As Concubine Lan spoke, she frowned tightly.
At this time, those who had been flattering her hurriedly asked with concern: "What's wrong with you, Noble Sister? Why haven't you had your period for a month? Have you sent for the imperial physician to check it out?"
"Yes, this is a serious matter. We must call the imperial physician to take a look."
Everyone was talking at once, and they seemed to be very concerned about Concubine Lan.
Even Concubine Lian, who disliked her, looked at her. Not having her period for a month was a big deal. She had just said that she was not feeling well because of the period, but it was just a perfunctory response to Concubine Lan. She was fine and nothing was wrong.
The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously. The other concubines who were listening to their conversation began to think to themselves, "She hasn't had her period for a month. Could she be pregnant?"
It was very likely that she was pregnant given Concubine Lan's favor, and he looked at her with a little more envy.
However, some people realized that she might be pregnant, but some did not think about it in this way. Except for those newcomers who tried to curry favor with her and had never experienced it before, the straightforward Concubine Jing did not think about it in that way either.
She was only happy to hear that the person she hated was not in good health, and could not help but say, "Oh, Concubine Lan also said that this is a serious matter. It is better to see the imperial physician as soon as possible, otherwise it will be bad if it is found out that there is a serious illness."
As she spoke, she covered her lips and smiled.
Seeing this, Concubine Lan curled her lips slightly and said, "Thank you for your concern, Concubine Jing. I have consulted the imperial physician within a hundred days, and the imperial physician said..."
At this point, Noble Lady Lan paused, as if trying to keep the conversation a secret. However, seeing that she didn't speak directly, Concubine Jing assumed that she was really ill and couldn't explain herself. So, out of curiosity, she asked directly, "What did the imperial physician say? What kind of illness is it?"
Seeing this, the other people who were trying to curry favor with her also looked over curiously.
Seeing that it was almost done, Concubine Lan smiled and said shyly, "The imperial physician said that I am pregnant."
A single stone caused a thousand ripples. Except for the experienced old people who had already guessed it, those new concubines He Jing who had entered the palace to curry favor with her were stunned.
Jingpin's expression darkened in an instant: "Pregnant?"
Concubine Lan raised her hand and gently stroked her lower abdomen, her tone unable to conceal her complacency as she said, "Yes, the imperial physician said so himself after examining my pulse this afternoon. The Emperor and Empress are both busy with the palace banquet today.
I haven't had time to tell them yet, but I'm thinking of telling the Emperor and Empress at the palace banquet tonight, which would be double the joy."
Concubine Jing had a look on her face as if she had eaten shit, and she was in no mood to say anything to Concubine Lan.
When the newcomers who were trying to curry favor with her heard this, they were filled with envy, jealousy and hatred in their hearts, but they all rushed to say nice things to her as if they were free.
Concubine Lan was even more proud. After a while, it was time for the concubines to wish the emperor and the empress a happy new year and toast to them. Each of them raised their wine glasses and said auspicious words to toast the emperor and the empress.
Soon it was Concubine Lan's turn. She raised her lips and held up a cup of tea, saying, "I, your concubine, must first apologize to the Emperor and Empress. I am not suitable to drink alcohol today, so I will use tea instead of wine to wish the Emperor and Empress a happy new year."
As soon as she finished speaking, before the emperor could say anything else, the queen frowned, thinking that she was relying on her favor to act differently in front of the emperor. She felt a little dissatisfied, but she still maintained a smile on her face and said:
"Today is New Year's Eve. Wouldn't it be a shame not to drink on such a nice day? Lady Lan, please drink less."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Lan frowned slightly and said softly, "I'm sorry to spoil everyone's fun, but I'm pregnant now, so it's really not appropriate for me to drink. I hope Your Majesty will understand."
As soon as she said this, everyone looked at her in surprise. The Queen's proper smile froze for a moment, but she quickly adjusted herself and said, "Are you pregnant? When did this happen? Why didn't the imperial physician come to tell the Emperor and me?"
The emperor also looked at her.
Lady Lan hurriedly said, "Before coming to the banquet this afternoon, I felt a little unwell, so I sent for the imperial physician to take a look. The physician said that I was over a month pregnant.
I was just about to attend a banquet, and the Emperor and Empress were very busy today, so I thought it would be a shame to disturb them, so I said I would tell them at the banquet, which would be double the joy."
Hearing her say this, the Queen didn't know what to say anymore, so she suppressed her expression and said to the Emperor with a smile, "This is truly double happiness. I congratulate Your Majesty."
After the Queen finished speaking, the guests raised their glasses and said to the Emperor, "Congratulations, Your Majesty."
Gu Qilan was naturally happy that the concubine was pregnant. He picked up the wine glass and drank the toasts from everyone. He then instructed the palace servants, "Change the food that Concubine Lan eats to something suitable for pregnancy, and remove all the drinks."
The palace maid bowed in response.
Concubine Lan couldn't hide her joy and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Well, please sit down." Gu Qilan said in a gentle voice.
Seeing this, Concubine Jing's expression became even more stiff.
Ning Yuxi finally came back to her senses from the twins. She was not surprised to hear that Concubine Lan was pregnant. Concubine Lan was still quite favored these days, so it was only a matter of time before she became pregnant.
Concubine Lian, who was standing by, felt a little uneasy. She had received almost the same amount of favor as Concubine Lan in the past two months. She was pregnant, but she hadn't shown any signs of pregnancy yet. She couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
This year's New Year's Eve palace banquet ended with Concubine Lan stealing the show.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the emperor hosted a banquet for his ministers in the Qingzheng Hall, and the ministers also wished him a happy new year.
Before dawn, all the ministers gathered outside the Meridian Gate, and then went to the Qingzheng Hall and stood in several rows according to their official rank. After reading a brief congratulatory speech, the princes and officials knelt three times and kowtowed nine times to the emperor as a gesture of respect.
After the kowtow, the emperor gave tea. After drinking the tea, they kowtowed again and then retreated in order to wait for their seats. The banquet ceremony was grand and large in scale, and lasted until the end of noon.
The emperor hosted a banquet for his ministers early in the morning, and the concubines in the harem were not idle either. They had to get up before dawn and take their children to the queen's Fengluan Palace to pay their respects to the emperor and the queen and wish them a happy new year.
Afterwards, the Emperor and the Empress led everyone to the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace to pay New Year's greetings to her. After the visit, the concubines followed the Empress to stay in the Cining Palace to have meals with the Empress Dowager, while the Emperor went to the Qingzheng Hall to accept the worship of civil and military officials.
In the Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager accepted everyone's congratulations, sent the Emperor away, sat for a while, and then returned to her bedroom to rest. The Empress was in charge of the banquet, and she would appear again when it began.
The banquet of the previous court ended at the end of noon, and the banquet in the Cining Palace also ended.
The concubines followed the queen and left one by one. Ning Yuxi found an excuse to stall for time and stayed after everyone left.
Just now during the banquet, the Empress Dowager asked the little palace maid to bring her a message, asking her to stay and talk.
Ning Yuxi brought Cheng Zhao and several other palace maids to the empress dowager's bedroom. As soon as they entered, they saw the empress dowager sitting upright on the couch, looking at her and her two children with a loving face as they came in.
There was a full charcoal fire burning in the room, and as soon as you came in, you didn't feel any cold at all.
Ning Yuxi smiled and said, "I pay my respects to the Queen Mother."
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