These are not the lives Shangguan Yi wants to live. She is more ambitious and she is attracted to Yuwen Ran only because of his throne. If she can become Yuwen Ran's queen, then she will enjoy the highest rights of women in the world.

But Yuwen Ran didn't care about her at all, so there was no need for her to hang herself on Yuwen Ran's tree. Later, after the Queen Mother adopted her as her goddaughter, she learned that the Queen Mother wanted to help Prince Xiang ascend the throne. If she couldn't become Yuwen Ran's queen, then becoming Prince Xiang's queen would be the same. After all, she never valued men, but the power they could bring her.

But she hadn't expected Prince Xiang to be such a hopeless case. The Queen Mother had repeatedly paved the way for him, but he had always ruined everything. Now he was already dying, so there was no point for her to continue spending time on Prince Xiang. After all, she had spent too much time on him, and in the end, he died before he even ascended the throne. Who could she cry to for all the time she had wasted?

So Shangguan Yi just needs to complete the task assigned to her by the Queen Mother this time, and she can consider the rest later.

"Oh?" Prince Xiang glanced at her sideways and said lightly, "I remember that Miss Shangguan seemed to be quite fond of my brother. Could it be that I remembered it wrongly?"

Shangguan Yi smiled at Prince Xiang and said, "Your Highness, you know that's the past. I've been so hard on His Majesty so many times, but why can't Your Highness allow me to stop before I get hurt even more, knowing that His Majesty will never like me in this lifetime?"

Prince Xiang was surprised to hear Shangguan Yi's answer, "Miss Shangguan is different from Concubine Liu in the palace."

Shangguan Yi looked at Prince Xiang and smiled again, "I am actually very envious of Lady Waste for still being able to bravely pursue her love. Compared to her, I lack some courage."

Prince Xiang smiled faintly and glanced at Shangguan Yi. "Really? I actually think Miss Shangguan is a bit smarter than Concubine Liu. Do you really think Yuwen Ran will let her go? Maybe he would have in the past, but once the news of her pregnancy gets out, I'm afraid not only will she be punished, but even the Zhenbei Marquisate might not be spared."

Liu Yanyan thought that Prince Xiang and the Queen Mother were paving the way for her to become the Queen, but she didn't know that she was the chess piece that was abandoned and was used to pave the way for Prince Xiang to ascend the throne.

…

The news that Liu Yanyan was pregnant spread throughout the capital the next day.

Yuwen Ran had been childless for many years, and for all those years his only offspring was a girl named Xiao Yuntun, born to Gu Yanyue. Naturally, there were various speculations among the court officials. The most common one was that Yuwen Ran might have injured his dragon root, so over the years, except for a princess born by the queen, he had no other offspring.

It was precisely because of this that the court's open and covert struggles had never ceased over the years. Prince Xiang had even capitalized on Yuwen Ran's childlessness to recruit numerous court officials into his fold. But now that Liu Yanyan was pregnant, and it was rumored she was expecting a son, this had far more implications.

I'm afraid that the inability to give birth to a child is not Yuwen Ran's problem. The news of Liu Yanyan's pregnancy could spread throughout the capital in such a short time. Yuwen Ran also contributed to this. He even let people spread the news that the child in Liu Yanyan's belly was diagnosed by the imperial physician and was indeed a son.

Anyone with a little medical knowledge would not believe this. However, the next morning, Yuwen Ran asked Zheng Hai to send a lot of things to Yanxi Palace, and told Liu Yanyan to take good care of herself. He also assigned a lot of palace maids to Yanxi Palace, saying that they wanted to take better care of Liu Yanyan. In fact, they just wanted to take good care of the baby in Liu Yanyan's belly.

Yuwen Ran also spread these rumors, so the court officials really believed the rumor that Liu Yanyan was pregnant with a son. After all, if it wasn't a son, how could Yuwen Ran care so much about the child in Liu Yanyan's belly?

Actually, that wasn't the case. If there was one child Yuwen Ran cared about the most, it would probably be Little Yuntun. Ever since Qin Ruoruo confirmed Gu Yanyue's pregnancy, Yuwen Ran had been personally caring for her. By the end of her pregnancy, he was even more attentive than the maids who normally cared for her in Fengqi Palace.

It's not like now where we just send people to deliver things or people. This is the expression of caring or not caring.

Ever since hearing the news of Liu Yanyan's pregnancy, the court officials who still had unmarried daughters began to think about sending their daughters to the palace. After all, when they had previously urged Yuwen Ran to take a concubine, he had used the excuse that he only loved the queen and refused to take a concubine because he didn't want to hinder their daughters' future.

Now that Liu Yanyan is pregnant, it seems that Yu Wenran’s previous statement that he only loves Gu Yanyue is no longer valid. Otherwise, how could he let Liu Yanyan get pregnant with his child? Besides, the grudge between Liu Yanyan and Gu Yanyue is quite serious!

As expected, this man's words are deceiving. They have begun to feel sorry for Gu Yanyue, who was once favored by Yuwen Ran. After all, Yuwen Ran said he didn't love her anymore, and then turned around and favored the concubine with whom he had a big feud. Isn't this just disgusting?

On the other hand, some court officials who had been maintaining a wait-and-see attitude and remained neutral also began to make new decisions. In any case, Liu Yanyan's pregnancy brought about many changes to the previous dynasty.

Later, when Gu Yanyue and Yu Wenran talked about this, she also said, "Before, you had no other children except your daughter Xiao Yuntun. Now that the news of Liu Yanyan's pregnancy has spread, I'm afraid many court officials will try to find ways to fill your harem with people, right?"

"I don't know what kind of stunning beauty those ministers will force into your harem this time. If she's well-behaved, it's fine. But if she's got a personality like Liu Yanyan, you absolutely can't accept her! Otherwise, I'll pack up and go live with my master in a minute. I won't bother with your affairs in the harem anymore."

A sour taste could be clearly smelled in Gu Yanyue's words. Yuwen Ran knew that Gu Yanyue was jealous and smiled, "What if I can't refuse? They force it on me, and I have no choice. Is this the trouble of being an emperor?"

Gu Yanyue pushed Yuwen Ran, who wanted to hug her, away and said, "If you can't refuse, then you can go to the concubines' palaces every day to sit there. Otherwise, I will be accused of being jealous and monopolizing you every day."