Chapter 186: Highly accomplished

Ever since the Queen and Concubine Xiao gave birth to children in succession, Song Zhao has been the most favored person in the harem.

Even though she was pregnant and couldn't sleep with him, Xiao Jingheng would still take time out to visit her every day, and sometimes even stay overnight in Changle Palace.

However, he abided by the rules. Even though Song Zhao was already six months pregnant and the fetus seemed stable, he did not force her to have sex during her pregnancy.

Song Zhao also understood that Xiao Jingheng's kindness to her was partly due to his high hopes for the royal heir in her belly.

If Song Zhao could give birth to a son, then even if she had no maternal family to rely on, relying solely on the noble status of the son's biological mother, it would not be difficult for her to become a concubine in the future.

As for the Queen,

She was sad for a long time after she learned that she would never be able to have children in her life.

During the past half month, except for Xiao Jingheng and the Queen Mother, she turned away all the concubines who came to visit her.

However, Xiao Jingheng only saw her twice.

The first time was to comfort her and the second time was to name the little princess.

Xiao Jingheng named the little princess "Jinghe" and promised the Queen that Qichao would never let Princess Jinghe marry a foreign princess. He wanted the princess to always be by the Queen's side, which was also a comfort to the Queen.

As for Lady Xiao's son,

Not to mention giving him a name, Xiao Jingheng never even looked at him once since he was born, just treating him as if he didn't have this son.

Looking at it this way, compared with Concubine Xiao, he was not really neglecting the Queen.

However, despite this, the queen was still depressed all day long.

She did not blame anyone, but only blamed herself for being unlucky. As the Empress, she had no chance to give birth to a legitimate son for Xiao Jingheng.

Xiao Jingheng advised her, "No matter what, you are my queen. You already have a heart disease, but you took such a big risk and gave up your life to give birth to a princess for me. I will always remember this kindness."

The queen held Xiao Jingheng's hand tightly and said with tears in her eyes:

"As the emperor's wife, it is my duty to bear children for him. I... cough cough cough..."

After such a long period of treatment, the queen still looked very weak.

Whenever she got a little emotional, she would cover her chest and cough.

Just at this time, Chu Yuanpan came to check the Queen's pulse, so Xiao Jingheng asked someone to call him in quickly.

After checking her pulse, Xiao Jingheng asked him, "Why does the queen still not seem to be fully recovered?"

Judge Chu said, "The Empress had a premature birth and hemorrhage, which caused a great loss of vitality. In addition, the Empress herself suffers from heart disease. After all this, her health is even worse than before. She must be carefully taken care of in the future."

Xiao Jingheng said, "You have been responsible for taking care of the Queen. Her heart disease has eased a lot under your care over the years. I trust your medical skills, so please continue to treat the Queen."

Another four or five days passed, and the queen still claimed to be ill and did not visit the palace to pay her respects.

That afternoon, just as the Queen had finished taking the medicine, she saw Shuang Ruo bowing in with a secretive look on her face, and said to her with a low smile:

"Your Majesty, the Emperor was furious this morning."

"What's that?"

"The Ning family won a victory in the northern frontier, and the emperor originally planned to reward them with Yingcheng as their fiefdom. But who would have thought that Ning Baichuan was so ambitious and unsatisfied that he even dared to ask the emperor for Chongling, which is next to Yingcheng!"

Hearing this, the queen was shocked and suddenly sat up from her warm seat.

"Chongling? That's where the ancestor emperor made his fortune. Is Ning Baichuan crazy?"

Shuang Ruo said, "It's like this when one's achievements are greater than his master's. So the emperor couldn't save face in the court, his face was livid and he didn't say anything. Later he didn't scold Ning Baichuan, he just said that this matter can be discussed later."

The Ning family is full of military generals who are brave and good at fighting, and Yu Qichao has indeed made many military achievements.

Although Ning Baichuan is a bit arrogant, he is still a loyal person.

So the queen thought, he asked Xiao Jingheng for Chongling, maybe there was another hidden reason?

"I remember that Chongling is adjacent to Zhuyin Kingdom in the east. Zhuyin has been very restless recently. Ning Baichuan asked the emperor for Chongling. He probably wanted to deploy troops and deploy troops there. He wanted to take down Zhuyin while the Qi army was reporting victories."

Shuang Ruo thought for a moment and said, "Then according to what Your Majesty said, can this action of the Ning family be regarded as loyalty to the emperor and serving the country?"

"Ha." The queen sneered, "Whether he is loyal to the emperor or not, it is useless for us to say. It depends on what the emperor thinks. Sometimes loyalty to the emperor and betrayal to the emperor are just a matter of one thought."

She stroked the golden incense burner with phoenix pattern on the small table, pondered for a while, and then said:

"Go and tell your father to win over some of the court officials and give more advice and persuasion to the former court."

Shuang Ruo was stunned for a moment, "Advise?"

The Queen said, "Of course, we should persuade the Emperor to award Chongling to the Ning family. Ning Baichuan has made great contributions to the Qi Dynasty and quelled internal and external troubles. He is the deputy general of our Qi Dynasty. The Qi Dynasty has prospered until now because of his protection. Therefore, no matter what he asks for, we must stick to him."

Shuang Ruo understood this.

The Queen wanted to take advantage of the situation and push the Ning family into an abyss of no return.

Chongling is close to Zhuyin Kingdom. The Ning family asked Xiao Jingheng for Chongling, probably because they thought it would be convenient to deploy troops here, and they really wanted to conquer Zhuyin, a restless small border country, for the court.

Xiao Jingheng will definitely take this into consideration.

But while he was considering, wave after wave of court officials submitted memorials and suggestions, all urging him to give Chongling to the Ning family.

Then Xiao Jingheng would inevitably become suspicious and speculate that the Ning family's lobbying was behind the advice of these court officials.

An emperor needs powerful generals to help him pacify the country, but he is also afraid that the powerful generals will rebel and kill him by surprise.

The Queen's move was intended to make Xiao Jingheng more wary of the Ning family and put the matter of suppressing the Ning family on the agenda earlier.

Shuang Ruo smiled slyly and said, "I know what to do."

“Cough cough… cough cough cough…”

As soon as she finished speaking, the queen started coughing violently again.

She clutched her shirt tightly at her chest, looking as if she could hardly breathe.

"I feel very uncomfortable, go and call the imperial physician!"

At the same time, news of Xiao Jingheng's anger in the previous dynasty also reached the ears of Concubine Chen through Liu Yue's mouth.

After hearing the whole story, Concubine Chen immediately felt uneasy.

"Is father crazy? Chongling is the place where our ancestor emperor made his fortune. He asked the emperor what he wanted that place for? This is for no reason, and he wants the emperor to speculate that he has ulterior motives..."

The Concubine paced back and forth in the palace anxiously, muttering from time to time:

"My family has made many military achievements, and the emperor is somewhat afraid of my father. This time, my father really went too far."

Liu Yue held a jade fan and followed behind Concubine Chen to fan her and keep her cool.

"Don't worry too much, Your Majesty. The Master is a soldier, and he probably doesn't think too much about the twists and turns. Chongling is the closest to Zhuyin Country, and the Master wants that place as his territory, which will also facilitate the arrangement of military affairs. The Master is loyal to his country, and I don't think the Emperor will speculate anything."

"If you don't speculate, you won't get angry!"

Concubine Chen glared at Liu Yue, snatched the fan from her hand, and shook it irritably.

"What's the point of you saying all this? The key is to see what the emperor thinks about this matter. The emperor is not in a hurry to deal with Zhu Yin, but father is anxious first? Isn't this a minister overstepping his authority and taking over the emperor's affairs?"

The more Concubine Chen thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She hurriedly urged Liu Yue to

"Go prepare paper and pen, and write whatever I say. You must write a letter to your father, asking him to explain to the emperor why he wants to visit the mausoleum, so that the emperor won't misunderstand him."

[Three more chapters today, continue to go crazy]