Elixir

The happiest person to hear this news was Pingting. Ever since her mistress was made a concubine, she had been neglected by the emperor for half a month, and Pingting thought that the emperor had forgotten about her mistress. But today, he specially summoned her to Yuanhe Palace, and Pingting used all her skills to do Xichun's makeup and dressing.

Looking at her elaborate makeup in the bronze mirror, Xichun felt very uncomfortable: "Pingting, let's not wear these gold hairpins."

"Your Majesty, these are all gifts from the Emperor. Please wear them. They look beautiful on you, just like the peonies blooming in the Imperial Garden."

Xi Chun, adorned with jewels, entered the Yuanhe Hall. Yan Zhongyou, seeing Xi Chun dressed so magnificently for the first time, was immediately struck by her beauty. He quickly pulled Xi Chun to sit beside his daybed. Holding Xi Chun's delicate white hand, he smiled and said, "I haven't visited Qianfu Palace lately, neglecting you. Are you unhappy?"

The smell of Yan Zhongyou made Xichun feel nauseous and she curled up in resistance, trying to avoid contact with him.

Yan Zhongyou was in a great mood because of Consort Xian's pregnancy. He was determined to win Xichun's heart and mind. Therefore, he found her resistant attitude as amusing as teasing a cat.

Xi Chun shifted uncomfortably in his arms, trying to pull her hand out of his, but he only held it tighter.

"Your Majesty, Lord Wei has arrived," Guang Jinfu announced.

"pass."

Upon hearing that Wei Qiao had arrived, Xi Chun quickly lowered her head, not wanting him to see her in another man's arms. Seeing Xi Chun lower her head, Yan Zhongyou assumed it was out of shyness. After all, she and Wei Qiao had previously been uncle and sister-in-law, but now she was his concubine. It was inevitable that she would feel awkward meeting the Wei family again.

Yan Zhongyou patted Xichun's hand and comforted her, "Don't be shy."

When Wei Qiao entered, he saw Xi Chun being held in Yan Zhongyou's arms. He involuntarily clenched his fists, feeling as if a raging fire was burning in his heart.

"Your Majesty, I greet you, and I greet Consort An." Wei Qiao tried his best to keep his voice calm. He knew that Xi Chun had been granted the title of Consort An after that night and had moved into a side hall of Qianfu Palace. He had been trying to find a way to rescue her, but in the end, he was too late.

"No need for formalities. I heard from Miched that you obtained two more pills from Zhang Tianshi. Bring them here immediately."

"Yes." Wei Qiao took out a brocade box from his sleeve, and Miched quickly stepped forward to take it from him and present it to the emperor.

Yan Zhongyou released Xichun's hand and took the brocade box, examining the two red pills inside with delight. Seeing this, Xichun quickly got up from the couch. She was afraid Michide would notice something amiss and wanted to resist looking at Wei Qiao, but a voice inside her kept saying: "Just look at him once. You are now the Empress; you won't have many opportunities to see him."

Xi Chun noticed that Yan Zhongyou and Mi Qide's gazes were both fixed on the elixir. She raised her eyes and looked intently at Wei Qiao. Wei Qiao noticed her gaze and turned to look at her as well. Their eyes met in mid-air. Xi Chun saw herself reflected in his eyes, and Wei Qiao saw herself reflected in Xi Chun's eyes. Xi Chun longed to throw herself into Wei Qiao's arms without hesitation, but her brocade robes were shackles; her current status made it impossible for her to be with Wei Qiao.

Wei Qiao had finally become a favorite minister of the emperor. She knew about the hardships he had endured growing up in the Wei family, and that he, like her, had lost his mother at a young age. She couldn't bear to watch him make mistakes because of her; she didn't want to be a burden to him. She didn't want him to lose everything he had worked so hard to achieve.

Wei Qiao, I can't do this to you.

When Wei Qiao saw Xi Chun's eyes shift from joy to gradual dimming, he felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if pricked by needles. He had never cared about a woman so much before; she seemed to have unknowingly taken root in his heart.

Yan Zhongyou wanted to talk to Wei Qiao about the elixir, but when he noticed Xi Chun was still there, he told her to leave first.

After Xi Chun left, Yan Zhongyou offered Wei Qiao a seat. After hearing about the contraindications of the elixir, Yan Zhongyou felt somewhat displeased and pressed him further, asking, "If one is to take this elixir, is it true that one cannot have sexual intercourse for a month beforehand?"

Wei Qiao nodded seriously and said solemnly, "These two pills contain medicinal materials secretly refined by Zhang Tianshi. If Your Majesty engages in sexual intercourse, your yang energy will be depleted. These medicinal materials will not be able to effectively replenish the dragon energy in your body and will also greatly deplete Your Majesty's essence. Therefore, Zhang Tianshi secretly instructed me to make sure that this is clearly explained to Your Majesty."

Yan Zhongyou looked troubled; asking him not to enter the harem for a month was practically the same as killing him.

Miched had repeatedly advised the Emperor to cherish his health and not to be too indulgent in women, but ever since the Emperor's time as a prince, he had never lacked women around him. Now, this Taoist master's advice was exactly what he wanted to hear. He advised, "Your Majesty conceived a second princess after taking Taoist master Zhang's elixir last time. If you were to follow Taoist master Zhang's advice and take these two more elixirs, you would surely be able to give the palace two more princes. Your Majesty has long suffered from the lack of offspring; now that there is a ready-made solution, you must try it."

Yan Zhongyou sighed deeply. His issue of having an heir was of paramount importance at present, and he could endure it for only a month. To avoid women, Yan Zhongyou ordered Mi Qide to replace all the palace maids in Yuanhe Hall with eunuchs, and he himself refrained from going to the inner palace. A month of forbearance was arduous, but fortunately, it was time to go to the temporary palace at the beginning of May. Originally, only six concubines were scheduled to accompany him, but two days before departure, Yan Zhongyou generously ordered more than twenty of his favorite concubines to go to the temporary palace to accompany him.

The imperial palace was located on a verdant mountain fifty miles from the capital. Xi Chun, along with other concubines of the same rank, traveled in a carriage for nearly a day before finally settling into a small room within the palace near dusk. The palace had limited space; apart from the Empress and the Virtuous Consort who had their own courtyards, the other concubines, like Xi Chun, shared a courtyard with others. Fortunately, Xi Chun only brought Ping Ting with her, so the two of them weren't too cramped.

Consort Mei had made ample preparations for this trip to the detached palace. Upon entering the courtyard, without even a moment's rest, she rushed to Yan Zhongyou's residence, the Ziguang Hall, in her light new clothes to pay her respects. Yan Zhongyou, having been late for so long, and seeing that the one-month deadline was only two or three days away, decided to wait no longer and directly pulled Consort Mei into the inner palace. Seeing that Yan Zhongyou's insistence was about to be thwarted, Mi Qide wanted to dissuade him, but before he could speak, sounds of pleasure could already be heard from inside the inner palace. Looking towards the inner palace, Mi Qide sighed deeply.

Yan Zhongyou and Consort Mei indulged in unrestrained behavior in the Ziguang Palace for three days and three nights. After the radiant Consort Mei left, Michide saw Yan Zhongyou, who was now pale and bluish.

Miched helped the unsteady Yan Zhongyou to sit on the couch and hurriedly called Guang Jinfu to bring over the prepared ginseng soup. “Your Majesty, it is not that this old servant is being presumptuous, but you should take care of your health. These past three days have been far too extravagant.”

Yan Zhongyou took the ginseng soup and drank half a bowl. Thinking of the pleasure he had with Consort Mei in bed, he smiled and said to Michide, "You don't understand the feeling, Eunuch. Even though I broke the vow I had kept for more than half a month, I have no regrets."

Miched frowned slightly and said, "Your Majesty, this old servant will have the imperial physician come and take a look at you. This old servant thinks you are not in good spirits."

Yan Zhongyou rubbed his forehead; he did indeed feel a headache. "Go, summon Min Xiu to me."

Inside Yichun Hall, Shi Hai was massaging Consort Xian's legs while she leisurely ate honey osmanthus cake with an exquisite silver fork shaped like a crabapple blossom. Thinking of the Emperor's three consecutive days of favoring Consort Mei, she felt annoyed and slammed the silver fork heavily onto the plate, splashing crumbs of cake onto Shi Hai's face.

Shi Hai knew why she was angry, so he reached out and wiped the crumbs off her face, then got up and walked behind her to massage her shoulders.

"Your Majesty, why be angry? No matter how favored those lowly women are, they can never surpass Your Majesty. You are carrying a prince in your womb, you should be happy."

Consort Xian reached out and grabbed the hand that was massaging her shoulders, and said in a muffled voice, "It's not that I'm really angry. I don't like the Emperor anyway. I'm just afraid that she might take the opportunity to get pregnant with the Emperor's child."

Shi Hai laughed and said, "Your Majesty is overthinking it. Over the years, the Emperor has favored so many women, but apart from Your Majesty, none of them have become pregnant."

Consort Xian turned her head and reached out to stroke his face. "Your Majesty, that's a hydrangea in the Imperial Garden. It only blooms but doesn't bear fruit. Luckily, I have you. Otherwise, if I waited for Your Majesty, I probably wouldn't be able to have a child in this lifetime."

In the Ziguang Palace, the Empress, having heard about Consort Mei's situation, brought a bowl of sea cucumber and chicken soup that she had personally stewed to pay homage to the Emperor.

After Yan Zhongyou finished the whole bowl of soup, he said gently to the Empress, "Your Majesty, your chicken soup is delicious, but why do you have to do it yourself? Just have the servants do it."

The Empress was his first wife. Although she had not borne children for many years, she was gentle and virtuous, and never quarreled with him over his taking in other concubines. She treated all the concubines equally. Many court officials praised her for her kindness and benevolence. Yan Zhongyou also respected her. Over the years, no matter how much he favored other concubines, he never allowed anyone to surpass the Empress.

Seeing that he enjoyed the food, the Empress got up and ladled him another bowl. "Your Majesty, I heard about your situation from Physician Min. Physician Min diagnosed that you have a deficiency of yang energy. You should take some time to rest and wait until your health has recovered before summoning the ladies of the palace to serve you in bed."

Remembering Min Xiu's words that further indulgence might make it even more difficult to have children, he pinched his brow and said, "I was just indulging in pleasure for a moment. Min Xiu also prescribed medicine for me, and Michide has been watching me take it every day. Don't worry, Empress, I know what I'm doing."

Consort Mei was organizing the rewards given to her by the Emperor in her room. Thinking about the Emperor's words that he would return to the palace to confer a title upon her, she was overjoyed.

She picked up a string of South Sea pearls and put it on the wrist of her palace maid, Furong, and said with a smile, "Furong, thanks to the lily fragrance you found for me, the Emperor kept me in the Ziguang Palace for three days because of that fragrance."

Furong stroked the South Sea pearl in her hand, and then remembered the five taels of gold that the person had given her in her sleeve pocket. She had only handed over something and received two rewards. There was nothing more worthwhile in the world.