But if she had been pregnant, and with a nameless man's bastard, she could not engage in a political marriage.
No other family would tolerate that.
Tolerating such humiliation for a political marriage serves no purpose; on the contrary, it creates a misconception that others can easily control the situation.
The emperor forcefully demanded Xia Yuansi to abort and prepared to execute all the palace maids, eunuchs, and imperial physicians who knew about it.
Where Xia Yuansi found the courage, she threatened with her life, insisting on keeping the little one in her belly, vowing to die with the small bundle inside her if forced to abort.
For a time, the emperor and empress couldn't do anything to her, so they discussed and decided to stabilize her first and then find a way to make her abort afterward.
But Xia Yuansi acted even more ruthlessly, letting the news spread out while her parents were not paying attention.
