It is now mid-February. Since her wedding on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the empress has been absent from the harem for nearly two months, claiming to be ill. During this period, she only met with female relatives such as Rong. However, Rong said that the empress was beautiful and not sick.

The Queen Mother thought she was dissatisfied with her for not getting the power of the palace, and pretended to be sick to avoid paying her respects on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month.

This time on February 15th, the palace maids told the Queen one day in advance that I must come.

Qi Mu was worried. Danruo was more than three months pregnant now, but her belly was a little bigger than when she was three months pregnant. When Imperial Physician Li took her pulse this time, he found that the Queen was pregnant with more than one child, maybe even more than two.

Qi Mu's heart suddenly hung in the air. In this dynasty, some women gave birth to twins, but triplets were extremely rare. However, triplets would cause great harm to the mother's body.

He hurriedly asked, "How is the queen?"

"The queen is in good health, and the child is also healthy."

Dan Ruo didn't feel anything herself. She touched Qi Mu's hand and said, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Qi Mu felt a pang of fear in his heart, as he had let her leave the palace two days ago.

"Tomorrow I will go to pay my respects to the Queen Mother, and it's time to announce our child to the public."

Qi Mu surrounded her and took care of her as if she were a crystal doll. "I'll go with you."

The next day, Danruo wore a thick dress to make her belly look smaller. Qi Mu supported her every step of the way. The Queen Mother and the concubines in the palace saw this from afar and felt that Qi Mu doted on the Queen too much.

As she got closer, Rong Zhaoyuan pointed to the Queen Mother and said, "Your Highness has gained a lot of weight during this period of recuperation."

Rong Zhaoyuan has been hanging around with the Queen Mother lately, taking her Prime Minister father's advice to please the Queen to heart. If the Queen is unfavored, then everyone is unfavored, and they are just good sisters.

But the key point is that the emperor has not entered the harem since winter, but the queen has moved directly into the emperor's bedroom. Such favor, how can it not arouse jealousy.

The Queen Mother took a quick look and saw that the Queen was indeed in excellent health. She did not look sick at all. Instead, she was as beautiful as a captivating fairy.

Qi Mu glanced at Rong Zhaoyuan and said, "Mother, the Queen is already two months pregnant."

Everyone was stunned. Even the Queen Mother was unsure, "Your Majesty, this is true."

Qi Mu nodded: "It's absolutely true, as true as the kingdom of our Great Qi. Isn't the Queen Mother happy?"

The Queen Mother saw the Emperor's unhappy look and said, "I am happy. I am just too surprised. I can finally have the dignity to see your father."

After saying that, she quickly asked someone to prepare a soft seat for the queen. The queen mother was an experienced person, but the other women present had no experience of giving birth, so they had no idea how big a two-month pregnant belly would be.

The Queen Mother calmed down and stared at Danruo's belly with suspicion, but this involved the royal family's reputation after all, so she sent the other concubines away.

She then revealed a suspicious look: "I'm afraid this baby's month is wrong. How can a 2-month-old have such a big belly?"

Qi Mu laughed heartily: "Doctor Li said that the Queen is pregnant with more than one child, maybe more than two."

The Queen Mother was shocked again and burst into tears of joy: "My son finally has someone to carry on his legacy."

The Empress Dowager now finds Danruo very pleasing to the eye. The Emperor has suffered from the controversy of having no heir for so many years, and even gave up on himself. She never expected that the old tree would bloom at the age of 36.

"Queen, you don't need to come to my place anymore. The most important thing is to take good care of your pregnancy. Feel free to tell me anything you like."

Finally, Danruo returned to the palace with a large amount of rewards, and the situation in the harem changed instantly. However, Qi Mu had already put the palace under martial law, and anyone who wanted to pass on a message to the outside of the palace fell on deaf ears.

So when Prince Kang knew that he had only one child, Chen'er, he quickly discussed an auspicious date with Rong and registered the child under Rong's name.

During the morning court sessions these days, the ministers all felt that the emperor was in a good mood, and they submitted petitions requesting the establishment of a crown prince and the granting of marriages, to which the emperor basically agreed.

Prince Kang also submitted a memorial today, stating that Chen Ge'er has been registered under Rong's name and is his eldest legitimate son, and requested that he be made the crown prince.

Seeing that the emperor agreed, Prince Kang gave the prime minister a look, and now he was waiting for the prime minister to remind the emperor that the emperor had said before that if Rong had a legitimate son, he would be made the heir.

As soon as the Prime Minister stepped out of the team, Qi Mu spoke:

"Today, I also have good news to announce to all my beloved ministers. The Queen is pregnant, and my kingdom will have a successor."

The ministers were also shocked, but they reacted faster than the people in the harem. They immediately changed their expressions to joy, and some even cried for joy. They knelt down spontaneously and shouted "Long live the emperor".

Qi Mu glanced at the Prime Minister and asked, "What did you want to say just now?"

The prime minister hesitated: "I am fine, your honor."

Qi Mu smiled and said, "I think the Prime Minister has become forgetful due to his age. He also works day and night. He should pay more attention to taking care of his health."

The prime minister blushed and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

He knew that the emperor was implying that he was old and was also telling him to retire and return home as soon as possible.

After the morning court session, the news spread and different families reacted differently.

Dan Ruo was watching the live broadcast provided by the Samsara Pearl while chattering about prenatal education for the baby in her belly.

Chu Jinlin became more active in his thinking. Since the emperor already had his own prince, he would definitely not adopt Prince Kang.

In order to get on the big ship of Prince Kang, her family spent a huge amount of money to bribe Eunuch Deng when she got married in order to keep Chu Xiangxiang. Later, in order to divide the family, she spent a huge amount of money to bribe Eunuch Deng. More than half of the family assets were gone. As a result, now the family has lost everything.

Chu Jinlin wanted to get back the dowry he had given to Chu Xiangxiang. On the one hand, this would reduce his losses, and on the other hand, it would give his sister the Queen a token of his allegiance.

Chu Jinsong weakly tugged at his brother's sleeve and said, "Let's discuss this with father."

"Father is fully focused on taking care of mother right now, so he doesn't have time." Chu Jinlin knew that Duke Chu would definitely not allow it. His father would lose his mind once his mother started crying. Now the Duke's Mansion had to rely on himself to keep its reputation.

Finally, the two brothers brought their servants to the gate of Prince Kang's mansion.

She made a commotion at the gate, asked the servant to read out the dowry list loudly, and demanded to take Chu's dowry back.

The onlookers were astonished. Ten shops in the capital, three farms, three hundred acres of fertile land in the suburbs, jewelry and porcelain, and a chest full of silver. All in all, it must have been more than a hundred thousand taels.

Prince Kang happened to go to see the Queen Mother to strengthen the relationship between grandfather and grandson. Princess Kang and Rong were anxious in the mansion, but they didn't want to go out and confront the two boys in front of the people, so they asked someone to invite them into the mansion.

The onlookers started to make a fuss, and everyone liked to watch the fun, and fighting was even better, especially since I was just an ordinary person who could only earn a few taels of silver throughout the year, which was not even as much as the cost of a meal for a nobleman.