Chi Can sat in silence for a long while, then asked Taosheng: “What did I say to Miss Li… the wife of Marquis Guanjun?”

Taosheng looked at Chi Can with sympathetic eyes: “Young Master, you don’t remember?”

Chi Can rubbed his brow, vaguely recalling.

He had said that Third Miss Li had changed from a pearl to a fish eye—

Chi Can heavily knocked his head, full of regret.

Drinking was harmful. That wasn’t what he truly thought; it was just… just that his heart hurt too much, and he was wildly grabbing someone to suffer along with him.

Chi Can suddenly stood up.

“Young Master, where are you going?”

Chi Can ignored Taosheng and walked straight outside. When he reached the courtyard and was hit by the cold wind, he finally sobered up and suddenly stopped.

She was already a married woman—what would be the point of his specifically going to apologize?

After standing in the wind for a while, Chi Can silently turned around and went back to his room.

Imperial Physician Yang was summoned to the palace again.

Empress Dowager Yang lay sideways on the kang, looking listless.

Imperial Physician Yang stood with his hands at his sides, his heart beating nervously.

After a moment of silence, Empress Dowager Yang opened her eyes and looked at Imperial Physician Yang: “If we forcibly induce the Eldest Princess’s miscarriage, how confident are you in ensuring her safety?”

Imperial Physician Yang lowered his head even further.

How confident? Of course, he had no confidence!

“Physician, this dowager wants to hear the truth. How confident can you be?” Empress Dowager Yang emphasized her tone with a trace of impatience.

“Thirty percent, thirty percent!” Imperial Physician Yang steeled himself and spoke out.

“Only thirty percent?” Empress Dowager Yang frowned deeply.

Imperial Physician Yang smiled bitterly: “Yes, Empress Dowager, at most thirty percent confidence.”

He was already putting it in the best possible terms. With the Eldest Princess’s pregnancy condition, which physician would dare to act?

Empress Dowager Yang closed her eyes.

Time passed bit by bit, seeming to stretch infinitely. Imperial Physician Yang had an ominous premonition, his mood growing heavier.

After a long while, Empress Dowager Yang opened her eyes and slowly said: “Thirty percent it is then. Physician, prepare the medicine and send it to the Eldest Princess’s residence.”

Imperial Physician Yang staggered backward in shock: “Empress Dowager, this, this absolutely cannot be done!”

“Absolutely cannot be done? Would you rather have this dowager watch the Eldest Princess give birth to that child and let the imperial family become the laughingstock of the world?”

With each question Empress Dowager Yang asked, Imperial Physician Yang’s face grew paler.

“Or perhaps this dowager can no longer command you?”

This final question made Imperial Physician Yang completely afraid to speak.

“Go. This dowager awaits the result.”

Imperial Physician Yang left Cining Palace with a chilled heart.

Empress Dowager Yang closed her eyes wearily and sighed deeply.

Changrong was the daughter she had doted on since childhood. If there was no other way, how could she bear to harm her?

“Young Master, Imperial Physician Yang has come again.” Taosheng, who had been instructed by Chi Can to keep watch on the outside activities, noticed Imperial Physician Yang visiting again and hurried to report.

Chi Can had completely sobered up. After hearing the news Taosheng had gathered, he frowned and murmured: “Come again?”

Since Third Miss Li had already reported back to the Empress Dowager, why would the Empress Dowager send Imperial Physician Yang again?

“Go take a look.” Chi Can stepped outside.

The warmth in the Eldest Princess Changrong’s room was overwhelming, but looking at the bowl of pitch-black medicinal soup that Imperial Physician Yang took out from the food box, she felt as if her entire person was immersed in an ice cave.

“What is this? Speak! What is this?”

“Your Highness, you must maintain calm emotions—”

“To hell with calm emotions! Imperial Physician Yang, tell me, what exactly is this?”

Imperial Physician Yang dared not look into the Eldest Princess Changrong’s eyes and stammered: “Miscarriage medicine.”

The Eldest Princess Changrong’s gaze shrank, and she sneered: “The Empress Dowager ordered you to bring this?”

Imperial Physician Yang nodded slightly.

What else? Could it be that he was so full he had nothing better to do than run here to induce the Eldest Princess’s miscarriage?

This was a thankless task. If the Eldest Princess was safe and sound, she would definitely hate him, and if she wanted to vent her anger on him in the future, would the Empress Dowager stop her? If something happened to the Eldest Princess, he would probably have to be buried with her…

The more Imperial Physician Yang thought about it, the more he felt there was no way out.

The Eldest Princess Changrong casually grabbed a pillow and threw it to the ground, glaring fiercely at Imperial Physician Yang.

Imperial Physician Yang held the medicinal soup without saying a word.

This was the Eldest Princess, not some lowly palace maid. He dared not force the Eldest Princess to drink the medicine.

“What did the Empress Dowager say?” The Eldest Princess Changrong seemed to calm down and asked coldly.

“The Empress Dowager said… to do everything possible to ensure Your Highness’s safety…” Imperial Physician Yang stammered.

“Do everything possible? What if it can’t be ensured?” The Eldest Princess Changrong’s hand resting on the bed rail kept trembling.

Hadn’t Mother Empress always indulged her in everything? Now, just to prevent the imperial family from losing face, she disregarded her safety?

“Your Highness, please don’t make things difficult for this humble minister—” Imperial Physician Yang raised his sleeve to wipe his forehead.

“Fine, fine, this princess won’t make things difficult for you!” The Eldest Princess Changrong laughed bitterly and grabbed the medicinal soup from Imperial Physician Yang’s hand, bringing it to her lips.

The door was suddenly kicked open, and the Eldest Princess Changrong, who had closed her eyes to drink the medicine, suddenly opened them.

Chi Can strode in and knocked the medicine bowl from the Eldest Princess Changrong’s hand.

“Can’er?” The Eldest Princess Changrong called out in a daze.

But Chi Can didn’t look at her. He turned around and stared coldly at the dumbfounded Imperial Physician Yang.

Imperial Physician Yang instinctively felt a chill below and couldn’t help but clamp his legs together.

“Go back and tell the Empress Dowager that my mother will not drink this medicine.”

“Can’er, get out!”

Chi Can glanced back at the Eldest Princess Changrong and strode outside.

With the medicinal soup already spilled, Imperial Physician Yang could only return to the palace to report.

The Eldest Princess Changrong sat dazed on the bed, sometimes thinking of the Empress Dowager’s heartlessness, sometimes thinking of the bowl of medicine Chi Can had knocked over, feeling a complex mix of emotions.

After leaving, Chi Can instructed Taosheng: “Find some gossipy scoundrels and spread the news that the Eldest Princess is pregnant, as quickly as possible.”

“Young Master, this—”

“Just go when I tell you to, stop talking nonsense!”

Since the Empress Dowager disregarded his mother’s life for the sake of face, he would simply remove the fuel from under the pot. Once the entire capital knew that the Eldest Princess was pregnant, would the Empress Dowager still try to silence everyone in the world?

Face? Ha! When his mother kept male favorites, the Empress Dowager chose to turn a blind eye. Now that his mother was pregnant, and she suddenly remembered about face—wasn’t it too late?

Imperial Physician Yang returned to the palace to report the situation. Empress Dowager Yang cursed Chi Can a few times as a bastard and ordered Imperial Physician Yang to prepare new medicine. However, before the second batch of medicine could be sent to the Eldest Princess’s residence, the gossip about the Eldest Princess Changrong’s pregnancy spread like wildfire throughout the city.

When Imperial Physician Yang heard the news, he took the food box and returned to the palace to report.

Whoever had spread this news, thank heavens he didn’t have to induce the Eldest Princess’s miscarriage with his own hands.

When Empress Dowager Yang learned of this, she flew into a rage and nearly suffered a heart attack from anger. Cining Palace was immediately thrown into chaos.

In the Marquis Guanjun’s residence, when Shao Mingyuan heard his personal guard’s report, he couldn’t help but laugh: “Shixi’s actions are always unexpected.”

Qiao Zhao, however, didn’t find much to smile about and shook her head: “The Eldest Princess faces danger to her life if she has a miscarriage, but continuing the pregnancy is equally perilous, and the future birth will be an even greater hurdle.”

Shao Mingyuan embraced Qiao Zhao and lowered his head with a smile: “Don’t think about others. Zhaozhao, in just over ten days, it will be your coming-of-age ceremony.”