Until now, Lin Chunhuan still remembers the ferocious look on Princess Changning's face when she said this.

That vicious woman is not only jealous, she can't tolerate any woman who is more beautiful than her.

There are more than one or two wronged souls of beauties on my hands.

He flipped the paper in his hand, and his eyes stopped after landing on a trace of peach blossom patterns. Lin Chunhuan looked carefully at the woman on it, and the smile on his lips became more and more charming. "I found it."

"It's actually a skinny horse. No wonder it can't be sent to the palace openly."

Two days later, Chuntao brought the redeemed Hongxiu to her. Lin Chunhuan looked her up and down, and his gaze lingered on the peach blossom pattern on Hongxiu's collarbone for an especially long time.

It must be said that the Queen Mother had good taste. Hongxiu was indeed born with a beautiful appearance. Lin Chunhuan looked away and said, "I heard that your eldest sister gave birth to eleven children for her husband's family, nine of whom were boys?"

Hongxiu was obviously stunned for a moment, then nodded, "Yes."

"Not only the eldest sister, but the other sisters are also good at raising children."

Hongxiu was a little confused. Two people had asked her this question this month, but she didn't think much about it. With her status, it was a blessing to be bought by a respectable family.

Lin Chunhuan raised his eyes and asked, "Are you willing to stay in the Lin family and fulfill your filial duties for me?"

"Hongxiu isn't a good name. You and I both have peach blossom marks, so I'll give you the same name as me. How about calling you Huan'er?"

Two months later, a sedan stopped outside the Lin Mansion and took away a maid from the Lin Mansion. This happened in secret and even the neighbors were not alarmed.

On the way, the nanny who came to pick her up told her the whole story, which was basically the same as what she had heard from Changning.

There were five people in this group who were selected from the common people to enter the palace. They were all sisters and mothers who were easy to give birth to. The old nanny was quite kind and said, "Don't worry, young lady. Although you won't have a rank in the palace, you will be fine."

"But as long as you give birth to a child for His Majesty, all blessings will follow!"

Lin Chun agreed with a smile, but looked at the street scene outside through the small curtain on the sedan chair.

She finally came to Kyoto.

"Lin Huan."

When her name was called, Lin Chunhuan took a moment to react before answering. She was in a daze the whole time, even she felt like she was dreaming. Things went surprisingly smoothly.

When she came to her senses, she had already arrived at Chuxiu Palace.

The nanny in front of him looked at her with scrutiny in her eyes, "Take off your clothes and lie down."

Even if it was the person chosen by the Queen Mother, of course she had to be of clean body. Examination was inevitable no matter what. Lin Chunhuan bit her lip and forced herself to take off all her clothes.

"You're not shy, spread your legs."

The old lady's tone was cold and her movements during the inspection were extremely rough. The pain made Lin Chunhuan tremble uncontrollably, and it was unknown how long it took for her to stop.

When everything was over, Lin Chunhuan was already covered in sweat.

"She's born healthy, there's nothing wrong with her. Leave these to Madam Jiang."

Although she was reborn, this was her first time in the palace. She was confused for a moment and could only do what others told her.

The newly-arrived beauties were all given titles, most of them were concubines of low rank, and only the daughter of a general was given the title of noble lady.

As for those above the rank of concubine, apart from the imperial concubine who gave birth to the little prince, there was only the niece of the empress dowager, who had followed the emperor since the Eastern Palace and was later named Defei.

The five women who entered the palace with Lin Chunhuan were all arranged to sit beside the emperor. Some served tea, and some held lamps. She waited for a long time but did not hear her name called.

After Madam Jiang had sorted out the rest of the people, she softly asked, "Madam, what should this servant do?"

"you?"

The same scrutinizing gaze returned. After being looked at so many times, the initial discomfort naturally subsided. Nanny Jiang sneered, the disdain in her eyes particularly obvious, "You are the skinny horse from Jiangnan, right?"

"I have reserved a good position for you."

After nightfall, Lin Chunhuan understood that the good position that Nanny Jiang mentioned was actually the foot-warming maid, the lowest and least dignified position in the harem, but also the position closest to the emperor.

If others were in such a position, they would probably even want to die.

But Lin Chunhuan didn't think so. This position was exactly what she wanted!

Cining Palace.

The Empress Dowager was bedridden, and the imperial physician was busy going in and out.

Wen Yunxiao sat in the outer room with a sullen face. Although he was over thirty years old, his face was still well-defined, with a clear jawline and a high nose bridge, making him look exquisite and picturesque.

"How is the Queen Mother?"

Even though the impatience in his eyes could no longer be concealed, Wen Yunxiao still remained patient and waited for the imperial doctors to stop before he asked softly.

He was afraid that the noise would be too loud and would disturb the empress dowager who had finally fallen asleep.

However, the imperial doctors looked at each other and no one spoke for a long time.

Wen Yunxiao's expression turned even colder. "Why, are you all deaf?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!"

Everyone in the Cining Palace knelt down, and finally the head of the academy stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is suffering from a heart disease. Since the death of the young Crown Prince, she has been extremely worried and distressed, and she herself refuses to take medicine."

"Your Majesty, there is really no other way!"

"A bunch of trash!"

He kicked the head of the courtyard to the ground and Wen Yunxiao paced back and forth. Unexpectedly, the noise still woke up the empress dowager, "Your Majesty."

Hearing the voice, Wen Yunxiao immediately entered the inner hall and tightly held the hand extended by the empress dowager.

Ever since the death of the little prince, the queen mother has been aging day by day, and is now extremely weak. Wen Yunxiao sees it all, but there is nothing he can do.

In fact, he was also very sad about the death of the little prince.

Those pedantic old ministers in the court forced him to adopt a royal family member's son, and they would bang their heads against the pillars at every turn. Sometimes he wished he could really kill all those people!

"Your Majesty, I am old and I know my own body well. Please don't make things difficult for the imperial physicians. They have done their best."

The Queen Mother's voice was weak.

Her condition was not so serious that it was incurable, but she had lost the desire to live, and even a god could not save her.

Wen Yunxiao shook his head repeatedly, "No, mother, there must be a way!"

"Your Majesty, I just can't bear this..." Before she could finish her words, the Queen Mother had already shed two lines of tears, "There is no one to carry on the throne. How can I explain to your father and the ancestors of the Wen family when I am gone?"

"Mother..."

Wen Yunxiao wanted to say something, but the words tasted bitter when they came to his lips.

After the death of the young prince, he had tried, but the more he tried, the more he became disheartened and lost all hope. The situation had become worse in the past six months, and he had never even once set foot in the harem, devoting all his energy to handling state affairs.

The Queen Mother also knew about this matter, and her heart disease became more and more serious.

If it weren't for the Queen Mother's feelings, Wen Yunxiao would not have agreed to the recent talent show.

"Your Majesty." The Queen Mother's weak hand grasped Wen Yunxiao's arm, "Even if it's for my last wish as a mother, let's try again... Let's try again!"