“Your Highness, this concubine isn’t that delicate!”
“It doesn’t hurt to be careful.”
“The physician said that the child is only about a month along and this concubine should move around more.” Chen Xiang started to act daintily, her body twisting as bonelessly as a snake’s while she leaned against Jing Yi’s embrace.
Jing Yi grinned widely, “This prince is finally going to welcome my first little heir!”
“It’s this concubine’s honor to be able to birth Your Highness’s first little heir.”
Jing Yi hugged her close, loathe to let her out of his embrace.
The news about Chen Xiang’s pregnancy quickly spread throughout the estate. Naturally, Ji Muqing heard about it as well. Only then did she realize that Chen Xiang was dry heaving in the carriage because she was pregnant. Hindsight sure is 20/20!
Everyone said that mothers flourished due to their children; now that Chen Xiang was with child, the entire estate had probably gone to fawn over her now. As for her, a Consort that was left to guard an empty room, she naturally was treated as little more than a mere decoration.
At that thought, she was so furious that her eyes emitted sparks. “Why?!” She screamed into the room as her maids waited at the side. “In what way am I inferior to her? Why does His Highness refuse to even look me in the eye? Chen Xiang, I’m not done with you!”
Anyways, I’m definitely starting a feud with you! Don’t you want to give birth to this child? I just won’t let you have your way! Ji Muqing seemed to have secretly made a ruthless decision. She looked around the room and discovered that Cailan was not around, then asked the other maids, “Where’s that d.a.m.ned la.s.s Cailan?”
They all looked at each other, hemming and hawing without saying anything.
She reached out a hand and pulled one of them forward. “Speak. Where has she run off to?”
“Replying Your Highness, Cailan… she went over to the side consort’s.”
“What?”
“Cailan said that the side consort had someone summon her there. She said that Cailan was attentive and good at taking care of others. Now that the consort is pregnant, she summoned her over.”
“She had the gall to steal my own people!” As she spoke, she dashed out of the room.
“Your Highness, where are you going?” The maids chased after her.
Ji Muqing made a beeline for Chen Xiang’s courtyard. The moment she entered, she saw it piled high with all sorts of presents, all sent over by Jing Yi. When she entered the room, Cailan was busy helping ma.s.sage Chen Xiang’s face and legs. She looked no different from an ordinary maid from the palace.
When Cailan saw Ji Muqing, she hurriedly stopped, her face full of fear.
However, Chen Xiang ordered, “Why did you stop? Continue.”
Cailan was caught between a rock and a hard place. One of them was the Princess Consort and her own mistress; the other may be merely a side consort, but she was pregnant with the little heir and favored by the prince. She debated within herself for a moment, but still decided to continue ma.s.saging Chen Xiang.
“Get up, you d.a.m.ned brat.” Ji Muqing reprimanded loudly as she stepped forward and bodily dragged Cailan away, “Have you forgotten who your own mistress is? Or have you gone blind?”
“Your Highness, this servant…”
“Come with me.” Ji Muqing grabbed her clothes and was about to drag her outside, but was stopped by Chen Xiang.
“Younger Sister, why are you so angry?”
“Go away.”
“It’s merely a maid. There’s no need to be so angry.”
A maid? Ji Muqing scoffed, “Since you say it’s merely a maid, are you going to steal a mere little maid from me then?”
“Why would I steal a maid from you? It’s just that everyone says that Cailan is very attentive and considerate. Younger Sister also knows that I am now pregnant with His Highness’s child; if these maids don’t take good care and affect the little heir’s development, that would be terrible. However, Cailan is different. She is very careful and I find her very likable as well, so I requested this maid from His Highness. Now that even His Highness has agreed, would Younger Sister say no?” Chen Xiang made a grand display of it, a smug smile on her face as she caressed her own stomach.
Ji Muqing was both furious and pained as she stared at Cailan’s stomach. “Don’t think that you can simply do as you’d like just because you’re pregnant with His Highness’s child.”
“So what? If you have the ability, you can get pregnant too!”
Mocking her! The entire household knew that the consort had never even spent a single night with His Highness. It was a great laughingstock and if Jing Yi didn’t issue an order that forbade the household from gossiping about it, this fact would have spread out to the public long ago and Ji Muqing would have totally lost any shred of dignity she had left.
Ji Muqing grit her teeth in fury, unable to refute Chen Xiang’s mocking, and looked at that woman with eyes full of killing intent, demanding, “Why? Why must you fight with me for everything?”
“You’re the one fighting with me!” Chen Xiang’s face turned vicious, “Your position of Consort should have been mine; do you think His Highness really wanted to marry you? If you weren’t born in a good family with two powerful and influential brothers, His Highness wouldn’t even have given you a second glance. Look at you; I’m afraid you would never be qualified to even climb into His Highness’s bed in this life!”
Hah! Her voice was loud and clear. Everyone in the room heard her words. Some of them looked at her mockingly while others lowered their heads to hide their smiles and the rest looked on, expressions gleeful with schadenfreude.
……
At this moment, Ji Muqing felt as if she had been soundly slapped several times in front of a large audience. She had practically been left with nowhere to hide her shame.
Chen Xiang seemed to think it was not yet enough and continued, “Consort? Are you worthy of that t.i.tle? Take a good look in the mirror. With that face of yours? Pfft. Anyone who’s a man wouldn’t want to look at you.”
Ji Muqing finally could not bear with it any longer. All the fury in her heart overtook any sense she had in her head. [1] “I’ll kill you.” She stretched out her hands and viciously wrapped them around Chen Xiang’s delicate neck. “I’ll kill you, kill you…” Ji Muqing seemed to have gone mad. Her bloodshot eyes glared at Chen Xiang..
The maids present all hurried forward to stop her. “Your Highness, please stop!”
“Side Consort…”
“Oh no, the Consort is going to kill her!” The room descended into chaos as everyone congregated.
……
Chen Xiang was choked so tightly she could barely breathe. How could she have imagined that this woman was actually so strong that even the many maids were unable to pull her away? When they finally managed to pry that pair of hands off Chen Xiang’s neck, someone pushed Chen Xiang in the midst of all that jostling, causing her to fall forward heavily onto the floor.
“Ah!” Chen Xiang let out a pained cry.
The surrounding maids were terrified. After staring in shock for three seconds, they swarmed around her again to help her up, but Chen Xiang kept screaming in pain as she cradled her stomach, tears pouring down her face. “My child…”
“Quick, quickly get a physician!” The maids shouted.
They helped Chen Xiang to a bed, where she lay down, still shouting nonstop in pain, “It hurts so much. My child, my baby…” Her forehead was covered with sweat. She looked towards the maids that had restrained Ji Muqing and pointed a trembling finger at her. “Tell His Highness, that she… She pushed me.”
Ji Muqing was stunned.
She lost all the strength she previously displayed. If someone weren’t holding her up, she would already have collapsed to her knees.
[1] Um. Did she have any sense in there in the first place?