The Reborn Princess Has Turned Evil

Chapter 318 Sending Messages Secretly

Tonight, some sleep soundly, while others find it hard to fall asleep.

When Jingrou woke up and learned that the Empress Dowager and the concubines already knew about her pregnancy, she felt both ashamed and angry. She hated herself for fainting out of the blue, and was also annoyed that she had lost face and would be ridiculed. As a noble lady and a member of the royal family, how could she endure such humiliation?

"Princess, it's almost dawn. Why don't you rest for a while?" Can'er said in a low voice. She had been up all night and was exhausted. Now that Jing Rou was making a fuss, she wished she could just chop her into a stupor to stop the noise.

"What's there to sleep about!" Jing Rou was furious at the moment.

"Let me ask you, what did the imperial physician say after I fainted? And what did the Empress Dowager say?"

Faced with Jingrou's questioning, Can'er, no matter how impatient, could only patiently tell the whole story.

"what?"

"You mean Akabane Gen personally took my pulse?"

“Yes.” Can’er nodded. She deliberately exaggerated what happened back then just to make Jing Rou feel bad.

Jing Rou's body went limp on the bed, and she muttered to herself, "It's over..."

"Even Chi Wenyuan knows, so doesn't that mean Qi Zhi knows too...? Then... doesn't that mean everyone knows?"

She dared not think about how terrible it would be to become the talk of the palace and a laughing stock!

Seeing Jingrou's expression, Can'er suppressed a laugh and stepped forward to comfort her, "Princess, don't worry. The Empress Dowager has already spoken, and no one is allowed to divulge a single word about what happened today. Even His Majesty agreed with the Empress Dowager's decision after he arrived."

Can'er's words calmed Jing Rou down a bit. She propped herself up and comforted herself, "Yes, there's the Empress Dowager. She'll definitely help me. And there's my father. He won't let this happen."

"Yes, Princess, you are not alone now, you are pregnant with another one. You must not ruin your health and must take good care of yourself. With a child, you will have everything."

Hearing this, Jing Rou's expression softened a bit, but her nails were still digging into her palms. She gritted her teeth and said, "You're right, the child is the most important thing right now!"

"That's the right way to think. You should get some rest." After saying that, Can'er went to help Jingrou to bed.

The atmosphere was even more strange on the side of the foreign princes.

Yelü Yuanxiu and Qi Zhi had completely broken off relations and were ignoring each other. Xia Tingfu and Luo Wei looked at each other, ultimately deciding not to interfere. Only Xiao Heng lay on the bed, clasping his hands in deep thought.

Yesterday's events were too fast and too strange. Consort Li was suddenly poisoned, and they were all imprisoned. Then came the news that Jing Rou was pregnant. The waters in the Jing Kingdom's palace are not ordinary. He thought of Jing Anle again. What was she doing that night?

Qi Zhi was also unable to sleep tonight; Yelü Yuanxiu's words struck his heart like a heavy hammer.

What was once just a rumor that spread throughout the capital has now become an undeniable fact. He, Qi Zhi, the dignified Crown Prince of Qi, has truly become the philandering playboy who got Jing Rou pregnant, and has also truly become a knife in the hands of Prince Qing.

How could this be? How could this happen? He clearly...

The sound of the clapper at dawn faded away on the glazed tiles, and the heavy snowfall suddenly stopped.

As the morning bell rang, palace maids carrying gilded palace lanterns trudged through the thick snow in the corridors, their skirts sweeping the snow off the pillars.

In the distance, eunuchs were sweeping the snow in front of the palace with bamboo brooms. The rustling sound of bamboo branches scraping against the blue bricks, along with the shouts of "Open the palace gates!", broke the silence of the winter night.

The sky is bright...

Jing Anle suddenly opened her eyes, as if she had been awakened from a nightmare. Afang reacted the fastest and hurriedly got up to check on her, "Princess!"

Sweat was pouring from her forehead. Jing Anle took a deep breath. She had another nightmare. Turning to look at the faint white light outside the window, she said, "With such a big thing happening in the palace, I'm afraid Mu Ping won't be able to return."

Afang paused in wiping her sweat. She knew what Jing Anle meant: if Mu Ping couldn't return to the palace, she wouldn't be able to investigate Qi Zhi's movements.

"If only I knew martial arts too," Afang said with some self-reproach.

"Silly girl." Jing Anle smiled helplessly and took Afang's hand. "It's good enough that you have this thought, and besides..."

"You don't necessarily need to be a martial arts master."

"Hmm?" Afang was a little puzzled.

As dawn broke, the snowy winter night gave way to a rosy sunrise this morning.

Several palace servants were carrying morning tea through the various rooms of Xuanyang Palace, the steaming tea emitting white mist.

Xiao Heng slept the latest but woke up the earliest. When he opened the door, he was greeted by a familiar palace servant.

The guards at the gate snatched the morning tea from the palace servants' hands and said coldly, "Give it to me."

Xiao Heng reacted quickly and immediately said, "I'm actually hungry, so give it to me."

The guards dared not delay and immediately handed the tea to Xiao Heng.

Back in the house, before the others had gotten up, Xiao Heng picked up the teacups and examined them carefully. He raised an eyebrow slightly when he felt an unusual sensation at the bottom of one of the teacups.

He calmly turned the teacup over, and a plain white note fluttered into his palm. The handwriting was delicate and elegant; it was Jing Anle's handwriting: "Pay attention to Qi Zhi's movements yesterday."

As clever as Xiao Heng was, he recognized the palace servant earlier; she was someone from Jing Anle's side. That's why he went to collect the morning tea himself. He stroked the note, secretly wondering: Could it be that Jing Anle suspects that Consort Li's poisoning yesterday was related to Qi Zhi?

Xiao Heng ran his fingers over the paper, a smile spreading across his lips. He was delighted that Jing Anle had indeed come to ask for his help. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him, and Xiao Heng discreetly slipped the paper into his palm.