Five years after her death, she awoke on the dragon bed.

Chapter 118 Public Questioning: Master Kongchen, are you pregnant?

Empress Dowager Chen was somewhat surprised to see Fang Ru staring blankly at Lou Suyi's belly.

Fangruo had served her for many years and was always a composed person; she had never been distracted in such a grand occasion.

She also looked at Lou Suyi's belly. Just then, Lou Suyi moved, and the cloak covering her belly parted slightly, exposing half of Lou Suyi's protruding belly to her eyes.

Her eyes widened in shock. How could Lou Suyi's belly be so big? Even when she was six or seven months pregnant, her belly wasn't this big...

She stared intently at Lou Suyi's large belly, and a suspicious thought flashed through her mind: Could Suyi be pregnant?
When Empress Dowager Chen considered this possibility, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

Because of Lou Suyi's unintentional action, others present also saw her large belly hidden under her cloak when Lou Suyi changed her sitting posture, including Consort De.

The nun's swollen belly was so big that it looked like she was pregnant.

Consort De stared intently at Lou Suyi's large belly, as if staring at her like that would make Lou Suyi's belly disappear.

Liang Wanying suddenly noticed that Consort De and Empress Dowager Chen looked extremely surprised. Following their gaze, she also saw Lou Suyi's large belly exposed under her cloak.

She didn't react for a moment, only thinking that Lou Suyi's belly was ridiculously big. She didn't think too deeply about it, but she couldn't help but stare at Lou Suyi's belly again and again.

Lou Suying herself was restless, and after shifting her body, she saw the plate of pickled plums again and couldn't help but take a few more glances, but she still managed to resist the temptation.

When she finally looked away from the pickled plums, she belatedly realized that everyone was staring at her with intense gazes. She slowly followed their gazes and looked down at herself, only then noticing that her pregnant belly was now exposed to everyone's eyes.

At this moment, she only subconsciously pulled her cloak tighter to cover her pregnant belly.

Just then, she heard Liang Wanying say sarcastically, "With such a big belly, anyone who doesn't know better would think that you're not following the rules and are several months pregnant."

Her words were met with a sudden, deathly silence.

Lou Suyi felt her sore spot had been hit, her face flushed, and she was too ashamed to look directly at the crowd.

It is a fact that she did not abide by the rules and regulations, and it is also a fact that she is pregnant.

As soon as Liang Wanying said these words, her face suddenly turned as pale as snow.

She glanced at Lou Suyi's guilty face, then at the changing expressions of the others, and saw the look of surprise and disbelief in Empress Chen's eyes. Suddenly, her heart felt like it had been thrown into the air.

She must be overthinking it. How could Lou Suyi be pregnant?
This damned nun is clearly fat; her belly is obviously so big because she's greedy. But another voice tells her, if the damned nun is really just too fat, why is her face still the same size as before, only the size of a palm?
Why did Lou Suying feel guilty? Why did Murong show concern for the deceased nun? Why did Murong suddenly forbid anyone from going to Xianfu Palace these past few months...?

Suddenly, every problem can be explained.

The scene was deathly silent. At this moment, Princess Nan'an arrived at Shou'an Palace, holding a child who was less than a year old in her arms.

The child was crying, but the arrival of the mother and child suddenly brought liveliness to the deathly scene.

It was a rare occasion for the Prince of Nan'an to return to the capital. He had thought that he would be immediately sent back to his fiefdom after offending the new emperor last time. However, the new emperor issued an imperial edict, instructing him and his wife to celebrate Empress Dowager Chen's birthday before leaving the capital.

The couple naturally had no objections. So Princess Nan'an entered the palace early in the morning, but as soon as she entered Shou'an Palace, she felt that the atmosphere inside was very strange.

The expressions of the crowd varied, and the fact that Lou Suyi, a nun, was seated with the Emperor and Empress Dowager Chen on either side made this scene even more bizarre.

When she appeared carrying her crying youngest son, everyone's eyes fell on his face, and their gazes were unfriendly.

Princess Nan'an assumed that the widowed concubines in the harem were jealous of her because she had a son, so she proudly raised her head and puffed out her chest: "I'm sorry, the child is still young and won't listen to anything I do. I hope I didn't disturb anyone?"

So what if we argue? Some things are just beyond our control.

She is capable of bearing children and producing offspring for her prince, unlike the emperor whose harem is filled with beauties, but they are all just decorations, resulting in him not having a single imperial heir to this day.

Without an heir to continue the imperial line, everyone knows that Murong's rule is unstable. If the new emperor is truly lacking a son, she wouldn't mind having him raise one for her, who could then inherit the Murong throne.

Everyone noticed that Princess Nan'an's child still had an unfriendly expression; the child was really annoying, and a noisy child was even more annoying.

What if Lou Suyi is really pregnant, and carrying Murong's child...?

The thought of this possibility left everyone with very mixed feelings.

Empress Dowager Chen was the first to react, and said gently with a smile, "It's normal for children to be noisy and fussy. The Emperor also liked to cry and fuss when he was a child. When I was pregnant with the Emperor, I also liked to eat sour plums."

As she spoke, she handed the pickled plums to Lou Suying, her eyes crinkling with laughter: "Suying, don't be shy if you like pickled plums. If it's not enough, I'll have the Imperial Kitchen make more. I've been through this before, sour for boys and spicy for girls..."

In an instant, everyone's gaze shifted from the child's face to Lou Suyi, as if they wished they could stare a hole through her belly to see if she was truly pregnant with the imperial heir.

"What do you mean by 'sour for a boy, spicy for a girl'?" The Princess of Annam was puzzled.

Empress Dowager Chen must be senile, hoping that a nun could conceive an imperial heir, right?

If the emperor doesn't even favor his concubines, how could he possibly be interested in a nun?
Was Empress Dowager Chen senile, that she would actually set her sights on a nun?
When the question about the Princess of Nan'an was raised, everyone present fell silent again.

Empress Dowager Chen glanced at the emperor, whose lips were upturned, then at Lou Suying, whose eyes darted left and right, her face clearly showing her guilty conscience. Her smile deepened: "Sour for a boy, spicy for a girl. Of course, if you like sour food, you'll have a son. Suying, right?"

Lou Suyi just wanted to disappear into a hole, but Empress Dowager Chen had to expose her.

She felt that no matter how she answered, it would be wrong, so she subconsciously looked at Murong.

Murong saw her embarrassment and, suppressing a laugh, came to her rescue: "Mother, please stop teasing Suyi. She's easily embarrassed and can't stand your teasing."

Princess Nan'an laughed exaggeratedly upon hearing this: "Why does Your Majesty address the nun by her maiden name? It's one thing for the Empress Dowager to make fun of a nun, but how can Your Majesty be so disrespectful to a nun..."

Realizing what she had said, she quickly shut her mouth and looked at the others awkwardly.

Liang Wanying finally couldn't hold back any longer and stood up, questioning everyone in front of them: "Master Kongchen, are you pregnant?!"

Haha