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

Chapter 169 I will never give my child away!

Empress Dowager Chen was speechless.

How could she bear to give away her own child? Besides, she was capable of raising the child herself, but Su Yi was different; she had no one to rely on, so how could she protect her child?
She gave her child to other concubines to raise for the good of Su Yi and her child.

“I am different from you. I am a concubine, and I have a powerful family behind me. I can raise the child myself. Even for Chen’er’s sake, you should…”

"Your Majesty, I believe that maternal love knows no social class. Even if I have no official rank and no powerful family to support me, who can be so sure that I cannot raise my child well?" Lou Suyi interrupted Empress Dowager Chen's self-righteousness.

"Do you think you can protect Chen'er? In my opinion, without the Emperor's protection, you can't protect the child at all!" Empress Dowager Chen got angry when Lou Suying didn't go along with her.

"I remember before the child was born, someone poured oil on the ground. I was just being vigilant enough to avoid it. That time, His Majesty wasn't there to protect me," Lou Suyi said calmly.

She knew that Empress Dowager Chen looked down on her from the bottom of her heart and believed that she could not protect the child.

Or perhaps Empress Dowager Chen simply wanted her to relinquish custody of the child; her true feelings were irrelevant.

Empress Dowager Chen was enraged by Lou Suyi's words: "I am doing this for Chen'er's own good, why won't you listen to my advice?"

Lou Suying was too lazy to argue with Empress Dowager Chen anymore, and said firmly, "Unless His Majesty issues an imperial decree ordering me to hand the child over to other concubines to raise, I will not give away my own flesh and blood. As a mother, I can't bear to part with him; it would be worse than death for me!"

Empress Dowager Chen, under the guise of doing what's best for the child, wanted to help Consort De take away her child, a move that truly chilled Consort De's heart.

Sure enough, there was no true love in this harem.

Although Empress Dowager Chen had anticipated that Lou Suyi would not easily agree to her request, she did not expect her attitude to be so firm. She thought Lou Suyi was easy to talk to.

"Suyi, Consort De is a good candidate to raise the child. I think you should consider my suggestion," Empress Dowager Chen said earnestly.

Lou Suying pretended to think for a moment before replying, "Actually, it's not just Consort De who's young in the harem; all the other concubines are young and beautiful as well. I think if they want children, they can have them themselves. Why are they fixated on my child? Your Highness knows that I've severed ties with the Lou family. In this world, I only have Chen'er as family. I'll say it again: Consort De can have her own children. I will never give my own flesh and blood to someone else to raise!"

These women in the harem are really strange. They want children but don't take the initiative to climb into the bed themselves. Instead, they stare at the babies that she gives birth to.

Even if her child is good-looking, you can't have designs on her child.

Empress Dowager Chen was speechless after Lou Suyi's remark, since what Lou Suyi said made perfect sense.

Consort De is still young and beautiful, so why should she worry about not having children in the future?

Unfortunately, the emperor didn't favor them, so he set his sights on Chen'er.

Seeing that Empress Dowager Chen's expression had softened, Lou Suying resolutely said, "Please forgive my stubbornness, Your Majesty. I love my child too much. I know that Your Majesty made this suggestion for Chen'er's sake, but I firmly believe that I can raise Chen'er well!"

Seeing Lou Suying's confidence, Empress Dowager Chen decided not to say anything more.

Consort De had designs on the child but sent her to probe for information. It was Consort De's own incompetence that made her the one to blame.

She softened her expression, no longer as aggressive as before: "Fine, just pretend I never came." Lou Suying smiled and handed the child to Empress Dowager Chen: "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager's presence is an honor for Chen'er. How can we pretend Your Majesty the Empress Dowager never came?"

Empress Dowager Chen took Xiao Muchen in her arms, and upon seeing the child's handsome appearance, her displeasure vanished instantly.

Lou Suyi was naturally not foolish enough to make an enemy of Empress Dowager Chen.

She was already surrounded by enemies in the palace, and if she continued to oppose Empress Dowager Chen, it would not benefit her. Even if not for herself, she had to consider her child.

Empress Dowager Chen held the child with great affection, kissing him several times. Looking at Lou Suyi's cheerful demeanor, she realized that Suyi was magnanimous and not angry with her.

Afterwards, Lou Suyi asked Granny Fan to prepare more delicious food and even specially invited Empress Dowager Chen to dine at Xianfu Palace.

With Xiao Muchen around, Empress Dowager Chen was all smiles the whole time, completely forgetting the quarrel she had with Lou Suyi earlier.

Fangruo felt a slight sense of relief when she saw Empress Dowager Chen smiling as she left Xianfu Palace.

She still reminded her, "Your Highness, please don't let Consort De use you as a pawn anymore. Originally, it was Consort De's own business to raise the young prince. The first time she instigated Your Highness to bring this up with His Majesty, the second time she instigated Your Highness to put pressure on Miss Lou. Fortunately, Miss Lou is broad-minded and didn't take it to heart, otherwise, there might have been a rift between Your Highness and Miss Lou."

She knew that her master didn't have any bad intentions; he was just easily influenced and everything he did was for the sake of His Majesty and the young prince. However, he couldn't resist the scheming and intrigue among the concubines in the harem.

Consort De was clearly a cunning woman. She always managed to persuade the Empress Dowager to step forward, while she herself hid behind the Empress Dowager, perfectly concealing herself, and letting the Empress Dowager play the villain.

Empress Dowager Chen had never imagined it to be so profound. Only after Fang Ruo reminded her did she realize how deep Consort De's thoughts were.

"Why didn't you remind me sooner?" Empress Dowager Chen said irritably.

Fang Ruo replied softly, "This servant did give a subtle hint, but seeing that Your Highness did not react, this servant did not say anything more."

She thought that although the Empress Dowager knew Consort De's thoughts, she felt that Miss Lou was not worthy of raising the imperial heir, so she dared not say anything more.

Empress Dowager Chen was displeased to think that she had been used by Consort De time and time again.

Seeing this, Fangruo quickly changed the subject.

Inside Xianfu Palace, Lou Suying saw off Empress Dowager Chen and stood there in a daze for a long time.

Jinshu thought she was unhappy, so she advised her from the side, "The Empress Dowager has no bad intentions. She was just being used by Consort De. Please don't be angry with the Empress Dowager."

Lou Suyi rolled her eyes at her: "Do I look like I'm angry with the Empress Dowager? I was just thinking that Consort De is quite cunning. She instigated the Empress Dowager to bring this up with me. If I agree, that's fine; she'll get a prince for nothing. If I don't agree, I'll break ties with the Empress Dowager, and then I'll have another powerful enemy in this harem. Consort De is really good at scheming!"

Jinshu was secretly astonished upon hearing this; she had never imagined it could be so profound.

At this moment, Lou Suyi said again, "So, if I were to fall out with the Empress Dowager, I would really be falling into Consort De's trap. I can't do something so foolish."

Even though she was so angry that her throat was parched, she still held back.