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

"Peixi, slap yourself!"

Princess Chaoyang was extremely fast. She immediately drew her soft whip and lashed it fiercely at Zhou Mingyi.

Zhou Mingyi's lips curled slightly, her eyes full of provocation.

Princess Chaoyang's last doubts vanished, and she once again fiercely flung her braid at Mingyi.

Mingyi protected her face. Even with the system, her face would never be scarred, no matter how badly it was injured.

However, for a concubine known for her beauty, protecting her face is a normal reaction when faced with sudden danger.

She gasped in surprise, seemingly unable to believe that Princess Chaoyang would so openly attack her.

She was His Majesty's concubine, his stepmother.

She really has no scruples!

Consort Lan stood in the crowd, feeling somewhat reluctant.

She didn't look this way at first, until her personal maid said that Consort Zhen seemed to have a conflict with Consort Chen and her daughter at the stable.

"Consort Zhen?"

Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?

The personal maid hurriedly replied, "This servant has had good eyesight since childhood and can see far, so I shouldn't be wrong."

Consort Lan: "But the Empress Dowager ordered Consort Zhen to stay in the palace, so she shouldn't be at the hunting grounds..."

But then I thought about it again. My brother, the Emperor, dotes on Consort Zhen. Perhaps he couldn't bear to leave her in the palace, so he secretly brought her out...

Thinking about it this way, Consort Lan couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

She shook her head.

Pampering is important, but what's more important than being alive?

She's already died once, how come she still can't distinguish the important things?

That shouldn't be the case.

At least so far, Consort Zhen is worth winning over.

Although, she sometimes couldn't quite see through Consort Zhen.

She seemed to have feelings for her emperor brother, yet she also seemed to care about no one else.

One thing is certain: Consort Lan could see that Consort Zhen was beautiful and that her brother, the Emperor, was now somewhat fond of her.

If her appearance at the hunting grounds this time was at the behest of her brother, the emperor.

That would be very interesting.

This shows that the emperor brother was willing to disregard the empress dowager's wishes for her sake.

Then she definitely deserves to go see it.

"What kind of clothes did Consort Zhen wear?"

The palace maid gazed at it for a while, then said, "It looks like something a palace eunuch would wear..."

Consort Lan was taken aback.

"Let's go take a look!"

When Consort Lan arrived, she saw Zhou Mingyi being whipped by Princess Chaoyang.

The scene was chaotic, but no one dared to stand up for her.

After all, everyone knows that Princess Chaoyang is the emperor and empress dowager's only precious child.

As long as she didn't kill Consort Zhen, it was just a little temper tantrum and beating someone up, what's the big deal?

Consort Zhen, on the other hand, was whipped so many times that her body and face were inevitably injured. The wounds looked very deep, and Consort Zhen's face was probably ruined.

The only reason she was able to enter the palace and win the emperor's favor was because she had a beautiful face.

And that fair, jade-like skin.

Now, even if those scars fade a bit in the future, can they still be restored to their original whiteness?

Consort Zhen is about to fall out of favor!

Almost everyone came to this conclusion.

It would be foolish to offend a princess for the sake of a concubine who is about to fall out of favor.

Consort Lan was also shocked by what she saw.

Suddenly, she saw a pool of blood on the ground.

The pool of blood was still beneath Consort Zhen.

She instinctively said, "Your Highness, you can't hit her anymore. No matter what, Consort Zhen is still your stepmother. Aren't you afraid of being criticized for beating your stepmother?"

Princess Chaoyang was furious. "Why should I explain my actions to you?"

"Believe it or not, even if I, the princess, were to beat this vile woman to death right now, Father Emperor would at most be..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sharp, high-pitched voice was heard.

"His Majesty has arrived!"

Emperor Qianwu rode up and saw the once bright and beautiful woman lying in a pool of blood.

His face immediately darkened.

Then, he saw the bloodstains beneath her, and for some reason, his eyes narrowed.

"Guards! Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"

Emperor Qianwu dismounted, his voice tense, picked up Zhou Mingyi, spurred the horse and rode back, the pressure around him was extremely low.

The group was left looking at each other in bewilderment.

I don't know who said it.

"Consort Zhen looks like she's had a miscarriage..."

These words, though spoken softly, reached Consort Chen's ears clearly.

She was suddenly stunned, the past events flashing before her eyes as if they were happening right in front of her.

When she was young, she was pregnant and became the target of public criticism, and she also inadvertently fell into the trap set by others.

After all, there were many noble ladies in the palace, and those aristocratic families had accumulated countless underhanded methods over generations in their inner quarters.

The noble ladies raised in that way appear dignified and elegant on the surface, serving as exemplars of noblewomanhood.

In reality, their methods are extremely diverse and ruthless.

It could be said that Consort Chen was incredibly lucky to have Princess Chaoyang born safely.

This child is truly lucky.

Despite being targeted by all the women in the harem, he still managed to survive.

After all, only when no one can get pregnant and no one has children can the harem maintain a long-term balance.

But if no one else can conceive, and only Chen manages to give birth, then Chen will become the target of everyone's criticism.

The worst time, she also lost a lot of blood...

Even now, Consort Chen trembles when she thinks about it.

She was bleeding profusely from below, and a dull, dragging pain came from her lower abdomen, as if something was being ripped out of her body and falling downwards...

This sudden loss terrified Consort Chen.

"Impossible! How could this be?"

"No, that won't happen..."

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

In all these years, no one in the harem has been able to conceive His Majesty's child except for her. How could Zhou Shi possibly be able to conceive?

She must be up to something again! She definitely is!

Princess Chaoyang didn't believe it either.

She sneered, "Aren't there plenty of fake pregnancy medicines in the palace? It must be that Zhou woman's scheme!"

"How could it be that she happened to be pregnant the moment I, the princess, made my move?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"My father would never allow a woman to get pregnant!"

As if to convince herself, Princess Chaoyang continued, "For so many years, no one has been able to conceive my father's child, not even my mother. How could Zhou Shi possibly conceive?"

"Does she deserve it?"

The noblewomen of the imperial family looked at each other in bewilderment.

No one dared to speak.

Inside the large tent.

The accompanying imperial physician carefully examined Zhou Mingyi's injuries.

Those bright red whip marks were deliberately made by Zhou Mingyi for Emperor Qianwu's benefit.

To achieve her goals, she's now so ruthless that she can even be cruel to herself.

All I can say is that the timing of Consort Chen and her daughter's appearance was absolutely perfect!

She had planned to find out she was pregnant during this autumn hunt.

A month earlier, during her time with Emperor Qianwu at the lotus pond, Zhou Mingyi had taken the "fake pregnancy pill" provided by the system.

So-called fake pregnancy pills are exactly the same as real pregnancy pills.

And it can maintain a five-month pregnancy.

Even if the child is eventually born, there will be a mass of flesh and blood that resembles the child.

But it will not have any effect on Mingyi's health.

This was a plan she had made from the beginning.

However, it was unexpected that Consort Jin was faking her pregnancy, and several drugs that could induce false pregnancy appeared in the palace. Therefore, the five months of pregnancy caused by this "false pregnancy pill" was quite important.

At that time, her lower abdomen will also be slightly protruding.

None of these symptoms can be maintained by false pregnancies in the uterus.

Everyone would believe that she was really pregnant.

At this moment, she had just "awakened" from her coma and immediately saw Emperor Qianwu.

It's quite strange; if someone else were injured like this, the wound would be gruesome and certainly not a pretty sight.

But unfortunately, Mingyi was injured like this, and the bright red wounds contrasted sharply with the whiteness of her skin.

Not only is she not ugly, but she appears even more frail and helpless.

As Emperor Qianwu looked at him, his brows furrowed heavily, and his handsome face was filled with frost.

"Is my beloved concubine feeling any better?"

Tears welled up in Zhou Mingyi's eyes at just the right moment.

"Your Majesty, I am in so much pain. I don't know why the princess is treating me like this... I..."

As she spoke, her face turned deathly pale, as if she had suddenly lost consciousness from the pain.

"Your Majesty, my stomach hurts so much!"

"It seems like something is leaking out."

Emperor Qianwu was deeply distressed upon hearing this, his heart pounding like a drum.

"Imperial Physician!"

The imperial physician immediately knelt down, his expression becoming extremely solemn, and he took the pulse even more carefully.

The tent was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After a long silence, the imperial physician knelt down with a thud, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty, although Consort Zhen's body has suffered external injuries, her pulse is... like a flowing pearl, exceptionally smooth. This is... a pregnancy pulse!"

"It's just that the pregnancy is very early, and the recent fright, coupled with external bleeding, has slightly affected the fetus. Fortunately, the fetus is resilient and there's nothing seriously wrong for now, but it needs immediate rest and care to ensure a healthy pregnancy!"

The air inside the tent seemed to freeze.

Emperor Qianwu was taken aback at first, then an unbelievable surge of joy welled up in his eyes, followed by a solemn expression.

He held Zhou Mingyi's cold hand tightly, and Zhou Mingyi could feel that his hand was trembling.

You dog emperor, your own daughter almost completely extinguished your hopes. Surprised? Unexpected?

The prince, who had rushed over, was struck dumb. His face turned ashen, and his hands, which were hanging in his sleeves, trembled violently. He could barely stand and was only able to hold on by his last shred of reason.

Outside the tent, Shen Kuo's figure swayed almost imperceptibly, as if all his strength had been drained in an instant, leaving only boundless dull pain and silence.

After his initial shock, Emperor Qianwu spoke with a heavy tone.

He tried his best to remain calm and said in a deep voice, "Have you looked carefully?"

"Are you sure it's a pregnancy pulse?"

The imperial physician immediately said, "Your Majesty, judging from the Empress's pulse, it is indeed a slippery pulse."

"only……"

This imperial physician also knew about what happened to Consort Jin back then.

Because of this incident, several imperial physicians were implicated, and now that a pregnancy has been diagnosed, they are naturally being extremely cautious.

So he said, "Your Majesty, if it is caused by the medicine, the Empress's pulse should also be somewhat changed due to the fright she experienced."

"However, just to be on the safe side, I would like to ask Your Majesty and His Majesty to observe for a while longer. Once the pulse stabilizes, we will naturally know whether it is a pregnancy pulse or not."

This imperial physician was clever; he knew to temporarily distance himself from the situation.

Whether it's a pregnancy test or not is still uncertain; we need to observe further.

If it is a pregnancy pulse, he will have done a good job.

Even if that's not the case, he made a statement beforehand, so he can't be wrong.

However, Emperor Qianwu was different from ordinary emperors.

He was obsessed with having children.