"Your Majesty has worked hard on this trip. I offer you a toast on behalf of the common people. I thank you for personally visiting us and for your concern for the people's livelihood."
The first person to raise her glass was the Queen, who had a very appropriate smile on her face, which was impeccable.
It was so thoughtful and considerate, not at all like she had just had a miscarriage.
Ning Chen naturally drank it to give her face.
He also patted the queen's hand in front of all the concubines.
"When I was away, the affairs of the harem were all handled by the Queen alone. The Queen is virtuous, and I am lucky. This miscarriage is probably due to the lack of fate with the child. Since it has already happened, the Queen should not blame herself too much. You and I are still young, and we will have a legitimate son."
These words were not only spoken to the Queen, but also to the concubines present.
It's all about attitude. The emperor still respects the queen and still values his legitimate son, which also allows the concubines to have fewer thoughts in their minds.
The reason why the attitude is so clear is that the Secret Cabinet has investigated and found that this matter indeed has nothing to do with the Queen.
But there is one thing about the Queen.
The miscarriage was caused by the queen being too strong-willed and overworked.
Ning Chen felt somewhat uncomfortable, but for the sake of stability in the harem, he still had to give face to the Queen on the surface.
"I thank Your Majesty for your understanding. I will take good care of myself in the future and give birth to a legitimate son for Your Majesty as soon as possible."
The queen's eyes were red, with tears in them, and she was also full of grief.
She had been waiting for this child for many years, and no one was more sad than she was when she lost him.
Realizing she had lost her composure, the queen quickly wiped her eyes and forced a smile.
"Your Majesty, please don't just talk about me. Yi Xiuyuan gave birth to the third prince for you. This is a great achievement. I will arrange for her to move to Langhuaxuan. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
Langhuaxuan is very close to Jiuchen Palace and is spacious. It was once lived in by a favored concubine during the reign of the previous emperor and was renovated last year.
"The Queen loves me so much that when I first moved into Langhuaxuan, I felt that everything was exquisite and luxurious. I was terrified and quickly ordered people to put away the valuable ornaments, thinking that the Queen's kindness should be treasured."
Yi Xiuyuan stood up quickly.
Even though her description was vague, in fact many things in Langhuaxuan were beyond the regulations and should not be used by someone of her position.
The Queen's intention to flatter and punish her was too obvious.
"You gave birth to the third prince and have made great contributions to the royal family. Naturally, I am willing to give you these worldly possessions." The queen smiled.
Ning Chen calmly lowered his eyes and said, "The Queen is right. I haven't visited the Third Prince yet. Let's go to Langhuaxuan for lunch tomorrow."
"Then I will order the kitchen to prepare the emperor's favorite dishes and wait for the emperor to come." Yi Xiuyuan was overjoyed.
For a moment, her face flushed slightly.
No one had expected that she would be the one to take the top spot, and they were extremely jealous.
Concubine Wende's face darkened even more and she said nothing more.
After Concubine Shu toasted her, she didn't move, her eyes rolled and she smiled.
"What is Sister Defei thinking about? She was so absent-minded that she even forgot to toast the emperor."
"I am not feeling well today and cannot drink. Please forgive me, Your Majesty." Concubine Wende ignored her and just looked at Ning Chen deeply.
There is quite a bit of resentment and sadness.
Such words are undoubtedly disrespectful to the emperor and extremely willful.
"It's okay. Since Concubine Wende can't drink, you don't have to drink." Ning Chen said lightly.
But there was also a hint of impatience in his tone.
At this time, if he was throwing a tantrum at the family dinner, even a fool could see why.
Her apparent dissatisfaction with the emperor's decision undoubtedly touched his reverse scale. Even though Ning Chen had feelings for her, Ning Chen was not an ordinary man, he was the emperor.
Furthermore, Ning Chen went to see Yi Xiuyuan because the Wu family had done some useful things while staying in Kyoto this time. They were not like Concubine Wende, who was only concerned with love.
The harem and the previous dynasty have always had unclear ties, so it is impossible for Ning Chen to simply favor one person.
Even for Concubine Wende, the initial favor was to support her to form a three-way balance of power with the Empress and Concubine Shu, so as to ensure stability in the backyard.
It was only later, because of Concubine Wende's non-competitive nature, that I really put some effort into it.
But Concubine Wende never understood this, and she became increasingly alienated from Ning Chen.
Seeing that Ning Chen had no intention of coaxing her, Concubine Wende felt even more sad and stood up immediately.
"I cannot drink, and it would be a shame for me to stay here. I think the eldest prince will fall asleep by now, so I have to go back and accompany him. I will take my leave now."
After saying this, he left Fengqi Palace without looking back.
The atmosphere in the room was a little awkward.
In the end, it was the good-natured Concubine Jing who spoke up and broke the situation.
"The eldest prince is weak, and Concubine De, as a loving mother, is somewhat worried. By the way, I just met the two princesses a few days ago. They were both very lively and lovely. I remember that the second princess should be one year old in the next two days. Time flies so fast."
Wang Xiuyuan was smart and quickly responded, "It's rare that Concubine Jing still remembers. The second princess will be one year old in three days. The Queen has already made arrangements. I hope you sisters will do me the honor of coming to Yimei Pavilion for a drink."
The mention of the child finally livened up the atmosphere and resolved the awkward situation.
That night, Ning Chen naturally stayed in Fengqi Palace.
The concubines didn't dare to have this idea, and they all returned to the palace quietly.
Ye Jun was a step slower. He whispered a few words to Bai Zhu, and then saw Bai Zhu holding a scroll of painting and secretly handing it to Huai'an.
He even specifically instructed that it should not be taken out today and should be shown to the emperor tomorrow morning.
Huai'an is now very familiar with Bai Zhu. They are like brothers and there is no reason for them not to help each other.
evening.
The Queen and Ning Chen washed up separately. When they entered the bedroom, the Queen saw Ning Chen sitting at the desk reading the account book.
"Reading at night hurts your eyes. Your Majesty has come back from a long journey, why don't you take a rest first?" the queen said softly.
Ning Chen let out a long breath, closed the account book, and looked up at her.
"The Queen also knows that watching these things is harmful to the eyes and the body. Why can't she stop watching them when she is pregnant?"
These words were like a blow to the head. The queen was stunned for a moment. After a while, she recovered and knelt down, biting her lip.
"I know I was wrong."
Ning Chen's words were so blunt that she couldn't even find an excuse to defend herself.
"Xie, I understand your thoughts, but you shouldn't use your body and the child to show off." Ning Chen sighed, slowly walked over to grab her arm and helped her up, "I am not a tyrant, as long as you act in moderation, the position of Queen will definitely be yours, and no one can replace you. I don't want this to happen again, and I really hope you can give birth to a legitimate son."
The queen felt as if her heart was being cut by a knife. She could no longer hold back and hugged Ning Chen's waist tightly, crying loudly.
The servants serving outside the palace had no idea what was happening inside, and did not dare to look or listen any more.
All we know is that the queen fainted from crying that night, and the emperor simply slept in his clothes on a small couch in the outer room.