Chapter 51: The Queen
"Your Majesty," Zen Zhen raised his eyes in surprise, a hint of fear on his face, "Can I really be the Queen?"
With her background and qualifications, becoming a royal concubine was something she would never have dared to dream of in the past.
"Of course," Chen Dingyao stroked her face, his voice reassuring. "I really don't know how long I've been waiting for this day."
His Majesty's resolute gaze made her feel at ease. She leaned gently into his arms, and her nose could smell the cool sandalwood scent coming from his clothes. This was the only scent that accompanied her to sleep day and night and could make her feel at ease.
"How fortunate I am to have received Your Majesty's favor."
She used to be so humble, but everything changed after His Majesty came. She was no longer the despised daughter of a merchant, nor was she a dancer with an uncertain future. Instead, she became a treasure in his palm.
"I am so lucky to have Chan Zhen accompany me in this life." Chen Dingyao gently stroked her hair.
He had been emotionally indifferent since childhood, and aside from his desire for the throne, he had cast aside all other emotions. He had once conquered cities and expanded his territory with a single wave of his hand, but he fell for her. Fortunately, God had mercy on him and gave him a chance to start over.
"Your Majesty, I am deeply delighted." Chan Zhen clutched his hand and pressed it to his ear. "I want to be your queen, and grow old with you, hand in hand, forever."
She wanted to be His Majesty's wife, to watch the beautiful land with His Majesty side by side, and to be buried in the same tomb with His Majesty after death, and to be recorded in history books together with His Majesty.
Chen Dingyao was shocked and suddenly remembered the song "Song of the White-haired Chanzhen" that she played for him when they first met in this life. At that time, he asked Chanzhen if she wanted to grow old with him. Chanzhen did not say anything. He did not expect to finally receive an answer today.
But Chanzhen, when you recover your memories of your past life and think of the experiences I once forced on you, you will still maintain the same mood as you do now.
The deeper the love, the more worries arise. The more you indulge in the sweetness of the mutual understanding at this moment, the more you can't stop feeling anxious in your heart.
"I feel the same way." In the end, he just gently kissed Zen Zhen's eyebrows and hid all his uneasiness under a smile.
The next day, the imperial edict to establish the empress was issued from Hanyuan Palace. Ever since the news of the imperial concubine's pregnancy spread, everyone had a vague premonition, but unexpectedly, His Majesty could not wait even a moment and made the final decision before the imperial concubine gave birth to the prince.
There was naturally a lively and joyful atmosphere in Minguang Palace. Lu Zhu was so overjoyed that she ordered people to distribute rewards to the entire palace, and she was almost in tears.
"Your Majesty, you will be the queen from now on." No matter how noble the imperial concubine was, she was not the rightful master of the harem. Her majesty had finally reached this point. When her majesty gave birth to a prince, with the favor of His Majesty, he might be immediately made the crown prince. Then her majesty would not have to worry anymore.
Chan Zhen waited until Guo Kai finished reading the imperial edict before he finally felt that his dream had come true, and he was so excited that he couldn't control himself.
From then on, she was His Majesty's legitimate wife, no longer a concubine, and the one who could truly stand shoulder to shoulder with him and be buried in the same coffin.
Seeing tears in her eyes, Lu Zhu held her hand and said, "Today is a happy day, why are you crying? You are still pregnant. I will help you go in and rest."
Chan Zhen didn't even realize that she had cried unconsciously. She reached out and wiped her eyes, a little embarrassed and said, "Have I made people laugh at me again?"
His Majesty had clearly mentioned it to her, but she still cried like a coward.
"I know your Majesty is extremely happy," Lu Zhu consoled her. "Besides, you are now the Empress. Who would dare to laugh at you?"
She carefully wiped Chan Zhen's face with a clean handkerchief. She had been with the Empress since the southern tour, so she naturally knew how much suffering the Empress had endured since childhood. Now she could finally enjoy her happiness after all the hardships.
"The enthronement ceremony will not take place for another two months." Chan Zhen lowered his head and stroked his still flat belly, looking forward to that day.
Seeing her movements, Lu Zhu smiled and said, "By then, your Majesty's pregnancy will be stable. In another six months, our palace will have another little prince. Then it will be even more lively."
Chan Zhen knew that the prince and the princess represented different meanings in the palace, and Lu Zhu's words were also good expectations, so he did not say anything to spoil the fun.
"I really want to see you soon." Zen Zhen looked at the baby in her belly with anticipation.
Yuan Zhao, she really likes the name given by Your Majesty.
Unlike the Minguang Palace which was filled with joy, the other palaces were in a bleak state.
"Your Majesty, you can't wait any longer." The moment Concubine Shu received the imperial edict, she angrily swept everything off the table. "We don't even know if this baby is a boy or a girl, yet you're so anxious to make that woman the empress."
After all, she gave birth to Yun Yi for His Majesty and raised Yun Yi to such an outstanding age. She should be more qualified to be crowned as the queen.
The virtuous concubine had been deposed, and the eldest prince was not favored by His Majesty. Her Yunyi's future, which should have been bright, was ruined just like that.
She was so angry that her teeth were itching. If she had known earlier, she should have been completely ruthless and fanned the flames when Concubine Xian took action. She should have sent Concubine Gui to death while she had just entered the palace and her foundation was not stable. She would not have blocked Yun Yi's way to this point.
"Your Highness," a maid in green stepped forward worriedly to console her, "perhaps the Imperial Concubine will give birth to a princess this time."
Concubine Shu took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "This is what I hope for, too. But His Majesty is young and strong now. As long as he favors the Imperial Concubine for one day, who can guarantee that the Imperial Concubine won't give birth to a prince next?"
She has become the queen, and whenever she gives birth to a legitimate son, she will naturally have a nominal advantage over Yun Yi.
The maid brought her a bowl of tea to calm her down. "There's still more than half a year left. Besides..." She leaned in closer and whispered, "Pregnancy is always risky. If there's a miscarriage or an accident during childbirth, there could be two deaths."
Concubine Shu paused holding the tea cup, then looked up at her with a smile, "I remember you were a newly assigned maid from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. What's your name?"
The maid thought that her words were appreciated by Concubine Shu, and she knelt down in great joy, "Your Majesty, my name is Danzhu."
"Danzhu?" Concubine Shu slowly turned the teacup in her hand, the smile on her face suddenly cooling. "Drag him away."
"Empress?" Danzhu looked up at her in panic, his face turning pale in an instant.
A hint of sarcasm flashed across Concubine Shu's face. "Do you think I'm that fool that Concubine Xian? That I'd be easily provoked by you?"
At this time, whenever something happened to the Imperial Concubine, regardless of whether there was evidence or not, the first person His Majesty would suspect was her. His Majesty could tolerate her using some insignificant tricks, but she could never touch his bottom line. If he hadn't been concerned about the consequences of his actions, how could he have allowed that woman to live until now?
Her Yun Yi had grown up, and although she was anxious about the Imperial Concubine's pregnancy, she would not lose her composure. From pregnancy to childbirth, and then to raising the child to adulthood, there were too many loopholes to exploit, and even if she wanted to take action, she would not do so when the Imperial Concubine was in great favor.
"It seems that my prestige has indeed declined since I lost my power in the palace. All kinds of people dare to be sent to me." She lazily withdrew her gaze, without even looking at Danzhu who was kneeling on the ground, and ordered her trusted maid to cover her mouth and drag her away.
Chen Yunyi happened to see this scene when he came in.
"It's very lively here, mother," he said, sitting down opposite Concubine Shu. "What happened? Would you like to tell me?"
When Concubine Shu saw him, she smiled and said, "It's just some kittens and puppies to make people laugh."
Seeing that Yun Yi seemed interested, he told him what had just happened in detail.
Chen Yunyi lowered his eyes slightly, "Mother, are you willing to let me investigate this person?"
"Why are you interested in these palace affairs?" Concubine Shu asked him puzzledly.
Chen Yunyi took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "No matter how big or small the matter is, who says that finding out who is behind this won't be beneficial to me?"
Seeing this, Concubine Shu felt relieved: "Then I'll leave Mother to you, Yunyi. Mother is completely confident in you."
The corners of Chen Yunyi's mouth curled up slightly, with a hint of bitterness.
Ke'erchen is destined to disappoint you.
"Mother, I have heard the imperial decree regarding the consort's appointment as empress," he said calmly. "I know you are unhappy, but at a time like this, we must be patient and not make any mistakes."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Shu felt subtly unhappy, but she also knew that he was thinking about her and was worried that she would do something bad.
"I know everything," she looked at her tall and handsome son in front of her seriously. Since the incident with Concubine Xian, she no longer valued the emperor's favor. Only Yun Yi was her only support.
Chen Yunyi harbored some selfish motives, and felt a little guilty towards her. He promised her, "Whatever your mother desires, I will do my best to help her get it."
When he ascends the throne and becomes emperor, he will make his mother the empress dowager as she wishes, but he will never let go of the imperial concubine.
He has only loved this one person in his entire life, and there will never be a second one in the future. Even if she is his father's woman, he will try his best to win her over.
From the depths of the dark prison, shrill screams were heard from time to time, and they gradually stopped after a long time.
The woman tied to the stake was covered in wounds and only had the life left to vent.
"Still refusing to confess?" someone asked.
Another person shook his head. "He's very tight-lipped."
The man gave her a cold look, as if he were looking at a piece of meat on a chopping board. "Pick her up and take her away. His Highness will interrogate her personally."
Danzhu was lifted up in a half-conscious state and sent to another place. Before he could come to his senses, someone pressed his head down and knocked him to the ground.
As soon as she entered the door, she felt a cold and murderous gaze cast on her. She raised her head tremblingly and met the dark eyes of His Royal Highness Prince Jin, which made her heart tremble.
"Who is your master?" His Royal Highness Prince Jin asked straight to the point.
On the other side, Chen Dingyao received the news from Guo Kai and pushed the secret letter to the bottom with an expressionless face.
Guo Kai could sense the suppressed anger of His Majesty and dared not utter a word.
"Yun Yi has made a lot of progress."
It took a long time before I heard His Majesty say this, and I couldn't tell whether it was a compliment or an insult.
Chen Dingyao drummed his fingers on the table, wondering if Yun Yi was gradually recovering his memories of his previous life. This method was obviously much more ruthless than before, and was somewhat similar to the time when he seized the throne in his previous life.
Chan Zhen was pregnant and it was inappropriate for her to see blood. He also needed to seize the opportunity to cultivate feelings with Chan Zhen, so he temporarily put aside the accident that happened to Chan Zhen in the lotus pond a few days ago and left it to Yun Yi to investigate.
Although he didn't like Yun Yi's coveting of Chan Zhen, when he thought about which man in the world would truly help Chan Zhen to overcome all difficulties, the only person he could think of was Yun Yi.
He believed in Yun Yi's feelings for Chan Zhen.
Yun Yi witnessed Chan Zhen's miserable look that day, so it was impossible for him to remain indifferent.
Thinking of the day when Chan Zhen mistook Yun Yi for himself, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous, but he suppressed it.
According to Taoist Xuanwei, the more Chan Zhen was in tune with him, the easier it was for him to recall his memories of his past life, and he could hardly hide his irritation.
He doesn't have much time left, he must prepare in advance.
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