Xiaoman said with a smile: "Of course I'm going to the palace. You've worked hard."
After greeting the guard at the gate, Xiaoman happily walked in. The guard at the gate looked confused. The two looked at each other and said, "Wasn't that the county lady? She entered the palace before dawn?"
"It's the county lady. You're not mistaken, and neither am I. It's really strange."
Xiaoman didn't care about the guards' comments. It was still early, the queen wanted to go to bed, the queen mother hadn't woken up yet, and the other concubines should not have gotten up yet, so the little princess was hers.
Because she had a token that allowed her to enter and leave the palace freely, Xiaoman was like a fish in water in the harem. Quickly arriving at the Queen's Palace, Si Qi looked at Xiaoman with a look of surprise on his face: "County Princess? County Princess Jixiang, why are you here so early?"
Xiaoman looked at Siqi with a smile: "Siqi, is the Queen awake?"
Si Qi shook his head: "No! I'm still resting. Is there something you want to see the Queen so early?"
Xiaoman shook her head: "No, I'm not looking for the Queen, I'm here to see the little princess. Is there anyone accompanying the little princess now?"
Si Qi blinked and suddenly realized. She remembered that the emperor and the empress dowager did not return until late at night yesterday.
The Empress Dowager held the little princess tightly and refused to let go. The Emperor also wanted to hold her, so he stayed there and tried to persuade the Empress Dowager to leave, but was scolded by her and told to go and deal with state affairs.
Of course, the emperor came back after dealing with it for a while. He saw that the empress dowager had not left yet, so the emperor was helpless. Finally, it was very late and the empress dowager was sleepy before she put the little princess next to the empress. She also drove away the emperor and the princes and concubines who were waiting outside.
Si Qi was still wondering who would be the first to come and see the little princess today. But she never expected that the first person to come would be the county lady who lived outside the palace.
"No! Please come in with me. The little princess is sleeping on the small bed next to the queen's bed. Please come in quietly and don't wake the queen up."
Xiaoman took advantage of this time difference. As long as the emperor got up for the morning court and everyone else in the palace was sleeping, she would tiptoe to the little princess and look at the cute little girl. She was extremely excited.
Reaching out and gently touching the little princess's cheek, she was chubby and cute, and the touch was really good. Xiaoman was instantly satisfied, and didn't hold the little princess, just looked at her.
There was another person beside the bed, and the queen woke up quickly. Seeing that it was Xiaoman, she was a little surprised: "You are really up quite early."
Now she knew that she had given birth to a baby that everyone coveted. Xiaoman was a little embarrassed: "Did I wake up the Queen?"
The queen shook her head: "That's not the case. I slept too much last night and now I'm awake. It's just strange, why did you come so early? Do you want to hold the child?"
Xiaoman naturally thought so, holding the little princess in her arms and looking at the queen: "My queen, has the little princess been named?"
The Queen still shook her head: "I heard the Emperor mention that he wanted to name her Mingzhu, but later he said that she was not worthy of this little girl, so he went to study her!"
Xiaoman blinked and looked at the child in her arms: "She is so cute."
At this time, Si Qi walked in again and looked at the Queen: "Queen, Queen Consort Chen is outside. When the Queen gave birth yesterday, all the ladies from the palaces came, but they were driven away by the Emperor."
People outside didn't know, but everyone in the harem knew that the queen had given birth to a little girl, and they were all curious and wanted to come and see.
The Queen was somewhat amused: "Please invite Concubine Chen in. It's really hard for her. She is usually exempted from paying respects and is supposed to sleep until she wakes up naturally. This time she got up so early, probably for the Fifth Princess."
The Concubine Chen was not shy with the Empress, and rushed in and spoke first: "Your Majesty, I greet you. Your Majesty, where is the little princess?"
After she finished speaking, she saw Xiaoman was there too, and the little princess was in Xiaoman's arms. She immediately widened her eyes and said, "Princess Yongxi, why are you here?"
Then she realized that Princess Yongxi had the same idea as her and wanted to take advantage of the time difference to hug the little princess. This was too much, as she arrived earlier than her.
Xiao Man was also amused: "Why did the Empress Chen come? That's why I came too."
The corner of Chen Fei's mouth twitched: "You have been hugging the county lady for quite a while, right? Hug me, hug me quickly."
Xiao Man looked at Chen Fei's positive attitude and was amused: "Okay, I'll give you a hug."
The Concubine Chen held the child in her arms and sighed, "It's really so cute. Princess Yongxi, we are not so lucky to have a child. Can't you give birth to a child yourself? You don't have to go to the palace in the middle of the night to hold the child?"
Xiao Man didn't know how to respond to this, so the Queen spoke up: "It's not that the child is not around, Yong Xi misses the child."
Who wouldn't want a child? Xiaoman sighed, "That's right. Who wouldn't want a child?"
The scene was a little awkward. Concubine Chen couldn't have a baby, the Queen had just given birth, and Xiaoman had a baby but couldn't stay with her. Ugh! Concubine Chen smiled awkwardly: "Let's just look at the little princess. The little princess is so cute. Queen, can you call her Xiao Baobao?"
Xiaoman was speechless when she heard the word "Little Bag". "Are you really not afraid that the emperor will beat you to death? The emperor thinks that even the word "Mingzhu" is not worthy of the little princess. But you are so good, calling her "Bag?"
The Concubine suddenly sighed again: "The county lady is right, I am not qualified to name her. So just hug her, I have never seen such a lovely child!"
As she was talking, the little princess woke up and opened her eyes, as if looking at the person in front of her. Concubine Chen was suddenly healed: "Ah, look, she is looking at me, she likes me."
The Queen and Xiaoman looked at each other. The arrival of this child would bring about some changes to the palace. Concubine Chen looked at the little princess. If possible, she wanted to take her home and raise her herself.
But obviously this is impossible, unless it is stolen. But this is a big deal, stealing the queen's child, I am afraid that the emperor will not tolerate me.
The Queen watched the changing expressions of Concubine Chen and could not help but frowning: "Concubine Chen, what are you thinking about? Your expression tells me that you are up to something bad."
Concubine Chen woke up instantly and laughed dryly: "No, really not."
If she dared to tell the truth, she would not even have the chance to meet the little princess in the future, so she would definitely not agree. However, if she did not tell the queen something to evade her, the queen would not give up.
"I was thinking that maybe I could choose a girl from my family to bring into the palace and raise her as a playmate for the little princess, so that they can grow up together. Your Majesty, do you think this is feasible?"
She couldn't have children, but she could raise them. But she wasn't happy about raising a dog like Concubine Liu and the others did. Once this method was proposed, it seemed like it was suddenly possible. Yes, raising someone else's child.
This is a good idea. Xiaoman frowned and looked at Concubine Chen: "My Lady Concubine Chen, no mother would be willing to be separated from her children."
Concubine Chen disagreed with this view: "That's not necessarily true. A child raised by me will have a bright future. For the sake of the child's future, there must be many people willing to do it."
She had one more thing to say, but she didn't dare to say it. Didn't the Princess of Yongxi County send the child back to Mingyue Island to raise him for the sake of his future? Isn't that the same reason
The Queen sighed and said, "I advise you not to say such things. If the Emperor hears you, you will surely be scolded again."
What does it mean to take someone else's child to raise? Isn't this a direct slap in the face of the emperor, saying that the emperor can't have children? Are you saying that the emperor is incompetent and can't make all women pregnant? The emperor was originally poisoned and is detoxifying, aren't you poking the emperor in the heart!
After being told this by the Queen, Concubine Chen also reacted instantly. Yes, the Emperor is the most important person in the palace, and no matter what she does, she must take the Emperor's thoughts into consideration: "Your Majesty is right, it was I who wanted to assist, and I will not mention this matter again in the future."
Xiaoman looked at Concubine Chen with some sympathy. The women in the harem, except the Queen, were all pitiful. She looked at the Queen and said, "Your Majesty, you must take good care of yourself during this confinement period and take care of your body."
The Queen knew that Xiaoman wanted to change the subject, so she smiled and nodded: "I see, don't worry, I'm fine with Si Ran and Si Qi here."
Seeing that the morning court had ended, Xiaoman said goodbye: "If everything is fine, I'll go back first."
Judging from the Queen's expression, the Emperor probably didn't tell her. After Gu Xiangning reminds the Emperor, there shouldn't be any problem.
The Queen waved to Xiaoman in silence and said, "You can come to see the child anytime next time. There's no need to come so early. Go back and catch up on your sleep."
Xiaoman nodded in approval, then slowly left the Queen's bedroom and went to the palace gate to wait for Gu Xiangning. The couple went home together.
Gu Xiangning was already talking with the emperor in the study at this time. During the morning court session just now, the emperor issued an imperial decree, asking Fang Shaohua to hurry to Xianyou Town to take up the post of county magistrate.
This made everyone in the court unable to react. What was the emperor going to do? Before they could respond, the emperor called for the court to be dismissed and prepared to pick up the little princess. As a result, Gu Xiangning followed him like a tail.
"Lord Gu, Lord Lin, if you have nothing else to do, go home and deal with other things. Why are you following me?"
Gu Xiangning rolled his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, I don't want to follow you either. But there are some things I want to remind you of, so I followed you here."
Regardless of the emperor's attitude, Lin Zezhi was also an insider of this matter, so Gu Xiangning said directly: "Beibei went to look for the treasure because you, the emperor, asked her to do so. You'd better not tell the queen, understand?"