Chapter 161 Another Pregnancy and Provocation
On the first day after Yixiu's birthday banquet ended, Yinzhen and his brothers finalized the military exercises in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the entire court was busy with preparations.
In the inner palace, the birthday banquet had earned her a lot of face. Although Yixiu was annoyed that Cao Qinmo had revealed her pregnancy at the banquet, she didn't really care.
However, to prevent such a situation from happening again, Yixiu instructed the imperial physicians to check the pulse of all the concubines every half month.
The third day after the birth banquet was the first day for the group to have their pulse checked. Then the imperial physician brought good news to Yixiu: Consort Yuan of Yanxi Palace was more than a month pregnant.
“It’s a good thing that the sisters in the harem are pregnant one after another. Jianqiu, go and deliver a reward to Consort Yuan, and send someone to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to deliver a message.”
Yi Xiu's smile froze. There really was a pregnant woman hiding there. Hopefully, this Yuan Changzai will be more obedient and won't cause her any trouble.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I obey."
Having served as mistress and servant for many years, without Yixiu needing to say much, Jianqiu understood her meaning and led a large entourage to Yanxi Palace to deliver the reward. Now, everyone in the harem, whether they should know or not, knew that Consort Yuan was pregnant.
For convenience, all the concubines in the palace waited together when Yuan Yuxiu took her pulse. This means that Yuan Yuxiu diagnosed her pregnancy in front of Song Wan'er, An Lingrong, and Fang Jiayichun.
"Congratulations, sister." Song Wan'er was the first to react and congratulated Yuan Yuxiu. "Yanxi Palace is a bit deserted with only one person there."
"Thank you, sister." Yuan Yuxiu's surprise hadn't faded yet, and the usually innocent and naive person seemed to have gained a sense of composure.
Upon hearing Song Wan'er's words, Yuan Yuxiu, who was touching her belly with her head down, had a glint of light flash in her eyes. When she looked up again, she was full of joy: "Your Highness has always been a good sister. I am not good at taking care of children. I will leave them to Your Highness in the future."
"You're a mother now, but you still have the heart of a child," Song Wan'er said with a playful laugh. After all, they were sisters who had lived together for so long. Song Wan'er was genuinely happy for Yuan Yuxiu's pregnancy.
"Congratulations, Sister Yuan." An Lingrong also offered her congratulations. Since arriving at Yanxi Palace, thanks to the care of Consort Shu and her promotion, she had been living quite well, even though she hadn't yet been favored by the emperor.
The original three concubines of Yanxi Palace were not difficult to get along with. Not to mention Consort Shu, Consort Yuan and Consort Fang Jia had similar personalities, both loved to eat and play, and they seemed to be doing quite well so far.
Therefore, An Lingrong was relatively accepting of Yuan Yuxiu's pregnancy. She wasn't particularly happy for her, but she didn't have any other thoughts about it.
Compared to An Lingrong's politeness, Fang Jiayichun was much more excited. Her clear eyes widened as she happily approached Yuan Yuxiu, saying, "Sister Yuan has a baby!"
"Yes, you must share more of Chun'er's good food with me in the future, I have two mouths to eat." Yuan Yuxiu seemingly casually avoided Fang Jiayi Chun's hand touching her belly, and joked with a smile.
"I...I...I..."
Fang Jiayi looked somewhat hesitant, and Song Wan'er teased her, "Chun'er, are you perhaps reluctant to part with her?"
"No, no, I'm willing to give them to you. They're just pastries. If the little one likes them, Chun'er will give them all to him."
Seeing her face clearly showing reluctance, yet feigning composure, everyone in the hall couldn't help but laugh.
...
"Your Highness, Consort Ning has arrived."
Yuan Yuxiu leaned back on the soft couch to rest. She had just seen off Jianqiu, who was by the Empress's side delivering rewards, and was now being visited by Consort Ning. Yuan Yuxiu frowned slightly, then put on a smile again, "Hurry up and welcome my sister in."
As she spoke, Yuan Yuxiu stood up. Just then, Mei Qiyue walked in and, seeing this, quickly stepped forward to help her up: "Why did you have to come to greet me? You're pregnant, why don't you sit down and rest?"
"If it weren't for my sister, I naturally wouldn't have gotten up."
Yuan Yuxiu smiled and, following Mei Qiyue's lead, the two sat back down on the couch together.
Mei Qiyue seemed particularly happy for her, and couldn't help but sigh, "Now you've finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel."
"Yes, I still can't believe I'm pregnant." Yuan Yuxiu smiled sweetly, but her heart was cold; it was all a facade. If she had truly only stayed where she was, she would never have seen the light of day. Since no one was there to help her, she would find her own way.
“Don’t worry, I wrote down all the precautions the imperial physician mentioned when I gave birth to Hongyun, and I brought this booklet to you today,” Mei Qiyue said, taking a thick booklet from a palace maid beside her. “You’ve always been lively, and you should be more careful now that you’re pregnant. Have the palace maids around you take a look at this booklet.”
"Thank you, sister." Yuan Yuxiu looked very moved, stepped forward and hugged Mei Qiyue's arm, leaning on her shoulder. "If it weren't for you, sister, I don't know what I would have done."
“Since you call me sister, I naturally have to consider your needs.” Mei Qiyue gently patted her head and carefully instructed, “Consort Shu is kind and gentle. With her as your principal consort, you can just focus on your pregnancy. Of course, you can’t be too careful. Now that you’re pregnant, you need to be careful about everything. If you feel anything is wrong, speak up immediately. If you feel unwell, call the imperial physician. Don’t be afraid of the trouble…”
Mei Qiyue talked on and on, and Yuan Yuxiu listened attentively with nodding. When she finished speaking, she personally served her a cup of warm tea: "Thank you, sister. Yuxiu understands. Please drink your tea."
Mei Qiyue smiled with satisfaction, took the tea and took a sip.
Yuan Yuxiu's eyes flickered, and she touched her belly sincerely, saying, "Right now, I just hope that the child I give birth to, whether it's a boy or a girl, will have even a fraction of Hongyun's excellence."
"You're saying that without worrying that the baby in your belly will get jealous."
"To be honest, Hongyun is such a good person, and so filial to his sister. It's a blessing for this little rascal to have someone like him." Yuan Yuxiu patted her belly casually, making Mei Qiyue, who was standing next to her, both laugh and cry. She actually thought more highly of Hongyun than her own mother.
"If Hongyun were here, he would be blushing with embarrassment at what you've said."
"That means you don't praise him enough usually. If you ask me, Hongyun is absolutely the best, no worse than the Empress Dowager or anything, but neither you nor Consort Duan like to praise him."
"You dare to say anything." Mei Qiyue gave her a reproachful look, but fortunately she knew her limits and didn't actually say it.
"To be honest," Yuan Yuxiu smiled ingratiatingly, then asked seemingly casually, "By the way, I heard that the previous dynasty is busy again, and the Crown Prince has been taken to work alongside the Emperor. Is Hongyun still studying?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Qiyue's eyes showed a hint of disappointment. It wasn't that she wanted to compete for anything, but as the emperor's sons, the crown prince was clearly more valued than all the other princes, and as his birth mother, she naturally felt wronged for her child.
“The Crown Prince is intelligent, but Hongyun is still young.”
“How can he be considered young? Hongyun is already 10 years old. The Crown Prince was under 10 when the Emperor started teaching him how to do things by hand.” Yuan Yuxiu leaned closer and muttered softly, indignant on Hongyun’s behalf. “If you ask me, the Emperor is too biased. Both princesses have been bestowed such high titles, how can he not grant any titles to the princes just because of the Crown Prince’s position…”
"Yuxiu, stop talking." Mei Qiyue felt uncomfortable listening to this, but she was also afraid that Yuan Yuxiu would cause trouble by speaking recklessly, so she quickly pressed her hand to stop her.
Yuan Yuxiu looked somewhat dejected. "I'm just overthinking things because I'm pregnant. I'm afraid my child won't be valued by the Emperor in the future, and that would be so heartbreaking. Speaking of which, isn't Consort Duan the Emperor's childhood sweetheart? Why doesn't she say anything for Hongyun..."
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