The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 129 Soft Persimmon

"Since we're all here, let's go in together." Shen Qingwan walked ahead calmly.

Although Consort Xian was extremely unhappy, she still responded and followed.

When they entered the Yanxi Palace, Consort De was nestled in Emperor Yuanwu's arms, her eyes filled with tears.

Upon seeing the Empress and the Imperial Concubine enter, she hurriedly broke free from Emperor Yuanwu's embrace and tried to rise and pay her respects.

"You're pregnant now, so there's no need for formalities," Shen Qingwan hurriedly stopped her.

She made such a commotion in the middle of the night; she couldn't bear the thought of her kneeling like that. If she developed any health problems from kneeling, the blame would fall entirely on her.

"I have been with Your Majesty for so long, and I finally became pregnant. I was really frightened when I saw blood in the middle of the night. It alarmed Your Majesty, the Empress, and the Noble Consort. I am truly terrified," Consort De explained.

Consort Xian rolled her eyes as she listened to her words.

Fear and unease?

She probably thinks Consort De is just trying to stir up trouble!

She wasn't afraid of alerting others; she wanted everyone in the palace to know that she was pregnant with the emperor's child!

Emperor Yuanwu glanced at Shen Qingwan and, seeing how tired she looked, couldn't help but say, "There's nothing much going on at Yanxi Palace. The Empress has been exhausted these past two days, so she should go back and rest as soon as possible."

I roused her in the middle of the night, only to say these two sentences and then send her back. She loves frozen persimmons, but she's not a pushover.

Especially when you look at the dark circles under Emperor Yuanwu's eyes and the barely suppressed smirk on his lips.

Shen Qingwan sat down calmly. "No rush."

Concubine De: ...

What does the Empress mean by this? Does she intend to sit here and not leave?
She finally had a chance to spend some time alone with Emperor Yuanwu, and since he was in such a good mood, why did she have to ruin it?

“This pregnancy of Consort De is a joyous occasion in the harem. However, Consort De has never given birth before. Consort Gui, on the other hand, has experience. Since Consort Gui is here, why don’t you tell Consort De what she should pay attention to when she first becomes pregnant? With the experience of someone who has been through it, she can avoid making the same mistakes, right?” After Shen Qingwan finished speaking, she picked up her teacup and drank her tea, looking like she had no intention of leaving.

Consort De: ? ? ?
Consort Xian: ? ? ?

Consort Xian was already quite annoyed to hear that Consort De was pregnant, and now, unable to sleep in the middle of the night, she had to be here teaching Consort De what to be careful about during pregnancy, which made her even more upset.

However, with Emperor Yuanwu watching, she had no choice but to speak up. Not only did she have to speak up, but she also had to be thorough and meticulous in every detail.

Consort Xian wished she would miscarry as soon as possible, so how could she seriously explain the precautions to her? She would just pick out some things that the imperial physicians often talked about, repeating them over and over again, saying the same few sentences over and over again.

Emperor Yuanwu became drowsy listening to the music and eventually fell asleep.

Consort De's expression was somewhat complicated: "Your Majesty the Empress, you see that the Emperor has fallen asleep, and you and the Noble Consort are also tired. Why don't you go back to the palace to rest early? It's almost dawn outside."

Shen Qingwan then slowly stood up: "In that case, I will return to the palace first. It is not easy to be pregnant. I will have the Consort explain to you in detail what you should pay attention to during pregnancy another day."

"Yes, I thank Your Majesty the Empress and Your Highness the Noble Consort," Consort De said with an awkward laugh.

"Alright, you're pregnant now, so you should rest early. You don't need to worry about the affairs of the six palaces for now. Just focus on your pregnancy. If you give birth to a princess or a prince for the Emperor in the future, you will be richly rewarded."

"This concubine respectfully bids farewell to Her Majesty the Empress and Her Highness the Imperial Concubine."

Consort Xian followed behind Shen Qingwan and knelt down to pay her respects as soon as she stepped out of Yanxi Palace.

Telling Consort De how to ensure a safe pregnancy? How could the Empress possibly come up with such an idea!
She was so tired from talking that her eyelids were drooping, and all she wanted to do was go back and get a good night's sleep.

"Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, I will return to the palace first." Consort Xian's face was pale, and she looked very unwell.

Shen Qingwan nodded: "How are the arrangements for the hostage's arrival at the palace going? I heard he'll be here in the next couple of days."

Consort Xian was taken aback: "Your Majesty, I have already arranged for people to clean Chang Le Palace. Do we need to have anything else purchased?"

"Just clean it up. As for whether to add anything, that's up to you, Consort. It's already dawn, Consort, you should go back and rest early." After Shen Qingwan finished speaking, she turned around and boarded the sedan chair before Consort Xian could speak.

Consort Xian stood there, watching the Empress leave. Her already pale face, due to not having slept all night, turned even paler.

The Empress is really good at playing the good guy these days, saying nothing and letting her handle it herself.

If things go well, it's all thanks to the Empress. No matter what, it was all arranged by the Empress.

If things weren't handled well, she would simply say that she had handed the whole matter over to the Imperial Concubine, thus washing her hands of the matter and leaving the Imperial Concubine in a bad position.

How come she never noticed before that the Empress was so shrewd!

Shen Qingwan had a completely different idea from hers.

The late emperor wronged the eldest princess by sending her to the northern desert for a political marriage, all in order to bring peace to the northern desert.

After the princess returned to the palace, all indications showed that Moganbu and the princess actually had genuine feelings for each other.

If there is genuine affection, how could they easily provoke war?

The general was eager to make a name for himself and wanted to start from the frontier, so the trouble he caused would naturally have to be cleaned up by his precious daughter.

He probably never dreamed that a new king would be established in the northern desert, and instead of gaining military merit, his daughter would be granted the honor of becoming a noble consort.

Royal concubine?

Being a concubine is not an easy job!

"Your Majesty, when I heard you say that the Noble Consort was telling Consort De how to ensure a safe pregnancy, I almost burst out laughing if I hadn't had good self-control. I reckon the Noble Consort and Consort De must be furious right now." Zhen'er's tone was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"I've never given birth, so naturally, the concubines who have given birth should explain the proper way to ensure a safe pregnancy to her. If I just go back like this, who knows, she might be unhappy one day and have someone call me over in the middle of the night. I wish she could torture me to death during these ten months of pregnancy." Shen Qingwan said sullenly.

"But Your Highness, Consort De has not been pregnant for so long, how come she is suddenly pregnant?" Zhen'er asked curiously.

Yes!

How did it suddenly appear?

Shen Qingwan didn't put much effort into thinking about it, after all, she hadn't slept well for several nights in a row, and she didn't even realize when someone helped her to bed yesterday, which showed that she was really tired.

Shen Qingwan instructed Zhen'er to tell the palace ladies that they did not need to come to pay their respects early in the morning, as she woke up again when it was almost lunchtime.

I wonder how things are going with Prince Rui; Consort De is pregnant and trying to curry favor with him.

It's not uncommon for the fetus to be unstable in early pregnancy, but spotting so early is not a good sign.

After much deliberation, Shen Qingwan decided to go to the Empress Dowager's palace in person.

(End of this chapter)