Repeatedly broken branches

When Chen Lanhe became pregnant, Yin Fu'an was overjoyed and granted a general amnesty, celebrating his first child with five days of singing and dancing.

Deng Yizhi carried Siwan to the ceremony, with Xiao Mu and Zhou Tingxi following behind him. Siwan was such a sweet and adorable child. She was separated from her mother at birth, but she never cried or made a fuss. She was happy to be cared for by her wet nurse no matter how she was taken care of.

Her small, soft body was chubby and fair, and her eyes looked just like Ye Wanwan's.

Xiao Mu couldn't help but ask Deng Yizhi, "Can I hug Siwan?"

Deng Yizhi nodded and handed Siwan to her. She held Siwan, a tiny, chubby little bundle of joy, who was already three months old and incredibly cute.

Seeing how much she loved children, and how much she loved Ye Wanwan's daughter, Zhou Tingxi was very much looking forward to seeing what their future children would be like.

Now even Yin Fu'an has a child, but he and Xia Yunzhi haven't made any progress at all, and he's getting really anxious.

Today was Chen Lanhe's day, but she did not attend. Yin Fu'an claimed that she was suffering from morning sickness and therefore could not make an appearance, but only he knew the truth.

Chen Lanhe didn't want the child and was extremely cold to him. But the more she acted this way, the more Yin Fu'an tried his best to be good to her and please her in every way, but she remained unmoved.

What is he going to do? He was mocking Zhou Tingxi a while ago, but now the tables have turned.

Xiao Mu, Song Xinning, and Xia Yunxu went to Chen Lanhe's palace to visit her.

Meanwhile, Yin Fu'an, Zhou Tingxi, and Deng Yizhi were drinking and chatting in Zhaohua Palace.

Yin Fu'an said with distress, "What are women's hearts made of? No matter how you try to warm them up, they just won't get warm."

Deng Yizhi said calmly, "Don't ask me that question. I can't answer it. There will be no more women around me in the future." After saying that, his gaze drifted to Zhou Tingxi.

Zhou Tingxi was also extremely distressed. He picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. "If I had known, I wouldn't have been treated coldly by her every day."

Yin Fu'an felt deep sympathy and drank his wine in one gulp.

Deng Yizhi held Siwan and laughed to himself, then looked helplessly at Zhou Tingxi and Yin Fu'an, who were sitting there drowning their sorrows in alcohol.

Yin Fu'an said, "If I knew which man she loved, I would tear him to pieces!"

Deng Yizhi felt a sudden tremor run through his body.

Zhou Tingxi raised his glass and echoed, "Me too! Tear him to pieces!" He then downed another glass of wine.

Chaoyang Kingdom

As Yu Yanjing listened to Shen Ruoxuan describe how beautiful each of the women he had met that day was, how stunningly beautiful they were, and how they could topple kingdoms, he felt a headache coming on.

His heart is already full of other people, how can there be room for any other woman?

Shen Ruoxuan slammed her hand on the table. "Just how high are your standards, Your Majesty?!"

Yu Yanjing said casually, "Not high. I only like the women I like... I don't like those other women. You can send them out of the palace."

Suddenly, I sneezed. In this sweltering heat, why would I sneeze? Then I sneezed four or five more times in a row.

Yu Yanjing frowned slightly and raised his voice, "Can you stop caring so much about my harem? I'm perfectly fine without women. Why do I need women? Aren't they annoying when they're always fighting over me?"

Shen Ruoxuan said anxiously, "I'm not concerned about your harem, I'm concerned about your offspring! Look, our ancestor had his first princess at fourteen, our great-grandfather at fifteen, and the late emperor at seventeen. You're twenty-one now! According to this pattern, you should have three or four princes and princesses. What went wrong? I've racked my brains but can't figure it out. I'm losing all my hair! Your Majesty, I beg you, can you just choose any lady?"

Yu Yanjing was impatient and wanted to send him away. When did Shen Ruoxuan become as annoying as those old stubborn men in the court? He kept submitting memorials urging him to take concubines. Was he afraid that he would die early and leave no offspring?

"Didn't you ask me about women's preferences last time? Have you made any progress?"

Yu Yanjing gritted his teeth and said, "If I had any leads, why would I have come back? This matter is not to be mentioned again. That woman is already married."

Shen Ruoxuan stared wide-eyed in astonishment. "Who is it? She actually gave up being the Empress and got married. She really doesn't know what's good for her!" he said in an incredulous tone.

Yu Yanjing glared angrily and said, "I've already told you, don't bring it up again. It's all in the past, let it go. We can discuss marriage later. I'm going to review the memorials now!"

Shen Ruoxuan stood there stunned, not yet recovered. It took him a while to realize that Yu Yanjing had already walked far away. He chased after him, saying, "There's another batch of young ladies coming from Jiangnan tomorrow. They're very gentle and sweet. Don't you want to go and see them?"

"I'm not going." Yu Yanjing flicked his head away.

"You're putting me in a difficult position, leaving me to face those stinky old men alone!"

"I'll double your allowance."

"Alright then, that's about right!"

As Jiuguang Kingdom grew stronger, all its people praised Yin Fu'an for his effective governance.

Of course, he wished he could bury himself in memorials for every single hour of the day, and he would only visit the Empress at night; he couldn't even think about visiting the other concubines.

However, the Empress often claimed to be ill and refused to see him, leaving Song Xinning and Liang Yuxue as the only unfortunate ones. Although Liang Yuxue didn't dislike him that much, she had no feelings for him either. There were only four concubines in the harem, so she couldn't even start a fight with him.

The Empress has no intention of pleasing the Emperor, Consort Xian is depressed all day long, and Consort Song has no intention of pleasing the Emperor either. It would be too embarrassing for her to try to please him on her own.

Now it all depends on whether the Empress is carrying a prince or a princess, and whoever can conceive a second child might be favored.

With nothing to do all day, he would study how to make rouge and face powder with Song Xinning, drink tea with Xia Yunxu, and occasionally invite Xia Yunzhi to the palace to play ball. He spent the rest of his days in a daze.

"I'm really tired of living the same old routine every day!"

Song Xinning plucked a crabapple blossom, sniffed it, and began to play with the petals.

"Who says otherwise? I'm so tired of being alone. I miss my girlfriends so much~" Liang Yuxue propped her head up, blinked her bright, doe-like eyes, which seemed to sparkle like they could overflow with water.

Xia Yunxu covered her mouth and laughed, "I'm already used to it. Of course you'll feel bored when you first enter the palace. Right now, I just want a child so I'll have something to look forward to in the future and won't feel lonely for the rest of my life."

Liang Yuxue shook her head. "I hate kids the most. They're so noisy and cry so much. They're so annoying!"

Xiao Mu took a sip of tea and said calmly, "What are you afraid of with a wet nurse? Don't you concubines have an easy time after giving birth?"

Song Xinning grinned mischievously, "You can also hire a wet nurse, or I'll tell your General Zhou that you want a child!"

Everyone burst into laughter at these words.

Seriously! Who wants to have that guy's baby?

"How boring! I wish I could leave the palace!"

"Haven't you been outside the palace the whole time?" Xia Yunxu asked.

Xiao Mu couldn't help but exclaim, "I can't go anywhere except the palace! I really want to go out and play! I know a tavern where the wine is delicious!"

Song Xinning rolled her eyes and said, "We can ask the Empress to let us out. She's so understanding, she'll definitely agree!"

Chen Lanhe was unwilling to see anyone. No one knew what was wrong with her. Since the last palace banquet, no one had seen her again. Perhaps she was too haggard during her pregnancy to dress up and therefore did not want to show her face to the public.

Having been turned away, the group returned to Song Xinning's palace dejectedly.

Xiao Mu suggested, "I have a way to get out, but you might have to make do for a little while."

A hint of joy flashed in Song Xinning's eyes. "Don't worry about suffering a little bit, even if it's twice, as long as I can get out of the palace!"

Liang Yuxue said, "Stop being so mysterious! We're all sisters, just tell me directly from now on!"

Xia Yunxu looked at the three of them with a smile, remaining silent.

"You can disguise yourselves as palace maids and hide in my carriage. Just say you're going out of the palace to pick up something from me to take to your master, and then I'll send someone to bring you back! Wouldn't that be easy?"

Liang Yuxue turned to look at her and nodded very seriously, "That's right, you always come up with so many clever ideas, let's do it this way! Let's go change our clothes!"

“Okay!” Song Xinning stood up.

Xia Yunxu said softly, "I won't go. I don't like crowds and I'm afraid I'll spoil your fun."

Xiao Mu looked at Xia Yunxu with concern. Although she seemed to get along well with them on the surface, she was always unable to let go of her emotions. It wasn't that she was being hypocritical, but she always looked worried.

"Sister, let's go together~" Xiao Mu blinked her starry eyes and tugged at Xia Yunxu's arm, acting coquettishly.

“Yes, yes, Consort Xian, let’s go together. More people means more company!” Liang Yuxue said coquettishly, tugging at her other arm.

Xia Yunxu smiled and shook her head. "Never mind, I want to go back and copy the scriptures to send to the Buddhist temple to burn. I'll be going now. Have fun!" She was unwilling to do anything against the rules of the palace without Yin Fu'an's knowledge. Even so, she still didn't want to disobey the emperor's orders. She hated herself, so why couldn't she hate him? Yin Lang, he was no longer Yin Lang.

Watching Xia Yunxu's departing figure, Song Xinning said blankly, "Sister Xianfei still looks so melancholy..."

"What do you think? So much has happened to her along the way. If it were me, I would have died long ago," Liang Yuxue said sadly.

Xiao Mu will keep this in mind. She will definitely find an opportunity to retaliate against the hatred of her family and country. Sister, don't worry, Father and the others will not have died in vain.

After changing into their palace maid uniforms, Song Xinning and Liang Yuxue looked at each other and burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs.

"You don't resemble a noble concubine at all; you're just a palace maid!"

"You're no better than me. You don't look like a beauty at all. You're probably just a palace maid in disguise!"

Xiao Mu smiled helplessly and said to the two maids, "You two little palace maids, let's go quickly!"

Liang Yuxue and Song Xinning climbed into the carriage and sat in the innermost seat. Xiao Shao stood in front of them, while Xiao Mu sat outside, pulling the carriage curtains tightly shut. It was a cloudy day, and the lighting was poor, so the guards at the palace gate probably couldn't see the people inside clearly.

They passed through the palace gates without any trouble. When the guards saw that it was Zhou Tingxi's wife and maid, they didn't ask any questions and let them pass. Everyone knew Zhou Tingxi's influence in the court, and who would dare to go against his wife!

Xiao Mu and the other two got off the carriage. Xiao Mu whispered to Xiao Shao, who was sitting inside, "Go outside and wander around for a while. Don't go back yet. When you're tired, come find us at Erjin Tavern. Don't go back, okay?"

Xiao Shao nodded repeatedly, "Understood, Madam."

As Liang Yuxue walked, she said, "Why don't you let Xiaoshao go back?"

"Because Zhou Tingxi won't let me go out. If she goes back and I don't, Zhou Tingxi will come looking for me. How can we have fun then?"

Song Xinning was quite shocked: "He's so strict with you, he won't even let you go out?"

Xiao Mu nodded.

The man looked at her with pity.

The three of them entered the tavern together. Seeing that the other two did not look like ordinary people, Green Plum immediately sent someone to inform Zhou Tingxi.