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Chun Xi swiftly ran out, following the command.

Xiao Jinyan sat down on the couch, and as he looked at her with her eyes tightly shut and brows furrowed, he reached out towards the space between her eyebrows. Without touching her lightly, he felt her forehead, which was moist and ice-cold.

He raised his voice and called, "Xiao Jiu, wake up."

Seeing that it was of no use, Xiao Jinyan had no choice but to resort to pinching her philtrum.

Shen Chuwei, who had been in a deep slumber, wrinkled her brow and slowly opened her eyes to see a hand pinching her philtrum. Upon seeing whom the hand belonged to, she realized it was Xiao Jinyan whom she hadn’t seen for three days.

Grasping his hand, her voice was weak and husky, "Your Highness, it hurts, stop pinching."

When Xiao Jinyan saw she was awake, he let out a sigh of relief, "What’s the matter with you? Why are you sleeping so deeply?"

Shen Chuwei shook her head, "Concubine doesn’t know, just feeling very sleepy."

Xiao Jinyan scrutinized her for a while, "The palace discovered you to be lackluster in spirit. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Shen Chuwei shook her head again, "Concubine doesn’t feel unwell anywhere, just sleepy."

Chun Xi ran in and said, "Your Highness, Imperial Doctor Wen has arrived."

She finished speaking, then gasped for breath.

As soon as her words fell, Imperial Doctor Wen, carrying his medicine box, walked quickly into the room.

Xiao Jinyan instructed, "Imperial Doctor Wen, have a look at her quickly."

"This humble servant will now take Lady Shen’s pulse," said Imperial Doctor Wen, carrying the medicine box. He bowed and approached the bed, putting down the medicine box and first examining Shen Chuwei’s complexion, then took her pulse.

Xiao Jinyan, standing aside, inquired, "She has been excessively sleepy these days, lacking in spirit. Do you know the reason why?"

Imperial Doctor Wen gently placed Shen Chuwei’s hand back on the covers, a slight smile on the corner of his lips, and turned to Xiao Jinyan with a joyful announcement, "Congratulations, Your Highness. Lady Shen has a pregnancy pulse."

Upon the conclusion of his words, the room fell utterly silent.

Only Chun Xi showed an expression of surprise, thinking that her mistress was indeed pregnant. No wonder she referred to herself as Magpie, chattering away. Perhaps this was indeed delivering good news.

A pregnancy pulse? Shen Chuwei felt as if struck by lightning, unable to react for a moment.

She had examined herself a few days earlier, finding no symptoms of poisoning or any other illnesses.

It certainly couldn’t be a pregnancy pulse; she hadn’t drunk water from the magical river in the Kingdom of Women where one could conceive without combining with a man.

She raised her head to look at Xiao Jinyan. His face was dark and inscrutable, showing neither joy nor anger.

Whether or not she was pregnant, Xiao Jinyan was the most aware. He must be bewildered as well.

Imperial Doctor Wen, with his head lowered, noticed something was off. Feeling a sudden chill enveloping the surroundings, he got cold shivers running down his spine, as if Xiao Jinyan should be overjoyed and excited to be a father for the first time yet showed no signs of elation.

Xiao Jinyan’s gaze darkened, looking at Shen Chuwei, his eyes slowly moved to her stomach’s position, covered by a quilt that revealed nothing.

Could she truly be with child?

Taking a deep breath, he commanded, "This matter is not to be disclosed. Anyone who disobeys will be killed."

Imperial Doctor Wen, having served in the palace for three years and seen many things, understood the gravity of the situation. He bowed his head even lower and said, "This humble servant obeys."

"This humble servant obeys," Chun Xi said, utterly perplexed, not understanding what had happened. The mistress was pregnant, shouldn’t His Highness be happy? Why did it feel like he was angry instead?

Xiao Jinyan ordered coldly, "All of you, leave."

Chun Xi and Imperial Doctor Wen spoke in unison, "We obey."

Then they left one after another.

Now, only Shen Chuwei and Xiao Jinyan remained in the room.

Shen Chuwei looked at Xiao Jinyan with confusion, not quite understanding his actions. Because of them, both Imperial Doctor Wen and Chun Xi would believe she was pregnant.

This was a big misunderstanding.

At the same time, she took her pulse again, curious as to how Imperial Doctor Wen had diagnosed a pregnancy pulse.

Xiao Jinyan kept his lips tightly sealed, his phoenix eyes staring at Shen Chuwei. Through the days they spent together, he did not believe she was capable of such a thing.

But the pregnancy pulse forced him to confront a possibility he didn’t want to believe.

Shen Chuwei’s brows furrowed slightly as she diagnosed a pregnancy pulse as well. It definitely was not a pregnancy pulse two days ago, so how did it become one now?

Xiao Jinyan was silent for a long time, then without a word, turned and quickly walked away.

While Shen Chuwei was puzzled about why her pulse indicated a pregnancy, she saw Xiao Jinyan leave without looking back and called out, "Your Highness?"

Xiao Jinyan’s steps were hurried, and in no time, he had vanished at the doorway.

After Xiao Jinyan left, Chun Xi came trotting in, her round face full of confusion.

"Mistress, what happened? You are pregnant, yet His Highness doesn’t seem happy? I feel as if he is very angry," she said.

Shen Chuwei replied with resignation, "I’m not pregnant."

Chun Xi blinked, surprised, "Does Mistress mean that Imperial Doctor Wen made a misdiagnosis?"

Shen Chuwei said, "It’s not exactly a misdiagnosis. Although the pulse is a pregnancy pulse, it is a false one."

Chun Xi slumped and sat on the footstool, "Mistress, we’re doomed."

Seeing Chun Xi so frightened, Shen Chuwei also recognized the severity of the situation and said, "It’s not that bad, is it?"

Chun Xi grasped Shen Chuwei’s hand as if clutching her last hope, "Mistress, could you be mistaken? After sharing a bed with His Highness for so long, perhaps it is real?"

Shen Chuwei sighed helplessly, "If I say I’m not pregnant, then I’m not. Don’t you even trust your own mistress?"

"Mistress, if it’s really a misdiagnosis by Imperial Doctor Wen, His Highness wouldn’t get so angry, unless His Highness thinks Mistress has been unfaithful. But that makes no sense at all," Chun Xi said, nearly frantic. It hadn’t been easy to reconcile, and now this had happened.

Now Shen Chuwei understood why Xiao Jinyan had acted in a way that led to misunderstanding and why he had left without looking back.

"Then he really may think I’ve been unfaithful, and that the child belongs to someone else," she said.

Chun Xi replied softly, "But isn’t there no child?"

"However, the pulse indicates there is," Shen Chuwei explained after letting out a sigh, "and it was diagnosed by Imperial Doctor Wen. Aside from the lack of an actual child, there’s no difference from the real thing. We’re doomed."

Chun Xi suddenly burst into tears, "Mistress, I’m scared of dying, sob sob!"

Shen Chuwei said, "You make it sound as if I’m not afraid of death."

In a panic, Chun Xi asked, "What should we do? If His Highness thinks Mistress has been unfaithful, that’s like him being cuckolded. Even being beaten to death would be letting us off lightly."

Shen Chuwei replied, "There’s a type of medicine that, when taken by a woman, causes a false pregnancy pulse. However, I can taste such drugs immediately, so it can’t be caused by medication."

After thinking for a moment, Chun Xi speculated, "Mistress, from what your humble servant has seen in court dramas, could Imperial Doctor Wen have been bribed to deliberately frame you? You’d be sunk, even if you jumped into the Yellow River you couldn’t wash yourself clean.

With His Highness in a rage, you’d be beaten to death without evidence to the contrary, achieving the culprit’s purpose.

Even if the truth comes out later, it would be too late. "

Shen Chuwei shook her head, "Imperial Doctor Wen is trusted by Xiao Jinyan. He wouldn’t be bribed so easily. Have you forgotten about the false smallpox incident last year? That could have led to a death sentence, yet Imperial Doctor Wen didn’t leak a word."

"Then what the heck is going on? Who’s trying to harm Mistress?" Chun Xi asked, having thought for a while yet coming up with nothing.

Chun Xi suddenly grasped Shen Chuwei’s hand, "Mistress, the most important thing now is to make His Highness believe that you haven’t been unfaithful. As long as His Highness believes that, we won’t die."