However, things did not go as planned. As luck would have it, at the end of the year, news broke that Concubine Shu was pregnant.
The New Year is approaching, and the palace is very busy, busy with sacrifices and banquets for officials.
The Queen Mother was burdened with heavy responsibilities and was not willing to take charge, so she delegated the tasks to the concubines below.
There were originally four concubines under the queen, namely Concubine Hui, Concubine Shu, Concubine Duan, and Concubine Jing.
However, there was no one at the moment for Concubine Duan and Concubine Jing, leaving only Concubine Hui and Concubine Shu.
The Queen asked them to assist in managing the six palaces and handle various palace affairs at the end of the year.
Things are going well with Concubine Hui. Everything is proceeding at a leisurely pace according to the procedures of previous years.
Everything was going well for Concubine Shu, but on the day of the Little New Year's Eve, when the Emperor and the Empress were having dinner together, a palace maid from Concubine Shu's palace rushed in crying.
As soon as he came in, he knelt down before the queen and kowtowed hard.
"Your Majesty, our queen is not feeling well and does not want to see the imperial physician. Please take back our queen's position as the assistant to the six palaces. She has fainted several times."
The Queen glanced at her dimly and said, "Did you faint from exhaustion? I really didn't think it through."
The emperor had just heard some rumors at this time and had not had time to verify them. It seemed that there was no way to verify them, and he was feeling unhappy.
He said sarcastically, "In previous years, the Queen did all these things alone. Now that they are divided between the two of them, she is actually exhausted."
"Go and ask the imperial physician. As long as the person is not dead, get up and continue working."
The queen rolled her eyes and suddenly said, "How about this? I happen to have a female doctor by my side. Her medical skills are quite good. Let her go and take a look."
The emperor's health was cured by Liu Qiaoer. Now he is safe and sound, so he naturally believes in Liu Qiaoer's medical skills.
Agreed: "Okay, let her go."
Liu Qiaoer was ordered to come to Concubine Shu's bedroom. The palace was very large, exquisite and bright, and it could be seen that Concubine Shu knew how to live very well.
Generally speaking, people who understand and love life tend to be calmer in temperament.
It was not the first time that Liu Qiaoer had seen Concubine Shu, and she would still be dazzled by her when she saw her again.
If Hu Bingxue is the most beautiful woman in the capital, then this Concubine Shu is probably the most beautiful woman in Beiyuan. Her beauty is cold yet charming, a very contradictory appearance.
No wonder it is said that the emperor is on equal terms with the empress and even has a position as a concubine. The emperor is also a person who loves beauty.
"The female doctor Liu Qiaoer is here to see Consort Shu under the order of the Queen."
Shufei's maid said that she had fainted just now. Now that Liu Qiaoer came over, she had sat up from the bed. Although her face was pale, she had a morbid beauty.
He snorted coldly: "There are imperial doctors in the palace, but they sent you here. Are you afraid that I will pretend to be sick?"
Liu Qiaoer didn't say anything, but took out the pulse-taking hand pillow from the medicine box and placed it in front of her.
Although she was very reluctant, Concubine Shu still obediently let Liu Qiaoer take her pulse.
Liu Qiaoer went through all the examinations and the disease was confirmed.
"Congratulations, my lady, you are pregnant."
I saw that Concubine Shu was happy at first, but I don’t know what she was thinking about, and then she became melancholy.
"How many months? How come I don't know? No, it's less than three months. The fetus is unstable and I can't tell you."
But Liu Qiaoer is someone close to the Queen, so even if she doesn't say it, Liu Qiaoer will tell it.
At this moment, the imperial physician Zhang Lingzhi also came to take the patient's pulse.
Zhang Lingzhi is the son of Imperial Physician Zhang. Imperial Physician Zhang only takes the pulse of the Emperor, the Empress and the Empress Dowager, and no one else is worthy of him.
But it’s good that Zhang Lingzhi can come.
As soon as he came in, he saw Liu Qiaoer, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. Liu Qiaoer motioned him to take the pulse first, and Zhang Lingzhi hurriedly took the pulse of Concubine Shu.
The result was the same as Liu Qiaoer's diagnosis.
Then he took out a notebook from the medicine box and checked the time when Concubine Shu had her period last and the time when she had sex with the Emperor.
Finally, the number of days was accurately calculated.
"Your Majesty has been pregnant for seventy-five days. However, I see that you are a little tired and weak, so I will not prescribe any medicine for you. Just eat more ginseng and donkey-hide gelatin, rest more, and work less. When the third month is over, I will congratulate you."
According to the rules of the harem, as long as a concubine becomes pregnant, after three months, the imperial physician in the palace will go to her parents' home to congratulate her and ask for rewards, which is equivalent to announcing the pregnancy to the world.
But at this time, the imperial physician would only tell the queen and the emperor.
Because everyone thinks that the fetus is only firmly established in the mother's womb at three months old, and if it is less than three months old, it is easy to miscarry.
Zhang Lingzhi is following the process.
Concubine Shu didn't expect that she was really pregnant, it was just that this was not the right time.
Sure enough, when the news reached the emperor, he was a little hesitant.
"Is the time right? Exactly?"
The Emperor repeatedly told Zhang Lingzhi the exact time when Concubine Shu would sleep with him. Zhang Lingzhi had also heard some rumors, but without any evidence and even the Empress hadn't made any move, he dared not speak out of turn.
"Your Majesty, the time is correct. It is impossible to say that it is exactly one day off. It is probably three to five days off."
The emperor actually wanted to ask if the child was his
But he just couldn't ask. Once he asked, it meant he believed it.
But if Concubine Shu was wrongly accused, the dragon son would be in danger.
It was not easy for a concubine in the harem to become pregnant, which was something that both the court and the harem welcomed. He could not wrongly accuse a good person because of his groundless speculation.
In the end, the Queen understood the Emperor: "Your Majesty, please be patient. It is better to wait until Concubine Shu gives birth to the child."
Yes, when Concubine Shu gives birth to the child, if it is his, everyone will be happy.
If it wasn't his, he would just find any reason to kill him.
The emperor nodded and said, "Then find someone else to do Concubine Shu's job, let her take good care of her pregnancy, and someone give Concubine Shu the hundred-year-old ginseng from the national treasury as a reward."
After everyone had left, only Nanny Xing and Liu Qiaoer were left in the Queen's bedroom, and Nanny Xing spat.
"Shufei is so lucky. She got pregnant before your majesty could make any arrangements... Your majesty, if you don't take action now, it will be too late when she gives birth to the child."
The queen was drinking ginseng tea and sighed quietly: "That's your majesty's child. What can you do if you don't wait for her to be born?"
Nanny Xing was so angry that she wanted to overthrow Concubine Shu as soon as possible to vent the Empress's anger.
Just when they were all anxious and helpless, Liu Qiaoer whispered, "I'm afraid that Concubine Shu's child won't be born."
"Hmm? What do you mean?" asked Nanny Xing.
The queen was also surprised: "What's going on?"
Liu Qiaoer sighed and said, "I entered Concubine Shu's palace and smelled a faint scent of sandalwood. I originally thought that Concubine Shu liked it, but looking at the fragrance in her palace, it was just ambergris, which the emperor liked. After carefully looking at the furnishings in her palace, I found out that she had a dressing box. I don't know who gave it to her, but it was made of sandalwood."
"It's just that dressing box, at first glance, looks a bit like red sandalwood... If you are not well versed in pharmacology, or wood and spices, it would be difficult for ordinary people to detect it."
After hearing what Liu Qiaoer said, the queen was also puzzled.
"You mean to say that Concubine Shu's dressing box was given to her by pretending to be red sandalwood, but most of her things were brought from her mother's family. Could it be that someone from her mother's family wanted to harm her?"