He asked you to serve him in bed and become his concubine, how did you manage to win his heart and s

Li Ruolan is probably going crazy with longing for a child right now.

Perhaps because I don't have it myself, I'm starting to want it more and more now.

Not just her, which woman in the harem didn't want to have children to rely on?

The continuation of bloodlines is an age-old principle. Not to mention the imperial palace, even the Li family's inner courtyard is a battleground where people fight tooth and nail. The imperial palace will only be a more chaotic battlefield than the inner courtyard.

She wanted to be at the forefront, to surpass those women!

Driven by a competitive spirit, she hated her own belly even more, wondering why she couldn't bear a child for the emperor, the supreme ruler.

Seeing Li Ruolan's appearance, Granny Gui couldn't help but sigh.

"Your Majesty, please do not panic. This matter cannot be rushed."

How can you rush things when it comes to your child?

Every time a woman was summoned to the emperor's bedchamber, countless eyes would be watching her. The concubines would act like resentful women, wishing they could keep their eyes on the women who had been summoned to the emperor's bedchamber every day, secretly counting the time, for fear that they might actually be pregnant.

Not to mention, Consort Su is always on guard against Li Ruolan. Didn't she send her capable assistant to personally give her a contraceptive potion last time?

The more anxious you are now, the easier it is to expose your true colors.

Granny Gui's words of comfort were meant to calm Li Ruolan down.

The insults she suffers now are nothing. When she ascends to the throne, will she still be afraid of a mere Consort Su?

Yunxi waited behind them. When Granny Gui and Li Ruolan were talking, she wasn't allowed to be by her side, but based on her years of experience, she knew that her elder sister was extremely angry this time.

Li Ruolan is not one to tolerate things easily. Her bad temper, cultivated over many years in the Li family, makes her even less likely to suffer a loss.

But this is the imperial palace, and she is not the only one with a prominent status. How could she swallow this insult?

Yunxi infuriated Li Ruolan, made her unable to bear it, and made her more anxious than anyone else for the child to be born.

Sure enough, once back in the palace, Li Ruolan started feigning concern and came to her side again, asking how she was feeling lately.

"My dear sister, as you saw today, my situation in the harem isn't much better. At today's banquet, I was supposed to be able to talk to the Emperor, but who would have thought I'd fall into a trap? Not only was I made drunk, but I also sneezed incessantly afterward, causing me to lose face in front of the Emperor..."

Thinking about her loss of composure today, Li Ruolan's ears turned bright red.

When have I ever lost face, let alone in front of the Emperor?

She comes from a distinguished family, yet today she has lost the composure befitting a young lady. I wonder how the Emperor will view her...

The more Li Ruolan thought about it, the less calm she became, and the more she wanted to find another way to see the Emperor.

The best solution now is to have Yunxi impersonate her, have the imperial physician take her pulse, and then announce to the world that she is pregnant.

In this way, not only could he see the Emperor every day, but he could also openly meet with Consort Su.

If the other party uses such a despicable tactic as making her sneeze, and she just sits there waiting to be killed, won't she be bullied badly?

Li Ruolan couldn't swallow this insult, and now it was time for her to retaliate.

Yunxi followed her gaze to her own stomach and rubbed it with her hand.

"Your Highness, I've been so tired these past few days. Perhaps I really am pregnant..." she said deliberately, "but I'm still not sure. Granny Gui also said that we'll have to wait three months to find out the result."

The first three months are the best time to stabilize the pregnancy, as the pulse is still unstable. Only after three months can you clearly know whether you are pregnant or not.

Having offspring is a very important matter. The emperor has his own personal imperial physician who only obeys the emperor's orders. If a woman is pregnant, she will definitely have to get past the emperor's approval.

Deceiving the emperor is a serious crime. Yunxi's words were a test of Li Ruolan's willingness to take risks in order to obtain this child.

As expected, upon hearing Yunxi's words, she hesitated.

"Three months is a bit long..."

Li Ruolan sighed softly and took her hand. "Sister, our Li family is counting on you. You know, none of the women in the harem are kind. If they really lay a hand on me, not only you and I, but the entire Li family might collapse..."

One shouldn't speak too bluntly. Even though Li Ruolan wanted accurate information, she still didn't explain herself.

She wanted Yunxi to worry first.

He still thought the other party was that foolish and naive girl who had stayed at the Li family for a while and was treated well, so she was grateful and willing to do anything for the Li family.

To resemble her more closely, she practiced postures and learned makeup daily, followed by palace training. A tutor even specifically instructed her on how to easily conceive and give birth…

Li Ruolan couldn't imagine how someone could be so stupid, but now she was also glad that if Yunxi hadn't been so stupid, she wouldn't have gotten these benefits from it.

She is the beneficiary, and she only turns a blind eye to the sacrifices of others, without caring about their life or death.

Not to mention, she also harbored murderous intent towards Yunxi.

Upon hearing what she said, Yunxi immediately feigned panic and even grabbed her hand for the first time, disregarding their master-servant relationship.

"Your Highness, will those people really harm us? What about Father... will Master be implicated as well?"

Yunxi also spent some time with her father, Li Zhengrong, when she was a child.

At that time, Li Zhengrong was appointed to go to the south for disaster relief. She was away for three years and fell in love with a convict there.

Upon returning to the capital, Li Zhengrong brought three-year-old Yunxi and Yunxi's mother, who was a slave, back to his residence, saying he would give her a proper status.

Those years were also the days that Li Ruolan hated the most.

Fortunately, the First Madam nipped the matter in the bud.

They sent Yunxi and her damned mother to a suburban mansion, leaving them to eke out a living there.

She seemed to remember something and looked up at her half-sister.

Looking into Yunxi's eyes, which were brimming with autumn waves, he suddenly felt a deep empathy for his mother and understood why his mother hated that sinner so much.

Isn't my thinking exactly the same as my mother's now?

Li Ruolan, with a forced smile, took Yunxi's hand and continued to play the part of sisters.

"Little sister, Father has always doted on you. If we cause trouble for Father because of our poor behavior in the palace, then we will be in big trouble." Her voice was choked with emotion as she spoke.

"You know, your father worked diligently to become a fourth-rank official so that you could escape slavery, all so that one day he could have a voice in the imperial court. All of this was for you!"

for you.

Yunxi grew up listening to these words in her previous life. Not only did Li Zhengrong say them, but even the First Madam replied in the same way.

To say she was a slave is ridiculous. This is the capital, not the impoverished little place she used to live in. There are soldiers guarding the capital. If they can't find out her identity, she will be imprisoned.

She and her mother could only live in the suburbs and could not return to the Li family mansion.

Li Zhengrong worked hard to get promoted and climb the ranks, and everything he did was for the sake of the mother and daughter.

It's laughable now, but in her past life, Yunxi believed it to be true.

She didn't even dare to acknowledge her two children, for fear that her status as a slave would implicate them and cause them to be expelled from the palace by the emperor.

Children are always innocent. She had experienced the suffering of slavery and didn't want her children to suffer along with her.

These all became leverage against them.

They all became the knives that Li Ruolan used to stab herself.

Now, when I hear those words again, I feel nothing, and they even seem funny.

But the play must continue.

Yunxi also took her hand, bowing her head to comfort her, "Your Majesty, we will definitely hold on, and I will certainly live up to everyone's expectations and give Your Majesty and the Li family an explanation... cough cough cough... explanation..."

Towards the end of the conversation, Yunxi coughed violently in front of Li Ruolan.

"What's wrong?" Li Ruolan immediately became anxious. "Did you catch a cold today? Or did you go somewhere? How are you feeling?"

Her tone was anxious, but she wasn't looking at Yunxi's face at all; she was looking at her stomach.

The child cannot make any mistakes!

It takes three months to serve the emperor once. Li Ruolan has only served the emperor a few times, so how could she possibly give the opportunity to Yunxi, that lowly slave, every time!

Not to mention, she needs her child now more than ever.

"It's alright, sister. I think I caught a cold today. Granny Gui asked me to go to the imperial kitchen to get some hangover soup, but I got lost and it took me almost two hours..."

Yunxi deliberately emphasized the phrase "two hours".

In those two hours, it took her an hour and a half to see Mu Xiaoci.

While Consort Su waited anxiously, and while Li Ruolan was drunk and unconscious, she and Mu Xiaoci were inseparable in the pavilion.

That man was obsessed with her; he wasn't clear-headed or restrained enough.

With just a few words, she managed to coax him into becoming a puppy wagging its tail, clinging to her relentlessly for a long time.

If Li Ruolan were to lift her outer garment now, she might see the bite marks below her collarbone, heavy and red, all traces of a man trying to confirm her existence.

He didn't even know her identity; all he had was a jade pendant with a plum blossom design in his hand.

This thing alone is enough to make him reminisce about people for a long time.

Yunxi even wanted to thank her elder sister, because if it weren't for her, she wouldn't have known so many ways to seduce men.

The most devastating thing is making a man yearn for it, yet be unable to have it, constantly thinking about it day and night.

Everything she did was a prelude, and she couldn't wait to imagine whether, on the day she broke through the window, Li Ruolan would still be able to hold her hand like she did tonight and pretend to be worried about her.

"Sister, I'll go and fetch the imperial physician right away! Your health is of utmost importance; we can't let this delay important matters."

Before Yunxi could say anything, Li Ruolan rushed off to find Granny Gui.

She had long wanted to have the imperial physician examine Yunxi's pregnancy, but she hadn't found the opportunity yet. Granny Gui also felt it was too hasty and kept refusing to call the imperial physician ahead of time, fearing it would affect the plan.

Yunxi is feeling unwell now, which is exactly what she wants.

Summon the imperial physician to examine the belly and see if there is a child inside.

It's better than her suffering all day long, waiting in agony, tormented by this matter and unable to calm down at all.

Once it's decided, there's nothing to fear.