[Dear customer, the pregnancy-preserving pill costs 500 points per pill. It guarantees your baby's safety until delivery, no matter what harm you suffer. Your purchase has been successful. Your account has 275 points remaining.]

Gu Jiangli accepted the pregnancy-preserving pills and swallowed them without hesitation.

She calculated the time and realized she should be two months pregnant now.

Since her hand was fully healed, she stopped allowing the imperial physicians to come to her every day.

The goal was to temporarily hide the pregnancy.

She needs to choose a very opportune moment to reveal this.

During this time, Consort Shu would occasionally send her things, mainly to show that she was on good terms with the Emperor.

Gu Jiangli looked at the potted plants, porcelain, and other items sent by Consort Shu and smiled.

Now that the items have arrived, we should make use of them.

The pregnancy-preserving pills can protect the fetus in her womb, so it's time to take the initiative.

"Lotus!"

"My lord, is there anything you require?"

"Lotus, starting tomorrow, when you go to the Imperial Household Department to collect your things, make sure to go when Granny Du is there."

"Huh? You only go when she's around?" Lotus asked, puzzled.

In the past, when I went to collect my items, I would make sure to go after Granny Du had already collected them, in order to avoid running into her.

Lotus didn't want to deal with that Granny Du; she was domineering and spoke rudely.

Especially after learning that she was a palace maid in Yilan Palace, she always targeted her.

So over time, she would deliberately avoid Granny Du when collecting items to avoid unnecessary disputes.

Gu Jiangli smiled, how could she not understand?

As Consort Shu's attendant, Granny Du was always eager to stand up for her mistress.

What she wanted to take advantage of was Granny Du's kindness.

"Lotus, just do as I say, and you'll understand later."

She told Lotus a lot of things to say when facing Granny Du, and Lotus nodded blankly.

Although Lotus was puzzled, she knew that her master's orders must have their reasons.

The next day, she found out when Granny Du would be going to the Imperial Household Department, so she made sure to go there at the right time.

She first accepted the items handed over by the Imperial Household Department, and while she was taking inventory, she caught a glimpse of Granny Du walking towards her.

Lotus cleared her throat and said to the official from the Imperial Household Department:

"My lord, I am Lotus from Yilan Palace. Because the young mistress has been sleeping poorly lately, I hope you can provide her with an extra dose of sleeping incense."

Upon hearing that Hehua was a palace maid from Yilan Palace, the officials of the Imperial Household Department gave her to her without saying a word.

"So it's Miss Lotus. Next time you want something, just send someone over and tell them. There's no need for you to come all the way here yourself."

Those who serve in the palace are the most likely to be opportunists.

Whichever concubine the emperor favored, they would fawn over that concubine, and naturally, the maids around her would also fawn over her.

Lotus understood this principle, but she knew what was important and would never act arrogantly just because her master was favored.

"You flatter me, sir. I am only doing my duty to my master and would not dare to trouble you."

Lotus always remembered that when she was out in public, she represented her master's reputation, and she could not be impolite or embarrass her master.

The people of the Imperial Household Department were delighted to hear this.

But this blissful moment was soon interrupted.

"Ha, so as long as the master is favored, he can break the rules of the palace. The sleeping incense is collected once every seven days, one dose at a time. Why is it different for your Yilan Palace? You can ask for an extra dose?"

"Could it be that you, Yilan Palace, took away the allowance of another concubine?!"

As soon as Granny Du approached, she began to berate Lotus, and Lotus's expression turned quite unpleasant.

“Granny Du,” Lotus greeted politely, “Noble Lady Xian has no intention of encroaching on the other ladies’ allowances. It’s just that she has been sleeping poorly lately and looks much more haggard, so she asked me to take some more sleeping incense back with her.”

"Is a mere noble person breaking the rules just because she can't sleep? If that's the case, then my lady is a Noble Consort, and she also has trouble sleeping. Should she be allowed to receive the sleeping incense rations for three people?"

"This..." Lotus was speechless for a moment.

She seemed to struggle for a moment before speaking again: "Granny, I have overstepped my bounds. I will return the extra portion immediately."

After saying that, she could only reluctantly take out the extra sleeping incense and hand it back to the people from the Imperial Household Department.

As soon as Lotus took her leave, Granny Du said to her retreating figure with a cold and contemptuous expression:

"A mere servant girl from a noble household dares to take extra items from the Imperial Household Department." She then turned to the people from the Imperial Household Department and said:

"Her Majesty said that when the people from Yilan Palace come to collect their gifts, they should receive whatever they are entitled to. If she finds out that you are not following the rules, you will be in big trouble. Do you understand?"

With a sharp rebuke from Granny Du, the people from the Imperial Household Department nodded repeatedly, "Yes, we will follow the teachings of the Noble Consort."

Granny Du was so proud that she couldn't hide her wrinkles.

She knew that her mistress had suffered at the hands of Consort Xian, and since she couldn't get revenge from her mistress, she would get it back from Lotus.

From that day on, Lotus would run into Granny Du wherever she went, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

"My lord, this servant is Lotus from Yilan Palace. My mistress doesn't have a good appetite and would like some sour hawthorns and purple grapes..."

Granny Du immediately ran over from a distance to stop her:

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