The queen is sober in the world, and she is winning every step of the palace fight.

Everyone else withdrew.

The concubine in orange-green clothes stayed behind feeling uneasy.

She was the one who publicly questioned the Imperial Noble Concubine whether she wanted to die with her when the Emperor asked everyone to commit suicide a few days ago.

Recently, the Imperial Noble Consort led everyone to take refuge in the mountains, fighting and retreating, clearing roads in the mountains, providing water, and rescuing the wounded... She almost did everything by herself.

She followed the team and received many favors. The most thrilling one was when she almost fell into a ravine. The Imperial Noble Consort passed by and grabbed her belt, then had others pull her out. Only later did she discover that the Imperial Noble Consort's palms still had deep blood marks from the beatings, but she had never mentioned it to her.

She felt ashamed of her questioning that day and took the initiative to apologize to the Imperial Concubine. The Imperial Concubine was busy distributing the game she had caught. She waved her hand and said, "It's such a trivial matter, how can it be worth a special apology? It's common for people to be afraid before being forced to death and behave inappropriately."

He stuffed half a pheasant into her arms and told her to find a fire to roast it herself. "Take care of it yourself. Don't just wait for others to serve you. Help others when you see something is wrong!"

The imperial concubine along the way was still as kind and helpful as when she was in the palace, but she was more murderous and domineering, which made her involuntarily impressed.

Being left alone by the emperor at this time, she was thinking about serving the emperor well on behalf of the imperial concubine and sharing her worries in order to make up for her mistakes and repay the emperor's kindness.

If the emperor blamed her for her inappropriate words that day, she would sincerely admit her mistake and promise not to do it again.

When she heard the emperor ask for her name, she quickly said, "Your Majesty, I am Concubine Luo from Bingxia Palace."

"Lady Luo?"

“It’s the Luo in camel.”

The emperor thought about it carefully, but couldn't remember anything, so he stopped thinking about it.

"You stay and serve me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Concubine Luo took great care of the emperor's daily life. She didn't sleep well at night and her eyes were pale when she woke up in the morning.

Cao Bin brought his men to serve breakfast, which consisted of porridge with a small dish of stewed meat. The emperor frowned in disgust and ordered Cao Bin and his men to leave, leaving only Concubine Luo to serve.

There were only two people left in the room.

Concubine Luo carefully fed the emperor porridge. The emperor ate half a bowl and stopped, frowning and pushing the bowl away.

He moved suddenly and Concubine Luo was caught off guard. The bowl fell to the ground and the porridge spilled all over the floor.

Concubine Luo cried out "Ouch!" and hurriedly scooped up some porridge with her hands, but it was already covered with dust and dirt. The floor here was paved with earthen bricks, not the shiny gold bricks in the palace.

Her face was full of regret, and she swallowed as she cleaned her hands with a handkerchief.

The emperor was very disgusted with her petty behavior and did not hide his expression.

Concubine Luo looked up and saw the emperor's expression, and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, I have been short of food recently... I am sorry for my impoliteness, Your Majesty, please forgive me..."

The emperor said disdainfully: "How can we miss you?"

Then an idea flashed in his mind, "Did the Imperial Concubine not prepare good food for you? You once wanted her dead, so it's only natural for her to take this opportunity to seek revenge."

"Your Majesty... Actually..."

"In fact, when facing life and death, you realized that the Imperial Concubine was not as kind as she used to be, right?"

"Your Majesty!" Concubine Luo knelt down quickly. "That's not the case. I never thought that way. I..."

The emperor spoke softly, "I don't blame you. To be honest, I only recently discovered the Imperial Concubine's viciousness. I was deceived by her for so long that I couldn't see as clearly as you, my subordinates."

Concubine Luo was shocked.

Looking at the emperor blankly.

The emperor encouraged her, "If you have any grievances, just tell me. I will take care of it for you."

Although Concubine Luo was of low rank and had no favor, she was not stupid. She immediately realized that the emperor wanted to use her to deal with the imperial concubine.

She didn't know what happened between the emperor and the imperial concubine.

Why would the imperial concubine, who had been favored for a long time and entrusted with the important task of acting on behalf of the emperor, suddenly become feared by the emperor overnight?

But what she has to do is to deal with the current hurdle.

"Your Majesty...I dare not say..."

"It's okay, just tell me. There are only you and me here now." The emperor encouraged him.

Concubine Luo just made up a few bad words.

I can’t make it up anymore.

The emperor smiled.

It doesn't matter. She is timid and dares not criticize those in higher positions. She can be cultivated in the future.

"When we return to the capital, I will appoint you as a noble concubine. What title do you want?"

Concubine Luo was shocked and said that she could not bear it.

The emperor said, "You are pure and sincere. I think the word 'Cheng' is very suitable for you. When the time comes, I will confer you the title of Concubine Cheng. What do you think?"

Concubine Luo kowtowed.

The emperor asked her to get up.

"Now that the Imperial Noble Consort is in power, I will mention your title after we return to the capital. Please be patient for a while."

Concubine Luo agreed cautiously.

"How is Concubine Shu?"

Lady Luo carefully answered, "It's okay... She, she has a big belly and is pregnant..."

"You all know?"

"Yes, Your Majesty... When we were taking refuge in the mountains, Concubine Shu's cloak was torn, and many people saw her belly."

Luo Guiren didn't know why Concubine Shu, who had aborted her pregnancy long ago, had such a big belly. Could it be that the abortion was fake? She didn't dare to ask any more questions.

The emperor didn't explain, but simply ordered, "Find a time to help me go see Concubine Shu. I don't want the Imperial Noble Concubine to know, and I also have to avoid the Empress. Do you understand?"

Concubine Luo quickly agreed.

That night, he finally found an opportunity. When Fei Wan was discussing matters with the generals and the concubines were resting in their rooms, the emperor sent Cao Bin and the people in front of the emperor away, and with the support of Concubine Luo, he went to Gu Shuer's room under the cover of night.

"Your Majesty, what do you want from me?"

There was no one else in Gu Shuer's room because Concubine Luo told her in advance that the emperor was going to have a secret meeting and asked her to send away all the palace maids and imperial doctors.

The emperor sat down beside the bed and reached out to touch Gu Shuer's belly.

"Shu'er, you've worked hard. When we return to the capital, I'll make you Imperial Noble Consort. When the child is born, I'll give you another title, putting you on par with the Yu family. If it's a dragon child, at the full-moon ceremony, I'll make him Crown Prince."

"I'll tell you a secret—the Duke of Zhenguo is plotting rebellion, and the Empress will sooner or later leave the throne. Shu'er, you're incredibly talented. Draw pictures for me. If you become Empress someday, the Crown Prince will be the eldest legitimate son. After I die, you'll be the sole Empress Dowager, enjoying every honor and dignity. Are you happy?"

Gu Shuer lowered her eyes.

"I cannot believe it. Your Majesty does not value me and the child in my belly, but suddenly says he wants me to be the queen."

She chuckled.

The emperor pointed at Concubine Luo and told Gu Shuer, "You two must bear witness against each other and see if I will keep my promise. When we return to the capital, Concubine Luo will be promoted to Imperial Concubine, and you will be promoted to Imperial Concubine. This is certain."

Gu Shu'er looked indifferent and uninterested.

"Your Majesty, what do you want me to do? Tell me directly. If I can do it, I will do it. If not, I don't care about the position of Empress or Imperial Noble Consort."

"Shu'er, I know you've never been greedy for fame and status. You're the kindest person. I've now seen the true face of Imperial Noble Consort Yu, and I only hope to grow old with you."

He grabbed Gu Shuer's hand and said, "As long as you and I can return to the capital safely, I will immediately deal with Yu Shi. We are of one mind, Shuer."

Gu Shuer raised her eyes slightly.

Sarcastically, "Your Majesty, do you know how much I have suffered? If it weren't for the Imperial Concubine protecting my pregnancy, I would have been dead by now. You want me to join you in dealing with her?"

The emperor said anxiously, "She is protecting the fetus in order to kill the mother and keep the child. She wants to take your child away. Don't you understand? She has everything except the child. She wants to use your child as regent! Believe me, the day your child is born will be the day she takes action against you and me!"

Gu Shu'er snorted, "Even if that's the case, at least I can still wait until the baby is born. But Your Majesty, you don't care about my life or death, and you force me to follow the army on this bumpy journey. If I follow you, both mother and child will die."

The emperor looked at her affectionately, tears in his eyes: "Shu'er, I am leading you to the battle in person for a reason!"

"What's the reason? Tell me." Gu Shuer sneered.