“You?” Li Jiancheng was extremely surprised. He knew Jirong well – she came from a family of physicians and understood medical principles. Whether she was pregnant or not, she should know best. How could she be deceived? But looking at Jirong’s appearance, she didn’t seem to be lying. “What exactly happened?”

Jirong closed her eyes and recounted in detail what had happened in recent days. Finally, she said tearfully, “If I hadn’t had that sliver of doubt at the time and taken my pulse for a long time, then asked Physician Zhou to examine me, I would still be kept in the dark, fully believing I had truly conceived Your Highness’s child and could bear fruit for Your Highness again. Who would have known…” At this point, she covered her face and wept bitterly, unable to continue.

Li Yu also shed tears, “If it hadn’t been discovered early, Her Ladyship would have been accused of falsely claiming pregnancy for favor, or even of confusing the royal bloodline. The person who framed Her Ladyship has an exceptionally vicious heart. Your Highness must seek justice for Her Ladyship.”

Li Jiancheng slowly uttered two words, “Gao Qi?”

“After I discovered this matter, I had the two people Your Highness assigned to me secretly investigate and found…” Jirong glanced at him and bit her teeth lightly, “He had been visiting the Zheng residence in the city.”

Li Jiancheng’s pupils suddenly contracted. He understood very well what “Zheng residence” meant, but…

After a long silence, he said, “Are you suggesting this matter is related to the Crown Princess?”

“The Crown Princess is of noble status and has shared hardships with Your Highness through thick and thin. I dare not make such speculation. Perhaps Gao Qi’s visits to the Zheng residence were just coincidence, not what we think. However…”

“Continue!” At Li Jiancheng’s urging, Jirong said softly, “Gao Qi’s ability to become an imperial physician indeed had the Zheng family’s influence behind it.”

“The Zheng family…” Li Jiancheng slowly repeated these two words, then bent down to help Jirong up, “Who else have you told about this matter?”

“Besides Li Yu, Your Highness is the second person to know. Even the fact that I’m not pregnant hasn’t been spread around.”

“Good.” Li Jiancheng nodded, “I will investigate this matter. Until it’s clarified, it must not be told to anyone else.”

“I understand the gravity of the situation.” Saying this, she changed the subject and lowered her eyes, “There’s another matter for which I must ask Your Highness’s forgiveness.”

Li Jiancheng thought briefly and already guessed somewhat, “Does it concern the Prince of Qin’s residence?”

“Yes. I knew Your Highness didn’t want to see Noble Consort Yang, so I wanted to incite conflict between her and Zhangsun Shi, using Zhangsun Shi’s hand to eliminate this person for Your Highness. Unfortunately, my subordinates were incompetent – not only did they fail to eliminate Noble Consort Yang, but they aroused her suspicion.” After speaking, she said guiltily, “I failed in my duties and betrayed Your Highness’s trust. I’m willing to accept Your Highness’s punishment.”

Li Jiancheng didn’t show anger but sighed deeply, “I never thought that besides me, even you would stumble. The Prince of Qin’s residence… heh.”

Jirong said softly, “I’ve also heard about the Qianshui Plain incident. On the battlefield, no one can remain undefeated forever. Your Highness needn’t take it to heart. Moreover, the one who truly lost wasn’t Your Highness, but…”

Li Jiancheng interrupted, “But I ultimately failed to kill Xue Ju and pacify Western Qin. Instead, I lost Gao City and finally had to rely on Li Shimin’s help to return. Imperial Father… must be disappointed in me.”

“Actually… in my view, these aren’t the most troublesome matters.” Jirong’s words puzzled Li Jiancheng, who stared at her, “What do you mean by that?”

Jirong didn’t answer immediately but said, “I heard that Xue Ju, in front of Your Highness, brutally killed thousands of our Great Tang soldiers to force Your Highness to open the city gates, but Your Highness allowed those soldiers to be killed one by one without opening the gates. Is this true?”

“That’s right. After Xue Ju’s great victory over Yuanji, he came to Gao City and captured thousands of soldiers who had gathered beneath the city walls at that time, using them to coerce me into opening the city gates. Though I wanted to save them, I was powerless.”

“Your Highness did nothing wrong. Once the city gates were opened, all two hundred thousand soldiers in the city would be threatened. But in the eyes of the uninformed civilians in the city and the families of those dead soldiers, Your Highness appears to be a cold-blooded, heartless, and selfish person. In the long run, this is Your Highness’s greatest crisis.”

Li Jiancheng gritted his teeth, “Has this matter spread so quickly?”

Jirong glanced at Li Yu, who said, “The day before Your Highness returned to the capital, it was already spreading throughout the city like wildfire. Those who harbor resentment against Your Highness… are not few!”

“Utterly foolish!” Li Jiancheng angrily slapped the small table beside him, saying irritably, “Should I have opened the city gates and allowed them to slaughter the soldiers in the city, or let them capture Chang’an? Simply absurd!”

Jirong said softly, “The common people are ultimately more ignorant, with narrow vision. It’s too difficult to expect them to consider the bigger picture.”

Li Jiancheng stared at her, “You wouldn’t mention these things without purpose. Speak – what’s your intention?”

“Your Highness is wise.” Saying this, Jirong continued, “Since Your Highness is the heir apparent, what matters most is military morale and popular support. You must make all the soldiers and people of the realm believe that Your Highness is the only choice for the throne. But clearly, things have gone awry. If left unaddressed and allowed to develop, the consequences are unpredictable – perhaps nothing will happen, perhaps it will affect Your Highness’s future. In my opinion, since we know it could be a problem, we should eliminate it.”

Li Jiancheng pondered for a moment and nodded slowly, “Eliminating it would naturally be best, but how do we go about it?”

Jirong smiled slightly, “Solving it isn’t difficult – we just need to let everyone know of Your Highness’s benevolence and the difficulties you faced that day.” With these words, she leaned close to Li Jiancheng’s ear and whispered softly.

Hearing her words, Li Jiancheng’s brows not only didn’t relax but furrowed even tighter. He lowered his eyes, seemingly lost in thought. After an unknown period, he looked up, “Rong’er, you’ve chosen the method I like least.”

Jirong wasn’t surprised by his words. After years together, she had long figured out Li Jiancheng’s likes and dislikes – otherwise, how could she have maintained exclusive favor? “But Your Highness cannot deny that this is the best method.”

Li Jiancheng sighed deeply and said somewhat helplessly, “Alright, after the three days of confinement, we’ll do as you suggest. I hope it’s truly as you say – not only eliminating the hidden danger but also winning people’s hearts.”

“It certainly will!” While they were having their private conversation, Li Shimin had also returned to the Prince of Qin’s residence. What greeted him was similarly news of losing a child, but compared to Li Jiancheng’s child that had never existed, his was undoubtedly much more painful – after all, it was his first child and had already reached six months.

After learning the causes and consequences, Li Shimin suppressed his inner grief to comfort Zhangsun Shi and avoid making her sad, “Since this child wasn’t meant to be ours, there’s no use dwelling on it. What’s most important now is for you to take care of your health. As for children… we’ll certainly have them again in the future.”