti was slightly longer than before.
Her sudden daily palace visits drew attention, as everyone knew her usual palace entry schedule and treatnt routines, observing her pattern of dense to sparse needle treatnts with several patients.
Daily, every other day, every two days, every five days, once a week, then once every half month...
But why was it reversed for the Crown Prince?
Could it be the condition worsened?
But due to the Crown Princess’s pregnancy and the couple having discreetly tidied up the East Palace, the outside received limited information.
The Emperor and Empress knew Zhou Man entered the palace daily for one day to play music and paint with the Crown Princess, privately guessing the Crown Prince was masking things for so purpose.
So the Emperor and Empress waited with so anticipation.
But ten days passed, and still, the Crown Prince hadn’t made any moves.
Instead, the close attendants around the Crown Princess grew increasingly joyful. Even though they kept straight faces, their joyous mood was undoubtedly visible.
The Crown Princess’s intimate apparel was washed by them, they naturally knew the Crown Princess was over half a month late.
But they also knew that this matter shouldn’t be spoken of prematurely, so they reduced their outings and served the Crown Princess with increased caution.
When Manbao entered the palace again to take the Crown Princess’s pulse, she could now detect the pregnancy pulse and thus withdrew her hand saying, "The Crown Princess can request an Imperial Physician now."
The Crown Princess couldn’t help but look at the Crown Prince, as preparing to make this semi-public, she felt quite nervous.
The Crown Prince then summoned Eunuch Wu, saying, "Go to the Imperial Hospital and summon a physician, say the Crown Princess is unwell."
Eunuch Wu, having noticed a few things these past days, trembled inside and imdiately bowed in response, turning to quickly lead people to the Imperial Hospital.
Manbao hesitated, "Should I leave the palace now?"
The Crown Prince said, "What’s the rush, wait for the physician to check before leaving."
The slippery pulse was indeed noticeable, but due to Manbao’s inexperience, she couldn’t confirm it in the early days.
Doctor Tao was much more skilled than she, and could usually detect it as soon as a month had passed, the pulse being as smooth as a bead rolling, he could discern it much clearer than Manbao.
Later, when Shi Dalang’s wife, Liuniang, beca pregnant, it was the first ti Manbao encountered newly pregnant won. Additionally, after Shi Dalang’s matter spread, many won hoping to conceive ca seeking help.
n too, although perhaps because she was a female doctor, they were more secretive when approaching her, much like won visiting Doctor Tao for female ailnts.
Many won who ca for consultation were pregnant, so hearing pulses often, she accumulated experience, thus she could diagnose the Crown Princess quickly in this pregnancy.
Of course, she felt Keke had scanned it long ago, subconsciously aware of the Crown Princess’s pregnancy, so she noticed the slight slippery pulse indication.
Yet as for the Imperial Hospital physicians, their skill surpassed Zhou Man, so even though the Crown Princess’s pregnancy was early, past a month they faintly sensed it when the hand was placed.
Upon listening a little longer, the slippery pulse beca more evident.
He looked at Zhou Man in surprise.
Zhou Man blinked at him curiously, why look at her?
Shouldn’t he be looking at the Crown Prince?
The physician quickly composed himself, hurriedly stood, and congratulated, "Congratulations, Your Highness, the Crown Princess is pregnant."
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