The Emperor suffered a stroke during intercourse.
When Serena heard the news, she nearly jumped out of her chair. "How is that possible? It hasn't even been a month yet!"
Even if the Emperor played rough, the earliest this should've happened was last month. The medicine prepared by the Valley Master and Dr. Marcus Guile was perfectly fine—if there'd been any issue, the imperial physicians would have caught it ages ago.
Summer hesitated for a moment before saying, "I heard a palace maid gave the Emperor a potent drug."
"A palace maid? So this happened while the Emperor was with a maid?" Serena's lips twitched. The Emperor really didn't care about restraint—there were so many consorts in the harem waiting for his favor, yet he still went after the maids.
Summer nodded in confirmation. "After the Emperor visited his consorts, he went to soak in the hot springs. Two sticks of incense later, a palace maid went in to serve him. The Emperor pulled her over, intending to have his way, but halfway through, something went wrong. The imperial physicians found he'd taken a powerful drug—that's why it happened."
Summer was under a lot of pressure as she explained the whole process to Serena. After all, Prince Nolan had already warned her not to tell the lady about these messy details—he didn't want Serena's ears sullied by palace gossip.
After her initial shock, Serena asked, "How is the Emperor now? Is there any chance of recovery?"
Sometimes, fate just can't be predicted—when someone's luck runs out, anything can happen.
This was a textbook case of terrible luck for the Emperor.