After dealing with the Chen family, Ning Chen kept waiting for the Queen Mother to make trouble.
Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother seemed to be oblivious to what was happening outside the window this time. She was only focused on enjoying her old age and did not make any response to this matter.
However, the spies in the palace reported that the Queen was no longer in the palace, and the Queen Mother often sent Nanny Fu to Ruyi Pavilion to visit the Second Prince, and instructed the servants to take good care of him in every detail.
Whether he really changed his personality or was just holding it back, it was hard to tell at the moment.
Time flies and it is almost mid-August. The Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away.
It looks like we’ll still be spending this year in Lingxi Garden.
During this period, Ning Chen stayed at Jiaotang Garden the most, followed by Lady Xia, and even Yi Xiuyuan was slightly behind. Then there was Fang Xiuyuan once or twice.
Cui Baolin, who had been popular for a while, has now basically fallen out of favor and no longer dares to offend Ye Jun.
Even occasionally fawning.
But Ye Jun looked down on her and ignored her, which made her angry.
However, Cui's position was low and no one paid any attention to her. No one cared even if she was so angry that she died.
It is the Queen who is busy with Mid-Autumn Festival preparations.
This time, Ning Chen meant to hold a state banquet, inviting ministers above the third rank to bring their families to Lingxi Garden to celebrate the festival together.
Now that all the ministers have arrived, they naturally have to go to the palace to bring over the empress dowager and the concubines first.
We might as well stay in Lingxi Garden for a while and go back after the Double Ninth Festival.
However, before the carriage that came to pick up the guests returned to the palace, news of a piece of good news came from the palace.
"The Empress Dowager wrote to say that Concubine Su has been pregnant for almost three months. I checked the book and found that it was the month of May when the Su family was promoted to the throne. Concubine Su is so lucky. I congratulate the Emperor that he will have another heir."
In Wutong Palace, the queen told the news with a smile.
When she came to Lingxi Garden, the concubines naturally came to pay their respects. Today was the day for paying respects. Yesterday, Ning Chen discussed the Mid-Autumn State Banquet with the Queen and also stayed in Wutong Palace.
So today we got everyone together and told the news at once.
"This Concubine Su hid it very well. She kept it a secret for three months before revealing it. So, when Qi Chen came to the garden in June, she was already a month pregnant. No wonder she said she was not feeling well and did not want to come. Was she secretly nurturing the pregnancy? I wonder if she was afraid that someone would harm her."
Concubine Shu snorted coldly and made a few blatant sarcastic remarks.
"This is Concubine Su's first pregnancy. She was not comfortable when she first got pregnant. She also said that her menstruation was not always regular. It was only after two months that she felt something was wrong. She found out she was pregnant after a checkup. Concubine Shu has also given birth before, so she knows the hardships involved. She should be more considerate and stop saying such sour words."
Unlike Concubine Shu’s petty appearance, the Queen is virtuous and generous.
These words were quite charitable of a legitimate wife, which made Concubine Shu seem jealous.
Perhaps it was because without Concubine Wende, the position of the first-rank concubine was once again held by her family alone, and Concubine Shu was squeezed out and felt a little unconvinced.
There's no way to find fault with the Queen, so just vent your anger somewhere else.
His eyes fell on Ye Jun, who had slept with him the most during this period.
"It's rare for Concubine Su to serve you, and she's pregnant. Concubine Ming has been in the palace for quite some time, but why... is there no movement in her belly? She must give birth to a prince for the emperor as soon as possible."
Ye Jun didn't bother to pay attention to her and bowed calmly.
"As for how long you have been in the palace, Concubine Shu was one of the first to serve the emperor, and yet she only gave birth to the eldest princess. I think Concubine Shu should work harder and give birth to more children for the emperor."
"Ye, you!" Concubine Shu blushed because of choking.
Everyone in the palace knew that she had stopped serving the emperor in the emperor's bedchamber a long time ago, and saying such things was like stomping on her face.
"Shu Fei, if you can't stop talking, just drink more tea and eat more. No one will think you are dumb."
A man's low and indifferent voice came from the main seat, with a hint of impatience.
Ning Chen's words stunned Concubine Shu and made her shut up in embarrassment.
The hall fell silent before Ning Chen spoke again.
"Su is pregnant, so we need to take care of her food and clothing. For her safe pregnancy, there is no need to travel to the garden. We can give her a small kitchen and ask her to cook her own meals. It will be safer. In addition, the previous emperor had many concubines, so we don't need to bring them all to the garden. We only need to bring the concubines who have given birth. I'll leave all this to the queen. Thank you for your hard work for a few days."
After saying this, he patted the queen's hand.
The queen smiled and nodded slightly, but brought up another matter.
"There is no one in the palace to take care of him, and the second prince is so young. I would not feel at ease if I just leave him to me. Why not take him over with the Queen Mother? I am taking care of the eldest prince now, so I can ask the second prince to come to Wutong Palace as well. It will be convenient for the two children to be together."
"The Queen truly has a loving mother's heart. It must be very hard for her to take care of two children alone." Yao Xiang suddenly said.
She couldn't help it out of inertia, and felt a little regretful after she opened her mouth.
She shouldn't be saying these words at this time.
Of course, she said this because she didn't want the Queen to hold two princes in her hands. After all, that would make the Queen's position more stable.
Sure enough, her words successfully caused Ning Chen and the Queen to look at her.
It was with these words that Ning Chen swept his eyes among the concubines and suddenly spoke.
"Concubine Jing has served me for many years and is very thoughtful. The Second Prince has lost his mother, so he will be raised by Concubine Jing in the future. The First Prince is weak, so he will be taken care of by the Queen for the time being. We will make a decision later."
Suddenly giving birth to a healthy son was something that Concubine Jing had not expected.
Of course, I had thought about it, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
He was very happy for a moment and immediately knelt down to express his gratitude.
"I will definitely live up to your expectations, take good care of the Second Prince, and treat him as my own son!"
This was a happy event, so no matter what the concubines thought in their hearts, they all smiled and congratulated Concubine Jing.
The queen was smiling, but her eyes were filled with annoyance. However, she hid it well and no one noticed.
But after everyone left, he couldn't help but lose his temper.
The emperor gave the second prince to Concubine Jing, and refused to give her the sick eldest prince, only asking her to take good care of him.
Right now, the only way she can hold on to it is by giving birth to one herself.
But her physical condition makes it difficult for her to conceive, and she suffered a miscarriage last time which hurt her body. It will take a long time for her to get pregnant again.
I was suddenly angry.
Jiaotang Garden.
When Ye Jun came back, he gulped down a large glass of water.
The weather is hot and I'm really thirsty.
The one who accompanied her to pay her respects today was Huiyue, who was not very happy at the moment.
"Why are you still looking so miserable?" Nan Zhi asked.
Huiyue frowned, "You don't know how much Concubine Shu went too far. In front of so many people, including the Emperor, she just mocked our Concubine!"
"What did she say?" Nan Zhi also widened her eyes.
It was Ye Jun who stopped the two girls.
"Okay, okay, why are you so angry? Others may not know why I don't have a baby, but you know it too. Just tell her what she wants to say. Whether I have a baby or not, I'm living a more comfortable life than her."