As soon as the Madam Dowager and Mother Du stood still, they saw the Second Madam accompanying Eunuch Lei slowly walking towards them.

"Eunuch Thunder!" The lady greeted him with a smile.

When Thunder God heard the shouting, he quickened his pace.

"Madam!" He bowed and saluted, with a smile in his eyes.

The lady felt relieved and asked Eunuch Lei to sit down in the hall.

Eunuch Lei looked at the maid who served tea in silence.

The lady understood what was going on and sent away the servants.

Eunuch Lei immediately stood up with a smile on his face: "Madam, congratulations!"

The lady was stunned.

Eunuch Lei whispered, "The Queen is pregnant!"

"Ah!" Even though the lady had already practiced the art of suppressing her emotions, she couldn't help but show surprise at this moment, "This is serious!" Then she thought about the seriousness of the matter, and Thunder God would never joke about this. She was too concerned and said something stupid, but she didn't care about being annoyed. She smiled a little more, put her hands together, and bowed to the west, "Amitabha! It's really the Bodhisattva's blessing."

The joy that Eunuch Lei had been holding back was now revealed without reservation. He smiled and said, "I wonder how happy the emperor must be to know this. He went to Fengxian Hall early yesterday morning and said he would fast for three days and ask Emperor Taizong and Emperor Shengzu to bless the empress so that she can give birth to a prince smoothly."

Giving birth to a prince is good, but it is just the icing on the cake. The Empress is pregnant, and the Emperor has come to the Fengxian Hall to burn incense. The Emperor and Empress are in love, and this is what makes the Lady Dowager happy. She smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into crescent moons: "Thank you for your good words, Your Majesty! Thank you for your good words!"

"There will be news coming out of the palace in a couple of days." Eunuch Lei said with a smile, "The Queen asked me to tell you first so that you can be happy too."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!" The lady smiled, "This is really a great thing!" Then she asked in detail about the Queen's daily life.

Knowing that the Empress was fine, the Lady Dowager asked about the eldest and third princes.

"…The eldest prince served the emperor in the Qianqing Palace every day to review memorials. It was very hard. When he came to pay his respects to the empress, he looked thinner. However, his temperament became calmer. The master of the first day of this month was Liang Gelao. He also praised the third prince in front of the emperor. He said that the third prince was talented. The emperor was very happy to hear this and rewarded the third prince with a Duan inkstone."

"That's good, that's good!" The lady was getting happier and happier. She talked about the eldest prince's marriage, "...Do you know when it will be settled?"

Eunuch Lei said implicitly: "The Queen has been resting in the palace these days, just waiting for the Emperor to make a decision. However, the Queen also said that this matter must be settled as soon as possible, as the eldest prince is not young anymore."

The emperor certainly does not want to choose a daughter-in-law from the Yang family. If it was before, he was worried that the emperor would be influenced by the imperial concubine, but now, the emperor and the queen are in harmony, and the imperial concubine is in a weak position, so naturally the sooner the crown prince's wife is chosen, the better.

The more the old lady thought about it, the more she felt that the child had arrived just in time. So she stopped talking and asked about Lei Gonggong's health with a smile. Lei Gonggong saw that it was getting late, exchanged a few words with the old lady, and stood up to say goodbye. The old lady tried to persuade Lei Gonggong to stay, and personally escorted Lei Gonggong to the door, accompanied by the second lady to the hanging flower gate. Then she winked at Madam Du, who was worried, and the two of them walked into the inner room slowly.

"The Queen is pregnant!" The lady said happily as she entered the room.

"Oh my!" Mother Du exclaimed, her eyes red, "This is really a great thing!"

The lady nodded repeatedly, her eyes moistened: "There will be news from the palace in a couple of days. I want to go to Ciyuan Temple to pray for the Empress." She added, "Please invite the Marquis here. Tell him about this as soon as possible so that he can feel relieved. He has been worrying about the Empress' affairs every day these days and has lost weight."

Although Mother Du couldn't tell that she had lost weight, she could hear how much the lady loved her son.

She smiled and said "yes", and went to find Xu Lingyi in person.

Xu Lingyi was indeed very happy to hear this. After returning, he pinched Shiyi Niang's chin lightly and whispered in her ear before she could protest, "The Queen has diagnosed a pregnancy."

"Really!" Eleventh Lady's eyes lit up, not caring about much else, "How old is the child?"

This way, it can more or less make up for the Queen's pain of losing the fifth prince!

"It was diagnosed the night before yesterday." Xu Lingyi said with a smile, "Eunuch Lei just told mother himself!"

Lei Gonggong is the chief steward of Kunning Palace, so his words are certainly true.

Eleventh Lady was happy for the Queen: "So what should we prepare? Should we make some small clothes? Or send some delicious food to the palace!" But she felt that she was too excited. It was not like her time. Sending food was a sign of friendliness. She said hurriedly, "Food cannot be sent to the palace. I guess there are some rules for clothes... Or we can go to the palace to pay our respects to the Queen. I don't know if there are any rules in this regard? We have to say congratulations to her. This is really a happy thing!"

When someone is happy about the same thing as you, your joy will be magnified exponentially.

Looking at the excited Eleventh Lady, Xu Lingyi smiled.

"Then there will be news from the palace. After the first three months, we can go and congratulate the Empress. As for food and clothes," he said tactfully, "firstly, there is no shortage of them in the palace, and secondly, the clothes made to order by the princes and princesses are too expensive for ordinary families to afford."

"Yes, yes, yes." Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded repeatedly, "I will go to congratulate the Queen as soon as possible when the time comes!"

Xu Lingyi smiled and nodded, saying, "Mother wants to go to Ciyuan Temple in a few days to pray for the Empress. You can go with me then!"

"Okay!" Eleventh Lady agreed readily.

She also hopes to send good wishes to this upcoming life.

A maid came in and said, "Madam, the young master from Master Jining's side has brought you some scriptures."

Xu Lingjia listened with a slightly fixed gaze, looking disapproving.

Eleventh Lady knew that he didn't like these things, so she smiled and explained, "Master Jining just came to see me and talked to me about the Heart Sutra for a long time. She also gave me a copy of the sutra she copied by hand. It's hard to refuse such a kind gesture." She added, "As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Some things are better left to chance. Just understand it in your heart."

Xu Lingyi's face lightened slightly, and he said nothing.

Eleventh Lady thought this was not a good topic. Thinking of his meeting with Ma Zuowen just now, she smiled and changed the subject: "Has there been any progress in the selection of a concubine for the Crown Prince? If it can be decided, it will be a double blessing for the Queen."

"The list has just been delivered to the emperor." Xu Lingyi said, "The discussion has not started yet!"

Is there anything more important than this at this moment?

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but look confused.

Xu Lingyi hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I'll ask Zuo Wen to help me find out what happened when the prince of Jinghai came to Beijing. In particular, find out what happened when the prince lived in the residence!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't understand what he meant.

"Logically, if the Qu family wants to make further progress, they should be united and prepare for the battle for the succession in ten years. But so many incidents happened. Not only did they alert the enemy, but they also exposed their own shortcomings." Xu Lingyi said in a deep voice, "I originally thought that the prince had changed his staff, so his style changed drastically. But after careful inquiry, there was no movement from the prince, but it was the sixth son of the Qu family who kept making small moves in the past two years. There must be a reason for him to do this, right? You know, the prince of Jinghai has been in office for many years, he is smart and capable, and has a good reputation. If it is for the title, the sixth son of the Qu family is far behind the prince in terms of age and qualifications. From the current point of view, it is impossible for him to inherit the title."

"Why is that?" Eleventh Lady asked, "It can't be because of the brothers' anger, right? If that's the case, even if the prince can tolerate it, the Marquis of Jinghai will not allow the sixth master of the Qu family to act so recklessly, right?"

"So I wonder if something has happened to the prince?" Xu Lingyi's expression gradually became serious. "Marquis Jinghai must choose one of the brothers to be the prince. Everyone is eager to make a move, and Marquis Jinghai is unable to control them..."

Eleventh Lady was puzzled: "If that's what the Marquis said, then those sons should have tried to please the Marquis of Jinghai. Why are they disobeying his orders?"

Xu Lingyi knew that she didn't understand the mystery, so he said with a smile: "Who to appoint as the crown prince requires the consent of Marquis Jinghai, and even more so the support of the emperor!"

Eleventh Lady suddenly realized: "You mean, the Imperial Noble Consort?"

If it was really as Xu Lingyi said, then the son of Marquis Jinghai would definitely use all kinds of methods. Some would choose to please Marquis Jinghai, while others would naturally find another way to get close to the Imperial Concubine.

But as soon as she said this, she had new confusion.

"So what happened to the prince of Jinghai? Did he fall seriously ill and die soon? Did he make a mistake and could be impeached by the censor at any time if he reveals it? Isn't there a saying that the person who knows you best is often your opponent, not your friend? But how could Wang Jiubao know nothing about it?"

Although her voice was not loud and her tone was not urgent, every question she asked hit the point.

Xu Lingyi smiled slightly as he listened, and said happily: "So I asked Ma Zuowen to help me investigate the prince's affairs - he lived in the Yanjing residence for five months. If he was unwell, there would always be some clues left while eating and drinking. If he made any mistakes..." He paused, "After all, the Qu family is an official, and the Wang family is definitely a thief. So this time, I sent someone to assist Wang Jiubao in investigating this matter. With Wang Jiubao's shrewdness, he will definitely get something!"

Seeing that he had thought of everything, Eleventh Lady began to worry about the eldest prince.

Even though he knew that he had irreconcilable conflicts with the Qu family, he still married a wife who had close ties with the Qu family.

"My Lord, please pay attention to the matter of selecting a concubine!" She pondered, "Although I don't expect to influence the emperor's opinion, it's not good to let someone who has a close relationship with the Qu family be selected!"

Seeing her worry, Xu Lingyi couldn't help but laugh and said, "There are only eternal interests, no eternal allies! Not to mention people who are closely related to the Qu family, even if the Qu family has another crown prince's consort, as long as she is not from the same branch, it will only benefit us, not harm us!"

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I will add more content tonight and ask for pink votes! It will be a bit late, so everyone should get up tomorrow morning to read it.

PS: Sisters, we are striving for the overall ranking for the whole year, please give us your support!

Thanks!

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I recommend Yun Ni's new book "It's Hard to Obey Fate". A concubine's daughter returns to the human world, and she wants to give it a try to change her fate. It tells a story of rebirth!

Book number: 1783678