Harem Daily Life

After deciding to take the Queen Mother on a one-day folk tour, Tao Yanyan wanted to make preparations in advance. She discussed it with Eunuch Qin, came up with a strategy, and sent someone to arrange everything in advance.

Eunuch Gui was forced to take the responsibility of taking Dong Fang and several guards to check out the places the empress dowager wanted to visit, making the necessary arrangements and taking care of the things, so as to lay out everything in advance to ensure that nothing would go wrong.

When Gu Yi heard about this decision, he was half happy and half worried. He was happy that he had the opportunity to travel with his beloved and experience the world, but he was worried that he had to take on the responsibility of guarding them and must not let anything happen to the three of them, even if it cost him his life, he had to bring them back safely.

He carefully selected fifty people, all of whom had extraordinary martial arts skills, and all of them began to train intensively, waiting for that day to guard the three nobles.

In the Imperial Palace, He Linzhang had just finished discussing with the Ministry of Works the year-end maintenance plan for the official roads, canals, and docks around the capital, and had just reconciled the accounts for October with the Ministry of Revenue, when he saw Zhang Fuhai come in with a happy face and report: "Your Majesty, there is good news from Fengyi Palace. The Empress is pregnant!"

"Really?" He Linzhang was overjoyed and immediately closed the memorial in front of him: "Let's go to Fengyi Palace."

He had always hoped that the queen could give birth to another child, and preferably a prince. In this way, the son of the central empress would have the most noble status and would be the legitimate son. If he was well trained when he grew up, he would naturally be made the crown prince, thus breaking the ambitions of the Rong family behind Concubine De and the Shu family behind Concubine Shu to support their sons to ascend to the throne.

As an emperor, what he hated most was the monopoly of power by external relatives. Whether it was the Rong family, which held a large number of troops, or the Shu family, which had a deep foundation and produced the Empress Dowager and Shu Fei, neither family should be underestimated.

In Fengyi Palace, the Queen was lying on the chaise longue with a look of joy on her face, covered with a light and warm quilt. The imperial physician was explaining the precautions when the windproof door curtain was lifted and He Linzhang walked in.

"Your Majesty!" The Queen wanted to stand up to greet her, but He Linzhang said quickly: "Lie down, don't move!"

After saying this, he took the queen's hand and asked, "How long has it been? Is the pregnancy stable?"

Doctor Zhao said quickly, "It's been more than a month now. The fetus is stable and the queen is in good health. As long as she doesn't overwork herself and takes good care of herself for three months, she will be fine."

He Linzhang was very happy: "Everyone in Fengyi Palace must serve the Queen well and no mistakes can be made!"

The maids, eunuchs and palace maids in the room immediately knelt down: "Yes!"

The Queen hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother's birthday is coming up in a few days. Originally, I was going to accompany Your Majesty to visit her, but now there is a change of plan. Should I ask someone else to accompany Your Majesty?"

"But the Imperial Concubine and the Virtuous Concubine brought the gifts to the Queen Mother the day before yesterday. They said they had to take care of the two children and would not go. The Virtuous Concubine... the Queen Mother did not want to see her, and the Shu Concubine is pregnant. Otherwise, how about Wang Zhaoyi..."

He Linzhang interrupted her: "No, if you don't go, no one else needs to go for you. I will go by myself. The Queen Mother will be very happy to know that you are pregnant. You can give the gift to Zhang Fuhai. I will go there in advance and stay with the Queen Mother for one or two more days."

The queen nodded and followed the emperor's arrangements.

"But the end of the year is busy. We have to prepare for the New Year's Day and the weddings of the two princes. These are all very time-consuming and laborious. You are pregnant again. Do you want the imperial concubine to help manage the harem and share your worries?"

The Queen had also considered this. Although she was unwilling to give the power of ruling the palace, which she had finally regained, back to the Imperial Concubine, she still knew which was more important, compared to taking care of the pregnancy.

"Then you will have to work harder, Your Majesty." The Queen nodded in agreement.

He Linzhang then gave an oral order to the imperial concubine, asking her to regain control of the palace.

The imperial concubine accepted the decree, but there was not much joy on her face.

After everyone left, the maid Wenlan beside him said, "I didn't expect the queen to be pregnant. What if it's a prince..."

Once the legitimate son is born, it will be useless for others to have any more children.

The imperial concubine glared at her and said, "Don't talk nonsense. The queen's pregnancy is a blessing for the Great Zhou Dynasty. Everyone should be happy."

Wenlan realized that she had said something wrong and immediately lowered her head.

"Then, Madam, the power of ruling the palace is back. This year will be busy again."

The imperial concubine said calmly, "It's nothing to be busy for the queen. Go and tell everyone the news and tell them to cheer up. Tomorrow I will go to Fengyi Palace to pay my respects, congratulate the queen, and take over the position."

The Imperial Concubine had been in charge of the harem during the Empress' illness, and she was quite capable of doing the job. However, with the transfer of power, the people she had previously arranged were replaced or demoted by the Empress. It was inevitable that she would have to put in more effort to take over the palace affairs again.

The news that the Queen was pregnant spread quickly. When Shu Fei heard about it, her face turned pale as Her Majesty was so happy to admire the Fengyi Palace.

Fu Xin saw that she looked upset and advised: "Your Majesty, these are just for show. His Majesty has also given you many gifts. Your Majesty, don't worry. The most important thing is to give birth to the child safely."

"Yes, Your Majesty, you are from the Shu family. As long as you give birth to a prince, the Queen Mother and the Shu family will help you. You don't have to worry about anything." Zi Ling said.

Shu Fei sighed: "I don't have any extravagant expectations for this child's future. I just hope to have a child with the emperor's cousin. But both are pregnant, and His Majesty obviously attaches more importance to the queen's baby."

I feel so unbalanced. Ever since I became pregnant, His Majesty has not been able to be invited to come. Instead, he has to stay in Fengyi Palace every day. It really makes me sad.

After the fabric incident happened, she was not even taken into consideration that she was pregnant and was even scolded a few times. Shu Fei was angry with both her family and the emperor. She was so angry that she couldn't eat for several days.

Shu Fei sent the two palace maids beside her away, and wiped her tears silently when no one was around.

In Changxin Palace, Concubine Xian was so angry that she threw things all over the floor.

"Your Majesty, please don't smash it anymore! These are all silver!" Qing'er hugged Concubine Xian's hand and snatched a vase.

"The Shu Fei is pregnant, the Empress is pregnant, everyone is pregnant, but I can never be pregnant again! Ahhhhhh... I'm so angry, so angry!"

"Your Majesty, as long as you adopt one of the children born to a concubine of lower rank, the problem will be solved. You won't have to go through the hardship of carrying a baby for ten months. Why not do it?" Jing'er advised.

The virtuous concubine lost all her strength, sat down on the stool, and cried with her face covered.

After crying for a while, she asked, "Who are you paying attention to?"

Qing Er said, "Ms. Xu seems to be a good person. She is usually quiet and easy to control. She was carriage-sick and didn't accompany His Majesty on the trip. Otherwise, she wouldn't have let Lady Tao take advantage of her for nothing."

"Yes, the original candidate was Concubine Xu, and Concubine Tao had nothing to do with it. Concubine Tao was lucky enough to accompany His Majesty on the southern tour, and that's how she was favored and promoted along the way." Jing'er was indignant.

The virtuous concubine narrowed her eyes and said, "Then decide on her. Find an opportunity to get acquainted with her first, and let her become my concubine. Then we can slowly make plans for her later."

"Yes, I heard that tomorrow is Concubine Xu's birthday, so I will bring some small gifts and say it is a reward from the Empress." Qing'er said.

The virtuous concubine nodded and agreed to her approach.