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

Chapter 271 Good Medicine
"Then eat quickly. After breakfast, I will return to the palace to wait for the concubines to come and pay their respects. I will check your studies another day."

"Your Majesty the Empress works tirelessly day and night for the harem, and you must take good care of your health. I have heard that Your Majesty has not fully recovered since your serious illness. Unfortunately, I am of low status and have no way to find good medicine for Your Majesty. When I grow up, I will definitely find the best tonic in the world for Your Majesty to nourish your body."

Shen Qingwan found it both funny and exasperating.

She always felt that Jiang Wenlan's words, "working day and night," seemed to be a sarcastic remark directed at her.

On her way back, Shen Qingwan happened to run into Consort Ying. Since Consort Ying was pregnant, she no longer needed to pay her respects to the Empress. Instead of resting in the palace early in the morning, this pregnant woman was dressed neatly and leaving the palace...

As she approached, Shen Qingwan's gaze fell on the food box in the hands of Consort Ying's personal maid, Que'er.

She understood instantly.

"This concubine greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty be blessed." Consort Ying curtsied upon seeing the Empress.

"Haven't I told you many times that you don't need to perform the proper etiquette now that you're pregnant?" Shen Qingwan smiled gently.

"I am deeply grateful for Your Majesty's care. It has been a long time since I have seen Your Majesty. I am so happy. I am the daughter of a military family, and I am not so delicate. It is no big deal to give a curtsy." Consort Ying said with a smile.

"I reckon His Majesty should be finishing court soon." After saying this, Shen Qingwan glanced in the direction of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. "There have been many things going on in the palace these past two days, and many people have been coming and going. Now that you are pregnant, you must be careful when you go to see His Majesty."

Consort Ying's smile froze, then she looked panicked. "Your Majesty, you misunderstand. This soup is not for His Majesty."

No?

Shen Qingwan frowned slightly in surprise, "Then what is this...?"

"Your Majesty, I heard that after court today, I will come to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to discuss with His Majesty the matter of taking over General Pang's military affairs. I came here specifically to try my luck and see if I could see my brother." As Consort Ying spoke, her face turned pale, and she knelt on the ground. "I know this is against the rules, but my brother and I have depended on each other since childhood. After entering the palace, I have had even less opportunity to see my brother. Now my brother is stationed on the frontier, which is a barbarian land. I am very worried during my pregnancy, which is why I did this. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Shen Qingwan helped her up from the ground. "I must return to the palace now. The concubines are still waiting in the palace to pay their respects to me. We can discuss other matters another day."

"This concubine respectfully sees off Her Majesty the Empress."

After Shen Qingwan left, Consort Ying slowly straightened up.

"Your Majesty, this soup was clearly made for the Emperor. Why did you say it was made for General Rong in front of the Empress? By doing so, you were openly telling the Empress that you had violated palace rules. Fortunately, the Empress is magnanimous and didn't take it to heart. If she had really punished you, Your Majesty, you are pregnant and could not have withstood the punishment," Que'er said with a worried expression.

Consort Ying sneered inwardly.

When she first entered the palace, she was not favored and naturally didn't care about so much. At that time, she just hoped that she could see the emperor once a day.

Before entering the palace, she had heard that the Empress was not someone to be trifled with, and that her favorite thing to do in the harem was to go against the favored concubines and to send contraceptive soup to the concubines who had just served her.

Although the Empress she met after entering the palace seemed different from the rumors, she didn't believe that a person could make such a big change overnight.

The only possibility is that the Empress simply wanted to win Emperor Yuanwu's favor by temporarily appeasing the Emperor. Whether this tactic was the Empress's own idea or someone else's advice, it certainly worked.

Emperor Yuanwu's opinion of the Empress has changed considerably. Although the Empress has not yet served him in bed, Emperor Yuanwu has been visiting Kunning Palace every day without any decrease in his visits.

The Emperor was in Kunning Palace the night General Pang left.

I'm afraid that if it weren't for such a big event that happened in the previous dynasty, Emperor Yuanwu would have stayed in her palace that night.

If it were in the past, when the Empress and the Emperor were a harmonious couple, she would definitely send her blessings to the Empress, after all, the Empress had helped her a lot when she was selected to enter the palace.

But things are different now.

Thinking of this, Consort Ying reached out and touched her still-not-so-obvious lower abdomen.

She had her own child.

Her brother was appreciated by Emperor Yuanwu.

Now that General Pang is dead, the only military officers available in the court are from the Rong family.

If the child in her womb is a boy, then the future crown prince position...

“Now that I am pregnant, let alone missing my family, even if I had done something wrong, let alone the Empress, even the Empress Dowager wouldn’t punish me and harm the imperial fetus. The Emperor already has few children, who would punish me for such a trivial matter?” Consort Ying put one hand on her hip and glanced sideways towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation. “Let’s go, the Emperor will be leaving court soon. If we go too late, the soup might get cold and won’t taste good.”

Shen Qingwan took a few steps, then glanced back at the spot where Consort Ying had just stood, her eyes gradually darkening.

"Your Majesty, do you also think that the soup Consort Ying prepared was not actually for General Rong, but for the Emperor?" Zhen'er followed her gaze and looked over. "What exactly does Consort Ying mean? There are so many concubines in the palace who send soup to the Emperor every day, but she would rather let Her Majesty the Empress misunderstand that she has violated palace rules than admit that the soup was for the Emperor. Why is that?"

for……

She was afraid that she would think she was deliberately trying to win favor, which would harm the child in her womb.

Shen Qingwan's eyes darkened completely. Consort Ying was no longer the Noble Lady Rong she had been when she first entered the palace. If she had any sense, she would not have followed in Consort Xian's footsteps. If she didn't, she probably wouldn't have lived to see the day she followed in Consort Xian's footsteps.

Emperor Yuanwu went to great lengths to eliminate General Pangda, a major threat, even going so far as to employ Prince Rui, who had long been detached from state affairs. How could he possibly allow anyone to follow in General Pangda's footsteps?

When Shen Qingwan arrived at Kunning Palace, Consort De and Consort Xian were standing in the courtyard. However, unlike usual, the two were standing in opposite directions, one to the south and the other to the north. Neither of them spoke to the other, and they just stood there quietly.

No wonder.

Consort Xian slapped Consort De, turning her from Noble Lady Song back into Consort De. If it were before, when Consort Xian's father died, Consort De would say something hurtful to upset her. But last night, Consort Xian only said that she was too sad and fainted, and then she summoned Emperor Yuanwu from the Empress's palace.

Consort De was afraid that if she were to be any more restless and try to usurp the title of Imperial Noble Consort...