They are all concubines, so of course they choose the future emperor.

That night.

The Fenglai Palace was equally quiet.

"Has everything been dealt with?"

Jiang Wanyue stood in the shadow by the window, looking at the gorgeous pots of blooming peonies in the corridor, and asked.

Behind her was not Mi'er or Xing'er, but an elderly figure.

"Don't worry, ma'am, everything has been dealt with."

"What about the maid's family?"

"They don't know the truth. They have been terrified these past few days, fearing that they would be implicated." The old voice spoke again, "I remember your Majesty's instructions. I didn't ask anyone to touch them, lest anyone notice anything unusual."

"Well, there's no need to keep an eye on them. Withdraw everyone and send them to keep an eye on Liu Guo."

Liu Guo is the one who is in charge of the small kitchen.

"Yes."

The old man bowed and responded, seemed a little hesitant, and then asked again.

"Then in the Prince's Mansion..."

"Don't worry about it. I have done my best for him. Let him walk his own path in the future! Whether he can protect the baby in the Crown Princess' belly depends on him."

"Eunuch Wang, I'll leave the affairs of the court to you."

Jiang Wanyue turned around and looked at the hunched figure in the darkness.

This elderly man was actually Wang Jun, the eunuch who used to be Li Ce's personal eunuch.

Wang Jun raised his eyes, and their gazes met. Without saying anything, they both understood each other's meaning.

"Don't worry, madam. Everything is fine."

Jiang Wanyue nodded slightly, and then sent Wang Jun to the back door.

Wang Jun walked out the back door, waved to his confidant, and the two of them left along a deserted path.

From Fenglai Palace to outside the imperial palace, I didn't encounter a single person along the way.

Only when he got on the sedan chair and headed towards his own residence did Wang Jun's expression relax a little.

He twirled the Buddhist beads on his wrist, his sparse eyebrows drooping, as he recalled what the queen had said, weighing every word and every tone over and over again.

Not long after, the sedan stopped in front of an ordinary low-key three-courtyard house.

After Wang Jun entered the house, his attendants helped him take off his outer clothes, shoes and socks. Then he lay down on the recliner and closed his eyes to rest.

Now he only leads the work of the Palace Affairs Bureau and has long faded out of the palace. He bought a house outside the palace three years ago, but it did not attract attention from inside or outside the palace. Most outsiders thought that he was squeezed out by Liang Gaosheng and could no longer stay in the palace, so he planned to retire early.

Liang Gaosheng, ah Liang Gaosheng, you have lived such a comfortable life in the past few years that you have long forgotten what it means to live with a king as if he were a tiger.

Just wait!

Thinking of this, Wang Jun couldn't help but sneer.

He changed his posture, hummed a little tune, patted his thigh with his left hand, and was in a very good mood.

The next day.

After the small court meeting, the emperor summoned Commander Fan and Deputy Commander Huang to come to the emperor for an audience.

No one knows what the emperor said to the two of them.

But after this day, the movements of the imperial guards became more frequent and the scope of their patrols became wider.

By mid-June, the weather was hot, and the emperor ordered his men to move to the new palace in the north to escape the heat.

In order to ensure the safety of the women in the harem, the emperor directly transferred a group of 2,000 guards from the imperial guards and gave them full authority to the queen.

At that time, the court officials had not noticed anything unusual.

It was not until a long time after returning from summer vacation that someone discovered that the guard team was still in the hands of the queen.

Some upright officials wrote letters to the emperor to remind him directly, but were angrily rebuked by the emperor for meddling in other people's affairs.

Now, everyone understood the emperor's intention and no one dared to mention the matter again.

Only the unlucky official offended the emperor because of this incident and was almost demoted.

When the Queen learned about this, she persuaded the Emperor to transfer the official to the Censorate, which was a blessing in disguise.

It has been a consensus that emperors no longer command the military since the Han Dynasty.

But the emperor insisted, and the queen's reputation for kindness and benevolence spread widely, so the voices in the court soon faded away.

It’s August in the blink of an eye.

Amid the anticipation of all the civil and military officials in the court, the Crown Princess finally gave birth.

After two days and two nights, the Crown Princess gave birth to a thin baby girl.

Many ministers in the court sighed.

Even the Fan family was disappointed.

The child was born with congenital defects and died more than a month after birth.

The Crown Princess cried every day and her eyes were swollen.

Children who died young were not allowed to be buried in the imperial mausoleum, nor did they have a funeral, only a small coffin.

The prince was in a bad mood and ordered his servants to bury his daughter and send her to a farm in the suburbs.

"Find a place with mountains and water and bury him properly."

He didn't dare to look at the poor child.

Mrs. Fan came to visit, also on the orders of her husband, to persuade her daughter.

Seeing her daughter crying so hard, Mrs. Fan sighed.

"The child is gone. No matter how much you cry, she won't survive. This child is unlucky, not your fault. Now you should think about how to win over His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and quickly find a way to get pregnant with another one."

Fan Linling looked at her mother in disbelief.

"Mom! How can you say such things at this time?!"

Madam Fan frowned, "Mother is doing this for your own good. Would mother harm you? You are not marrying an ordinary person, but the prince. This first son must come out of your belly. If you are favored by those lowly maids and goblins, will there be a place for you in the East Palace?"

Fan Linling bit her lip.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince will not favor a concubine over his wife."

"Humph! All men are the same. He may not do that now, but who can guarantee that he will do that in the future? All men are unreliable. Your father said that I was the only one, but later he accepted the beauties sent by his subordinates. If it weren't for your mother's cleverness, when those concubines gave birth to sons, would you and your brothers have the life you have now?"

Mrs. Fan's tone was not very good when she talked about the past.

Fan Linling stopped talking.

But looking at her expression, it was obvious that she disagreed.

Mrs. Fan was anxious: "Ling'er, you must not be willful. Your father has asked around, and there are already many families who are training their daughters and preparing to send them to the Eastern Palace. Our family does not have a deep foundation, and you don't know those musical instruments, chess, calligraphy and painting. You can't compare with them, but you have taken the lead. If you don't hurry up, when the new person comes in, it will be too late for you to regret it."

Fan Linling still didn't speak.

Mrs. Fan grabbed her wrist.

"Don't underestimate these families in the capital. They are very good at training their daughters. For example, the queen used her charm to seduce the emperor. Even the crown princess at the time, your own mother-in-law, was powerless to fight back when she faced her."

"mother!"

Fan Linling was so frightened by her mother's words that her face turned pale and she hurriedly covered her mouth.

"What nonsense are you talking about?! Do you think you can interfere with the Queen? Aren't you afraid of bringing disaster to your family?"

Mrs. Fan disagreed.

"These things are not secrets. Who in the capital doesn't know about them? Don't think that she is sincere to you. She has her own son. She is just being polite to the prince."

"Mom, please take this as a plea from your daughter. Don't ever say these words again. You'll lose your head if you do."

Fan Linling was almost crying with anger.

Seeing this, Mrs. Fan had no choice but to stop the topic.

"Alright, alright, I won't say any more. I've been here for so long, it's time to go. You must listen to what I say! I'm doing this for your own good!"

Mrs. Fan stood up and patted her daughter's shoulder gently.

"I'll come to see you in a few days."