I swept the harem by pretending to be weak

Ai Ziyi was so frightened by the emperor's ugly expression that she had to leave in embarrassment.

If the emperor's face looked a little better, perhaps she would dare to take advantage of her recent favor and act coquettishly to the emperor and say a few nice words.

But the emperor's expression was too hideous and terrible.

Why did the emperor react like this? Ai Ziyi was puzzled. Was it because too many children had been lost recently? This was indeed the case. Liu Zhirou had lost one, and Ai Ziyi herself had lost another. Now Cuizhi was pregnant. Would the emperor think it was unlucky to give Cuizhi this kind of thing?

Only then did Ai Ziyi realize that she might not have thought it through enough. Even if she wanted to persuade the emperor to bring Liu Zhirou back, she shouldn't have used such a crude method.

Ai Ziyi sighed inwardly, hoping that this incident would not lead to more serious consequences.

However, what the emperor was worried about and feared was not what Ai Ziyi was thinking.

The emperor stared at the imperial edict spread out on the table, his expression becoming increasingly uglier.

The Empress Dowager had already informed the Emperor in advance that Liu Zhirou was preparing to return to the palace. Of course, this was also a necessary step.

However, after reading the imperial edict, the emperor was not happy but shocked. He felt that this matter revealed a sense of conspiracy from beginning to end.

If the Queen Mother is determined to keep Liu Zhirou in her palace to nurture her pregnancy, then the Emperor will definitely find ways to send someone in to ruin the Queen Mother's good deeds.

But when the Queen Mother actually released Liu Zhirou, the Emperor did not dare to take action. This was a very abnormal thing for him. The Queen Mother would never make such an irrational decision.

If what Liu Zhirou is pregnant with is really a tool for the evil Buddha to control this country in the next generation, then no matter how Liu Zhirou begs the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother will not change her mind.

It is precisely because of this that the Queen Mother’s decision now is full of doubts.

Is Liu Zhirou really pregnant? The emperor did not see it with his own eyes, nor did he hear the report from the imperial physician he could trust. The so-called news of Liu Zhirou's pregnancy came from the Empress Dowager's palace. Is this really credible? What if Liu Zhirou was not pregnant at all this time?

That meant that he had been completely misled by the Queen Mother, and that almost everything he had done before was a battle of wits and courage with the air. Moreover, for this matter, he had already wasted many of the secret agents lurking in the Cining Palace, which made the Cining Palace even more rigid.

If the Empress Dowager wanted to do anything else in the Cining Palace, the Emperor would hardly notice it.

The emperor regretted that he could have been more stable at the beginning, but he also knew that if he was given another chance, he would most likely make the same decision. Not everyone can remain calm enough when facing life and death, not even the emperor.

If Liu Zhirou was really pregnant, and he thought it was fake news and did not take action to suppress it, the consequences would be even more serious than they are now. He might even be driven off the throne by traitors without even knowing it.

But the emperor now has to face a rather terrible fact. He has completely lost control of the situation. Is it Liu Zhirou or the current Cuizhi who has become the pawn of the evil Buddha?

If it was Liu Zhirou, then why did the Queen Mother let her go? If it was Cuizhi, then why didn't she help her before and find a way for her to hide her pregnancy for a longer time?

The more the emperor thought about it, the more headache he had. The current situation was so complicated that even his methods were difficult to sort out.

But there is no doubt about one thing, judging from the current situation, he can no longer make a decision on his own, he must discuss this matter with the person behind him, no matter how unwilling he is.

The emperor smiled bitterly. He knew that he might have to pay a huge price again, but he still sent someone to inform the queen that he would come to her place for lunch at noon and visit the eldest princess.

When the queen heard the news, her first reaction was naturally joy. According to her idea, it would be best if the emperor could get closer to the eldest princess. In this way, when the eldest princess really came of age, the emperor would be willing to take the trouble to find a better consort for her and prepare a better fiefdom for her.

A disaster had occurred in the Lianmeng Palace before, and Concubine Chen was gone, as were several concubines of lower rank who depended on her for living. It was unknown how many maids and eunuchs had died in the disaster. The Second Princess, as Concubine Chen's daughter, was too young to start her own residence, so she naturally lived with Concubine Chen. As a result, she also died in the disaster, and her body was not found.

In order to demonstrate her virtue as a queen, the queen planned to hold a funeral for the second princess. However, the emperor seemed to be very sensitive about what happened in Lianmeng Palace, so the funeral naturally fell through.

Now that the eldest princess born by the Queen has become the Emperor's only child, she naturally receives a lot more attention than before. The Queen was very happy about this phenomenon and quickly urged her personal maid to make preparations.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what did the emperor say?" As soon as Ai Ziyi returned to her palace, Cuizhi hurriedly came up to her and looked at her eagerly.

Cuizhi's mind was also very confused. She knew that she was pregnant and was now considered a very precious person in the air. However, she was not sure what the emperor thought about this matter and what kind of position he was going to give her.

Cuizhi had never thought about raising a child herself, but she also hoped that if she really wanted to adopt a child, it would be her current master, Concubine Lan, who would do it. Although Concubine Lan's current formality and style were not as good as before, she was still far behind those ruthless people, and she was more or less considerate.

Cuizhi herself was assigned to Concubine Lan's family from the very beginning. She has always worked diligently and has not made any mistakes. In this way, her child can be better taken care of and she can see her child at all times.

But such things are hard to predict. Although Concubine Lan is the emperor's favorite now, she is still young and may have children in the future. But there are two old concubines in the palace who have no children, Concubine Xian and Concubine De. Regardless of whether Concubine Xian can give birth or not, she probably has no mood to raise other people's children with the emperor. But Concubine De is not like that.

Cuizhi also understood that Defei was of good family background and very beautiful. If she had not been always stern with the emperor, her favor would have been more than what she has now. If her child was really given to Defei, it would be difficult for mother and child to see each other again. If things went wrong, it was possible that the mother would be killed and the child would be left behind.

Ai Ziyi glanced at Cuizhi's anxious eyes, sighed and comforted her: "The emperor has been in a bad mood recently and didn't tell you about his arrangements for you, but you don't have to worry too much, just stay with me for the time being."

Cuizhi felt like a bolt of thunder from a clear sky.

She had already prepared herself mentally that the emperor might not value her pregnancy, but she had not expected that the emperor would be so stingy that he was unwilling to give her even a decent position.

It was obvious that the emperor valued children very much before. It was because Concubine Chun was pregnant that she was promoted quickly from a selected concubine to the head of a palace.

Why did it become like this when it came to her?