Tuoba Hong furrowed his brow, a look of concern on his face: "Why didn't you have the imperial physician treat him earlier?"

  "It's... nearing year-end and there are many things to attend to. Moreover, this isn't a serious illness, just weakness. The concubines haven't taken it to heart..."

  "How can this be!" Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei said with a hint of blame: "After the prince returns to the palace, I'll have the imperial physician come and give you a check-up."

  Wei Hao Zhuang looked at Tuoba Hong's worried expression and silently lowered his head, no longer mentioning the Pearl Flower affair.

  What Lin Wan said did not cause much of a stir, let alone the fact that no one in the harem would truly care about her, as everyone's eyes were still fixed on the "Map of the Great Qin Territory".

  It wasn't long before everyone finished their meal. The palace maids cleared the dishes, and the Empress Dowager said to the crowd: "I'm tired, you all go back. In Mingtai's place, there is still a troupe of actors invited by the Empress singing opera, it's lively during the New Year, you all go over there to listen to the music and have fun."

  The Empress Dowager seemed to have had enough, and others' advice was useless. Moreover, the Empress Dowager was indeed tired. The Queen led the concubines to bid farewell one after another, and the Emperor also followed them out.

  As she was leaving, the Empress Dowager instructed the Emperor: "That child of Lin's has been wounded by an arrow and may not be well. She is young and doesn't understand; you must have the imperial physician take a look, don't delay."

  Wei Hao Zhuang listened quietly by the side, secretly clenching her sleeves tightly. She really didn't expect that a small Lin Shi would be so favored by the Emperor and Empress Dowager... The Emperor's fondness for her even surpassed his own, and the Empress Dowager also valued her highly because of her youth and good upbringing. Although she was favored by the Emperor, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, she was a 24-year-old old maid who had passed her prime, mediocre and useless.

  The cost of five years is really too great... At that time, I didn't think it through when I made the decision to hibernate.

  Everyone dispersed, and the emperor accepted the empress's invitation to go to Changxin Palace to admire the ice sculptures.

  Ice sculptures are a craft from Mongolia, with large ones being as high as one zhang, including horse-drawn carriages, grass and wood basins, and ferocious beasts, while small ones include ice beads the size of fingernails and flower petals, all very beautiful and delicate. Many aristocratic families in the Great Qin would keep several ice sculpture artisans. The ice sculptures in the imperial palace were naturally extraordinary.

  Tuoba Hong usually didn't like the Empress, but on New Year's Day, he would always be very obedient to her and give her face. In recent years, he had been doing so, and during the Chinese New Year, he would definitely go to the Empress's palace to stay overnight, watch plays and listen to music with her, and even appreciate ice sculptures without refusing.

  Also accompanying the Emperor were Jing Fei, Tian Pin and Ye Shi who was pregnant. They were all summoned by Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei on a whim as he liked them. Lin Yuan stood outside the main gate of Chang Le Palace, watching the Emperor and his consorts get into their sedan chairs. Suddenly, she stepped forward quickly and called out to Emperor Xianwen: "Your Majesty! The concubines also want to go..."

  "You should return to Huayang Palace and wait for the imperial physician." Tuoba Hong smiled and reached out to touch her forehead.

  "Your Majesty!" Lin Wan frowned, her pretty face showing discontent: "All the concubines said it's not a serious illness, what's the hurry in delaying for a few hours?! But Ice Sculpture Concubine really wants to go see it, I heard that those things will melt away by noon and can never be seen again... so I want to go now!"

  Lin Wan's body had just turned sixteen after the New Year, and at this time she looked stubborn. In Tuoba Hong's eyes, she looked like a spoiled child who wanted to eat sugar. He couldn't help but smile, stretched out his hand and said: "Alright, I'll indulge you this once, don't make it a habit."

  The Changxin Palace had already been set up, and as soon as they entered the palace gate, they saw several large ice sculptures arranged in the front courtyard. The ice sculptures were of varying sizes, with larger ones like the two-meter-high seated Guanyin and the one-meter-high auspicious cloud crane being too big to be moved into the house. Smaller ones included carvings of children and auspicious characters, all placed in ice bowls filled with water. At this time, there were still servants busy with pens and knives in front of these giant sculptures. Compared to the northern countries of Russia, Mongolia, and Xiongnu, the climate of the capital was too warm after all. The ice sculptures here would only continue to melt under the gentle winter sun, and in order to let the emperor appreciate them, the craftsmen had to constantly carve around them without stopping.

  When the emperor and empress, along with several palace consorts, entered, all the performers and palace staff immediately knelt down before retreating. Lin Wan's gaze fell on a nearby intricately carved plum blossom tree that was not particularly tall but exquisitely delicate, and she couldn't help but admire how even the flower petals and stamens were carved with such precision.

  There is also a kind of luxurious feeling of being a royal rice worm. In the past, only Harbin held ice sculpture festivals, and Beijing's ice sculptures could melt into water in just a few hours, which was a waste of manpower and resources. But here, just to let Tuoba Hong appreciate it, the empress made a big fuss and ordered people to carve out such a huge and perfect work, without caring that it would melt away soon and become worthless.

  Yelian Huanyu, who was pregnant, was first supported by the palace maids into the inner chamber. The Empress had ordered it so, as her body could not withstand cold air.

  Lin Yuxing stretched out her hand to touch an ice box, and Chu Tao handed over a small and exquisite ice key from behind, also curiously smiling: "I heard that this can be opened, I wonder what's inside."

  Lin Yan hastily took the key and inserted it into the lock. Although it was an ice sculpture, both the key and the lock were exquisitely crafted, comparable to real objects. However, the key seemed too cold, and Lin Yan's hand began to shake as she held it. On her first attempt, the direction was wrong, so she took it out again. Unfortunately, on her second try, she lost her grip, and the key fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

  Lin Wan knelt down to pick up the fragments, but as soon as she bent down, she felt a wave of dizziness and fainted on the ground. Chun Tao and Chun Xue were shocked and pale, shouting repeatedly. Tuoba Hong rushed over and held Lin Wan in his arms, saying urgently: "It's already like this and you still say it's not serious! Someone, quickly summon the imperial physician..."

  Several concubines who were admiring the ice sculptures also did not expect a sudden situation, Xiao Huanghou's face was somewhat gloomy, in her opinion, Lin Shi was becoming more and more overbearing.

  Regardless of what, she had done enough to show her concern. She thought for a moment and then calmly said: "The imperial physician will take some time to arrive, go and ask the female doctors by Ye Liangyuan's side to come over first. Also, quickly send Hui'er to the inner chamber, the courtyard with ice sculptures is particularly cold, it's not a good place to stay."

  The queen's orders were carried out promptly, and everyone hastened to comply. Several aunts came forward to carry Lin Yuen back to the house, but Tuoba Hong picked her up in his arms, not allowing the servants to intervene. Wei Jingfei's gaze remained fixed on Lin Yuen, and the expression on her face became increasingly mysterious and thought-provoking.

  Ye Liangyu quickly pointed to the skilled female doctor beside her to examine Lin Yu. At this time, Lin Yu was only dizzy and had not lost consciousness. Her small body curled up into a ball in Tuoba Hong's arms, and even when the doctor placed her fingers on her wrist, she refused to relax, her entire body pressing closer to Tuoba Hong.

  Tuoba Hong looked at her like that, and his expression was even more worried. He hastily asked the doctor: "How is Jieyu? She hasn't been like this for just one or two days. The other day she often had weak hands and feet."

  Those two female doctors who examined her were personally appointed by the Empress to take care of the imperial heir, and the Empress was very cautious in selecting them. The female doctors selected for the consorts' prenatal care were all older women with a certain reputation within the palace. Female doctors differed from imperial physicians in that they could not hold the position of chief physician due to their gender, but they would also receive corresponding official positions based on their medical skills, and some female doctors even surpassed the imperial physicians in terms of medical skills. These two royal female doctors, Wang and Sun, were sixth-grade officials of the Imperial Hospital of Medicine, specializing in gynecology.

  At this time, the two of them took turns to take Lin Wan's pulse, and after a careful examination that lasted for a full minute, they found that she was indeed pregnant. Tuoba Hong looked on anxiously, his heart growing more urgent by the second. In his mind, Lin Wan was different from other women, and he did not treat her merely as a pawn. Especially after the Empress had displeased him, he grew even fonder of Lin Wan.

  After a while, Imperial Physician Wang finally removed her fingers from Lin Wan's wrist. She bowed to the Emperor and said with a solemn expression, "The illness of Concubine Wei..."

  She seemed reluctant to say the words that followed. But under Tuoba Hong's intimidating gaze, Wang Yi suppressed her fear and finally whispered: "Princess Jieyou was originally weak-bodied, and after being shot by an arrow, she was injured... Now the princess's heart and lungs are very weak, and in the future, it is feared that she will not be able to give birth, and... and it is not suitable for her to serve in bed."

  As soon as the doctor's words fell, Lin Yuan, who was in Taohong's arms, exclaimed: "What did you say! Even if I am weak, I can still give birth and serve my husband!" Lin Yuan kept covering her chest and panting, pointing at the doctor's nose: "You're talking nonsense!"

  The female doctor Wang was so frightened that she knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying repeatedly: "I dare not deceive you, my lord, I have no false words!" The other female doctor Sun beside her also knelt down and trembled, saying: "My diagnosis is the same as Doctor Wang's..."

  "You two are unskilled in medicine, just cheating the masters in the palace with your nonsense! Shut up...!" Lin Yu's voice was weak, but very stern.

  "Yuan'er," Tuoba Hong said with a mix of sadness and heartache, holding Lin Yuan's hand to comfort her: "Don't be like this, even if you're really seriously ill, I'm the Emperor, and I'll definitely cure you. Summon the imperial physician from the inner hospital, and have them bring the obstetrician. Don't listen to Wang Shi and Sun Shi, they're just midwives."

  Lin Yan bit her lip and stopped talking. The attendants, including Tian Bin, all showed concern on their faces. The empress silently turned her head to glance at Ye Liangyuan standing in the corner, Ye Xiu Xin hastily made a gesture with her eyes towards the empress, pointing to the two female doctors, and finally almost imperceptibly nodded slightly. The empress's expression changed slightly, then she turned back around.

  Before long, Imperial Physician Wu was hastily summoned. Both Imperial Physicians Wu and Wang were renowned for their exceptional skills in obstetrics and gynecology. Now that Imperial Physician Wang had accompanied Consort Chang and Noble Consort Gui to Yangzhou, only Imperial Physician Wu remained in the palace. He was also the imperial physician specifically appointed by the Empress to attend to Ye Liangyu's pregnancy.

  Wu Yu Yi knelt down and paid his respects. A palace maid beside him covered Lin Yuan's wrist with a handkerchief, only then did he place three fingers on it.