Of course, pregnancy doesn't happen overnight.
Su Yi was thinking about when to let people know that she was pregnant, and then something happened that gave her the opportunity.
That day she went to the Empress Dowager's palace to pay her respects. Coincidentally, the Empress, other concubines, and several princes' wives were also there. They were all talking about the second prince's legitimate son's first birthday.
The Second Prince's wife, Qin, had been married into the royal family for many years and finally gave birth to a little grandson last year. Although there was already a illegitimate son in the house, a legitimate son was different after all. With the one-year-old banquet approaching, even the empress dowager attached great importance to it.
Seeing Su Yi coming, the Queen Mother pointed at her and several other princes' wives and said, "Let you young people take care of it. I am old and have old-fashioned ideas. I can't come up with any good ideas."
Qin said hurriedly: "Grandmother, what you said is true. Without you here, how can your granddaughter-in-law do her work with peace of mind?"
The Queen also smiled gently and said, "Young people have no experience, so it is up to the Queen Mother to check on them."
Concubine Li stroked her temples and said slowly, "They are young, but except for Princess Rui, they have all given birth before, so they must have some experience."
As soon as these words came out, the originally bustling hall suddenly became quiet.
No one present was a fool. They all understood the meaning of Concubine Li's words clearly. It was simply a hint that Su Yi had been married before and was neglected by her husband's family because she was unable to have children.
Concubine Li's temper was never good. Because her niece had not married Prince Rui, she did not get along well with the current Princess Rui. Every word she spoke sounded soft, but was always sharp.
She was used to being flamboyant in the harem. She was favored by the emperor, so other concubines did not dare to challenge her. The empress always valued harmony, and as for the princes' wives, they dared not say anything more.
The Queen Mother's generation was high enough, but considering the children born to Concubine Li, she would not lose face in front of the younger generation. She only said, "Prince Rui and the Princess have only been married for three or four months. Concubine Li, don't be too impatient."
Concubine Li glanced at Su Yi and said with a smile, "It's not that I'm anxious, but Princess Rui is different from a real young person. I think we should ask the imperial physician to take good care of Princess Rui in case there is anything wrong."
This was not a pleasant thing to say. Even though there were others present who doubted whether Princess Rui could give birth, no one would say it out loud on the spot, as it would be embarrassing. After all, there was no conflict of interest, so why bother arguing
The queen was about to say something, but she saw Su Yi stand up, frowned slightly and said: "Empress Li is right, Grandmother, your granddaughter-in-law came to the palace today and wanted to ask you for a doctor."
When the Queen Mother was young, she had also come out of the bloody storms in the deep palace. She was used to all kinds of struggles and had used many shameful means. Now that she is getting older, her mentality has become more peaceful. When facing the younger generation, she always loves them. Even the Princess Rui, who was not very satisfied with her at the beginning, now sees her often come to pay her respects, and she has a lot of love in her heart.
Not to mention, she always liked pretty girls. Seeing the usually bright and beautiful Princess Rui, with one hand on her chest, her brows slightly furrowed, and a look of pity, she hurriedly asked with concern, "What are you asking the imperial physician for? Are you feeling unwell?"
Su Yi nodded gently, appearing weak and lovable, but in her heart she was recalling the scenes she had seen on TV before. When the women in the harem were fighting, the most classic scene was always that a favorite concubine would cover her mouth and try to vomit in public, and then the imperial physician would come to take a look, and find out, she was pregnant!
She felt that the timing was right and it was time to test her acting skills!
She also covered her mouth and pretended to be nauseous, and continued to pretend to be weak: "In recent days, my granddaughter-in-law has always felt a tightness in her chest. When I wake up in the morning, I feel nauseous for no reason. I wanted to ask a doctor to take a look, but the doctors outside the palace are no match for the imperial physician. It just so happened that Concubine Li mentioned this matter just now..."
She was only halfway through her words when the people in the palace had different expressions. The concubines and the princes' wives had complicated looks. Concubine Li gritted her teeth and the handkerchief in her hand was almost torn. The empress dowager was overjoyed and kept saying, "Silly child, what's wrong with you? You, hurry up and ask someone to call the imperial physician!"
So, it was natural that Su Yi became pregnant.
No matter how everyone in the room felt in their hearts, they all congratulated her with a smile on their faces, as if they were pregnant themselves.
Suitete walked up to Concubine Li and said shyly, "Thank you very much, Concubine Li. If you hadn't mentioned it, with my confused personality, I don't know when I would have known it."
Concubine Li looked unhappy. She snorted and went to the Queen Mother to pay her respects and said, "Mother, I am not feeling well and want to go back to the palace to rest."
The Queen Mother frowned slightly before nodding and saying, "Go ahead."
The queen lowered her head and took a sip of tea, shaking her head slightly in her heart.
Concubine Li has been used to smooth sailing for so many years. She is no longer as cautious as when she first entered the palace, and her mind has become increasingly narrow. If it were normal, it would be fine if she made things difficult for the younger Princess Rui for no reason. But now that Princess Rui is pregnant, and the baby is the first child of the Prince Rui since he turned 30, how could the Queen Mother not take it seriously? How could she continue to let her do whatever she wants
The Queen's guess was right. Later that day, the Emperor came to the Queen Mother's palace to pay her respects. The Queen Mother said in a deep voice, "Regardlessly, I should not interfere in the affairs of your harem, but the Queen is too gentle and cannot suppress the publicity of some people. Princess Rui is finally pregnant. If something goes wrong because of your concubine, Emperor, think about your brother who died young. How can I face him after a hundred years?"
"Mother, your words are too serious." The emperor consoled her, "My son will behave himself and not cause you any distress."
The Queen Mother nodded, "That would be best."
When Princess Rui was diagnosed with pregnancy, the Queen Mother gave her a lot of goodies, and the Queen also gave her some rewards. Afterwards, the Emperor directly appointed two imperial doctors to stay in the Prince Rui's Mansion to ensure that the baby in the princess's belly was safe and sound.
Everyone could see how much the three most distinguished people in the imperial court valued Princess Rui and her unborn baby. There were even rumors in the palace that His Majesty had suddenly ignored Concubine Li because she had embarrassed Princess Rui. Although this rumor was unfounded, many people believed it.
But if we were to say who was the most shocked among all people, it would probably be King Rui.
On that day, Prince Rui came to pick up the princess from the palace as usual. Suddenly, he saw the eunuch beside the Queen Mother smiling with wrinkles all over his face, and congratulated him, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! The princess is pregnant!"
King Rui had a wooden face, with no change in his expression, and just looked at Su Yi in front of him.
The eunuch laughed until his cheeks turned sour. He felt strange because the atmosphere was not right. Then the attendant beside King Rui stuffed a purse into his hand and said, "Thank you, eunuch."
The eunuch pinched it subconsciously, and immediately laughed even more happily. He said a few more flattering words before leaving.
Su Yi looked at the person in front of him. Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, King Rui was still as solid and cold as usual. Even such a great event as the princess' pregnancy could not make him frown. But Su Yi became more and more familiar with him and knew that this guy was not without reaction at this moment, but probably too much reaction, and the part of the brain that manages emotions could not handle it and was stuck.
She took the initiative to hold King Rui's hand and walked out, silently counting numbers in her mind to see when he would recover.
In fact, what King Rui was thinking was not complicated. Su Yi had told him before that she wanted to have a baby. He just couldn't understand why she was fine when she entered the palace in the morning. How come there was a baby in her belly after a while? When was it put in? The baby came so suddenly, would it really not grow up in a day and then jump out
The fingers in his palm moved, Su Yi turned his head to look at him and jokingly said, "Are you finally back to your senses?"
Prince Rui's gaze fell on her face, then moved down to her abdomen, and then back to her face. He repeated this several times. The expression on his face became more and more solemn, as if he was facing a great enemy.
Su Yi was speechless: "What are you imagining? Don't scare yourself. Even if I want to, the baby won't suddenly come out. You know that pregnancy lasts for ten months, right?"
"Ten months later?" King Rui finally spoke. It's not that he really didn't know that pregnancy lasted ten months, but knowing it was clear, but when faced with the facts, whether he was still rational was another matter.
Sue nodded, "Yes, but it's not exactly ten months. It's been more than a month now."
When they arrived outside the palace, the prince's carriage was waiting under the palace wall. The maid supported Su Yi and wanted to help her into the carriage. Prince Rui suddenly stepped forward, picked her up and carried her sideways, then stepped into the carriage swiftly. He sat in the seat himself and let Su Yi sit in his arms.
Outside, the coachman and the maid were unable to react for a moment and stared blankly at the swaying curtain.
Su Yi leaned on the meat cushion and said helplessly: "You are harder than the brocade cushion underneath, do you know?"
Hearing this, King Rui tried to relax. But no matter how relaxed he was, that hard and lean body would not turn into fat overnight.
He also felt that he had no advantage over the Jindian that Su Yi mentioned. The only good thing was that Jindian would not actively cling to people, but he would, so he still held Su Yi tightly and did not let go.
Su Yi moved twice, but had no choice but to let him go.
There were also several other princes' wives outside the palace gate. They were about to return to their respective residences and happened to see this scene. They looked at each other and saw how lively it was over there while it was so deserted over there. They couldn't help but feel envious and a little sad.
Originally, Prince Rui had been sticking to Su Yi all day long. Now that she was pregnant, the imperial physician told her to be careful, so he had even more excuses. He blatantly ignored the original agreement that they should not hug each other when there were people around.
He wanted her to hold him when he went out in the carriage, when he got off the carriage when he returned home, when he had dinner, and even when Su Yi was taking a bath, he wanted to follow her in with that expressionless face that actually knew nothing about what she was thinking. However, Su Yi slammed the door on his face without hesitation.
Sleeping peacefully at night, the King of Rui's hand gently stroked her back. Su Yi thought about how she couldn't stand being stuck to him all day, and a bad idea came to her mind. She turned her head and lay on him, teasing him here and there. When he was ready to go, she turned over, rolled up the quilt, sighed, and said regretfully: "The imperial physician said that I can't do it for ten months. Alas..."
King Rui did not sleep all night.