Chapter 35: The Fate of a Favored Concubine Used as a Shield in a Harem Intrigue Story……

Jiujiu, who had just been angry, immediately understood what his little aunt meant and quickly burrowed into his father’s arms.

“Daddy, save Jiujiu, Jiujiu can’t hold her.”

Shen Yijing saw the little one with a shrunken head and wide, frightened eyes. He gently rubbed Jiujiu’s head with his thumb to comfort him, then reached out and took his sister.

Shen Chao, sitting in her brother’s arms, was not as fragile as most infants her age. Instead, her limbs were already very strong, and she moved around, wanting the bird to hold her.

“I remember, you used to serve in the late emperor’s palace.”

The Empress Dowager was not truly angry with Jiujiu. She knew better than anyone how much her daughter loved Jiujiu.

Although when Chaochao was still in her womb, she once kicked Jiujiu so hard that he didn’t come to play for several days, and Jiujiu was very upset even when shelling melon seeds.

But the Empress Dowager always felt that her daughter didn’t dislike Jiujiu; on the contrary, she liked Jiujiu too much, wishing she could kick her way out and play with Jiujiu.

After Jiujiu stopped coming to her palace, she was quiet for a day, as if sad.

“Never mind, I don’t like seeing such a person serving by my side. Transfer her to another palace.”

The Empress Dowager casually mentioned this. Jiujiu, carefully poking his little head out, wanted to see if his aunt still wanted to hold him. His gaze wasn’t on Chaochao, but rather fixed on the Nanny who was kowtowing.

Jiujiu flew out swiftly, landing one claw on little Chaochao’s shoulder, then choosing the Nanny’s head as his landing spot, gripping a wooden hairpin in her hair with his claw.

When the old Nanny saw the wooden hairpin being carried away by a bird, her face instantly turned ashen, and she instinctively reached out to grab the bird back.

“Daddy, this wooden hairpin is poisonous!”

Jiujiu threw the wooden hairpin onto the stone table. Shen Yijing winked at the eunuch serving him. The eunuch first called two guards to firmly control the old Nanny, making sure she wouldn’t die, and even dislocated her jaw.

The Empress Dowager also realized something was wrong at this point and stepped forward to pick up the wooden hairpin. Jiujiu flew to her arm and sat down, pressing her wrist with his wing and shaking his head.

“Can’t touch it?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiujiu nodded.

The imperial physician arrived very quickly, wrapped the wooden hairpin in a handkerchief, examined it carefully, and then suddenly knelt down.

“Empress Dowager, this, this is a forbidden medicine from the previous dynasty!”

The imperial descendants of the previous dynasty were never very healthy; most of them became insane after the age of five. The emperor of the previous dynasty thought it was heaven’s punishment for his past extravagance.

Later, when the entire dynasty was in chaos, a general finally uncovered the truth: it was because the emperor of the previous dynasty had forcibly taken a woman into the palace, and that woman was the beloved of a divine physician.

The woman perished in the deep palace, and the divine physician entered the palace as an imperial physician, poisoning the imperial descendants’ food every now and then.

Because this medicine primarily targeted children, the founding emperor of this dynasty felt it was too sinister, so he continued the rule of the previous emperor and listed it as a forbidden medicine.

It was thought to be lost, but unexpectedly, it appeared in the imperial palace.

After hearing what the imperial physician said, the Empress Dowager held her daughter tightly in her arms, her eyes reddening as she met her daughter’s bright, rolling eyes.

“Investigate!”

“Yes.”

Chaochao didn’t know what her mother was doing and even struggled to leave; she wanted the bird to hold her.

Not only were the Empress Dowager and the Emperor furious, but even Jiujiu felt a surge of frustration. Though this child was technically his little aunt by seniority, his grandmother had nearly miscarried several times during her pregnancy. It was only thanks to his constant companionship that she managed to carry the baby to term.

If he hadn’t been so diligent in his presence at the very beginning, the medicine, after being used for a period, would probably have rendered the person useless.

Although Jiujiu found this little one too lively and always wanting to be held, lively was always better than being a fool.

Those who had concealed themselves very well before were all found after this incident. A few people were unwilling to admit it, but after the Vice Minister of Justice was invited into the palace, they confessed everything cleanly.

It was someone from a former concubine’s faction. She was unwilling for her son to be deprived of the throne like this, so she used all the connections she had accumulated.

Originally, the person she wanted to kill was Shen Yijing, but the people around Shen Yijing were all those he had used when he was a prince, so new personnel couldn’t be infiltrated. She could only settle for the next best thing and try to harm Shen Chao.

At that time, the Empress Dowager pitied these concubines, feeling they shared the same plight as her, and the late emperor was unfeeling, so she chose to let them move to other places to live instead of having them buried with him.

But this incident indeed touched the Empress Dowager’s bottom line. After clearing out the entire imperial palace, she had the concubine who administered the poison dismembered, and her body sent to the mass grave.

The Empress Dowager had always been gentle in her dealings, never actively harming anyone as long as others didn’t harm her. This was the first time she had used such cruel methods.

But after this matter concluded, when the palace servants reported that the concubine was dead, the Empress Dowager still didn’t feel satisfied.

How vicious must one be to lay hands on a child not yet a year old?

Jiujiu lay in his nest, and as soon as his daddy finished talking with the court officials, he eagerly flew over.

“What was that Nanny’s problem? Why did she come after me?”

Jiujiu really couldn’t understand. If she hadn’t deliberately spoken out of line and even tried to frame him, he wouldn’t have paid her any attention.

There were so many nannies in the palace every day—he only had two eyes, how could he possibly keep track of all of them?

“She… was unhappy with the arrangement made by that particular Concubine. The woman used her newborn grandson to threaten her. Because she didn’t care for him well enough, the baby died at only six months old.”

“This matter was originally well covered up, but somehow it ended up reaching her ears. That’s why she deliberately bullied you—so we’d notice and uncover her true motive.”

Besides that baby grandson, she had other family members still under that concubine’s control. There were even people placed around her just to monitor her every move.

After hearing this, Jiujiu sat there, cracking a walnut slowly. Although this matter sounded like it should make him very angry, there was also a strange sense of joy.

It turned out that no matter who it was, they could see that his daddy really liked him!

“Daddy, where’s little aunt?”

“She’s being looked after by her mother. The imperial physician said there’s nothing seriously wrong after taking her pulse. Jiujiu, you keep calling her little aunt, why don’t you go see her?”

Jiujiu had dedicated people to look after him. If he wanted to go to the Empress Dowager’s palace, he would fly onto a little eunuch’s shoulder, and that eunuch would naturally know to take him there.

“I’m not going. Little aunt is fierce, and she wants me to hold her.”

If he were a bit bigger, Jiujiu would also want to hold his sweet, soft little aunt, but he wasn’t even as big as his little aunt’s head.

“Her wanting you to hold her doesn’t it just show that she likes you?”

“Oh, Daddy, I’m too small!”

Jiujiu sighed and shook his head. Although his little aunt really wanted him to hold her now, who knows, when she grew up and became sensible, she might not have such strange ideas anymore.

On Shen Chao’s first birthday, Shen Yijing ordered a grand celebration. The items placed on the table for the “zhuazhou” (grasping ceremony) were not the usual ones for a female child.

There were no miniature embroidery frames, handkerchiefs, or needles and thread. Instead, there were the Four Treasures of the Study, and a small Crown Prince’s Golden Seal.

The Crown Prince’s Golden Seal, made by order of the late emperor, had never been used, and now Shen Yijing casually placed it here.

Jiujiu was afraid that his little aunt wouldn’t choose the right one, so he flew over and picked up the Crown Prince’s Golden Seal.

Because he was too small as a bird, and the Crown Prince’s Golden Seal was solid, it fell after two flaps of his wings.

Shen Chao, who originally didn’t understand what was happening, saw her favorite little bird fiddling with this, quickly wobbled to her feet and crawled over, clutching the Crown Prince’s Golden Seal in her palm.

Jiujiu saw this scene and nodded contentedly.

“Jiu jiu jiu.”

Shen Chao heard his chirping, tilted her head in confusion, and handed the golden seal to him. Seeing that Jiujiu didn’t take it, she pushed it forward a bit more.

“Ah?”

Jiujiu was startled by his little aunt’s action and flew up, his movement of burrowing into his daddy’s clothes becoming increasingly practiced.

His little aunt’s action reminded him of a not-so-pleasant memory from the past, such as his daddy actually saying that he, such a large, weak, and helpless little one, should sit on the throne!

“Jiujiu, look how much Chaochao likes you.”

The Empress Dowager also curved her lips because of her daughter’s actions. Before, she only knew that Chaochao liked Jiujiu, but she hadn’t expected it to be to this extent.

Chaochao saw that the little bird didn’t take it, so she took it back, sat there, looked at her mother, and then thought about getting up and walking towards her mother.

Since he wasn’t taking it now, she would keep it for herself for the time being and give it to him next time he wanted it.

Shen Yijing was not as incompetent as his imperial father. The several regents chosen at the time were excellent. The late emperor only knew how to complain that they didn’t hand over all power to him.

Little did he know that the three regents dared not hand it over to him because he was truly too mediocre, and the various decisions he made sounded too absurd.

Now, Shen Yijing was even younger than his imperial father was when he was alive, yet he had already grasped the reins of government. The ministers saw the emperor’s intentions from Princess Chaoyang’s “zhuazhou” ceremony.

Though shocked, they dared not say much.

After the “zhuazhou” ceremony, the Empress Dowager began to worry. Her little daughter could now walk very steadily, but still couldn’t speak, only babbling, which made her a bit anxious.

One day, when Shen Yijing came to see his mother and sister after court, Jiujiu also came along, sitting on the coffee table and cracking peanuts.

The worried Empress Dowager saw this scene and couldn’t help but tease:

“Jiujiu seems sensible. He knows you’re tired of eating walnuts, so now he’s cracking peanuts instead.”

Shen Yijing smiled and nodded, patting his little head. It wasn’t impossible for servants to do these things, but he always felt it lacked his own little one’s personal touch.

“Jiujiu has gotten a bit rounder.”

As soon as the Empress Dowager finished speaking, a muffled, childish voice sounded in the room.

“Jiujiu, round~”