Chapter 1652 - 601: The Fake True Heiress (Part 22)_3

Of course, the Emperor could not directly refuse Princess Qi’s request.

So he simply "fell ill" as well!

Prince Qi and his wife were both disappointed and secretly hopeful.

If the Emperor were seriously ill, he might directly adopt, and then establish their son as Crown Prince.

In that case, the Eldest Princess would be able to rest in peace, and Prince Qi’s Mansion would receive the honor and wealth it deserves.

But this is merely the most beautiful and extravagant hope of Prince Qi and his wife.

The Emperor was indeed ill, but not to the extent of being bedridden.

While recuperating, he could still summon officials from the Political Affairs Hall to discuss state affairs and handle urgent matters.

However, the Eldest Princess could no longer hold on and soon reached her dying moments.

The Emperor, dragging his frail body, came to the Princess Mansion.

The Eldest Princess’s eyes were eager, wanting to say something, but she was too weak to utter more than a few scattered words, unable to form complete sentences.

The Emperor pretended not to understand, only saying useless things like "Don’t worry, Aunt, you will surely recover."

The Eldest Princess:...

She died with regrets.

With concerns for her daughter and grandchildren, she took her last breath.

The Emperor wept bitterly and held a grand funeral for the Eldest Princess.

Princess Qi’s spirit seemed to follow the Eldest Princess, muddling through the funeral and personally escorting her mother’s coffin to the Imperial Mausoleum.

On the way back, Princess Qi slowly began to realize that her mother’s funeral was essentially a national funeral, yet the Empress and Noble Consort only appeared briefly.

There was no crying or watching over the spirit, this, this...

"Something’s strange! Something must have happened in the palace!"

Princess Qi regained all her rationality and immediately became alert.

But, it was too late.

She wanted to meet the Empress but was refused on the grounds of "mourning."

Princess Qi used spies planted in the palace to investigate, but there was no news.

Instead, the rear gate of the palace secretly discarded many corpses of eunuchs and palace maids who died suddenly.

Additionally, the Empress released many elderly palace maids and eunuchs under the pretext of praying for the Eldest Princess.

Among them were naturally the connections nurtured by the Eldest Princess and Princess Qi over the years.

"Prince, things are not looking good! Something major must have happened in the palace!"

Without any informants, Princess Qi was truly in the dark regarding the palace, and her unease grew stronger.

Actually, it wasn’t just Princess Qi; Prince Qi also sensed something was wrong.

Not to mention anything else, but the Emperor’s attitude towards him had changed.

One could not say the Emperor suddenly neglected him, but his indulgence wasn’t as it used to be.

After the spring examinations, there was a major reshuffle of officials in the Ministry of Personnel, and several officials from Prince Qi’s faction were quietly demoted despite apparent promotions.

This, is this a move to suppress Prince Qi’s Mansion?

It shouldn’t be!

Prince Qi is the Emperor’s own younger brother, and the Emperor has no sons of his own, relying on adoption of his nephew to inherit the throne.

Not only was Prince Qi and his wife secretly puzzled, even the ministers were a bit perplexed.

But soon, the answer was revealed—

After June, cries of infants were heard in the palace.

The Empress gave birth to a son.

Before the ministers, stunned by the news, could react, more announcements emerged from the palace in succession:

Consort Shu gave birth to the Second Princess;

A certain Zhaoyi birthed the Second Prince;

A talented person gave birth to the Third Prince;

The Noble Consort had a daughter;

Another Court Lady...

For two to three months, the joyous news from the palace was relentless.

Either a prince or a princess.

Prince Qi and the ministers were completely dumbstruck.

In just three months, the Emperor, who previously only had a sickly princess, now suddenly had four sons and three princesses!

The eldest son was born from the main palace, a rightful legitimate eldest son, a most orthodox heir!

Ma Family:... How is this possible!

The Emperor was nearly infertile, how could so many children be born?

Who is responsible?

Who exactly?!

At this point, the Ma Family had stopped suspecting any "butterfly effect."

This was not something a small character like her could cause.

Rather, something had happened somewhere unbeknownst to her.

Like someone cured the Emperor’s infertility.

Actually, it wasn’t just the Ma Family suspecting; the nearly collapsing Prince Qi and his wife wanted to know the reason too.

But the Emperor hid the secret well, and without the Eldest Princess as the greatest help, investigating the Emperor was nearly impossible for Prince Qi’s Mansion!

However, the Emperor didn’t leave everyone in doubt for too long.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Emperor found an excuse to appoint Prince Dongchang as Prince Dongchang, his two daughters were also named County Lord.

Among them was Lady Wei, the Second Young Madam married into the Marquis Nanning’s Mansion!

"It’s him! Prince Dongchang! He’s the one who caused all this!"

Prince Qi was furious, never having taken notice of this half-brother, yet it was he who secretly dealt him such a heavy blow.

On the Ma Family’s side, suspicion had not yet fallen on Lady Wei.

The plot seemed to collapse, things were seriously out of control, and the Ma Family’s mentality was starting to crack.

Just at this moment, Fei Cui came to report: "Young Madam, the Third Young Master is being utterly disgraceful; he’s sneaking off to meet that wench again..."