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

Chapter 344 The Empress is Amazing

For a moment, Murong considered asking Xie Zhijie if he was willing to go to Shanxi to suppress the bandits. But then he remembered that Xie Zhijie was a civil official, and it would be unreasonable to send him to suppress bandits.

"It's getting late, my dear minister, you should go home soon." After saying this, Murong took the lead and left the South Study.

Xie Zhijie watched Murong's retreating figure and vaguely sensed that Murong had something he wanted to say to him, but in the end he didn't speak. This probably wasn't a good thing.

He hadn't forgotten what happened that night on the Lantern Festival; perhaps Murong had become suspicious of him that night.

If the emperor becomes suspicious of him, his future will not be easy.

On his way out of the palace, Xie Zhijie was preoccupied with worries...

That night, Murong was busy until very late before going to sleep. In the middle of the night, he suddenly dreamed of a scene in the Imperial Garden. Even in his dream, he clearly remembered the loving look in Consort De's eyes when she looked at him.

He suddenly woke up and couldn't fall back asleep.

If he remembered correctly, the Empress had never looked at him with the same gaze as Consort De, which meant that the Empress was not like Consort De, who was bound by romantic love.

Jiqing knew his master was awake when he heard the noise from the dragon bed. This was a normal thing, but his master seemed not to fall asleep again until he got up to wash.

"Shall we ask Imperial Physician Liu to come again today and prescribe a calming medicine for His Majesty?" Ji Qing suggested.

Murong remained noncommittal.

Ji Qing was unsure of his master's intentions and dared not act on his own.

By the time Murong finished his work, it was lunchtime again.

Murong had little appetite and only ate a few bites before putting down her chopsticks.

Upon seeing this, Ji Qing disregarded everything else and immediately summoned Imperial Physician Liu to the Qianqing Palace.

"Meddlesome!" Murong glanced at Ji Qing indifferently.

Ji Qing quickly put on a smiling face: "Your Majesty's health is of utmost importance. Let Imperial Physician Liu take Your Majesty's pulse. It won't take much time."

The most important thing is Your Majesty's good health; everything else is secondary.

Imperial Physician Liu chimed in, "Indeed, nothing is more important than Your Majesty's health. Please allow me to take Your Majesty's pulse."

Murong felt that there was nothing wrong with her, but in order to reassure Physician Liu, she let him take her pulse.

The pulse diagnosis was even better than last time; Murong's pulse was completely normal.

However, Imperial Physician Liu still gave Ji Qing a recipe for a calming soup, which could be drunk as a soup on a daily basis and was effective in helping with sleep.

Ji Qing hurriedly agreed.

After seeing off Imperial Physician Liu, Ji Qing asked Murong for his opinion: "His Majesty didn't sleep well last night. Should we inform the Empress?"

Murong felt that Jiqing was getting worse and worse as he got older.

"The Empress is pregnant with the Emperor's child, and you're bothering her over such a trivial matter? If the Empress doesn't punish you, I will!" Murong said impatiently. "Get out of my way and stop getting in my way."

Ji Qing retreated dejectedly, feeling that his master had rejected him.

He thought His Majesty would appreciate the Empress's concern, so he mentioned it, but unexpectedly, His Majesty disliked him instead.

For the next few nights, Murong would wake up in the middle of the night and then be unable to fall back asleep.

This continued for several days, every night. In other words, Murong slept for less than two hours each night.

Even after drinking the calming soup prepared by Imperial Physician Liu, Murong still suffered from insomnia.

Murong himself didn't think much of it; a little less sleep wouldn't hurt, he was still young anyway. But Ji Qing was extremely worried. He didn't dare go to Lou Suyi, but he had to report the matter to Empress Dowager Chen.

Empress Dowager Chen felt this matter was of great importance. The emperor was busy with state affairs, and if he didn't sleep well for a long time, his health would inevitably suffer. This was a matter of great importance concerning the stability of the country and its people, and could not be taken lightly.

"Do you know why the Emperor can't sleep well?" Empress Dowager Chen asked Ji Qing for information on her way to Qianqing Palace.

"This servant has tried to subtly inquire several times, but His Majesty has not answered," Ji Qing replied truthfully.

Empress Dowager Chen said with great concern, "The Emperor keeps everything to himself and is unwilling to talk to anyone. I'm afraid only Su Yi can pry open his mouth."

"This servant suggested seeking out Her Majesty the Empress, but His Majesty said that Her Majesty the Empress is pregnant with the imperial heir and forbade this servant from disturbing Her Majesty the Empress." Ji Qing also felt that Her Majesty the Empress's words were more effective.

Empress Dowager Chen did not ask any further questions, intending to ask Murong the reason in person later.

Murong was surprised that Jiqing had invited Empress Dowager Chen over again. He stepped forward and helped Empress Dowager Chen sit down, saying, "Jiqing just likes to make grand pronouncements. I'm fine."

Empress Dowager Chen dismissed everyone before speaking to Murong: "It will be too late by the time you find out what's wrong. You've been waking up in the middle of the night for several nights in a row. Insufficient sleep will affect your health. Tell me, has something happened? Or have you been having a nightmare?"

Murong chuckled: "Even if it's a nightmare, it's impossible for it to scare me so much that I can't sleep."

"Then what is the reason? Tell me, and I will solve the problem with you," Empress Dowager Chen asked, her gaze fixed intently on him.

Murong couldn't possibly say that he couldn't sleep after dreaming that Consort De confessed her love to him that day, could he?

This is something that's hard to talk about, and even if you did, it wouldn't solve the problem.

At least the first night it was because of that dream, and in the following nights I woke up at that time every time.

"My son really doesn't have anything on his mind..."

Before Murong could speak, Empress Dowager Chen said, "Alright, I'll have Suyi come over."

Upon hearing this, Murong immediately stopped him: "Why invite the Empress here? She is pregnant with the imperial heir. Let her rest and recuperate in peace. There is no need to disturb her."

Empress Dowager Chen said calmly, "Then tell me why the Emperor is suffering from insomnia? If not, I will have to ask Su Yi to come over."

Murong couldn't bring herself to describe the dream, only saying, "My son just woke up at that time, for no particular reason."

"Really?" Empress Dowager Chen asked, still somewhat doubtful.

Murong said frankly, "My son has no reason to lie."

Empress Dowager Chen was at a loss for what to do. She had initially thought the emperor was troubled and couldn't sleep, but it turned out that wasn't the case.

"How about this, you go to Xianfu Palace to rest tonight. Perhaps Su Yi will accompany you, and this symptom might improve. You might as well give it a try," Empress Dowager Chen thought of a method.

Most importantly, talking to Su Yi would make the emperor very happy. If the emperor was in a good mood, he might sleep well at night, and his insomnia symptoms would improve.

Murong's heart stirred, and he felt that this method was worth a try.

"I will follow Mother's arrangements," Murong said without objection.

That night, Murong finished his work and it was already late. When he arrived at Xianfu Palace, Lou Suying had just fallen asleep.

Although he knew Lou Suying had been going to bed early lately, he didn't expect her to be this early; it was only just past 7 PM.

Jinshu hesitated whether to wake her master, but His Majesty waved his hand, signaling them all to leave.

Murong went to the bedside and looked at Lou Suyi's sleeping face. Perhaps she was having a sweet dream, for the Empress still had a faint smile on her face and was sleeping soundly.

He simply watched the sleeping empress, and suddenly felt sleepy.

No wonder Jiqing said he slept more soundly when he was in Xianfu Palace. The Empress is truly magical; she's more effective than any calming medicine. Just looking at her makes one sleepy.