Chapter 603 Shield 13

The Emperor's face grew increasingly grim. He glanced at Ning Xuexian, "Fortunately..."

Fortunately, Ning Yan and her sister have a good relationship, and she is willing to enter the palace to act as a shield for her sister. In just a few days, he has sighed like this more than once.

In her previous life, Ning Xuexian had never suffered so much torment.

After all, she only revealed her pregnancy three months later, by which time the pregnancy was already stable. She wasn't as arrogant as Ning Yan, so naturally not many people hated her. That's why she miscarried when she was six months pregnant.

Ning Yan's flamboyant behavior was intentional.

While she's still in the palace, let's take care of all her sister's rivals as soon as possible, so that there won't be any unrest after her nephew is born.

I don't know what the emperor was thinking. He only has one son, yet he has dozens of women. How can he possibly sleep with them all?

Why bother with trinkets if you don't sleep? Is it even worth keeping?

If you can't get enough sleep, you'll start to feel resentful.

In fact, the emperor also had his own difficulties. Seven years after his marriage, apart from three years of mourning, he only had one child. Although his mother was no longer alive, the imperial family and court officials were all watching closely. Having children was a major issue. For an emperor, not having children meant that the country was unstable. That's why there were so many women in the harem.

But now those women are trying to harm his heirs, and he will never let them live.

So, a few days later, another concubine in the harem fell into misfortune, either being sent away with the three-piece funeral set or being banished to the cold palace.

You're saying you only used drugs to induce an abortion, and that's not enough to warrant the death penalty?

Sorry, that's a dragon fetus; even dying eight times wouldn't be enough to compensate for it!

As for the one that sprinkled pearls, that has also been found out.

It's that idiot Mu Pin.

Someone witnessed her take out a few beads from her bosom and throw them out, intending to make Ning Yan fall flat on her face. Unfortunately, Ning Yan didn't step on them, but instead, many palace concubines fell down.

One of the beauties, Yu, took the opportunity to push Su, who was at odds with her, and that's how Ning Yan almost got pushed away in the end.

None of these people got any good out of it; in the end, they were all relegated to obscurity.

Consort Mu died instantly from the three-foot-long white silk ribbon.

Even the Empress's pleas could not change the Emperor's mind.

...

Inside the Liuyun Palace, Consort Liu looked deep in thought.

The system disappeared without a trace, and she couldn't contact it at all. She hoped it wouldn't disappear like the Orc World, where no one from any world appeared. If that were the case, she would have to rely on herself to complete the mission in this world.

After taking the gifts, Consort Liu went to the Zhu Yan Palace.

She couldn't understand why Consort Shu, who was already a consort, still had to live in a side hall of Zhu Yan Palace. The emperor doted on her so much, shouldn't he have given her a different palace?

And what exactly did Consort Xue do wrong to be confined to her quarters indefinitely?

On her previous visits to Zhu Yan Palace, she had tried to probe Consort Shu, but although this woman appeared arrogant, domineering, and unreasonable, she was actually very discreet. If she didn't want to say something, she couldn't get it out of her no matter what.

Ning Yan, who was discussing embroidery patterns with her sister in the main hall, heard that Consort Liu had arrived. She put down the small undergarment in her hand, returned to the side hall, lay back on the bed, and then had someone invite Consort Liu into the inner room.

"Greetings, Consort Shu."

At this moment, Ning Yan's face was ashen and she looked very weak. "I told you, you don't need to bow when you come to my place. Please sit down. Xiao Man just made me some new food. You should try it too."

Consort Liu hadn't expected her to be so weak this time. She wasn't naive; if she overworked her, she would have to take responsibility. So she quickly said, "I came here specifically to check on you because I was worried about you. I won't eat anything. Please rest, Your Majesty, and don't tire out the baby in your womb."

Ning Yan said softly, "Then I won't keep you any longer. Go and pack some food for Sister Liu. I'll invite you over for a chat when I'm better."

The palace servants quickly packed up the food and sent the person away.

After she left, Ning Yan's weakness vanished.

Gu Yu said, "This servant always feels that this Consort Liu is approaching you with ulterior motives. Your Highness should be careful."

Ning Yan knew, of course, that Consort Liu had ulterior motives, and coincidentally, she did too. However, she wouldn't keep Consort Liu around for long. Once the Empress was gone, Consort Liu wouldn't be far from death either.

...

Perhaps because Ning Yan had gone too far before, causing the deaths of many concubines, everyone in the harem became obedient and no one dared to provoke her anymore, so her days were extremely boring.

Once the twelfth lunar month arrived, she no longer wanted to go out and wander around. Instead, she stayed in the palace every day, accompanying her sister to do prenatal education for the baby.

By the end of the lunar year, the Empress's health had improved significantly, and her face had regained some color. Her body was indeed weak, and she needed to recuperate for several months.

That makes sense, getting pregnant is very energy-consuming, so you naturally need to be in the best possible condition before trying.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month was also the day when Ning Xuexian was six months pregnant.

The emperor's secret guards, who were sent to keep an eye on the empress, said that the empress planned to take action today. The emperor pretended not to know and came to the empress's palace on time.

The Empress had dressed up specially for today. She was quite beautiful, and because she had been frail and rarely left her room, she possessed a kind of sickly beauty. When the Emperor entered the hall, she and her palace attendants bowed gracefully, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be well."

The Emperor raised his hand, "No need for formalities. I'm hungry. Have someone prepare a meal."

The Empress quickly ordered the servants to serve the dishes, which included both food and wine.

"Your Majesty, I would like to offer you a toast. I am in poor health and have not been able to serve Your Majesty wholeheartedly. I have wronged Your Majesty these past few years."

The Emperor picked up his wine cup, looked at the hidden guard, and upon seeing his gesture, said, "We are husband and wife, there's no need for formalities." After saying that, he picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

The Empress smiled and drank the wine in her cup in one gulp. She then offered the Emperor two more cups, which he also drank.

The Emperor quickly ate a bowl of rice. Just as he finished eating, the Empress started acting strangely. She felt extremely hot all over, her head was spinning, and she couldn't help but groan.

The palace servants were still serving inside the palace. The Emperor coldly watched the Empress suffer the consequences of her own actions, his face devoid of any emotion. It wasn't until the Empress tried to pull him away that the Emperor spoke up, "Go and fetch the imperial physician."

The chief eunuch Rongquan immediately sent a junior eunuch to fetch someone.

Zhang, the nanny in the Empress's palace, came up and helped the Empress walk towards the inner palace. As the Empress's confidante, she naturally knew her mistress's plan. However, she didn't know why the Emperor, who was supposed to take the medicine, didn't react, but instead, her mistress seemed unable to bear it.

After helping the Empress back to bed, Zhang Mama mustered her courage and knelt before the Emperor. "Your Majesty, Your Highness, Your Highness is clearly under the influence of drugs. Someone is definitely plotting against her. Please, Your Majesty, help our Your Highness this once."

"Traditional Chinese medicine? What kind of medicine? And who is plotting against your Empress?"

"Guards, investigate! I want to see who dares to harm my Empress!"

Zhang Mama's back was soaked with sweat, and she felt extremely guilty. Tonight's matter couldn't withstand scrutiny. No matter how well the Empress did it, there were probably still traces left behind. After all, they hadn't had time to clean up the mess yet.