Harem Daily Life

Wang Zhaoyi turned pale with fear. If anything happened to the third princess in her hands, not only she but also her family would be implicated.

"Your Majesty, I really don't know why I suddenly have a fever. Although the weather has been cold recently, I have kept my room warm and I dare not take the third princess out to get some fresh air." Wang Zhaoyi wiped her tears. She was really worried.

Tao Yanyan held the tired-looking Third Princess in his arms, and felt extremely distressed when he saw the child's flushed face.

"Wang Zhaoyi, don't worry too much. The child is young and it is common for him to have a high fever. The imperial physician is already preparing the medicine soup, and the third princess's wet nurse will also need to drink the medicine in the next few days. The child will be fine in two days." Tao Yanyan looked at Imperial Physician Liu.

Doctor Liu nodded and said, "Your Highness is right. Once the medicine is given, if a rash appears, the fever will subside and the rash will appear. This means the condition is under control. The weather has been cold and dry these past few days, so you need to feed her some warm water from time to time."

Wang Zhaoyi wrote down everything, and as soon as the medicine was ready, she personally fed it to the third princess with a small spoon.

He Linzhang looked at them, one holding the baby and the other feeding the baby, and couldn't help but look at Tao Yanyan several more times. He thought to himself that if Yanyan gave birth to a biological child in the future, he would definitely stay with them every day and take care of them personally.

After finally feeding the child, the wet nurse came and held him to coax him to sleep. He Linzhang then took Tao Yanyan back to Changle Palace.

Tao Yanyan got up early the next day and asked Mingyue to ask about the third princess's situation. Mingyue came back only after breakfast.

"Your Highness, the Third Princess's high fever has not subsided yet, and Imperial Physician Liu and Consort Wang are both on duty. When I was about to return, Imperial Physician Liu quietly called me aside and told me to report back to Your Highness, saying that the Third Princess's illness was a little strange, and he suspected that someone had drugged the wet nurse and let the wet nurse pass the illness on to the Princess. However, he had no evidence, and he didn't know what kind of person Consort Wang was, so he didn't dare to talk to Consort Wang."

Tao Yanyan was anxious when he heard this: "Dr. Liu didn't tell me when I went there last night. Did he find out about it later?"

Mingyue nodded: "Dr. Liu said that the baby would have been almost cured after taking the medicine, but the fever came back this morning, and it was only after drinking milk, so he took the nurse's pulse and found something wrong."

Tao Yanyan was originally going to go to the imperial farm today, but after this incident, she could only go to see the third princess first and find out who was behind this.

Wang Zhaoyi was tired after a night of sleep. She lay down for a while in the morning. When she heard that the third princess had a fever again, she was so anxious that she didn't even put on her makeup. When she heard that Concubine Tao was coming, she simply washed up and came out to greet her.

"My Lady Imperial Concubine, thank you for making another trip. The Third Princess..." Wang Zhaoyi felt like crying as she spoke. She was tired, anxious and very fragile.

"Okay, you are someone's mother now, why are you always so upset? Let's go and see the child first." Tao Yanyan took her arm and led her into the inner hall, where they saw the third princess's two wet nurses standing by. The third princess had fallen asleep, but her face was still a little red. The maid was wiping her palms and forehead with warm water to cool her down. This was something Concubine Tao had specifically instructed.

When Imperial Physician Liu saw Concubine Tao coming over, he knew at a glance that Concubine Tao was here to investigate a case, so he stepped aside and glanced at a wet nurse in blue on the left.

Tao Yanyan understood and went to check on the child first before calling the two wet nurses outside.

Wang Zhaoyi had tea brought and stayed by the side to accompany him.

Tao Yanyan looked at the two wet nurses and asked, "Were you chosen by the late queen?"

The wet nurse who had not been pointed out by Imperial Physician Liu was the first to reply, "Your Highness, the two of us were chosen by the late Queen. Since the Third Princess was born, we have taken turns feeding her. She normally doesn't dare to eat anything too salty or greasy. She has been fine for the past few months, and the Third Princess has grown very fast. I don't know why she suddenly... I don't mean to shirk responsibility, it's just really strange."

The people who entered the palace to serve as wet nurses for the princes and princesses were in good health and had no diseases. There were also strict requirements for food in the palace, so Tao Yanyan believed what she said.

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "It's normal for children to have a headache or fever. You can't be blamed." After that, she looked at the wet nurse in blue clothes pointed out by Doctor Liu and said, "I see that your bracelet has a good water content. Was it given to you by your husband?"

The nurse in blue clothes quickly hid the bracelet and replied, "Your Majesty, this was given to me by the Empress after I entered the palace... Oh, it was given to me by Wang Zhaoyi after she left the palace. My family is poor, how could I afford such a nice bracelet!"

Tao Yanyan's smile did not reach his eyes: "So, the late queen was so good to you and trusted you so much, why did you want to harm her child?"

The nurse in blue shrank her pupils and immediately knelt on the ground: "Your Highness, please spare me. I didn't harm the princess. Please see clearly!"

Another wet nurse also knelt down and asked, "My Lady, is this... a misunderstanding?"

Wang Zhaoyi was startled and looked at Tao Yanyan in confusion: "My Lady, what...what's going on?" Someone was actually harming the Third Princess right under her nose? And this person was her wet nurse?

Tao Yanyan sneered, "You don't have to cry foul. You know whether you have been wronged or not. If you tell me the truth earlier, I can spare your life. Otherwise, you and your family will lose their lives! Don't you know who the Third Princess is? You are so bold that you dare to harm her!"

Tao Yanyan had a cold face, which frightened the wet nurse in blue clothes so much that she trembled all over.

But she gritted her teeth and still refused to admit it: "I am innocent. I have fed the princess for so long and I dare not harm her. Please investigate clearly, Your Majesty!"

Tao Yanyan narrowed his eyes and said, "You won't tell me? Fine, come on, take him down and give him 20 lashes. If he still refuses to tell the truth, beat him to death with sticks!"

When the nurse in blue saw that the imperial concubine was serious and that eunuch Chang Tai was coming forward with his men to drag her away, she was so scared that she almost wet her pants and said quickly, "Don't hit me, don't hit me. I confess. I confess everything! Please, imperial concubine, spare my life!"

Chang Tai put the man down, but did not retreat. He was ready to drag the man out and beat him with a stick at any time.

The blue-clothed nurse wiped her sweat and said, "I have no choice. Someone outside the palace sent me a message, saying that if I don't take the medicine, my own child will be sold. For the sake of my child, I can only choose to wrong the princess and make her sick for a few days. If she takes the medicine, she will only have a fever for a few days. As long as she doesn't drink my milk, she won't be sick anymore. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Wang Zhaoyi was so angry that she was shaking all over. She pointed at the blue-clothed nurse and asked, "Who gave you this message? Who wants to harm the princess? Who wants to harm me?"

She was so frightened that her voice broke when she spoke.

Tao Yanyan had a bad feeling in her heart, and she really didn't want to think about someone. However, the words of the blue-clothed nurse completely shattered her hope.