Upon hearing Jin's words, Mingyu's heart skipped a beat, as if a hand were tightly gripping her chest. Perhaps due to her pregnancy, Mingyu suddenly felt short of breath. She rubbed her throbbing head and said weakly, "You may all leave now. This lady is a little tired."

Seeing that Mingyu was giving them the order to leave, Gao and Jin exchanged a glance. They decided not to stay in the palace any longer and said, "Princess Consort, please rest well. We will take our leave now."

After the two rose and bowed to Mingyu, they slowly walked out of Mingyu's bedchamber.

After Jin and Gao left, the old nanny stepped forward to massage Mingyu's shoulders and gently comforted her, "Master, please don't pay attention to these concubines spreading rumors. They are trying to use you to suppress the one in the East Side Hall."

Having served Mingyu for so many years, the nanny naturally understood these things better. So she continued, "Your Highness, please give birth to the child safely first. The child is your greatest support. No matter who the Crown Prince favors now, his heart is always with you. Aren't all these concubines just trying to compete for your favor?"

Upon hearing the old woman's words, Mingyu suddenly realized that she had been blinded by Xueying's favor with Hongli these past few days and had forgotten that she still held the trump card. No matter how much they caused trouble, she was still in charge of the inner courtyard.

Thinking of this, Mingyu touched her belly, and her tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little.

In the evening, after finishing his official duties in the side hall of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Hongli came directly to Mingyu's place for dinner.

Mingyu placed one of Hongli's favorite dishes on his plate, then sighed softly, feigning some disappointment, and said, "I am feeling unwell and cannot properly serve Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Hongli put down his chopsticks, reached out and took Mingyu's hand, which was resting on the table, and comforted her, "What does it matter? I just want to stay by your side. You don't need to serve me."

Upon hearing Hongli's words, Mingyu was overjoyed. She was somewhat worried today because of Gao and Jin's instigation, but she was relieved. After all, as the old woman said, Hongli still cared about her.

Mingyu's expression was full of joy, and she was about to continue, but seeing that Hongli looked tired, she asked with some concern, "Is the affairs of the court too busy? You look very tired."

Upon hearing Mingyu's words, Hongli sighed softly and nodded, saying, "I'm new to this position. Although Father Emperor previously entrusted me with overseeing the country, after the establishment of the heir apparent, while those senior ministers didn't object, many were still resentful and secretly created obstacles for me. Now I need to slowly win people's hearts."

Upon hearing Hongli's complaint, Mingyu frowned and said somewhat angrily, "With Father Emperor here, how dare they do this? This is the Emperor's decree, why don't they properly assist you?"

"If they are not satisfied, you can talk to Father Emperor. Mother Emperor is also thinking of you. If Father Emperor gives the order, they will behave themselves."

That makes sense, but at this time, Father Emperor and Mother Emperor were no longer at the Jiuzhou Qingyan. They had set off for Jiangnan a few days ago. However, Hongli could not tell Mingyu about this. The fewer people who knew about this, the better. After all, if the news that Father Emperor was not in the capital got out, there would inevitably be trouble in the court.