Harem Daily Life

Upon learning that the emperor and empress wanted to preserve the fetus, Imperial Physician Liu said nothing and could only do his best.

When the Queen Mother learned that Empress Tao of Changle Palace was pregnant again, she was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling: "Great, great! Empress Tao has once again given birth to a new family for the royal family. She is truly a great contributor. Go quickly open my storehouse and pick out a bunch of goodies to send over."

Eunuch Qin also smiled and said, "Your Majesty is so blessed. Your Majesty the Queen is going to have another grandson."

"Reward, reward the entire Changle Palace, and reward all the servants who serve for three months."

"Yes, I will go down and convey the imperial decree right away." Eunuch Qin left happily with a beaming face.

The news that the Queen Mother had given a great reward to the Changle Palace spread throughout the entire harem. When the concubines in the harem heard about it, they were extremely envious.

The Queen is pregnant again!

The concubines who had no children were so jealous that their teeth were about to ache. The concubines who already had children were so jealous when they learned that the Empress was going to have a third biological child that they would be lying if they said they were not envious.

"Your Majesty, didn't the Queen say before that His Majesty was in poor health and needed to recuperate? But look, she is pregnant again so soon." Caiwei, the maid of Concubine Xian, said sullenly.

The virtuous concubine glanced at her and said, "I don't want to hear such words of resentment against the Queen anymore. If you can't control your mouth and your expression, then I will contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs as soon as possible and have you transferred to another place."

Xianfei's words were very harsh. Caiwei's face flushed and she lowered her head: "I just feel sorry for Your Highness. Your Highness has been assisting the Empress in managing the six palaces and has done her best, but Your Highness has monopolized Your Majesty. Your Majesty hasn't rested in Her Highness's palace for many years! Your Highness is only in her twenties, in the prime of her life, but she has never served Your Majesty again. I feel so sorry for Your Highness."

The virtuous concubine rolled her eyes at her. "One must know how to judge the situation and not compete with Empress Tao. Then one can live in peace and stability in this harem. So many people have competed with her before, and have you ever seen anyone end up well? If I don't compete with her for favor, she will treat me as one of her own and give me the real power to assist in managing the six palaces. Isn't this more important than your Majesty's temporary favor? Besides, if your Majesty himself doesn't want to come to my palace, what's the point of going to great lengths to win favor?"

"Your Majesty!" Caiwei said anxiously, "Your Majesty didn't fight for the throne before because His Majesty favored Queen Tao. But now Queen Tao is not feeling well. If you don't fight for the throne, others will. Why bother giving up this opportunity?"

The virtuous concubine pondered for a moment, then shook her head and said, "You know that when the Empress was pregnant with twins, His Majesty never set foot in another palace. Do you think that now that Empress Tao is pregnant with her second child, His Majesty will set eyes on other people? Humph, don't say such things again. I just want to be with the Empress and live a peaceful life."

Seeing that Caiwei still looked somewhat indignant, Concubine Xian reminded her, "You are a maid I brought into the palace from the Wang family. You have served me since you were young. Although I treat you more kindly than others, you should stay out of your own business. Okay, you can go down first. It's almost time to pick up Min'er. I will go to Changle Palace myself."

He Min was studying with He Yue and the others. In the past, she was always picked up by palace servants. Today, after learning that Empress Tao was pregnant, Concubine Xian decided to send a gift first and get closer to her.

In Changle Palace, looking at the gifts brought by Concubine Xian, Tao Yanyan said with a smile: "Why are you spending all this? You should keep them all and use them as a dowry for Min'er in the future."

The virtuous concubine sent a set of jewelry with red gold crabapple flower patterns. The craftsmanship and carvings were lifelike, and it was elegant and beautiful.

The virtuous concubine smiled and said, "I am overjoyed to learn that Your Majesty is pregnant again. This is not some expensive jewelry, I gave it to Your Majesty to wear when you have some free time. If you don't like it, you can keep it and give it to someone else. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

Tao Yanyan praised the exquisiteness of the jewelry and asked Mingyue to accept it.

"I'm very nervous about this unexpected pregnancy. People are more tired in the early stages of pregnancy, so I have to rely on you to pay more attention to the palace affairs. I'm sorry to trouble you all." Tao Yanyan said politely.

The virtuous concubine nodded and said, "Assisting Your Majesty is my duty. I will do my best. Your Majesty, just focus on your pregnancy and don't worry about anything else."

After Concubine Xian and Princess He Min left, Mingyue stepped forward and said, "This Concubine Xian seems to be quite noncompetitive, but she knew about it just after the queen diagnosed her pregnancy. It seems that Concubine Xian is well-informed in the palace."

As she finished speaking, Tao Yanyan remembered Xinlan's visit to the palace and her talk about the virtuous concubine's connections with powerful forces. She ordered, "Go and tell Chang Tai to re-examine our Changle Palace and make sure that they are all our own people."

Mingyue understood what the Queen meant, which was "Don't have the intention to harm others, but be on guard against others." She wanted Chang Tai to sort out the people and prevent trouble before it happens.

She went downstairs to do it immediately, and passed Qingfeng who was carrying medicine in.

"Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Liu has prescribed a medicine to maintain pregnancy. You must take it before meals." Qingfeng brought out a bowl of black medicine and placed it in front of Tao Yanyan.

Tao Yanyan frowned deeply: "It smells bitter. Do I have to drink this whole bowl?"

She looked at Qingfeng eagerly, hoping to hear a negative answer.

But Qingfeng nodded firmly: "Liu Taiyi ordered that you must drink it." Then he took out a bag of candied fruit from his arms: "But Your Majesty, you can eat something sweet after drinking it to dilute the bitterness."

Tao Yanyan had no choice but to pick up the bowl of medicine, pinch his nose and drink it in one gulp.

"Hurry up and give me the candied fruit. Next time Doctor Liu comes, tell him to think of a way to not use the liquid medicine every time. Can't we develop a pill or something? That's smaller and easier to take."

While eating the candied fruit, she looked at Qingfeng sadly. Qingfeng could not bear the queen's pitiful look, so he hurriedly packed up the medicine bowl and left.

He Xuan and He Yue both heard that Queen Tao was pregnant again, so they gathered around her after school, staring at her belly eagerly.

"Mother, are there two babies in there this time too?" He Yue asked excitedly.

He Xuan extended her hand and placed it on Tao Yanyan's pulse. After a long moment, she said, "The current pulse doesn't indicate twins. It could also be that my medical skills aren't very good, and I haven't been able to detect it yet."

Tao Yanyan smiled and touched her head: "Maybe this time it will be just one. I actually hope there's only one. Two babies are so tiring. Later, my belly will get so big that I won't be able to walk."

Time is a wonderful thing. The hardship of her last pregnancy for ten months is still vivid in her mind. I never expected that now her flat belly is carrying another little life.

The twins, a boy and a girl, had no idea that their mother was pregnant with another baby. They hadn't been held by their mother the entire day and felt like two poor abandoned children, clamoring to find their mother.

The wet nurse brought them over, but dared only stand aside and hold them, not daring to put them into the queen's arms.

"Ah! Ahhhhhhhhh..." Yu Cheng was a little annoyed. He stretched out his little fleshy hands, wanting his mother to hug him.

"No, no, no, ah." Yunuo's eyes were watery, as if he was acting coquettishly, and he stretched out his little fleshy hands, asking his mother to hold him.

"It's okay, let them come over." Tao Yanyan hadn't been able to hold the two babies for the whole day and missed them.

As soon as she put the two children down, they stuck to Tao Yanyan like two pendants, one on the left and one on the right, rubbing their big heads against her constantly.

When Xiao Jinan returned from elementary school, he saw everyone gathered around his mother. He quickly threw away his schoolbag and found an empty seat to slip inside. "Mother, mother, I heard you're pregnant again? Is it a little brother?"