Chapter 5: I can’t lose you!

She summoned her personal guard, Mo Lan. He and Nui were the only ones she could trust now in the Imperial Palace. Both of them had followed her from the general's household until she entered the Palace.

She sent him out to investigate the death of Consort Jiaying and was waiting for a message from him.

She has been having a peaceful rest these past days because she was having a royal baby. Though she wondered if Noble Consort Jinghua couldn't plot against her again or she just wanted to let her lower her guard.

Her stomach was starting to show, considering her pregnancy was now a little over 3 months old.

Also, the morning greetings have been stopped by the emperor, so luckily, she didn't have to deal with the emperor's harem matters again, nor did she have to listen to the snag commentary from the emperor's concubines.

All her rights in the matters of the harem have already been conferred to Noble Consort Jinghua.

After all, she was the one behind the plots that befell her. It would be weird if she didn't benefit from her humiliation.

She just didn't particularly know who was behind her (i.e., the person that's scheming against her and wanted her life to end so badly). Was it really only Noble Consort Jinghua, or was there somebody else pulling strings behind her?

'So this is what mother meant when she said 'with the truth on your side, you can go anywhere; without truth, you can't take a single step' but what of if that truth is false. Now I don't even have the chance or courage to listen to her words anymore,' she thought to herself, wallowing in self-guilt as she remembered her family.

She couldn't help but blame herself for what happened to her family. If only she had not married the emperor, then maybe they would still be alive.

Still, all these remain wishful thinking. She sighed for the nth time now.

She was able to live freely, though only within her quarters, since she was confined there.

Still, she very much preferred being confined in her Palace to dealing with the bunch of scheming concubines.

She only hoped that it will melt the emperor a bit when she gives birth, for her not to be sent to the Cold Palace. At least not before she can prove her innocence.

Though the emperor had never once come to see her since he gave the order for her to be confined in her Palace.

She heaved another deep breathe again. She has been feeling troubled for some time and decided to rest in the garden within her Palace grounds. But the creeping unrest in her heart didn't seem to calm down.

She sighed heavily once again and heard steady footsteps coming in her direction.

"Your highness, Imperial Physician Wang sent your medicine over," Nui said, coming in with a tray having a bowl of concocted herbal medicine on it in her hands. She set the tray down and carried the bowl of medicine towards Empress Yunqing.

Since she was found to be of an unbalanced constitution and weak, she has been taking a decoction of medicinal herbs every day to stabilize the foetus and her body.

Sitting upright, Empress Yunqing received the bowl from Nui and made a sour face while peering into the bowl, 'Urgh!'

Nui seeing her expression smiled before reminding her, "Your highness, you need to take your medicine. Physician Wang sends the medicine over for the good of your health and that of the little prince too."

Nui's word made her think about her baby and herself, so she started drinking from the bowl of medicine.

Seeing Yunqing drink the medicine, Nui added, "Your highness, let me quickly get your coat. It is too cold nowadays in the garden. Besides, Physician Wang mentioned that you need to keep warm when outside."

Nui hurried to bring her a coat to keep herself and her stomach warm.

After taking a few sips from the tonic, Yunqing felt a little queasy but attributed it to her pregnancy and her dislike for the smell of the medicine.

For a while now, she kept having the nauseous feeling, and it kept getting stronger. She has been told that it was all just because of her pregnancy, but… Was it really normal to feel a searing rush and weakness with it?

Thinking the feeling had gone, she finished the last bit of medicine in the bowl. Not long after, she felt a searing pain in her stomach before gradually losing consciousness while holding onto her stomach.

Nui was on her way back when she heard the bowl, which previously held the empress's medicine breaking as it landed on the floor. So she quickly rushed to the empress's side.

Before Yunqing fainted, the last thing she heard was Nui's frightened voice calling out to her, "Your Majesty!!!"

Yunqing's vision was enshrouded in total darkness like she was in another realm devoid of light. She heard a faint cry and tried to grasps what made the sound.

She froze, her face ashen as a white sheet as soon as she realised that the cries she heard were that of a baby.

Was she going to lose her baby?

The faint cries became louder and louder, tormenting her ears all the way until she saw something floating in mid-air. It loomed closer to her until she was able to get a definite picture of what it was, which was that of a baby floating in mid-air.

She stared at it lost for a split second in a daze before she tried several times to reach for the baby, but all her attempts seemed futile.

'My baby! No… No… No!! Am I… going to lose you too?' she felt her world crashing down as she remembered the searing and sizzling feeling that crept up in her stomach previously.

Her tears already soaking her eyelids as she trembled in dread. She had suffered tremendous loss in just one lifetime.

The baby was the only blood-related kin she had left in this world. Losing it would completely shatter her both physically and mentally.

'No, please…. No! I can't lose you! Please, mother is here… Please… come back,' she cried out as she continued reaching for the baby with one of her hands while her other hand clenched tightly on her stomach.

She kept hoping that she could reach the baby. Maybe if she could, she wouldn't lose her pregnancy then.