A middle-aged emperor, childless, was blessed with a beautiful and pregnant concubine who entered th

Pomegranate didn't dare to respond, and neither did wax apple.

The pomegranate was brought from outside the palace by Zhou Mingyi. Although she had witnessed the cruelty of the palace during this period, she had not seen much because Zhou Mingyi was favored.

But seeing her empress pregnant with twins and about to reach the pinnacle of her life... Shiliu couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow at her sudden fall from grace.

She also felt sorry for the two princes who had already taken shape.

Shi Liu is like a completely different person now, much more composed.

Zhou Mingyi lowered her eyes and looked at the two empty brocade boxes beside the bed.

"Do you know why I kept them?"

Shi Liu shook her head.

Zhou Mingyi offered no explanation.

She simply reached out and gently stroked the smooth lacquered surface of the brocade box.

"In mourning, in remembrance."

She murmured the two posthumous titles, "What beautiful names."

"If they survive, their childhood names will be Huai Ge'er and Nian Ge'er."

"In spring, we'll take them to the Imperial Garden to fly kites; in summer, we'll listen to the cicadas chirping under the eaves; in autumn, we'll admire the chrysanthemums; and in winter, we'll build snowmen..."

She paused.

"It's a pity that this opportunity will never come."

Shi Liu's eyes reddened again.

Zhou Mingyi stopped talking about these things.

She paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Has Your Majesty visited Consort Chen these past few days?"

Shi Liu was taken aback, then quickly replied, "Your Majesty, no."

"This servant has inquired and found that His Majesty's imperial carriage has not gone to Consort Chen's palace in the past seven days."

"Even when Her Highness the Princess came to the palace to pay her respects, His Majesty only summoned her to the Qianqing Palace and they only met for less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea."

Zhou Mingyi nodded.

"Where is the princess?"

"Your Highness..." Shi Liu hesitated, "Your Highness still submits a petition every two or three days, and His Majesty approves it all, but when you meet, you hardly exchange a few words."

Zhou Mingyi remained silent.

She looked out the window.

The wind stopped.

The crabapple branches were still drooping low, not yet raised.

"Pomegranate," she suddenly said.

"This servant is here."

"You said that a person commits a terrible mistake, but because no one can take her place, she will never be punished."

Her eyes slightly curved, and Shi Liu's expression subtly changed.

"Your Majesty..."

Zhou Mingyi gently shook her head. "Tell me, is this a blessing or a curse?"

Shi Liu was stunned.

She couldn't answer.

Zhou Mingyi did not wait for her answer.

She leaned against the pillow and slowly closed her eyes.

The hall was completely silent.

Only the copper water clock dripped, drop by drop.

Now everyone in the palace knows that Consort Zhen is pitiful.

She finally conceived His Majesty's child, but because of someone unspeakable, she lost both children forever.

Her pitiful state was so palpable that even Emperor Qianwu couldn't bear to say anything.

Not to mention the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager was usually a cold-hearted person, but now when she saw Zhou Mingyi, she couldn't help but advise her to take good care of herself, as the child... the child would most likely not be able to come again.

But there were two people who were mourned and missed, born without life, yet they were the Empress Dowager's beloved grandsons who would always be in her heart.

The Empress Dowager and Emperor Qianwu were particularly lenient towards Consort Zhen.

Even on Consort Chen's side, the Empress Dowager didn't give her a kind look, although she would still see Chaoyang.

Aunt Zhulan said that the Empress Dowager would stay in Weiyang Palace for a while longer before returning to Cining Palace.

The grandson she had longed for was gone, and it would indeed be inappropriate for her to stay in Weiyang Palace any longer.

An empress dowager living in the east wing of the concubines' quarters? It's truly unbelievable.

Now that the only reason is gone, the Empress Dowager plans to wait until Zhou Mingyi has finished her postpartum confinement before leaving.

……

into the night.

Shiliu kept watch at night, sleeping on the soft couch in the outer room, her breathing long and peaceful.

Zhou Mingyi lay in the tent with her eyes closed, but she couldn't fall asleep.

She heard that midnight had passed.

Then, she opened her eyes.

"system."

She spoke to the system in her mind.

"I am here."

The system's voice was cold and emotionless.

"Is my child really a fake?"

She checked it again.

When she miscarried, the system asked her if she needed a painless childbirth pill, but Zhou Mingyi was a ruthless person and she didn't want it.

In her past life, Princess Chaoyang forced her brother to skin him alive and stuff him with straw, so their hatred was already very intense.

There was also the humiliation of being treated as a plaything by Xie Zhang and abandoned by Xue Weirou...

After being reborn, this hatred is like strong liquor, it will only grow stronger.

But Zhou Mingyi thought that even though this pregnancy was fake, the more painful the miscarriage, the more intense her hatred would become.

Therefore, she endured the pain of a normal miscarriage.

That was the pain of flesh and blood being forcibly torn from the mother's body, a pain so excruciating it was unbearable.

The real pain gave Zhou Mingyi a strange feeling—as if the two children were real, as if they were actually inside her, and as if she had felt them move.

Zhou Mingyi couldn't be sure if this was really a false pregnancy as the system claimed.

All of this feels so real!

After asking the question, Zhou Mingyi listened intently, as if she were a fanatic.

The system responded almost without hesitation, "Everything produced by the system is of the highest quality. As I've said before, this simulates a normal pregnancy, but the child is fake."

Zhou Mingyi breathed a sigh of relief.

She regained a sliver of her rationality.

She is indeed here for revenge, but she cannot wallow in this false grief of losing her child.

Zhou Mingyi knew, however, that she wasn't a system; she was, after all, an ordinary person with flesh and blood. Even if she had other children later, these two "children" had left faint traces in her life.

She will never forget them in her life.

"understood."

She chuckled softly.

"I always thought that Chaoyang was a simple-minded person, but I didn't expect her to be so capable."

The system remained silent.

Zhou Mingyi continued:

"She may not have wanted to poison my child."

"That would cause too much of a commotion; she might not be able to escape unscathed."

"She probably just wanted them to be weaker, to have a harder time at full term, and not to be as strong later on."

"In this way, she remains His Majesty's only respectable offspring."

"She didn't know my child was destined not to survive."

"She didn't know about her pills; she just paved the way for me."

System: "Consort Zhen, what a brilliant plan!"

Zhou Mingyi glanced sideways. "You know how to flatter?"

The system said in a serious tone, "This is called providing emotional value to the host."

Zhou Mingyi was in a good mood. "Okay, you can continue."

system:……

Zhou Mingyi ignored it and continued:

"So she lost."

"She thought she had won."

"She poisoned His Majesty's prince and escaped all punishment. She's very pleased with herself."

"But she didn't know that those two princes were destined to die."

"She thought she had killed them. But actually..."

She paused.

"She just covered up the cause of my death."

System: "Your Highness is wise."

Zhou Mingyi: "You know, when you say that, you sound like a eunuch from my palace."

system:……

Zhou Mingyi was still reviewing the situation; she needed to become the one in control of the whole situation.

"I didn't put the leeches and horseflies in Consort Liu's palace."

"Consort Chen and her son used Consort Liu to harm me; that's their skill."

"But that palace maid knew that whether she confessed or not, she was doomed to die, so why did she immediately implicate Consort Liu?"

"Just to avoid that one beating? Don't you think it's all too coincidental?"

"It's so coincidental, it's like it was arranged by someone on purpose."

"These past few days I've been wondering, is she truly Princess Chaoyang's person? Could there be someone else playing a key role in this?"

Zhou Mingyi knew that she had achieved her goal.

The loss of their child also planted a thorn in Emperor Qianwu's heart, a thorn that would prevent him from ever openly and lovingly doting on Princess Chaoyang again.

Even so... because Chaoyang was his only offspring, he had no choice but to favor her.

But whenever Emperor Qianwu saw the rising sun, he would think of those two children, those two children covered in bruises, who had been killed by the rising sun himself.

This is almost a win-win situation.

Zhou Mingyi locked onto Xie Zhang and Xiao Weirou almost instantly.

If she successfully gives birth to those two children, who will be the one who suffers the most?

Without even a second thought, it must be Xie Zhang.

If Emperor Qianwu had a biological son, then what role would Xie Zhang, the so-called crown prince, play?

Secondly, there's Chaoyang.

Zhou Mingyi's previous life was far too short; she devoted almost all her energy to saving her brother.

Therefore, all she knew was that the relationship between Crown Prince Xie Zhang and Princess Chaoyang was superficial.

But at this moment, she suddenly had a crazy idea—could it be that Chaoyang was also eyeing the position of Emperor Qianwu?

The idea had barely taken shape in her mind when it took root rapidly.

Almost instantly, Zhou Mingyi became convinced of this idea.

An ordinary princess would not necessarily have such a rebellious thought.

But Chaoyang was different; she was Emperor Qianwu's only son and his beloved only daughter. Although Emperor Qianwu was forced by circumstances to establish a crown prince.

But as anyone with eyes can see, Emperor Qianwu neither values ​​nor cares about this so-called crown prince.

He was only established under pressure from the court officials.

He granted Princess Chaoyang a fiefdom, a fief, and the right to maintain a private army; the implications of this are numerous.

It is not surprising that Princess Chaoyang developed extravagant hopes as a result.

The situation became clear instantly.

The system remained silent for a moment, then said, "Host, your predictions are spot on. That palace maid is indeed from the Eastern Palace."

Zhou Mingyi nodded.

She also planted spies in the Eastern Palace so that they could find out about the Crown Prince and his wife at crucial moments.

But right now, she is still in her early postpartum period.

Everyone knows that Consort Zhen is still grieving the loss of her son and cannot pull herself out of it, so it is not advisable for her to make any moves for the time being.

The Eastern Palace.

Upon hearing that Consort Zhen had miscarried, and that two fully formed male fetuses had been delivered, Xiao Weirou was overjoyed.

"Really?"

Is this true?

The expression on her face was almost impossible to control.

The trusted aide glanced around frantically, then signaled with his eyes, "Your Majesty, the deaths of two princes are a great tragedy for the nation!"

Crown Princess Xiao Weirou barely managed to suppress her ecstatic expression.

Her expression was almost frozen before she managed to suppress it, "Yes, the two princes...it's such a pity at such a young age. Your Highness, regarding this matter..."

A trusted aide said, "His Highness the Crown Prince, as the elder brother of the two young princes, is deeply grieved."

Xiao Weirou nodded, then pressed a handkerchief to the corner of her eye. "What a pity, what a pity..."

The trusted nanny finally breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully the Crown Princess did not lose her composure in public.

If it were known that the Crown Princess was overjoyed at the deaths of her two princes, it would surely be a grave taboo.