Qi Yan took the sword, a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes, and he seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Xuan Ling patted his shoulder and said gently, "I know what you are worried about. I will take good care of him. As for the imperial concubine, she will also give birth safely and smoothly. When you come back, you will be able to see the three children of me and the imperial concubine."

A hearty laugh came from outside the hall.

Xuan Ling smiled slightly: "Go and take Jiang Jiang out to play for a while."

Qi Yan nodded and said, "Take care, Your Majesty." Then he turned and left.

Noon, inside Jingren Palace.

Empress Duan sat at the head of the table, holding a booklet in her hands with a cold gaze.

The Imperial Kitchen's Chief Steward Liu and the Imperial Household Department's Chief Steward Wang knelt on the ground, beads of sweat oozing from their foreheads.

Empress Duan asked with a veiled meaning, "The palace is cutting expenses, so why are people in Guanju Palace returning swiftlet nests, fish maw, and sea cucumbers every day? According to palace rules, swiftlet nests are only for the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. How do you do things?"

Steward Liu replied tremblingly, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine's expenses were previously determined by the Emperor himself."

Empress Duan sneered, her tone tinged with sarcasm: "You also know it's 'before'?"

She deliberately emphasized the word "before" and continued, "I also heard that the Imperial Concubine asked the Jewelry Bureau to make jewelry today. She's been making either clothes or jewelry every other day. Even her shoes are embellished with gems. Such extravagance is not good."

The two stewards looked at each other, feeling uneasy.

Chief Steward Liu whispered, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine's expenses have always been personally supervised by the Emperor. We servants dare not make decisions on our own."

Empress Duan glanced at them fiercely and said, "Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

The two of them kowtowed quickly: "Slave understands, slave understands."

After leaving Jingren Palace, Chief Steward Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead and whispered, "What should we do? We've been beaten a lot because of the Imperial Concubine's incident before.

Every time we deduct funds from Guanju Palace, bang, the imperial concubine is back in favor, and the emperor punishes us."

Steward Wang sighed and said, "How about we go find Steward Fu and ask him about this?"

The two of them quickly rushed to the Yangxin Palace and found Eunuch Fu.

In the corner, a man stuffed a purse into his pocket and pleaded in a low voice, "Manager Fu, please show us the way. We are depending on you."

Eunuch Fu weighed his money bag and said calmly, "What is the title of the Imperial Concubine?"

Manager Liu was stunned: "Chen!"

Eunuch Fu smiled meaningfully and said, "This title is so noble. Needless to say, the emperor didn't give it on a whim."

The two men suddenly realized and hurriedly bowed, "Thank you, General Manager Fu, for your advice. We know what to do now."

Eunuch Fu nodded and said: "The imperial concubine is pregnant with the royal heir, you must serve her carefully."

"Yes, yes." The two responded in succession, feeling relieved.

The next day, it was almost dinner time.

A piece of news spread throughout the palace: Tonight, the emperor turned over Concubine Qiong's green card.

The concubines talked about it: "Finally, this foreign princess has been favored."

Inside Guanju Palace, a dazzling array of delicacies filled the table: bird's nest soup, chicken stewed with fish maw, steamed sea bass, honey ham, sweet osmanthus candied lotus root, lotus seed and lily porridge...

Sheng Xiyan only moved her chopsticks twice before losing her appetite.

Sitting at the table, his brows were furrowed, and his heart was in turmoil.

Although she knew that this was Xuan Ling's plan, she felt upset when she thought that he was going to "spend a good night" with Xue Qiong tonight.

My dragon, will it really be defiled by that dirty thing?

Xuanlang, no, you are mine, your body and your heart can only be mine.

Hua Xia advised, "Your Majesty, please eat a little. The little prince and princess in your belly cannot go hungry."

Sheng Xiyan sighed and took a sip reluctantly, but found it tasteless.

Putting down the spoon, he whispered, "Hua Xia, what do you think...will the emperor turn his fake behavior into reality?"

Hua Xia shook her head: "Your Majesty, the Emperor only has you in his heart, please don't think too much."

Sheng Xiyan smiled bitterly: "But that love insect...what if he is really controlled by the insect?"