As soon as these words were spoken, the whole court was in an uproar, and the ministers whispered to each other and discussed the matter.

Prince Ding's face was filled with sarcasm as he spoke, "Your Majesty, you said His Majesty has a posthumous child. I wonder which concubine it was. Has the imperial physician examined it? Is there a record in the daily records?"

Xie Xuanzhao stood at the top, his face composed. "Yesterday, Imperial Physician Zhang examined Concubine Yue and discovered she was four months pregnant. According to the timeline, it should have been during the hunting trip to Huoshan. The eunuchs checked the daily records and found that His Majesty did indeed summon Concubine Yue to his bed during that time. Everyone in the palace witnessed it."

Prince Ding's face froze, and he found it difficult to refute. While the emperor was a man of many talents, there were also numerous beautiful concubines in his harem. How could outsiders like them truly predict whether the emperor favored his concubines?

Imperial Physician Zhang, who had been waiting outside the palace, was summoned. He hurried inside, kneeling and bowing. Then, facing the courtiers, he announced, "The Empress Yue is indeed four months pregnant."

The whole court was in uproar again.

Xie Xuanzhao motioned for the ministers to be quiet. "Everyone, since the emperor has a posthumous child, we must wait patiently. It won't be too late to establish a new emperor after Concubine Yue gives birth to a son."

"Although Concubine Yue is pregnant with a prince, I don't know if it's a princess or a prince. If it's a princess, what are your plans, Your Majesty?" Prince Ding couldn't hold back his anger and asked.

Xie Xuanzhao didn't answer the question directly. "We can discuss this again after Concubine Yue gives birth." She looked around. "So, do you have any questions?"

"We will obey the Queen's orders and wait patiently for the birth of the new emperor." All the ministers echoed in unison, and Prince Ding could only stand by helplessly.

Xie Xuanzhao then took Liu Qinglan to live in Chenxin Palace on the pretext of taking care of the dragon seed, and at the same time ordered the Xie family to find a suitable midwife to be on standby at any time.

Yan Mo waited on the side. Seeing that everything was properly arranged, she said, "I have already followed the Majesty's instructions and sent the concubines out of the palace on the pretext of sending them to the imperial temple outside the city to eat vegetarian food and worship Buddha. I have also arranged new identities for them, and they are free to marry after this."

Xie Xuanzhao nodded, his fingers brushing over the newly custom-made empress dowager's robe in front of him. "Have the Ministry of Internal Affairs prepare two sets, one tailored to Concubine Yue's figure. Tell them that, as the mother of the new emperor, from now on, there will be two empress dowagers, east and west, in the palace."

Yan Mo quickly saluted, "Yes."

Over the past half month, under the leadership of Xie Xuanzhao, the harem quickly returned to peace. As the concubines of each palace were sent out of the palace, more palace maids appeared in each palace. Xie Xuanzhao took the opportunity to issue an edict to release all the palace maids who were of marriageable age. As a result, the huge harem suddenly became much quieter.

Xie Xuanzhao stood above, looking at the palace she had ruled for many years, smiled slightly, and was very satisfied with the current situation. This harem would truly become the home of her and Liu Qinglan, two true hostesses.

There were footsteps behind him. Xie Xuanzhao turned around and saw Liu Qinglan walking towards him with a sweet smile on her face. The smile in her eyes deepened. He stretched out his hand to her, then stood side by side with her at the highest point of the back court, looking at the scenery below.

"Qinglan, although you were a favorite concubine in the eyes of outsiders before, you were actually not treated like a true favorite concubine at all. From now on, you will be the real mistress of this harem. I will let you experience what it means to be truly loved by someone." Xie Xuanzhao held her soft fingers, held her in his arms, and said seriously.

Liu Qinglan rubbed against her, feeling very happy and expectant. "I will be satisfied in my life just to be by the side of this beautiful sister~"

While the little fairy Liu was pregnant, Xie Xuanzhao was in charge of government affairs, the head of the Xie family was regent in the court, all irrelevant people in the palace were dismissed, and everything was in order.

As a woman pregnant with the future king, the little fairy Liu instantly became the focus of protection of the entire court, and also affected the entire court.

Every morning, the imperial physician would come to examine the patient, and the imperial kitchen would come to inquire about the diet, and then the situation would be announced to the court one by one to reassure the ministers.

Therefore, during Liu Qinglan's pregnancy, people paid close attention to her every move. She ate the best, used the best, and was accompanied by the most beautiful queen.

Liu Qinglan was lying on the soft couch beside the sycamore tree in Chenxin Palace, tasting the little desserts made by Tao Xi. He was covered with a thick warm blanket, with the warm sunshine above his head. He was carefree and felt extremely comfortable.

Lulu, who was always nagging, was also dragged by Yanmo to the lake in the backyard to feed the swans. Therefore, Liu Qinglan had one less person to nag him, and he was in a happier mood.

Ever since that night, when she shared the fruiting peaches with the Beauty Queen, Liu Qinglan had felt a change in her body, as if something had taken root and sprouted within her. Xie Xuanzhao, who had some knowledge of medicine, took her pulse and was surprised to find that it changed with each passing day.

Liu Qinglan guessed, "Perhaps because our gestation period is short, and we can give birth to cubs in three or four months. Therefore, one day of pregnancy with them is equivalent to several days for you humans."

Xie Xuanzhao pondered, remembering the night they were hunting in Huoshan. The sharp-nosed snake had transformed into Liu Qinglan and gone to the imperial palace to entertain her. Everyone had seen it. So she calculated the time and asked, "Qinglan, can you create the pulse of a four-month pregnancy in your own body?"

Liu Qinglan said: "This is not difficult, I will just inject it with demonic power."

So there was the scene that day in the court where Imperial Physician Zhang announced that Concubine Yue was four months pregnant.

Liu Qinglan lay on the hibiscus couch, surrounded by the beauty queen's personal belongings, and then she placed her hands on her slightly swollen belly. As a first-time mother, the little fairy Liu was very fresh, and she could vaguely feel that more than one small seedling was taking root and sprouting inside her.

I don’t know whether the baby born in the end will be little Feifei or a baby.

Liu Qinglan placed the round fan that the Beauty Queen usually used on her face to block out the sunlight, and daydreamed leisurely, imagining the scene of playing with a group of little pups in the future. She couldn't help laughing out loud, and gradually fell asleep in the midst of endless imagination.

Ever since she became pregnant, she had been very sleepy and needed to sleep for a full five hours a day.

The winter sunset was golden and warm. After a busy day, Xie Xuanzhao returned to Chenxin Palace on the sunshine.

Every time at this time, the little fairy Liu would definitely be sitting in the yard waiting for her, sometimes she would be clumsily embroidering a red bellyband for the little doll, and sometimes she would be lying on the couch and sleeping soundly.

Xie Xuanzhao entered the courtyard of Chenxin Palace. Everything was quiet. On the low table lay a small, half-embroidered bellyband by Liu Qinglan. She picked it up, looked at the crooked stitches on the soft fabric, and couldn't help laughing.

Looking at the kitten sleeping soundly on the hibiscus couch, Xie Xuanzhao sat down beside the couch and reached out to take away the lotus fan covering her face, revealing Liu Qinglan's face with rosy cheeks. The warm sunset shone on her face, revealing her fine fur, which was very cute.

Xie Xuanzhao caressed her face lovingly, his fingers sliding down to touch the slightly bulging belly. She leaned over and placed a kiss on it. This was the flesh and blood of him and Qinglan. The thought of her being able to hold their child in the spring, when the grass was green and the birds were singing, made Xie Xuanzhao's heart soften, overflowing with emotion and anticipation.

Liu Qinglan rested her head on her arm and continued to sleep soundly. Xie Xuanzhao saw that she would not wake up for a while, so he picked up the half-embroidered bellyband and continued embroidering.

The doll's bellyband is half crooked and half delicately embroidered by two mothers.

When the moon rose above the willows, Xie Xuanzhao put away his needlework, then stood up, bent over, and picked up Princess Liu Qinglan. Liu Qinglan had gained a lot of weight over the past month, but the journey back to the bedroom was short, so Xie Xuanzhao could still carry her.

Liu Qinglan felt the shaking and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Feeling the aura of the Beauty Queen, she huddled in her arms with peace of mind. She raised her head and looked at her. When their eyes met, Liu Qinglan said, "Put me down and let me walk on my own."

Xie Xuan held her waist tightly and didn't put her down. "While I can still hold you, I'll hold you longer. In another month, I probably won't be able to hold you anymore."

Liu Qinglan smiled sweetly and nestled in her arms peacefully.

Yanmo and Lulu brought the dinner, then left together, leaving the space for the two of them.

Lulu was standing at the door, very well behaved. Yan Mo looked at her and smiled, "Lulu, let's go see someone off."

"What?" Lulu looked at her curiously.

Yan Mo gazed at the cold moon in the sky, thinking of the aloofness her sister usually exuded. Every time she looked up at the cold moon in the dark night, she would think of her sister, a twin, a telepath, a shared aura. She knew her sister was practicing in the dark, alone, and very lonely.

And now, the harem has finally calmed down and belongs entirely to the young lady. After everything has been settled, the younger sister walked out of the darkness for the first time and came before the empress.

She knelt before Xie Xuanzhao and made her first request, "I want to go out, see this land, travel the world, and travel the world alone. I hope you can fulfill this little wish of mine."

Xie Xuanzhao looked at the girl who had protected him in the darkness for over a decade and nodded in agreement without hesitation. "You don't have a name yet. When you leave here, you will no longer be Yan Mo's shadow, but your own person, so you should have your own name."

My sister's eyes sparkled, "Please give me a name, Miss."

"Let's call her Ling."

My sister stood up, walked out of Chenxin Palace with this name, and prepared to leave the palace.

She stood under the willow tree at the palace gate, holding her sword, watching Yan Mo and Lu Lu walking towards her.

Yan Mo stood in front of her, two faces that were exactly the same but had completely different temperaments facing each other, then they curled their mouth corners tacitly and looked at each other with smiles.

Lulu stood aside, looking at the two people in surprise, "This is... your twin sister?"

Her sister extended her hand towards her, her expression cold and indifferent, "Hello, my name is Ling."

The author has something to say: I was very sad when writing this chapter, because the previous chapter is still locked and I have no choice, alas.