"Your Highness, the kitchen said that Consort Yi has been unwell recently and needs to take some nourishing food, so they gave her the best bird's nest!" Cuilan had also tried to cause trouble in the kitchen before, but no one paid any attention to her.

"Fine, fine, I'd like to ask Consort Yi if she's going to be harsh on me, a pregnant woman!"

Thinking that Consort Yi was only feeling unwell and not dying, how could she possibly compete with a pregnant woman for food? So she decided to go and argue with her.

"Please calm down, Your Highness! Have some water to cool down!" Granny Qin quickly pressed Consort Guo down.

"How can I possibly calm down? Is she jealous of my pregnancy?"

Consort Guo had a premonition that her baby would be a prince, and she was determined to make a scene this time, otherwise the little prince she had worked so hard to conceive and give birth to would belong to someone else.

"You may all leave!" Granny Qin dismissed everyone in the hall. Granny Qin was sent to Consort Guo's side by her father to take care of her when Consort Guo became pregnant again.

"What does Granny want to say?" Consort Guo could still listen to Granny Qin, who was giving her advice, because she knew that one person could not make a difference.

"My lady, you've already received all the bird's nest you were supposed to receive this month. The bird's nest you received before was all supplemented by Consort Yi's share. Now, I'm afraid even Consort Yi's share is gone. If you make a scene, your pregnancy is only just starting to stabilize. If you don't get Consort Yi's protection, do you think we can escape all the scheming in the harem? Think back to when you were pregnant with Princess Kejing." Granny Qin was far more cunning than the young Consort Guo.

“But if we just let it go like this, then this child of mine must be a prince. How can I let Consort Yi raise him? It’s better to cut ties now than to let her raise him!” In her opinion, as long as the child can stay by her side, everything is fine.

"My lady, there's still plenty of time! Are you worried about not finding a reason?" Granny Qin gestured to Consort Guo that there was no need to rush.

"The old nanny is wise. This way, she can use Consort Yi's help to protect me, and she can also raise the prince herself." She thought that with a little planning, she could raise a prince herself.

"It was Your Highness who was furious. I didn't expect that Your Highness would be able to understand once you calmed down!" Granny Qin knew that someone like Consort Guo could only be coaxed.

“Indeed, with my intelligence, I was sure I could figure it out,” Consort Guo said, raising her small face with a hint of pride.

Meanwhile, Consort Yi had just vomited in discomfort, then took a sip of water and spat it out, signaling Qingfen to take away the extremely smelly spittoon.

"I had no idea that being pregnant would be so unbearable!" Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I have been vomiting non-stop, and I can't see the imperial physician, so I can only suffer in silence.

"Why don't you have Your Highness see a royal physician?" Granny Guo said reluctantly. Although revealing it so quickly would attract attention, if it could make the mistress feel better, they should be able to protect the young prince with their abilities.

"No, I see that Consort Chen is fine after the first trimester. I'll think of a way to stop the nausea. If it really doesn't work, I'll just have to endure it like this!" She finally got pregnant, and she can't afford any mistakes.

"This servant knows a little. Does Your Highness crave sour foods? These usually stop nausea." Granny Guo also mentioned the folk saying that sour foods indicate a boy and spicy foods indicate a girl.

"I'm not sure either, why don't we get some?" Anyway, she can't eat any more, so let's try them all!

"Alright!" It doesn't matter if it's a prince or a princess. If it's a princess, let's let the flower bloom first and then bear fruit!

"How's it going over there? Has it caused any trouble?" Consort Yi was also hoping that Noble Lady Guo would cause a scene so that all her special privileges would be severed.

"There's been no movement, so it must have been persuaded by Granny Qin!" Granny Guo figured it out immediately.

"She's really troublesome. I should have known better than to bring in Granny Qin in the first place. She's become an obstacle for me!"

Consort Yi sighed. It wasn't that she couldn't tolerate Consort Guo, but reality made it impossible for her to tolerate her. If the Emperor were to promote her rank, he would surely find an opportunity to demote her. But she was already a high-ranking concubine. How could she possibly be reduced to a lowly consort? In fact, regardless of whether Consort Guo was carrying a princess or a prince, Consort Yi did not intend to keep her alive.

"I have an idea!" Qingfen suddenly said as she returned from emptying the spittoon.

"Tell me about it?" She really couldn't think of a better way, and she didn't want to suddenly turn against him unilaterally.

"This servant has heard that sour foods indicate a boy and spicy foods indicate a girl. If Consort Guo is convinced that the child she is carrying is the little prince, she will surely take great care of the imperial heir. Your Majesty, please send in more tonics. In addition, please add some appetite-stimulating medicine to her pregnancy-stabilizing medicine, as the fetus is too large..."

The rest of the words were self-explanatory without Qingfen needing to be spoken: an oversized fetus could lead to a difficult delivery, and in that case, it would be acceptable to either lose both mother and child or to either leave the mother or the child.

“That’s definitely a good idea!” Consort Yi cheered up and worked with Qingfen and Granny Guo to finalize the details before starting to implement it.

"Your Majesty, I greet you, Sister Liang!"

Dai Jia Changzai had originally planned to go out for a stroll and find a shady place after lunch, but she was surprised to run into Emperor Kangxi. She was overjoyed and could barely hold her fan. The reason was that it was too hot inside, so she came out. After all, her status as a Changzai was such that she only received two ice bowls a day when she was favored by the emperor.

"Get up! Sit down." Kangxi said in a good mood. He suddenly had a whim to have lunch in the pavilion, and he could even have the imperial kitchen staff come here to make a barbecue. This was taught to him by Wan'er, while the Wanyi he mentioned was fast asleep in Yongshou Palace.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Consort Dai Jia happily stood up, throwing three flirtatious glances at the emperor with each step. As soon as she sat down to Kangxi's right, she felt a chill upon entering the pavilion. It turned out that many ice platters were placed around the area, making the pavilion very cool and free of any heat.

“Sister Dai Jia! You’ve come at the perfect time, we were just about to start eating!” Liang Changzai couldn’t stand it anymore and said. After all, trying to seduce Kangxi in front of her was an insult to her.

"Then I am in for a treat! Your Majesty, I have just eaten in the palace. Let me serve you the food!"

As Dai Jia was speaking, she even took out her hands and used Kangxi's special serving chopsticks to pick out the dishes that Kangxi knew he liked to eat.

"Hmm!" Kangxi was supposed to be silent while eating and sleeping, but he wouldn't be so abnormal as to demand that others do the same. As long as they weren't too obtrusive, he actually quite liked it when his two concubines were jealous of each other.

“Sister Dai Jia is so thoughtful and virtuous, unlike me. I have been here for so long and have not served Your Majesty any dishes. I have failed in my duty. Please punish me, Your Majesty!” Liang Changzai said, but showed no intention of getting up to apologize.

"It's alright, it was I who asked you to eat with me. This meat is quite good, you should try some!"

Kangxi ate a piece of roasted mutton from his bowl. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. He thought it was very good, so he gestured to the personal maid of Consort Liang to put a piece for her as well. This was mutton that had been deodorized and had no gamey smell. It was freshly roasted and brought to the table.