Zhongcui Palace.
Concubine Jingxian was copying Buddhist scriptures again.
Now she likes it very much and has copied several books from last year to this year.
Not only that, she now often goes to the Buddhist temple in the palace to chant scriptures, looking as if she is not interested in competing.
But she herself knew best that her hands were stained with blood, and offering more incense might help her to be forgiven in her next life.
But she didn't know whether the Bodhisattva would be willing to accept her incense.
"Your Majesty, I just saw someone from outside the palace enter Jinglan Pavilion." Nianzhu said as she came in, holding a stack of peony scrolls.
Concubine Jingxian stopped writing and had Tan Xiang help her wash her hands.
"Jinglan Pavilion, the person living there is Ying Wanrong, right? Her family is far away in Suzhou, and it's not easy for her brother and sister-in-law to come over, so naturally she wants to meet her. What's so strange about this?"
Nianzhu said, "It would be fine if only the Changsun family came in, but this time they brought someone with them, a cousin from Ying Wanrong's maternal family. I have asked around and found out that the person is from the Ruan family in Suzhou, and her family has been doctors for generations."
This is different. Bringing such a cousin all the way to the palace to see Ying Wanrong cannot be said to be missing her relatives.
What does her sister-in-law's relatives from her mother's side have to do with her? It can only be for other reasons.
Now, Ying Wanrong can still serve the emperor once every one or two months thanks to her parents' support, but she has been in the palace for some time and is still not pregnant, so she is naturally anxious.
However, Ying Wanrong was ultimately not of any significance, and Concubine Jingxian did not care much about it.
Just tell him to keep an eye on it.
Now she puts all her attention on the Second Prince, hoping that he can do well and win the Emperor's favor again.
At that time in Jinglan Pavilion, Ying Wanrong had a stiff face and looked like she was in an ice cellar.
It turned out that the secret recipe she had been drinking for so long was actually an abortion soup, not a good recipe for conditioning and aiding pregnancy.
"Sister Ruan, are you sure? This is the prescription I tried my best to get from Concubine Ming. It was given by the Emperor. How could it be a contraceptive soup?"
"I have been practicing medicine for many years and am most expert in gynecology. I will definitely not be wrong. But Wanrong, don't worry. This prescription is excellent. Although it can prevent pregnancy, it will not harm your body. You will be able to conceive normally after stopping taking the medicine for one or two months." Ruan said.
These words finally made Ying Wanrong feel relieved.
I felt embarrassed and annoyed. I didn't expect that I had been doing useless work for such a long time.
She drinks it every day, especially after sleeping with the emperor, she has to drink a bowl of it. I didn't expect it to be contraceptive soup.
"I'm so lucky that my sister-in-law brought Sister Ruan here, otherwise I wouldn't know how to worry about having an heir in the palace." Ying Wanrong frowned irritably.
"Having offspring is a matter of fate. Maybe the fate has not come yet. Wanrong should not be so anxious anymore." Ruan said.
Ying Wanrong nodded, and asked her to prescribe a proper recuperation prescription for her before sending the person away.
After everyone left, she closed the door and talked to her personal maid.
"It's really my impatience that caused the problem. But how could the imperial concubine take such medicine when she is so favored? If she has more children, she will be blessed."
Ju Bai covered her with a blanket and said, "I guess you were hurt when you gave birth to the twins, so you are not suitable to get pregnant, so you drink this medicine. But this prescription is said to be specially made by the emperor."
"Yes, the Emperor has doted on Concubine Ming for many years, and no one else can compare to him. Why would he ask her to drink the contraceptive soup? Could it be that the Concubine herself replaced the recuperation prescription with the contraceptive soup?" Lu Zhong guessed in a low voice.
Ying Wanrong frowned, "You mean, the imperial concubine herself doesn't want to bear children for the emperor?"
The two girls looked at each other and nodded slightly.
Lu Zhong added, "The Emperor dotes on the Imperial Concubine, so he must want her to have more children. But the Imperial Concubine's two childbirths were full of dangers. Maybe she just doesn't want to have children. Looking around the palace, who else has three children? Even if she doesn't want to have children, no one can surpass her."
Ying Wanrong felt confused when she heard the maids' analysis.
He waved his hand and told them to leave.
It doesn’t matter whether the imperial concubine gives birth or not, the key is that she wants to give birth.
Furthermore, even if the imperial concubine really drank the contraceptive soup secretly and was discovered by her accidentally, so what? She was an out-of-favor Wanrong who was just barely making ends meet relying on her family background. It would be easy for the imperial concubine to strangle her to death.
It is better to have less trouble than more. It is better to pretend that you don’t know.
Until now, she no longer dared to ask for exclusive favor.
But there is nothing you can do, even if you don’t want to move forward in this palace, there will be people who will push you forward.
The virtuous concubine who was secretly watching Jinglan Pavilion found that Ying Wanrong became depressed since she met her family.
The fact that Ying Wanrong had been drinking pregnancy-preserving medicine could not be concealed. After all, which woman in the palace didn't want a child? So no one noticed it at first, but now that she suddenly stopped drinking it, it was strange.
Especially after meeting my mother’s family, I stop drinking.
Concubine Jingxian naturally did not guess that it was the medicine's problem. She thought too much and wondered if Ying Wanrong was pregnant, so she did not drink it.
Thinking of this, a plan immediately came into my mind.
Admittedly, she didn't want to see a woman from a good family like Ying Wanrong get pregnant and give birth to a child, but if Ying Wanrong became pregnant at this time and could be used by her, it would also distract the emperor from Zhaochun Palace.
After all, the seventh prince had just passed away, and the emperor must be very happy that his concubine was pregnant.
"Tan Xiang, I am old now, and the brightly colored fabrics in the storehouse are no longer suitable. Please pick out some good ones and send them to the concubines of lower rank in the palace. It would be a waste to leave them in the storehouse."
"Yes, I'll go right away." Tan Xiang bowed.
Before he could leave, Concubine Jingxian gestured for him to come closer.
The master and servant whispered a few words, Tan Xiang nodded slightly, and then retreated.
Soon, all the concubines of lower rank in the palace received rewards from Concubine Jingxian.
However, Ying Wanrong secretly added two more sets of headgear.
Ying Wanrong was born into a noble family, so she naturally had no shortage of money. However, after being in the palace for a long time, she was out of favor and was not used to the things she had, so these fabrics and jewelry were considered valuable gifts.
Knowing that she would not receive any reward without any merit, Ying Wanrong had already guessed what Concubine Jingxian meant.
When Tan Xiang, who was delivering the gifts, said that Concubine Jingxian liked her very much and wanted to get closer to her, Ying Wanrong hesitated for a moment but finally agreed.
She knew that in the current situation, it would be too slow to climb up on her own unless someone was willing to help her.
It is true that Concubine Jingxian is not favored, but her qualifications, status, and long-term friendship with the emperor are there. As long as she is willing, there is a way to help her gain favor.
In fact, Ying Wanrong had thought about relying on Ye Jun, but after Ye Jun had some contact with her, he felt dislike for her and rejected her directly.
Because Ying Wanrong wanted to be favored, but Ye Jun had a rule that anyone who followed her would never think of being favored.
Ye Jun can endure fighting with the enemy, but she will never allow people in her camp to rely on her to get a piece of the pie.
Besides, Ye Jun doesn't need anyone to favor him.