The Royal Family's Orphan is on the Rise

Fu Shou Palace

Ever since the Empress Dowager learned that her eldest grandson was going to choose a concubine, she has been happy for him. When it was his turn to choose a concubine before, he flatly refused.

Aunt Zhen brought a cup of hot tea to the Grand Empress Dowager and gently placed it on the small coffee table beside her.

"Grand Empress Dowager, please drink some hot tea to warm yourself up."

"Okay." After taking a sip, the Empress Dowager put down the osmanthus cake on the plate and took a bite.

"I never tire of eating this sweet-scented osmanthus cake. I remember that I used to make it myself."

Aunt Gui smiled gently: "Yes, the food the princess cooked was always better than that in the palace."

The Empress Dowager showed a loving and doting smile on her face: "Yes, the head chef and pastry chefs in the imperial kitchen always come to her for discussion, and even want the recipe."

Nanny Gui smiled and said, "Yes, but the princess said she didn't do anything else. The ingredients are the same, but the method of operation is slightly different."

Thinking about the huge difference in succession between a legitimate grandson and his daughter, the Empress Dowager was very worried.

"I hope that this selection of concubines will allow the emperor to have more offspring. Even if there are not many princes, a few more princesses will be fine." At least if her grandson has a few children, she will feel more at ease when she passes away in the future.

Aunt Zhen sighed, "Not to mention much, if the emperor was like the eldest princess's offspring, he wouldn't be as passive as he is now."

The Empress Dowager nodded slightly: "Yes, it's a pity that there is always a difference between these two brothers and sisters. The emperor has many concubines, but he is not satisfactory in terms of offspring. Yi Yi and her husband have not had any offspring in these years, I'm afraid they don't plan to have any more."

Nanny Gui continued, "The Regent Princess already has five sons and two daughters. It's understandable that she doesn't want any more children. After all, women have to go through a lot of hardships from pregnancy to childbirth."

"That's true. If you don't want it, then don't want it. Now that you have this, you will definitely have many children and grandchildren in the future."

The matter of selecting a concubine even alarmed Anren County, but the people here lived and worked in peace and prosperity and did not want their children to be too far away from them, so few people participated in the selection.

Not only in Anren County, but in the entire fiefdom of Shen Jiarou, there were very few people running for election. Most of them were daughters of officials. Not only that, there were hundreds of people who were elected.

Ji Chenyu didn't care about the selection of concubines. The empress dowager was in charge of the whole process and chose those who looked fertile, especially those with many children in the family.

The Queen Mother, who had nothing to do, came to Anhe Palace. She was looking at the candidates she had chosen on the list.

Bai Yuechu said: "Queen Dowager, the mothers of these women all have many children, especially sons."

The Queen Mother was very satisfied: "This is very good. I hope you can give the Emperor more children."

"The Queen Mother is here!"

The master and his two servants were stunned when they heard the announcement. Over the years, the Empress Dowager had hardly ever left Fushou Palace, and at most she would leave for a while to attend a palace banquet.

The Queen Mother quickly stood up, bowed respectfully and knelt down to salute.

"I greet the Queen Mother. Best regards, Queen Mother!"

Aunt Zhen was supporting the Grand Empress Dowager as she walked into the main hall. When she saw her daughter-in-law paying her respects, the Grand Empress Dowager spoke softly.

"No need to be polite, Your Majesty, please stand up."

The Queen Mother thanked her: "I thank you, Mother."

She stood up and walked to the Empress Dowager, helping her sit down on the phoenix chair.

"Mother, be careful."

"Empress Dowager, please take a seat. How do you think of your choice of concubine?" Strictly speaking, this was the first time the new emperor had chosen a concubine.

The Queen Mother handed a record book to the Grand Queen Mother. She opened the records and found that most of the family backgrounds were not good. It seemed that her daughter-in-law valued her offspring more and didn't care that much about the biological mother of the prince and princess.

"Well, it's okay as long as you keep it in mind. You've been working hard these days, but you must remember to combine work with rest."

"Your Majesty is right. I will keep it in mind."

"it is good."

The selected concubines were arranged into the harem by the empress dowager, and Ji Chenyu also favored them one by one every other day.

The ones who felt the most crisis in the harem were Concubine De and Concubine Xian. The more new people came in, the more panic they felt. After all, they were no longer able to give birth to children for the emperor at their current age.

Shen Jiarou's family went on an outing in Fenghe County. Su Wenjie, Jiang Ziheng and others were fishing and shrimping by the river. Jiang Weiyan was busy taking care of Jiang Ziyi, sometimes bringing her cakes, sometimes picking fish bones and handing her grilled fish.

"Big sister, Brother Wei Yan doesn't treat everyone equally. You see, only you have it, and we don't have it."

Jiang Ziyi smiled shyly: "What nonsense are you talking about? Brother Wei Yan may not have grilled the fish."

"But he didn't help me pick out the fish bones." Jiang Weiyan pouted, and Jiang Ziyi couldn't help but reach out and pinch her round cheeks.

Baomuxuan and Li Zibai were responsible for roasting sweet potatoes, potatoes and taro. Li Ziqi couldn't help but reach out and pick up a roasted sweet potato and started peeling it.

"It's delicious. Brother Muxuan, please help me peel the potatoes. I want to taste them."

"Okay, you wait."

Li Zibai asked, "Do you want to eat taro?"

Li Ziqi nodded: "Yes."

Jiang Zixue (Tang Zixue) sat down, peeled a sweet potato, wrapped it in the prepared oil paper and gave it to Shen Jiarou in the tent.

"Mom, eat the baked sweet potatoes."

Shen Jiarou and Bai Yunsu were playing chess. When she heard her son's words, she looked up and found that the sweet potato in his hand was still peeled.

"Thank you, Xue Ge."

Shen Jiarou divided the sweet potato into three parts, giving one to Jiang Zixue (Tang Zixue) and one to Bai Yunsu.

"Thank you, Princess, and thank you, Brother Xue."

"You're welcome, Aunt Bai. I'll peel another roasted sweet potato and bring some potato skins and taro over after we finish eating."

Everyone smiled with relief when they heard this. Shen Jiarou carefully tasted the roasted sweet potato and found it quite sweet.

"It tastes good. Thank you for your hard work, brother."

Jiang Ruofan was not treated so well. He was playing chess with Bao Zhiqing and Mr. Li.

Uncle Hei, Eunuch Li and Eunuch Liu were playing red string with the children, and Bao Muxin and the others were having a lot of fun.

Zhen Luosang and Zhang Zirou ate some snacks that they had almost finished, while Shen Jiarou, Bai Yunsu and others reached out for food while playing chess, living a leisurely life.

Doctor Li also came along this time. He brought two guards with great martial arts skills and searched for herbs everywhere.

"Doctor Li, is this enough?"

Doctor Li was addicted to the search at this moment and didn't want to leave at all.

"No, there are still many more. It would be better if we prepare more."

The two guards looked at each other silently and shook their heads helplessly.

The three of them came back carrying herbs, hugging herbs, and having herbs hung all over their bodies, not much different from savages.

When Jiang Ziheng saw the three people, he screamed loudly: "Ahhh... Ghosts."

Everyone looked at the three people and found that they were no longer recognizable. However, the weeds on their bodies looked like herbs, and the three people looked quite funny.