Chapter 831: Chapter 831: I Refuse!
Everyone was delighted, and Su Ran said with some joy, "Divine Doctor, did Nannan just hear our voices and respond to us?"
She also heard people speaking in a dream.
"Naturally." Divine Doctor Huang affirmed, "With the combined efforts of old me and a few others like Chu Xiaoer, we have opened her five senses. If it were an ordinary comatose person, although unable to speak or move, they could perceive everything outside. However, this little girl is in too deep a sleep to sense much, so you need to talk to her more, give her some stimulation, and talk about things that will make her happy."
"Then what about this fetal movement?" Nanny Qi hurriedly asked, her hair not as meticulously neat as usual, slightly disheveled.
Upon hearing the call from the Main Hall for Divine Doctor Huang in the deep night, she, being a light sleeper, woke up immediately to the sound, hastily tied her hair into a bun without combing, and trembled slightly as Pang Ya helped her over.
Once arrived, indeed there was an issue. It turned out that in his sleep, the Emperor suddenly felt something was wrong. After getting up, he found that the fetus in Lian Hua’s belly was moving frequently, the little one inside seemed to be kicking around non-stop, looking extremely agitated and restless, causing a great sense of alarm.
The Emperor was flustered. Lian Hua had also experienced such restlessness before falling into a coma, casting a great shadow over him. Anxiously, he immediately called for the Divine Doctor, causing quite a stir and awakening the entire Canglan Court from its slumber.
The Emperor continued speaking into Lian Hua’s ear. After he said something, the person in the dream suddenly called out a name, the very name the Emperor had privately asked Lian Hua to call him, bringing a burst of joy to the group, but after that one call, there was no further response from her.
Divine Doctor Huang, stroking his beard, explained, "It must be that this little girl encountered some trouble in her nightmare, causing her emotions to fluctuate too greatly, thus triggering the fetal unrest. I have mentioned before that the girl needs to break through her inner demons before her soul can awaken. We do not know what she sees in her dreams, but mother and child are connected in spirit, so her state would be most deeply felt by the fetus inside. Observing the fetus’s situation, one can infer a bit."
He continued, "The fetal movement has now returned to normal; there’s nothing to worry about. However, pay more attention in the next couple of days. If her emotions fluctuate too much, summon me. Though she must conquer her inner demons herself, keeping a watch on her state is important. I suspect her critical moment will come within the next few days..."
"What?"
Everyone hurriedly asked for clarification.
Divine Doctor Huang, thinking, slowly explained that they had already stabilized her mind, and these days she had appeared relatively calm, with only a few major fluctuations which quickly settled back to peace. This night, however, was extremely unusual, suggesting a breakthrough might be imminent.
If she can break through her inner demons, she will naturally awaken, but should anything else go wrong, he can assist her somewhat.
Lastly, he urged them to certainly keep her company and talk to her a lot over the next few days, focusing on happy topics.
To break through one’s inner demons, the first step is to unravel inner knots. As far as Divine Doctor Huang could see, Su Ran and his family were still alive and well, so this shouldn’t be an issue. The second step is to make her sense a mental support to pull her back to reality.
The night was deep, and everyone quickly dispersed.
Before leaving, Nanny Qi looked at the Emperor with worry.
She couldn’t help herself and had Pang Ya wait outside while she stayed behind to ask the Emperor privately, "What does Your Majesty intend to do over there?"
She was referring to Noble Consort Xue.
Xue Ping had raised private soldiers with treacherous intentions, colluded with border generals, secretly shielded and supported the Guo family in smuggling, and even exchanged letters with the Rebel Prince before his rebellion and meddled in the salt and iron trade. Any one of these charges would be enough to execute his entire clan, let alone be considered treason.
Now, with the one charge after another coming down, they have been sentenced to extermination of nine clans, and the execution day was set.
When the news reached the palace, Noble Consort Xue went insane trying to storm Canglan Court but was eventually taken back and confined in Huaqing Palace. She naturally knew these things.
The Emperor affectionately looked at the person lying on the bed, gently caressing her belly through the covers to calm, "Be good, my Imperial Son, your Imperial Consort Mother will wake soon, be good."
Hearing Nanny Qi’s words, his hand paused slightly, tucked the blanket in tenderly, and without turning his head, he said, "Nanny Qi, I just want her to wake now, the rest can wait."
Nanny Qi sighed, "Your Majesty is wise, this old servant should not speak too much, it’s just..."
The Emperor turned his head, directly interrupting, "It’s late, Nanny, you must be tired, better rest, someone, escort Nanny Qi back."
Nanny Qi finally left with a sigh, the former court plagued with tumult. She heard of many being implicated, not only Xue’s nine clans and those involved in the plot against the Imperial Heir like Zhao Zhong’s three clans, but many influential noble families caught up in these cases, including border generals, leaders of private soldiers, and so on, many, many heads were to fall. Blood and storm, surpassing even the aftermath when the Rebel Prince revolted.
Over a hundred executioners were ready, just awaiting the Emperor’s order to begin. It was estimated that the beheadings at the execution ground would take a month to finish.
These people were deserving of death, but if every criminal minister’s clan was implicated, it seemed excessive, and with so many cases, dealing with them all at once might unsettle people’s hearts. The veteran officials of the former court daily waited at the Star Palace doors, crying and pleading, which the Emperor entirely disregarded.
Nanny Qi had wanted to advise further, but the Emperor was unwilling to give her the chance. Fortunately, the imperial decree had not yet been issued, but even that left Nanny Qi deeply worried. Executing so many all at once, who knows how history will judge it, tyrant or wise ruler, it often comes down to a single thought.
Nanny Qi had long understood that beneath the Emperor’s calm, an enormous storm was brewing, urgently requiring an outlet. As long as the little girl remained unawakened, that storm showed no signs of abating, only gathering strength, perhaps...
Sigh...
The palace doors slowly closed, leaving only two people in the room.
The Emperor took off his outer garments, got into bed in his nightclothes, holding the woman, and whispered, "Nannan, what Nanny wants to say, how could I not understand, but I don’t want to!"
As he said this, his eyes became filled with anger.
"Since I was a child, I’ve learned to endure, from tolerating those arrogant servants, to enduring the bullying from other Princes after entering the Southern Study Room, to finally gaining the Imperial Grandmother’s favor and having to endure baseless jealousy and endless open attacks and hidden arrows. Besides Cao De and a few others, everyone around me was full of malice, and back then, everyone wanted me dead, to remove me."
Those were truly dark days, where every step was taken cautiously, nearly losing his life on several occasions. Every day was a struggle to survive, and only through painstaking endurance and strategic planning did he manage to pull through.
Stroking the soft hair beneath him, the Emperor felt a bit of warmth, slowly unfolding the experiences of that period fraught with swords and shadows:
"When I first ascended to the position of Crown Prince, almost the entire former court and harem were against me. Had the much-loved Prince of my Imperial Father not died, the position would not have fallen to me. They chose me as Crown Prince merely because I had no maternal family to support me, weak both in the court and the harem, not loved by my Imperial Father either. Such a Crown Prince, who could be disposed of at any time, was acceptable to all parties."