Seeing the fresh blood beneath Concubine Song, one of the midwives drew in a breath and said: “Even if the doctor arrives, I’m afraid the child cannot be saved…”
Gu Lan stepped forward and demanded harshly: “Who says so! What are you feeding the concubine? Let go of her hands!”
Madam Xu explained: “Second Young Miss doesn’t know, the concubine is confused. Releasing her hands might be worse.”
But Gu Lan didn’t care, pushing aside the midwives’ hands. Concubine Song immediately curled into a ball, clutching her belly, rolling around the bed in pain, terrified as she muttered words like “mistress” and “child.” Her hair was disheveled, her face extremely pale, looking nothing like the Concubine Song of before!
Seeing this, Gu Lan’s eyes reddened with distress, and she called gently: “Concubine, Concubine, what’s wrong…”
Gu Jinchao arrived at Lingyan Pavilion and ordered the kneeling maids to boil water, told the midwives to go to the inner chamber to see if help was needed—they couldn’t just kneel there doing nothing. She also sent someone to inform Concubine Guo and Concubine Du, saying they need not come, as too many people would make things worse.
As she entered the inner chamber, she heard Concubine Song’s agonizing cries, utterly miserable. She asked the midwife standing nearby: “…How are the concubine and the child?”
Hearing Gu Jinchao’s voice, Gu Lan suddenly gritted her teeth and looked at her coldly: “…Was it you? The concubine’s health has always been good, how could she miscarry? You must have tampered with her medicine! Or did you add something to her incense burner!”
Gu Jinchao remained composed. Gu Lan couldn’t possibly have discovered any tampering; she was merely suspicious due to her extreme grief.
Gu Jinchao looked at Gu Lan and said: “I know you’re anxious, so I won’t hold these words against you. Let’s wait for Doctor Liu to examine her before saying more.”
Gu Lan, thinking of Concubine Song’s pitiful state, was so distressed that tears flowed continuously, and her tightly clenched fingertips trembled.
“Gu Jinchao! It must be you! Concubine has been unwell recently… and you made Father drive Lady Song away, intentionally causing the concubine to miscarry!” Gu Lan looked at Gu Jinchao hatefully and said through gritted teeth, “If anything happens to the concubine’s child, I won’t let you off…”
Gu Dezhao, hearing that Concubine Song was miscarrying, quickly dressed and hurried over with his maids. As he crossed the threshold, he heard Gu Lan say these words and frowned coldly: “Gu Lan, what are you saying?”
Being a man, he could not enter the inner chamber where there was blood, so he stood in the west side room and asked them to come speak with him.
He first asked Gu Jinchao: “…How is the child?”
Jinchao answered: “We’ve already sent for the doctor. Madam Xu is watching inside. The midwife says it’s likely the child cannot be saved.”
Gu Dezhao nodded. He hadn’t expected Concubine Song’s child to be in danger. Hadn’t her health always been good? How could she miscarry? Remembering Gu Lan’s words just now, he asked her, “What were you just saying about your elder sister?”
Gu Lan’s tears fell like rain-drenched pear blossoms, full of grievance. “Father… Concubine wouldn’t easily miscarry. Lingyan Pavilion has always been under Elder Sister’s management. She has been dissatisfied with the Concubine for a long time and wanted to harm the Concubine and her child! You must, believe me, Concubine’s health only deteriorated after she became pregnant…”
Gu Dezhao said nothing.
Gu Jinchao, however, bent her knees in a curtsy and said: “Father, please consider this carefully. After becoming pregnant, Concubine mentioned feeling unwell, with strange abdominal pains. Several doctors who examined her couldn’t help—what is this if not a deep-seated illness? If I truly wanted to harm Concubine, why would I go to the trouble of inviting Master Xiao to come… The concubine didn’t take Master Xiao’s medicine but poured it all away. With such disregard for her health, how can she blame me? Sister Lan, you must be reasonable!”
Concubine Song didn’t drink Master Xiao’s medicine? Hearing Jinchao say this, Gu Dezhao asked, “…Why did the concubine discard the medicine?”
Jinchao glanced at Caoing, who immediately darted out and brought back a fish tank hidden among the yellow huai bushes.
“…This was hidden outside the inner chamber. The concubine poured away her medicine each time. She didn’t take her medicine, allowing her condition to worsen—she really can’t blame others.”
Gu Dezhao looked and indeed saw dried medicine residue inside.
In his heart, he didn’t believe Jinchao would harm Concubine Song. If she wanted to harm her, why would she have invited Master Xiao?
Lan was being excessive. Even if she was anxious, she shouldn’t falsely accuse her elder sister’s good intentions! So he said to Gu Lan: “You’ve seen the evidence. Don’t falsely accuse your elder sister!”
Gu Lan was left speechless by Gu Jinchao! Yet she dared not say Concubine Song was feigning illness—who would believe her? Even if they did, Concubine Song would be branded as cruel. Harming her unborn child to fake illness…
Gu Jinchao sighed and said: “…Sister Lan is just too anxious. I think there’s no use discussing this now. Better to focus on Concubine’s child.”
Inside, Concubine Song’s cries grew increasingly shrill. Madam Xu, with sweat covering her brow, came out and curtseyed to Gu Dezhao, saying: “Reporting to Master, even if the doctor arrives, it’s useless. Concubine’s child… cannot be saved!”
Concubine Song let out one final, piercing cry before her voice broke off, and everything fell silent.
Gu Dezhao closed his eyes and sighed. His offspring were few, and he had been hoping for this child. Unfortunately, this child was ill-fated, discovered after Lady Ji’s death—an inauspicious sign. And now it was suddenly gone. He couldn’t explain his feelings about it.
Gu Lan stepped back several paces, collapsed against a tall table, and covered her face, sobbing bitterly.
Gu Jinchao could only walk toward the inner chamber; someone needed to keep watch inside.
Song Miaohua had already fainted and was being carried up by the midwives. The maids nearby quickly removed the blood-stained bedding and replaced it with clean ones.
Madam Xu came over to tell Jinchao: “Young Miss, the midwife has checked, and it should be clean now…”
But Jinchao was looking at Concubine Song, who lay unconscious on the bed as Banlian wrung out a cloth to wipe her face. Concubine Song had lost much weight. In just two months, she had aged more than in the previous years, with wrinkles appearing at the corners of her eyes.
Madam Xu continued: “…Before Concubine fainted, she seemed to be going mad, constantly saying she saw the ghost of the mistress, saying the mistress’s ghost had returned to claim her child’s life, begging the mistress to spare her…”
Jinchao sighed: “I thought she would never feel guilty, but it seems she does fear retribution…”
But her guilt was useless now; her child would not return.
She then told the midwives who were cleaning up: “The pillow and bedding, take them all out and burn them. Blood is always inauspicious.”
The midwife was confused—the pillow hadn’t been bloodied. But since it was Young Miss’s order, she could only acknowledge it, picking up the royal blue silk-threaded pillow from the bed and taking it out with the bedding to be burned.
Gu Dezhao and Gu Lan waited in the west side room. Manager Li finally arrived with Doctor Liu.
The doctor couldn’t enter the inner chamber that had just seen blood, so the midwives carried Concubine Song out and placed her on the kang in the west side room for Doctor Liu to check her pulse.
After carefully feeling her pulse, Doctor Liu told Gu Dezhao, “…Pregnant women should have a slippery pulse, but Concubine not only lacks this, but on the contrary, her pulse feels empty upon pressure. When this old one last examined Concubine, I didn’t feel her qi was so deficient… However, Concubine’s abdominal pain was very strange, and this may be why she miscarried…”
Gu Dezhao nodded after listening. Concubine Song had a strange illness before, yet she wouldn’t properly take Master Xiao’s medicine. No wonder she miscarried.
Doctor Liu prescribed for recovery and added: “The concubine’s life is not in danger, but her body is weak and cold. She may find it difficult to conceive again in the future… Take good care of her health to prevent lasting illness.”
Jinchao thanked Doctor Liu and escorted him to the corridor, while Manager Li saw him out through the pendent-flower gate.
When she entered the west side room again, Concubine Song had regained consciousness.
But she dragged her frail body to the corner of the bed, clutching a gilt silver incense ball from the bedding, refusing to let go, warily watching Gu Lan who stood before her.
Gu Lan was so anxious she kept crying, trying to coax Concubine Song to let go: “Concubine, there’s still incense charcoal inside. Be careful not to burn yourself. Why don’t you recognize me? I’m Lan… Your Lan!”
Concubine Song still didn’t speak but shrank back further.
Gu Dezhao frowned deeply at the sight. Concubine Song’s behavior… didn’t seem like that of someone with a clear mind! He asked Madam Xu, who quietly said: “Concubine was already behaving strangely earlier, constantly saying she saw the ghost of the mistress… Now that she’s woken up and knows her child is gone, I fear she has… gone mad from the ordeal!”
Gu Dezhao said nothing, just watching Gu Lan try to coax Concubine Song to speak.
Concubine Song then suddenly seemed to recognize Gu Lan and began to cry softly: “It’s Lan! Your little brother is dead… Mother’s child is gone, everything is gone.”
Gu Lan had no time to rejoice, wiping away tears, both crying and smiling: “Nonsense, Concubine still has Lan!”
But Concubine Song ignored her again, holding the small silver incense ball to her chest, patting it like soothing a child: “Don’t cry, don’t cry, kitty don’t fuss, sleep well!”
Gu Lan’s tears fell again. She saw Concubine Song crouching, her protruding spine visible through her back. She couldn’t help but reach out to take her hand, but Concubine Song fearfully avoided her, clutching the silver ball and curling it into a ball: “Mistress, don’t take my child! I dare not harm you anymore, I know I was wrong…” She sobbed, like a child only knowing how to admit fault and beg for mercy.
Gu Lan stood stunned. After a while, Madam Xu finally said: “Second Young Miss, it’s best not to frighten the Concubine.” She had Gu Lan step back, and Concubine Song finally relaxed, holding the silver incense ball, gradually stopping her tears, quietly talking to it, and occasionally smiling.
Seeing Concubine Song like this, Gu Dezhao didn’t know whether to hate or pity her.
After doing so many evil deeds, she had come to this fate. Losing her child, and now speaking madly. He had hardened his heart, planning to send Concubine Song to a nunnery after she gave birth, but seeing her like this, she probably couldn’t go anywhere.