Chapter 324 Wei Yanwan 64
The funeral ceremony of Concubine Yu was at least decent. Considering Yongrui and the Queen, and because her crimes could not be announced to the world, the Emperor gave her a higher rank and buried her with the ceremony of a noble concubine.
Concubine Chun was also an honest and kind person. Moreover, she and Concubine Yu had no hatred when they were alive. Now that the dead are the most important, they are very attentive in arranging the affairs. Even Yongrui, her own son, is very grateful.
Wei Yanwan didn't pay too much attention to it. She was about to give birth, so she didn't need to speak up about these things herself. Everyone also tacitly avoided her.
Even when the Seventh Prince Yongrui came to visit, he did not step into her Yongshou Palace. He just bowed through the door and asked Yongqi to convey his greetings.
So in September of that year, in the clear and crisp autumn weather, she successfully gave birth to the fifteenth prince. The emperor was very pleased and immediately named the child Yonglin.
As a result, Concubine Ling became the empress with the most children among all the concubines in the harem. Compared with the sickly Fourteenth Prince Yongqi, whom the empress was not sure whether she could support, the three sons and one daughter of the concubine were visibly healthy.
This not only made some self-proclaimed smart people want to curry favor with her, but also made them go to Yongshou Palace to please her.
Wei Yanwan was so annoyed that she simply closed the door and refused to see anyone in the harem except Concubine Mei and Concubine Shu.
Regardless of how many people privately believed her indifferent attitude towards fame and fortune, she had calmed down on the surface. Hongli was obviously very appreciative of Yanwan's behavior, but their daily interactions lacked the intimacy and naturalness of the past.
Fortunately, the two now have a child, and even if there is no love between them, they can still respect each other. What's more, Hongli is still very satisfied with her in his heart. The two of them get along more like a compatible couple when they get along privately.
"Jingxi and Yongyan are clearly twins, but now that they've grown up, they look even less alike."
In Yongshou Palace, no one would have thought that Hongli would actually be willing to hug his daughter with his own hands.
Wei Yanwan, wearing a headband and holding her youngest son Yonglin in her arms, brought him to the curious Yongyan and said, "Yes, Yonglin and Yongyan do have some similarities in their features."
After saying this, she looked carefully at her daughter and the Emperor again, and suddenly smiled, "It's true what people say about a daughter taking after her father. It wasn't very noticeable when she was born, but now she looks more and more like you, Your Majesty."
Hongli turned his daughter around and looked at her features carefully, feeling a little uncertain but also a little happy: "Really?"
As they were chatting, Yongqi walked in. The teenager already had the appearance of an adult, though still immature. He raised his hand with a youthful air of youthful elegance: "Your son pays his respects to the Emperor and to Mother."
When she looked up, she happened to meet the eyes of her sister in Hongli's arms. The little girl immediately abandoned her royal father and opened her arms to Yongqi, shouting, "Guoguo, hold me."
Yongqi glanced at the emperor, and seeing that he had no objection, he really reached out and held his sister in his arms. Their big faces were close to each other and looked at each other. Their eyebrows and eyes were exactly the same, and it was obvious at a glance that they were siblings.
Seeing that his son looked naturally noble when he walked, Hongli was very satisfied and waved his hand to ask him to come over and test him on his homework. Seeing that he answered fluently, he felt even more satisfied.
He now had quite a few children, but their quality was hard to predict. He had previously abandoned four sons, and the Queen's fourteenth son was frail and his temperament was uncertain. So, among all his children, Yongqi was the only one who stood out. He was gifted, intelligent, filial, and friendly, and with some training, he could become the Crown Prince's right-hand man.
At this time, Hongli still wanted his legitimate son to inherit the throne and placed his hopes on the fourteenth prince. Therefore, he had more of a simple intention to cultivate this young but still outstanding son.
Wei Yanwan saw it clearly, and felt more at ease. Now was not the time for Yongqi to truly rise to prominence. Hongli was a mean-spirited, ungrateful, and extremely self-centered man. His son could become his enemy at any moment, and he would suppress him without hesitation.
Therefore, they must never let Hongli suspect that they had any feelings. They could only be a love-struck girl who had no desires and only loved the king, and their son could only be a good son who was filial but lacked skill.
With this in mind, the Yongshou Palace, supposedly the most favored and powerful palace in the harem, actually became increasingly low-key. As the empress recuperated and resumed power, the fierce competition everyone had anticipated simply didn't exist. Wei Yanwan, the Imperial Concubine with three sons and one daughter, the undisputed leader of the harem under the empress, instead led the other concubines in daily visits, morning and evening, throughout the fifth and sixth months, and even the coldest days of winter.
Another year passed in a flash, and the palace was peaceful for a rare period of time. During this period, there were some minor fights, but they were not worth paying attention to.
There were only three things. First, after the Queen recovered from her illness, she did not find time to visit Qixiang Palace, and Concubine Jia died of illness. Second, Concubine Chu got her wish and gave birth to the sixteenth prince, who was named Yonglu by the Emperor. As soon as he was born, he was taken to the Empress Dowager to be raised. Concubine Chu was also promoted to Concubine Mao and became the mistress of Jingren Palace.
Finally, not long after the empress recovered, she announced her pregnancy again, which naturally delighted the emperor. This time, because Yongqi was not in good health, he hoped that this time the baby would be a son as an extra layer of insurance.
When Wei Yanwan brought everyone to congratulate Ruyi, she clearly noticed the weakness on Ruyi's face. However, Hongli was only immersed in the joy of the queen's pregnancy and did not notice at all that this pregnancy might not be a good thing for the queen.
As expected, after the summer began, Ruyi's body began to feel a bit overwhelmed. She clearly felt hot, but she didn't dare use ice. She was constantly wet and sweating. She felt hot and cold every day and had no appetite.
Hongli was anxious, but fortunately they had arrived at the Old Summer Palace early. The environment here was not as uncomfortable as the Forbidden City. In addition, with Jiang Yebi's careful care, he actually managed to survive for more than eight months.
Then she gave birth prematurely again.
The successive premature births not only caused great damage to the mother, but also had a negative impact on each child.
This time, the little princess, who was born half a month later than her brother, was in a more serious condition than the Fourteenth Prince. Although Ruyi was not traumatized by Shu Fei's suicide like in her previous life, the girl named Jingsi still suffered from a heart disease. She could not be tired or frightened in the future, and could only be carefully cared for and raised.
Although Hongli didn't say anything on the surface, one could tell from his evasive behavior that the emperor, who had experienced the death of many children, chose not to contact this child to avoid sadness in the future.
Fortunately, after learning about her daughter's situation, Ruyi devoted all her attention to the child and had no time to feel sad about the emperor's attitude.
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