The eldest daughter's scheming, the crown prince's exclusive favor to the venomous concubi

Early the next morning, good news came from Consort Ling's palace, and the imperial physician rushed over. Soon after, a palace eunuch brought Murong Chuan to the palace.

Murong Chuan was staying in the newly promoted concubine's palace when he heard the good news. He immediately abandoned the new concubine and headed towards Lingfei Palace. When this news reached Yue Leyun's ears, she was so angry that she almost fainted.

She forced herself to stand, her eyes filled with resentment and malice, a slight, cold smile playing on her lips.

"Very good, the palace is truly flourishing with children and joyous occasions. In that case, as the Empress, I should express my maternal virtue. Dingxiang, go to the storeroom and select some fine silks and satins to give to the concubines in each palace who are pregnant with the Emperor's child. In addition, each of them shall be rewarded with ten pearls, ten silver ingots, and a pair of male concubines."

Dingxiang nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Your Highness, what about Consort Ling?"

Yue Leyun sneered, "Of course, they will be treated equally. By the way, since the concubines in each palace are already pregnant, we will exempt them from the morning and evening greetings, so that if they really miscarry, they won't blame me."

Dingxiang nodded and went to carry out her business, while Yue Leyun walked to the bedside, took out a jade seal from under the bed, looked at the writing on it, and a determined look flashed in her eyes.

Murong Chuan was overjoyed. When he arrived at Qiu Lingyu's palace and saw her lying on the bed with the imperial physician sitting beside her, he immediately laughed and said, "Yu'er, you are finally pregnant with my child. I will have a son."

Qiu Lingyu smiled and said, "When has Your Majesty not been a father? I am not the first person to be pregnant in the harem. Besides, what makes Your Majesty so sure that the baby in my belly is a son? Maybe it's a daughter."

Murong Chuanwen shook his head immediately, his tone very firm, and said, "Impossible. My child with you will definitely be a son. After the son is born, we will have a daughter later. As long as it is a child born to me by Yu'er, I will like it."

Qiu Lingyu's eyes changed slightly. She lowered her head to look at her belly, placed her hand on it and stroked it, and said softly, "No matter what it is, it's in my belly now. As for whether it can be born, that's still unknown."

Murong Chuan was taken aback: "Why do you say that, Yu'er?"

Qiu Lingyu remained silent, but instead said to Bing'er, "Go and bring the princess over. I haven't seen her today, and I really miss her."

Qiu Lingyu stopped talking about it. Murong Chuan thought for a moment, then walked to her side, took her hand, and said, "Yu'er, don't worry. I know you're worried about Yue Leyun. This time, I guarantee she will never have a chance to harm you."

Qiu Lingyu paused, then smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I'm fine. I just suddenly thought of my sister and her son, whom she hasn't even seen much since he was born. I wonder what happened to him after he went missing."

The sadness in her eyes made Murong Chuan frown. After a long while, he said, "I have thoroughly investigated everyone who left the city, and I have not seen any of them. I have also searched carefully in the city, and even in the Prime Minister's residence, I searched three feet deep, but I still can't find them. Who is so audacious as to dare to attack my son?"

Qiu Lingyu looked at him and suddenly laughed, "The Emperor's son? Ke is now the eldest grandson of the Prime Minister's family and has no relation to the Emperor. If the Emperor really wants to establish a connection, then he is just this child's uncle."

Qiu Lingyu's words truly struck a nerve with Murong Chuan. He abruptly stood up and angrily said, "I have already compromised so much, what more do you want from me? Yue Leyun cannot be touched, and the Yue family cannot be provoked at this time. Do you think I don't feel heartbroken by my choice? That is my legitimate son."

Qiu Lingyu shook her head and sighed, "Does Your Majesty really think that child is your legitimate son? But has Your Majesty fulfilled your responsibilities as a father? Allowing your wife to be falsely accused, allowing your legitimate son to be taken away and become someone else's child, allowing your Empress to become a prisoner and then die tragically, is this how Your Majesty should act as a father and husband?"

Murong Chuan spread his hands, his face full of anger: "What can I do? I am the emperor. What I want is the stability of this land. If a child can bring such a thing, I must give him up. This is my responsibility to the world and to the ancestors of Yue."

"Yu'er, she is your sister. I once doted on her and loved her. But I have done what I should have done. I tried my best. Do you really want to continue to dwell on the past and disturb my peace? I am so tired. Can't you let me have some peace? Let me watch over you and our child grow up?"

Qiu Lingyu said, "How do you expect me to make things easier for you? You are the emperor, and you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You said you tried your best, but you failed after all. You couldn't shake it, so how can you shake it now?"

"Yue Leyun could kill the Empress when she was just a concubine. Do you think I, as a concubine, can have a smooth life and safely give birth to my child now that I'm the Empress? Doesn't Your Majesty think you're dreaming?"

Murong Chuan said firmly, "I said I will try my best. Look at all the concubines in the harem, so many of them are pregnant. Even if she wants to harm them, she can do it one by one. By the time she thinks of you, you will have already safely given birth to your son."

Qiu Lingyu was stunned for a moment before she realized that the pregnancy of the concubines in the harem was actually a scheme by Murong Chuan to divert Yue Leyun's attention. But was that possible?

Murong Chuan continued, "Yu'er, the Shangguan family is gone, and you didn't grow up in the Shangguan family. Their affairs have nothing to do with you. As long as you are by my side, I will definitely treat you well, and Yue Leyun will not be able to do anything to you."

Qiu Lingyu remained silent and did not continue speaking. Murong Chuan, dressed simply, turned to the imperial physician who had already written the prescription and asked, "Is the fetal position stable? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

The imperial physician nodded: "Your Majesty, the Empress has a trace amount of toxins in her body, and the fetal position is not very stable. If she wants to save the pregnancy, she must rest quietly for a long time and not do any strenuous exercise. If any accident occurs, I'm afraid the child will not be able to be saved."

Upon hearing this, Murong Chuan frowned slightly. Just as he was about to ask for details, Bing'er returned and bowed to Murong Chuan, saying, "Your Majesty, the Empress has sent congratulatory gifts, and the person is waiting outside."

Murong Chuan frowned: "What did she send?"

Bing'er nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty. The eunuch also brought an imperial edict, saying that the Empress sent the exact same thing to all the pregnant concubines as a reward to congratulate them on bearing the Emperor's heir."

Qiu Lingyu said, "It's fine since it's been delivered; just keep it and leave it separately, you don't need to use it."

Murong Chuan waved his hand: "Have them bring the things in. I want to see if there's anything wrong with them."

Bing'er glanced at Qiu Lingyu, bowed to Murong Chuan, turned and went out. Soon after, she brought in all the items, along with a eunuch who was delivering the imperial decree.

The eunuch Jian Murong Chuan knelt down immediately and said, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

Murong Chuan nodded: "No need for formalities. The Empress sent you to deliver this item. Besides the imperial decree, did she ask you to convey any message to me?"

The eunuch said, "Her Majesty has nothing to say to the Emperor. She just heard from the other concubines that Consort Ling is probably pregnant. So, thinking of her status as the head of the harem, she bestowed gifts upon each of the palaces. This is a token of Her Majesty's goodwill."

Murong Chuan walked over to the person carrying the items, looked at the contents, and then called the imperial physician to examine them. Seeing the physician nod at him, he said, "Your Majesty is very kind. I had forgotten about the rewards. In that case, send someone to convey the imperial decree: all concubines in the harem who have experienced joy will be rewarded with one hundred taels of gold. The same applies to Consort Ling, who will also be granted the title of Noble Consort Ling."

Qiu Lingyu, having gained power through her son, became a thorn in Yue Leyun's side. The women in the harem began to act with unbridled arrogance. Those who were pregnant, relying on the fact that they were carrying the emperor's child, started to target Qiu Lingyu. Qiu Lingyu didn't care about such trivial matters at all, because Bai Jianan had already dealt with them before she even knew about them.

After Qiu Lingyu learned about this, all she heard was that a concubine in a palace had been stung by a wasp, a lady in another palace had suddenly fallen and lost her child, and some even had false pregnancies after the imperial physicians examined them.

All of this caused Murong Chuan to become furious after the celebration, while Er Yue Le Yun remained surprisingly calm. She claimed that she was not suitable to go out in the wind after just finishing her postpartum period and stayed in the palace to recuperate. She even stopped seeing the concubines and maids who were not pregnant.

It was as if the person had vanished; even Bai Jianan couldn't figure out what had happened.

Qiu Lingyu was very worried about what Yue Leyun was doing. With such turmoil outside, how could someone as restless as her be so quiet?

After a series of investigations, clues were finally discovered.

One midnight, Bai Jianan arrived at the palace, bringing with him a woman.

Then, suddenly many insects appeared in the palace, rampaging everywhere. Countless eunuchs and maids screamed in terror after discovering them, and then turned into skeletons.

Seeing this horrifying fact, the woman brought by Bai Jianan said, "It is a Gu worm. If it weren't a Gu worm, there would be no way to be affected by the Golden Cicada Gu."

Qiu Lingyu didn't know who this woman was, but when she saw her looking at Bai Jianan with affection, and when Bai Jianan, although still expressionless, did not reject the woman's approach, she realized that this woman was not simple.

Hearing the woman's words, Qiu Lingyu frowned: "But how could there be Gu worms in this palace? How could Yue Leyun know people from the Miao region?"

Bai Jianan frowned and asked, "The witchcraft of the Miao people is never passed on to outsiders. If someone really betrayed the tribe, there must be a record of it. The Gu worms here are obviously not rudimentary Gu worms. If Yue Leyun had been raising Gu worms for a long time, she would not be able to get pregnant and have children."

The woman said, "So, what exactly do you want to do? Kill her? If that's the case, then hurry up and take advantage of the chaos caused by these insects to turn on her directly."

"Young lady, you're not very old, but you have a bad temper. Tsk tsk, how about I teach you a lesson?"

An unfamiliar voice, carrying a chilling killing intent, and the sudden appearance of the strange man startled everyone. Bai Jianan quickly stepped in front of Qiu Lingyu and looked at the newcomer with a serious expression. Upon seeing this, the woman's eyes dimmed.

"I was just raising some little trinkets to play with, but then I suddenly discovered a riot. I didn't expect it to be a little girl. She's quite good at Gu magic. It seems you have some connection with the Miao royal family. I wonder who your father is?"

The woman was taken aback. The Golden Cicada Gu was already protecting her heart meridian. She cautiously took half a step back, shielding Bai Jianan behind her: "I am the Miao witch, the daughter of the Miao chieftain. Who are you, and how do you know the secrets of my Miao region that are not passed on to outsiders?"

Lu Zhe smiled slightly, offering no reply, but his eyes turned to Qiu Lingyu behind them, who was staring intently at him.

When Qiu Lingyu looked over, Lu Zhe subconsciously hugged the child lying on the bed. He knew in his heart that this person was unfathomable and that none of those present were his match. If they wanted to survive, they would definitely have to fight a bloody battle.

"Tsk tsk, what a stunning beauty! You're also called Qiu Lingyu, right? I even held you in my arms back then. I really don't know why your parents let you come back. Wouldn't it have been better to be a princess in the Northern Desert?"

Qiu Lingyu shuddered, her eyes widened suddenly, and then her whole body began to tremble violently as memories that shouldn't have appeared appeared in her mind.

It was him, the man who had sealed their fate at the moment she was born. A surge of anger filled her mind, and she suddenly asked, "Why?"

Lu Zhe tilted his head, seemingly thinking, and after a moment said, "It's just boring. I've lived too long and always want to have a few people with me. But ordinary people always die, so I can only conduct endless experiments to let those who can live with me stay and grant them supreme abilities. Isn't that great?"

Bai Jianan asked in surprise, "Are all the insects in the palace raised by you? Could it be that you are working for the Empress?"

Lu Zhe scoffed, "What's an empress? She's just something I am amused myself with when I'm bored. But now I've found a new source of amusement, so it's time to consider replacing her."

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on Qiu Lingyu, revealing an undisguised greed in them. Yet, it was this greedy gaze that filled Qiu Lingyu with an overwhelming sense of loneliness, and she suddenly froze.

"Waaaaaah!"

Suddenly, Rouge in his arms started crying loudly. Yue Leyun immediately came to his senses, hugged the child and began to pat her. After Rouge fell back asleep, before he could even look up, he felt a chill creep up his neck.

"Heh, you remained calm in the face of danger, which is much better than your useless sister. Why didn't I think of targeting you back then? It's a pity that all my arrangements still ended up with you dead."

Qiu Lingyu didn't speak, holding Rouge in her arms, her fingers already gripping the black iron ring that she always wore on her hand.