The emperor choked on his own saliva.

Chen Xiaoran nodded: "Given His Majesty's health, it wouldn't be difficult for him to have another child. If he follows my prescription, he can have one in a month."

"Alright, alright!" The Emperor quickly waved his hand. "I already have five sons and three daughters. That's enough."

Bai Tuantuan looked at the Emperor curiously: "Your Majesty, are you worried that you can't afford to support them? It's alright, my second uncle and aunt have already given you money!"

The emperor was momentarily speechless, and said irritably, "This isn't about money!"

"Are you afraid that these sons will grow up and seize the throne? Then there's even less to worry about! These kids might just like following my uncles and aunts, doing chivalrous deeds and roaming the world! Making lots and lots of money!"

emperor:……

"You little rascal, you really dare to say anything!"

Bai Tuantuan chuckled sheepishly, "Oh dear... His Majesty is a wise ruler, he certainly won't blame me..."

The Emperor, of course, would not hold a grudge against a child, and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, you ladies go for a walk in the Imperial Garden."

"By the way, Lexin! The Empress has been talking about you. Knowing that you have entered the palace today, she specially waited for you in the Phoenix Palace."

Yuan Chenchen bowed deeply: "Thank you, Your Majesty and Empress. I will now take Xiu'er to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Empress."

As they left the imperial study, Yuan Chenchen said, "The Empress is a few years older than you. When you were born, the Empress pointed to you, who was still an infant, and said she wanted to adopt you as her younger sister."

At this point, Yuan Chenchen sighed deeply: "The Empress's intentions were naturally pure back then, but now..."

Yuan Chenchen looked at Chen Zhixiu: "Xiu'er, you need to learn to make your own judgments."

Chen Zhixiu nodded: "Mother, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

“Now that you’ve arrived in the capital and are tied to the Bai family, it will be difficult for you to remain unscathed.” Yuan Chenchen held Feng Yue’s hand, her eyes filled with apology. “I’m sorry.”

"What are you saying, sister?" Feng Yue said unhappily. "We are all family. Besides, all of our descendants are top-notch. If we can't make it in the imperial court, we'll go and make our way in the martial world!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chenchen burst into laughter.

“Alright, then I’ll take Xiu’er and Tuan Tuan to see the Empress first. You two can stroll around in the back garden.”

With that, Yuan Chenchen instructed the eunuch and maid to follow Feng Yue and the others, while she herself led the two to the Phoenix Palace.

"The Empress gave birth to the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, but unfortunately, despite being siblings, their relationship was extremely poor," Yuan Chenchen said softly. "The Third Prince was born extremely weak, so the Empress focused more attention on him, which led to the Crown Prince being poisoned and framed. Fortunately, the Crown Prince survived, and it was from that time that the Crown Prince began to frequently oppose the Third Prince."

"Fortunately, the Emperor took care of the Crown Prince himself, and your father taught him. In addition, your two older brothers protected him, which improved the Crown Prince's situation considerably. It can be said that the Crown Prince is more affectionate towards our Bai family than towards the Empress."

"The Empress wanted to mend her relationship with the Crown Prince, but with little effect. The Empress was also stubborn, so she simply stopped caring about the Crown Prince. On the contrary, she doted on the Third Prince like the apple of her eye, to the point that the Crown Prince and the Third Prince would fight whenever they met."

Chen Zhixiu pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Does Your Majesty intend to depose the Crown Prince?"

Yuan Chenchen made a shushing gesture and shook her head at Chen Zhixiu: "The Empress did say that, but nothing came of it. However, I heard that it was because the Emperor had a huge temper."

"It was from that day that cracks appeared in the relationship between the Emperor and Empress."

Chen Zhixiu frowned slightly: "Both are my flesh and blood, how could the Empress be so biased?"

Yuan sighed deeply, signaling Chen Zhixiu to stop talking.

Soon, the three of them entered the Phoenix Palace.

"We've been waiting for you." The Empress, dressed in casual clothes, came out of the inner room.

Bai Tuantuan looked up and saw a very thin woman with dark circles under her eyes and a lifeless gaze.

When I saw them, I tried hard to appear cheerful, but the sorrow between my brows just wouldn't go away.

"These must be Xiu'er and Tuantuan." When the Empress saw Chen Zhixiu, a hint of envy flashed in her eyes. Then, when she looked at the chubby white Tuantuan beside her, her eyes lit up.

After Yuan Chenchen and the other two sat down, they replied to the Empress's words one by one.

The Empress's eyes were fixed on Bai Tuantuan, making Bai Tuantuan feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Back then, I wanted to adopt Xiu'er as my younger sister, but I never expected that we would both become mothers by now..." the Empress said with a smile. "I wonder how you managed to raise Tuantuan to be so chubby and healthy? My Xu'er doesn't want to eat anything, and I always have to go to great lengths to get him to eat more."

Chen Zhixiu was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Your Majesty, my husband's family used to be poor. Let alone eating well, being able to eat enough was a luxury. Back then, Tuantuan was also very thin and small. Fortunately, I later returned to my parents' home, and the child ate everything, so he is healthy."

"Your Highness, if the prince doesn't eat, you can just let him go hungry," Bai Tuantuan couldn't help but say. "He eats when it's time, and if it's past that time, there won't be any food left. If this continues, the little prince will definitely stop being a picky eater!"

Upon hearing this, the Empress's eyes dimmed: "He cried so hard, it breaks my heart... Xu'er has been in poor health since childhood, how can I let her suffer like this..."

Yuan Chenchen hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is right. After all, he is a prince. Perhaps it would be better to have the Imperial Kitchen prepare more novel dishes."

The Empress nodded, but didn't dwell on the topic any further. Instead, she asked Chen Zhixiu how she had been doing all these years.

On the other side, Feng Yue and the others sat down in the pavilion. Looking at the fresh flowers, Rong Manli frowned: "Too delicate. I don't like them."

Nan Nian laughed: "You, you just like swords and knives. I think these flowers are blooming beautifully. I'll go cut a few." With that, she asked a palace maid for scissors.

Seeing this, Feng Yue smiled and said, "The things in this palace are nice, but there are too many rules. It's much better outside!"

"How dare you! You actually dared to cut the Imperial Concubine's flowers! Don't you have a death wish?!"

A palace maid shouted loudly, glaring angrily at Nan Nian, who was standing in the flower bushes.

Rong Manyi was about to go over when Feng Yue stopped her: "Alright, can't your sister-in-law handle this little thing? She's seen it all!"

Rong Manyi thought about it and agreed, so she simply sat down, drank tea, and watched the play.

Nan Nian looked the palace maid up and down, then glanced at the late-arriving imperial concubine behind her, and slowly stepped forward: "Imperial Concubine?"

"Lan'er, what's going on?" The Imperial Concubine's voice came over, and then Tong Runing, dressed in gorgeous clothes, appeared with a look of disdain in her phoenix eyes.

Lan'er quickly lowered her head: "Your Majesty, she cut down the magnolia tree you cultivated!"

"What?!" Tong Runing looked quickly at Nan Nian's small basket and shouted, "How dare you! You dare to ruin my flowers! Guards! Arrest him!"

Nan Nian chuckled, placed the basket on the ground, and said indifferently, "I am a guest invited by the Emperor. I'd like to see who dares to touch me!"

Tong Runing stared at Nan Nian in shock. How dare a country bumpkin like him challenge her!

"Imperial Consort?" Nan Nian looked Tong Runing up and down. "So ugly, how can she be an Imperial Consort?"

Rong Manli, who was drinking tea, almost spat it out.

"What did you say?" Tong Runing snapped. "Say it again!"

Nan Nian chuckled and said, "Who do you think you are? Just because I ask you to say it again doesn't mean I have to."

"Also, don't try to pin your schemes from the palace on me. All those excuses you've used are things I've already exhausted!"

Nan Nian dusted herself off, picked up the small basket, and scoffed, "Cultivating your own flowers in the Imperial Garden? That's a ridiculous excuse. A noble consort like you doesn't even have your own little garden?"