This scholar is a bit cruel

Chapter 334 The Queen's Huge Surprise!

Outside the window, night has fallen.

In the study, the lights were on, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. The Queen, dressed in a scarlet robe, sat at her desk, intently reading letters arriving from the front lines.

Luo Zijun sat quietly to the side, flipping through the letters she had finished reading.

After the Queen finished reading all the letters, she began to explain their contents to the Queen.

Luo Zijun watched and discussed it with her.

There was no one else in the room.

Consort Chen, Consort Ning, and Princess Qingya left after finishing their meal.

At that time, the queen had other plans, but she suddenly changed her mind.

After the three left, the queen said to him, "This is bait. We can't let you eat it all at once. You can eat it when you come back."

Luo Zijun was already full.

The table was laden with delicacies, and I was about to throw up. Although there were different delicious dishes each time, who could stand binge eating for a month straight?
"You'll get hungry again once you're gone for a while."

The queen seemed very confident.

Luo Zijun thought to himself: Is there nothing outside? Although it may not be as good as the royal palace, with his abilities, he shouldn't go hungry, right?
The two talked about national affairs, and before they knew it, night had fallen.

After all the state affairs had been discussed, Luo Zijun finally couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, may we now discuss the matter of that merchant caravan?"

He's leaving tomorrow.

But even now, we still don't know the details of that caravan, not even how many people were in it or how they got there.

The Queen smiled slightly, but did not answer. She picked up her teacup, sipped it slowly for a while, and then looked at him and said, "Lord Luo, there's no need to rush. Since I have already promised you, I will naturally not go back on my word. I said I would give you a surprise tonight."

Luo Zijun could only say, "What surprise does Your Majesty want to give me? Princess Qingya and her sister? I am willing to accept it, but I hope Your Majesty can tell me the important matter first."

The Queen looked at him with a half-smile and said, "How did you know it was about Qingya and her sister? It seems you have a special fondness for sisters."

Luo Zijun sighed and said, "Every time I come to the palace, Her Majesty says she will give me a surprise tonight. And every time, the surprise is some noble person I met in the afternoon. How could I not guess?"

The Queen laughed and said, "It's a pity that Luo Qing guessed wrong. It's not the Qingya sisters. Because I've decided that I can't let Luo Qing succeed for the time being. We can only enjoy it when Luo Qing returns."

Luo Zijun asked in confusion, "Who is that?"

The Queen smiled broadly: "Luo Qing, you can guess."

Luo Zijun carefully recalled the various noblewomen in the palace. Besides the Queen, the Imperial Concubine, and other concubines, there were also princesses, some noblewomen who were imprisoned, and...

Could it be...

A thought suddenly struck him, and he said, "Could it be... the Dowager Consort?"

Queens and princesses are mostly teenagers, at most twenty years old, while the royal consorts are also quite young, ranging from twenty to thirty years old, with the oldest not exceeding forty.

The mother of Princess Qingya and her sister, Consort Tai, was only thirty-two years old.

Given the Queen's recent behavior, such an illogical act is indeed possible.

"The Dowager Consort?"

Upon hearing this, the Queen's lips twitched slightly, and she looked at him meaningfully, saying, "Luo Qing, I didn't expect you to even have designs on those imperial concubines. You really don't discriminate, as long as they're women?"

Luo Zijun was somewhat embarrassed: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty was just guessing."

The Queen's expression suddenly turned strange: "Luo Qing, you wouldn't have taken a fancy to the mother of the Qingya and Jingya sisters, would you?"

Luo Zijun: "...No, I have never seen it."

The Queen snorted coldly and glanced at him sideways, saying, "But you've already seen her beautiful little princess. If the daughter is this pretty, the mother shouldn't be any less beautiful, right?"

Luo Zijun did not want to discuss this topic any further and respectfully said, "Since I guessed wrong, please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

The Queen stared at him for a while, then suddenly said, "Since I said before that I would give you whatever I have and would never be stingy, I certainly wouldn't lie to you. After you return from there, you can choose any of the other women in the palace, including those young concubines who have been widowed for many years."

Luo Zijun said, "Your Majesty, in truth, I..."

"Alright, no need for excuses. Now, I have a surprise for you."

The queen interrupted him, a sly glint appearing in her alluring peach blossom eyes.

Luo Zijun held her breath and remained silent.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Suddenly, the queen clapped her hands three times towards the door.

"Squeak..."

The door opened, and a slender and familiar figure walked in, supported by an old nanny.

Then, the door closed.

Luo Zijun looked at the newcomer with some surprise: "Consort Jia?"

He was secretly puzzled. What kind of surprise was this? Hadn't Consort Jia discussed important national affairs with him for quite some time? And had she even unlocked many skills?

Consort Jia wore a long, flowing purple-red robe today, adorned with jewels, and still looked elegant, graceful, and charming.

She entered the room, first bowing to the Queen, then blushing and shyly calling out to him, "Young Master Luo."

Their relationship was already extraordinary, but every time they met, the imperial concubine would blush and be shy, too timid to look at him. It would take one or two hours of time before she would gradually open up and become bolder and more proactive.

"Your Highness, it's been a long time."

Luo Zijun returned the greeting with a cupped hand, her heart filled with doubt.

The two hadn't seen each other for several days. Before, they met every day, talking happily all night long. He thought he'd been too rough that night, hurting her, or that she'd grown tired of him, which was why she hadn't come recently. What did her sudden appearance today mean?
Just as he was filled with doubt, the Queen rose with a smile, personally helped Consort Jia to sit down on a bench, and sat down next to her, saying with a smile, "Sister, you must take good care of yourself. If you disturb the fetus and harm the baby, then it will be troublesome."

"???"

Luo Zijun was stunned for a few seconds.

Fetal fluid?

Baby?

Suddenly, he was jolted awake, as if struck by lightning, frozen in place, his mind buzzing.

Consort Jia raised her head, her cheeks flushed, and stole a glance at him before quickly lowering her head again, saying shyly, "Yes, thank you for your concern, sister. I will be careful."

The queen raised her head and looked at him with a half-smile, but did not speak immediately.

Luo Zijun stood there, her expression shifting for a long time before she finally stammered, "She...she..."

"What about her?"

The Queen's face turned cold, and she narrowed her eyes, saying, "What? It's only been a few days, and you've already forgotten Consort Jia, who served you like a slave?"

Luo Zijun said, "No, Your Majesty..."

"This is the surprise I wanted to give you."

The Queen gently stroked Consort Jia's flat belly beside her, looking at him coldly and said, "Consort Jia is pregnant. Whether it's a prince or a princess, we'll know when Luo Qing returns. Of course, if Luo Qing is too happy to go home and doesn't want to come back, that's fine too. I will do my best to find Consort Jia a grumpy old man to beat her and the child in her belly every day."

Luo Zijun: "..."

Consort Jia lowered her head, not daring to speak.

Just then, Qing'er's voice suddenly rang out from outside the door: "Your Majesty, a report just came from Zihua Palace that Consort Chen and Consort Ning felt dizzy and nauseous after returning home this afternoon. After Granny Tian went to check on them, she said... that the two consorts might be pregnant."

Just as he finished speaking, a sound of retching suddenly came from outside the door.

Qing'er said, "Your Highness, this servant also... ugh—"

Luo Zijun: "..."

The room fell silent.

The queen's originally smug and cunning expression suddenly turned somewhat ugly for some reason.

Her expression shifted for a moment, a hint of resentment and unwillingness appearing in her eyes as she looked at the person in the room and said, "Is it because I'm no good? I was the one who came first... I tried so hard every time, so many times..."

Luo Zijun was stunned and speechless.

Another sound of retching came from outside the door. Qing'er knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, this servant... this servant..."

"Go down."

The queen sighed deeply, remained silent for a long time, and looked at the person before her, saying, "Now, do you still want to leave here and go to that dangerous place?"

Luo Zijun finally came to her senses, looked up at her, and said with a pale face, "Your Majesty, this kind of thing is not something to joke about..."

How could it be such a coincidence?
He's leaving tomorrow, and suddenly so many people are pregnant tonight?

Consort Jia raised her head, her face flushed as she looked at him, seemingly a little angry, but her voice remained gentle: "Young Master Luo... I... I really..."

"Let him take his own pulse and examine himself."

The Queen sneered and said, "Luo Qing, I heard that you have studied medicine. We certainly cannot ask the imperial physician to examine the Consort, who is pregnant. The nanny behind you is from my family. She also knows a little about medicine. I believe she will not be wrong. If you know how to take a pulse, you can take a look yourself."

Luo Zijun does understand.

His master had taught him, and he had also gone out with his master to help people check for pregnancy.

At this point, even if the Queen didn't say anything, he would still want to check it himself.

He would never trust anyone about something like this.

"Your Highness, I apologize for the offense."

There are outsiders present, so some etiquette still needs to be observed, even though he had offended them many times before.

He lowered his head and walked over, slowly squatting down beside the Imperial Concubine.

Consort Jia also lowered her head, her cheeks flushed, and gently pulled up her wide red sleeves, revealing a section of her slender, snow-white wrist.

Luo Zijun's heart raced, and she silently prayed: It's fake! It's fake!

He reached out and gently placed his fingers on the Imperial Concubine's fair and delicate wrist, closed his eyes, and held his breath.

A familiar, delicate fragrance, accompanied by slightly hurried breaths, gently wafted onto his face.

Her breasts, high and firm, heaved rapidly.

Her cheeks were burning hot.

Consort Jia also looked very nervous.

"..."

Luo Zijun squatted on the ground, stiffened for a moment, slowly withdrew her fingers, and the expression on her face suddenly became complicated.

He looked at the elegant and noble lady before him, the daughter of the Duke's mansion whom he could only look up to and kneel before before. Now, her eyes were filled with tears, her face was flushed, and she was biting her lip, looking at him with a pitiful and touching expression, as if she had been wronged.

"Luo Qing, how is it?"

Seeing his expression, the Queen smiled slightly, a weight lifted from her heart.

Luo Zijun remained silent for a long while, then rose and bowed deeply, saying, "Your Majesty, I promise that I will definitely return before October this year! Even if I have to crawl back!"

(End of this chapter)