They parted after a kiss, both slightly out of breath.
Shen Youying was especially so, nestled softly and bonelessly in Xue Shen's arms, making her particularly endearing. Now three months pregnant, she had been taking nourishing medicinal meals, making her appear much fuller than before, adding to her charm.
Xue Shen held her close, gently kissing her hand intermittently, slowly and laboriously calming the desire in his heart.
But Shen Youying's fingers kept scratching at his chin, and Xue Shen's eyes darkened. He lowered his head and bit her restless fingers, warning her in a hoarse voice, "Don't you want to go to the palace today?"
Shen Youying felt his tension, curled her fingers, her cheeks flushed, and muttered softly, "I didn't want to go to the palace in the first place."
After saying that, he sensed that Xue Shen's expression was becoming increasingly dangerous, so he quickly changed the subject: "You haven't said how you're going to turn the tables on me yet."
Xue Shen let her off the hook for the time being, and gently stroked her lower abdomen, saying, "Didn't we say before that we wanted to find an opportunity to announce that you were pregnant? Now is a good opportunity."
Shen Youying is three months pregnant, and the pregnancy is stable. As the months go by, her pregnancy will gradually become more noticeable, so it's no longer advisable to hide it. Moreover, now that Xue Shen has made it public and announced Shen Youying's pregnancy, it's easier to assign people to protect her and prevent any "accidents."
Shen Youying understood immediately: "I get it." She said playfully, "If Yelü Nanxin doesn't make things difficult for me today, I'll find a place to faint myself. If Yelü Nanxian makes things difficult for me, I'll just have to faint in her palace."
"clever."
Xue Shen was amused by her, and he held her in his arms and kissed her for a long time, until her lips were red and moist, before reluctantly letting her go.
"I will go to the palace with you later. You take Fu Cui and Liu Yun with you."
Shen Youying agreed, went back to her room to redo her makeup and change into her official lady's dress, and then went to the palace with Xue Shen.
Since Xue Shen could not go to the inner palace, he used the pretext of seeking an audience with Emperor Cheng'an to separate the two at the palace gate. One was led by a female official to Yelü Nanxian Palace, while the other went to see the emperor.
After being granted the title of Consort Rong, Yelü Nanxian resided in Liuxian Palace.
The Liuxian Palace was originally called Yan'an Palace. After it was bestowed upon Yelü Nanxian, Emperor Cheng'an personally approved its name change and renamed it Liuxian Palace.
Shen Youying was led by the female official to Liuxian Palace, only to find the flower hall empty, without even a palace maid in sight.
Although the female official leading the way was dressed as a lady-in-waiting, her features clearly bore the deep features of a Northern Rong person. She glanced at Shen Youying and said coldly, "The Imperial Concubine is taking a nap. Your Highness, please wait a moment while I go and inform her."
After saying that, he left Shen Youying behind.
Shen Youying stood in the empty flower hall, looked around, and then, without compromising herself, found a chair and sat down.
Inner Temple.
Yelü Nanxian was dressing up, but she didn't dress like a concubine of the Great Wei Dynasty. Instead, she was still wearing the clothing of the Northern Rong people. Emperor Cheng'an thought she looked good in this outfit. Instead of scolding her, he rewarded her with a lot of fine fabric and told her to make several more clothes.
"Have they arrived?" Yelü Nanxian asked.
"arrive."
Yelü Nanxian nodded. She had summoned Shen Youying to the palace today not truly to reminisce with her, but because she had gathered a great deal of intelligence since entering the palace. One particularly important piece of information was that Empress Zhou and the Crown Prince seemed to have formed an alliance—her people had discovered that those around the Empress were frequently sending messages to the Eastern Palace in secret.
During the time she had been married off to the palace as a concubine, she had completely figured out the ins and outs of the Great Wei royal family.
Just two days ago, she learned from the Emperor that he had sent his trusted chief eunuch, Qi Zhong, to the border to retrieve the tiger tally from Shen Mingjiang. Although the Emperor hadn't said it explicitly, she guessed that he had long been wary of Shen Mingjiang, and if Shen Mingjiang refused, it was not impossible for the Emperor to have him killed.
She was naturally pleased with this and wanted to add fuel to the fire in the capital.
She had heard that the Crown Prince and the King of Qin were once good brothers, which was why she had summoned the Princess Consort of Qin to the palace today, hoping to leak this news and see the King of Qin's reaction.
However, as she was about to get up and leave, she remembered something and sat back down, saying, "No rush, let her wait a little longer."
This was a technique she had just learned in the palace, a way to torment someone without making a sound.
On such a cold day, making Shen Youying stand in the hall for a while is a way of giving her a warning.
Yelü Nanxian deliberately delayed for half an hour before leisurely emerging.
Shen Youying heard the commotion early on and quickly had Fu Cui help her up. She stood in the hall with her head down and eyes lowered.
When Yelü Nanxian came out, she pretended to have been standing there for a long time and bowed, but her steps faltered and she suddenly went limp and fell into Fu Cui's arms.
Fu Cui and Liu Yun were immediately shocked: "Your Highness!"
Yelü Nanxian was also startled and frowned, asking, "What's wrong, Your Highness?"
Fu Cui said, "Our Princess Consort has always been frail. Today, she stood in the hall for half an hour and it was cold. I'm afraid her body can't hold on any longer. Please forgive her, Your Highness, and ask the imperial physician to come and examine our Princess Consort."
Yelü Nanxian frowned even more, thinking that this woman from the Great Wei was too weak; she had fainted after standing for only half an hour.
She stood in the Empress's palace for half an hour that day, but it didn't hurt her much.
Yelü Nanxian couldn't ignore someone who had fainted in their own palace, so she had to send someone to summon the imperial physician. Liu Yun, looking extremely worried, went with the palace servant dressed as the imperial physician, but in reality, she secretly shook off the servant halfway there and went to the front court to find Xue Shen.
Xue Shenzheng was discussing matters with Emperor Cheng'an, but the atmosphere was not very good.
Although he came to the palace today to accompany Shen Youying, he actually had another plan: to take the opportunity to ask for a government position.
His legs had been healed for some time, but Emperor Cheng'an never mentioned it. Since that was the case, he had no choice but to speak up himself.
As expected, Emperor Cheng'an refused, his excuse being that he had just recovered and needed to recuperate, and that with the Crown Prince and officials in the court, he had no need to worry.
When Liu Yun came to deliver the message, Xue Shen was "arguing his case," saying that he simply did not want to be an idle person who received a salary without working, and had no intention of competing with the Crown Prince, so that Emperor Cheng'an should not care about the rumors.
Since Xue Shen had already said so, if Emperor Cheng'an still didn't agree, it would seem as if he truly believed the rumors circulating outside.
But if Xue Shen were to actually enter the court as an official, it would be tantamount to inviting a wolf into the house.
While the situation was at a stalemate, Emperor Cheng'an heard from a palace servant that the maid of the Princess of Qin had an urgent matter to discuss with the Prince of Qin, and he almost immediately summoned her.
Liu Yun strode in, first bowing deeply to Emperor Cheng'an, then turning to Xue Shen, almost crying with anxiety: "Your Highness, please go and see! The Princess Consort has fainted in Liuxian Palace."
Xue Shen was startled and immediately got up to go to Liuxian Palace. Only when he reached the door did he realize that Emperor Cheng'an was still there, so he hurriedly turned around, apologized, and left in a hurry.
Emperor Cheng'an watched his hurried figure and felt that this scene was familiar.
He sat there for a moment with a gloomy face, then ordered the palace servants to prepare the carriage for the Liuxian Palace.
The Princess Consort of Qin had an accident at Liuxian Palace, and the matter had come to his attention. Even if it was just for show, he had to go and see.
When Emperor Cheng'an arrived, he heard the imperial physician congratulating Xue Shen: "Congratulations, Your Highness."
Emperor Cheng'an's eyelids twitched, and he strode closer, asking, "What good news is this?"
The imperial physician said, "The Princess Consort of Qin fainted not because of physical weakness or fatigue, but because she is pregnant."
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