Chapter 591 Shield 1

The Minister of Revenue's household has two beautiful daughters. The elder daughter, Ning Xuexian, is bright-eyed and charming, proficient in the six arts, and her talent is widely known.

The youngest daughter, Ning Yan, is pretty, charming, and well-mannered.

Ning Xuexian entered the palace as Consort Xue at the age of seventeen through the imperial concubine selection.

She was lucky; she discovered she was one month pregnant just two months after entering the palace.

The emperor had only one son before ascending the throne, and this son was sickly. The imperial physicians had long predicted that the child would not survive.

There were dozens of concubines in the palace, but none of them, except for Consort Xue, had conceived.

Therefore, the Emperor valued Xuefei's pregnancy very much and took meticulous care of her until she was three months pregnant before announcing her pregnancy.

However, Xuefei still miscarried six months after conception.

What was lost was a fully formed male fetus.

That day, the Emperor held Consort Xue and cried his heart out.

The child was miscarried due to medication. The emperor thoroughly investigated the harem but found nothing.

Not long after, a talented woman became pregnant. She only announced the good news three months into her pregnancy, and ten months later she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

Logically, the Emperor should be extremely fond of these two children.

But no one knew that the Emperor would pester Consort Xue every night to give him another child.

Not to mention the other concubines, even Ning Xuexian didn't know why the Emperor disliked those two children.

Three years later, the emperor died mysteriously, and Consort Liu, who had become the Empress Dowager, ruled from behind a screen with her son in her arms. All the women in the harem who had no children were sent to be buried with the emperor.

The original owner of this body was the second young lady of the Ning family, but she was not born of the legitimate wife, but rather of a concubine.

The First Madam was a lady from a prominent family, and she had always had a good relationship with her husband. After giving birth to a son and a daughter, she promoted one of her maids to the rank of concubine.

In the eyes of most men in ancient times, concubines were not even considered toys. They would sleep with their wives when they were not in a good mood, and would not think of them at all otherwise.

However, this concubine was the lady's head maid, and she was respected by the lady. The lady had also made it clear that she did not plan to have any more children, so she did not give the concubine any contraceptive soup. After all, many children bring many blessings, and it's not like she couldn't afford to raise two more.

Soon the head maid also became pregnant, and the madam arranged for her to become a concubine. Nine months later, the concubine gave birth to a daughter, who was the original owner of this body.

Unfortunately, the original owner's aunt was short-lived and suffered severe bleeding during childbirth. It was only thanks to the first wife's use of ginseng that she was saved, but her body was still weakened, and she passed away when the original owner was five years old.

The phrase my aunt said most often when she was alive was that we must listen to the madam and be good to my sister. The madam had done us a great favor, and we must repay her kindness.

After the concubine passed away, the original owner was taken to the madam's side for upbringing. The eldest daughter was only a little over a year older than the original owner. There were only three children in the household, and the two girls had always had a good relationship.

Later, Ning Xuexian entered the palace, became pregnant again but miscarried, and was ordered by the Empress Dowager to be buried with the Emperor. When the Lady heard the news, she died of anger. Her father also resigned from his post. During this time, the original owner got married. After her father resigned, her elder brother was still useless and no one could support her. Her husband's family looked down on her and wanted to divorce her.

The original owner's father and brothers did not despise her; upon receiving the news, they came to take her home. However, unwilling to bring shame to her family, she found poison and put it in their food, sending the couple to hell together.

The original owner's biggest wish was for his family to be happy!

When Ning Yan arrived, Ning Xuexian had already been in the palace for two months and was a month and a half pregnant. At this time, the Emperor already knew that Consort Xue was pregnant, but the child was not yet three months old and had not been announced to the public.

The timing was perfect, and Ning Yan went to the First Madam's courtyard after sorting out the timeline.

Upon hearing that her youngest daughter had arrived, the First Madam had someone invite her in. "Why did you come so early? Have you had breakfast yet?"

Ning Yan bowed to the First Madam. "Mother, I dreamt of my sister last night. I miss her. Mother, shall we go to the palace to see her?"

The First Madam was doing her makeup when she heard this and turned to look at her daughter. Although the child was not born from her own body, she had truly loved and cherished her. The daughter's tone had sounded anxious, and when she turned back, she saw that her thoughts were written all over her face.

"What happened? Why do you suddenly want to see your sister?"

Ning Yan bit her lip, looking like she wanted to say something but hesitated. When the First Madam saw that this was true, she quickly asked, "What else are you hiding from your mother? Your mother won't blame you if you say something wrong."

Ning Yan walked over and squatted down next to the First Madam, taking her hand in one hand. "Mother, I had a dream last night! I dreamt that my sister was pregnant."

"Your sister is pregnant? Oh dear, that's wonderful news! We should definitely go to the palace to visit her." Only after saying this did she realize something was wrong, because her youngest daughter didn't look happy at all; her eyes were full of worry.

What else did you dream about?

Ning Yan said cautiously, "Mother, it was just a dream, so please don't be angry if I tell you, okay?"

"you say."

"My daughter also dreamed that her older sister announced her pregnancy three months later, but she lost the baby because she was harmed by the women in the harem."

Not long after, Consort Liu in the harem became pregnant, and ten months later she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and was then given the title of Consort De.

Then, the eldest prince died, and not long after, the emperor also died. Empress Dowager De issued an imperial edict that all the childless concubines in the harem were sent to the emperor for his funeral.

My mother, she lost her life because of this...

Father was heartbroken by your passing and resigned from his official post. The family I married into disliked my declining family background and wanted to divorce me. In short, none of our family had a good ending..."

The First Madam suddenly gripped her daughter's hand tightly, wanting to say: It's just a dream, how can you take it seriously?

But she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Because she knew that the Emperor had been interested in her eldest daughter since he was still the Crown Prince. However, at that time he had already married the Crown Princess, and her daughter was only fourteen years old and not yet of marriageable age. The two only corresponded privately. They originally planned to propose marriage when their daughter came of age, but soon the late Emperor passed away and the Crown Prince ascended the throne to observe mourning. So their daughter stayed until she was seventeen.

Afterwards, the emperor selected his daughters and they naturally entered the palace.

Previously, the harem had no children, firstly because the emperor did not enter the harem during the mourning period, and secondly because the emperor wanted his daughter to give birth to his first child.

Yes, that's the first one, because the eldest prince wasn't the emperor's son at all.

She learned about this by accident from her daughter, and of course she would never tell her younger daughter.

It's quite normal for a daughter to become pregnant with the Emperor's child after only two months in the palace. Given how much the Emperor loves his daughter, it's perfectly normal for him to keep her pregnancy a secret.

If the younger daughter's dream that the older daughter was pregnant is true, then what happened afterward must also be true.

"Mother will send the warrant to the palace right away. You, you will come with me."

"Mother, if my sister is really pregnant, please promise me that I can stay in the palace, okay?"

Imperial Harem Ranks: Empress (Super Rank), Noble Consort (First Rank), Four Consorts (Second Rank), Consort (Third Rank), Concubine (Fourth Rank), Lady-in-Waiting (Fifth Rank), Beauty (Sixth Rank), Talented Woman (Seventh Rank), Imperial Concubine (Eighth Rank), Imperial Concubine (Ninth Rank).