Quick Wear: The Enchanting Concubine, Rules of Survival and Plunder

The Empress Dowager then became concerned about Jiang Chunxi's health, asking her if she was experiencing morning sickness or any discomfort.

In short, they asked about every possible situation a woman might experience during pregnancy, in such detail that they wanted to know every single hair on Jiang Chunxi's head.

When the Empress returned to her palace, her virtuous and gentle face immediately changed to a completely dark expression.

The thought of the Emperor coming to her palace that night made the Empress feel terrible.

The Emperor greatly respects the Empress, and having just returned from Jiangnan, he will surely stay at the Empress's palace tonight.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong? Is it because you're upset about the child in Consort Fu's womb?" Peony presented the Empress with a cup of hot tea. "But Your Majesty already knows that the child in Consort Fu's womb is a bastard and nothing to fear. Why should Your Majesty..."

"You've served the Empress for so long, and you don't even know why she's unhappy right now," Shaoqing interrupted Shaoyao. "The Empress isn't unhappy because of Consort Fu's unborn child; she's clearly unhappy because the Emperor will be coming tonight."

As she spoke, Shaoqing came to the Empress's side and massaged her head: "Your Majesty, I know you are disgusted with the Emperor, but for the sake of Prince Chen's great cause, you have already endured it for so long, so why not endure it a little longer?"

Shaoqing and Shaoyao were not people who had served the Empress since childhood, but were arranged by Prince Chen to be by her side.

Of course, the fact that Shaoqing and Shaoyao were Prince Chen's people was not hidden from the Empress. The Empress even felt incredibly sweet because Prince Chen had arranged for people to come to her side, feeling that Prince Chen truly cared about her.

That's why I said it! Women who are obsessed with love are really scary; their brains are so stupid, it's like their cerebellum has atrophied.

"Alas! I understand this principle, but I've truly had enough of this kind of life," the Empress said, her eyes reddening. "Over the years, whenever the Emperor comes to my place and lies beside me, I feel nauseous and want to vomit. If it weren't for Prince Chen's great cause, I would..."

"Your Majesty," Shaoqing quickly interrupted the Empress, "I know you are suffering, and I believe that the Prince is suffering the same way. But this is only temporary. Once Prince Chen achieves his great ambition, you and Prince Chen will be a perfect couple, living a life of blissful happiness."

"So all the suffering you two lovers are experiencing now is something you must endure for your future happiness. If you want to end this suffering as soon as possible, you can only put more effort into the Emperor, such as giving him more medicine."

As she spoke, Shaoqing gave Shaoyao a wink, and Shaoyao quickly said, "Your Majesty, Prince Chen has sent a secret medicine that can silently deplete a person's body. His Majesty has lived for too long, and Prince Chen is really impatient. He is afraid that if he waits any longer, he may not be able to stay with you for the rest of his life."

"And there's also the child in Consort Fu's womb. Your Majesty must think of a solution quickly. If the Emperor finds out that Consort Fu is carrying an illegitimate child, he might fall ill from anger. If you whisper sweet nothings in his ear, then the opportunity for Prince Chen to return to the capital will surely come."

That's right. Prince Chen never intended to adopt a son for the Emperor and let his own son ascend the throne. He always wanted to ascend the throne himself. Not only was the Empress his person, but many officials in the court were also his cronies.

After all, as the late emperor's most beloved son, how could he not have some power? Even though Prince Chen left the capital for his fiefdom, there are still quite a few officials in the capital who are loyal to him. However, those people are very well hidden and will only reveal themselves at crucial moments.

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and prepare. When His Majesty comes to my palace tonight, give him the medicine." The Empress immediately became energetic.

The Emperor first went to Chengfu Palace to have dinner with Jiang Chunxi before coming to the Empress's palace. The Empress had drugged the Emperor's calming tea.

The medicine was a slow-acting poison that the imperial physicians couldn't detect. They had no idea where Prince Chen had gotten such a potent secret medicine. He was truly worthy of being the late emperor's favorite son, able to obtain all sorts of secret medicines.

Jiang Chunxi naturally didn't need to pay her respects to the Empress; it was the Empress Dowager who personally issued the imperial decree. This made all the concubines in the harem so envious they were practically bubbling with jealousy!

However, while they were jealous, they dared not harbor any ill intentions, since no one could bear the consequences of harming Consort Fu's unborn child.

Most importantly, since they didn't have any princes, they had even less reason to risk harming Consort Fu's unborn child. On the contrary, they were hoping that Consort Fu would give birth to a prince.

After all, whether the throne will be ascended by the emperor's son or by someone adopted from the royal family will make a difference to their future lives. Therefore, unless they are mentally unstable, no one would hope that the emperor will have no successor.

Jiang Chunxi met Jiang Huishu half a month later.

Jiang Huishu entered the palace with Madam Gu. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law first went to the Empress's palace to pay their respects to the Empress before being led to Consort Chengfu.

The old lady Gu was very tactful. After paying her respects to Jiang Chunxi, she made an excuse to change her clothes and left, so that Jiang Chunxi and her niece Jiang Huishu could have a private talk.

“Aunt, I miss you so much,” Jiang Chunxi said, her eyes red as she nestled into Jiang Huishu’s arms. “How have you been doing all this time since I left you? Are those ignorant servants still making you suffer?”

"Aunt is doing well. Ever since the news of your becoming Consort Fu spread back to the capital, none of the servants in the Gu household have dared to look down on you anymore. No one dares to mistreat you." Jiang Huishu wasn't lying. These servants were all shrewd. Knowing that Jiang Chunxi had become a concubine and was pregnant with the emperor's child, who would dare to disrespect Jiang Huishu, their mistress?

Of course, there are some exceptions. For example, the servants who have influence in the old lady's courtyard still don't take Jiang Huishu seriously. However, they no longer dare to openly disregard Jiang Huishu as they used to.

“If I had known this would happen, I shouldn’t have let you go back to Jiangnan in the first place,” Jiang Huishu said, hugging her niece with heartache, tears streaming down her face. “If I had known that the Jiang family would sacrifice you to gamble for that enormous wealth and commit such a despicable act as selling their daughter for personal gain, I would never have let you go back to Jiangnan.”

“My poor Chunxi, why is your life so miserable? It’s all because your aunt is useless that you have to suffer like this.”

“Aunt,” Jiang Chunxi lifted her head from Jiang Huishu’s embrace, took out a handkerchief to wipe away Jiang Huishu’s tears, “It was my own choice to go to the imperial palace to serve the emperor, not the Jiang family…”