Because Yan Shu was pregnant, and Yuwen Lan still had government affairs to attend to, after coaxing the Queen Mother, the two of them said goodbye and left Ci'an Palace.

With the Emperor, Yan Shu didn't even need to carry a sedan chair, and directly sat on the sedan chair to go back.

There were no outsiders in the spacious carriage at that time. Yuwen Lan asked Yan Shu, "It's just a Hu brush. You can ask me to explain it to you. Why bother to confess your identity to the Queen Mother?"

Yan Shu said, "Although Your Majesty has covered it up this time, what about next time? Moreover, the Queen Mother has already become suspicious of me when I saw what I said in the bamboo book just now. Even if I explain it reluctantly, I guess the Queen Mother will not treat me the same way as before. Besides, the Queen Mother likes my storybooks very much. If one day, she must meet 'Master Xiaoyao', do I have to find someone else to replace her? If the Queen Mother knows the truth then, I'm afraid she will be even more angry."

- She initially thought that the Queen Mother was a dangerous person. If she knew that those storybooks were written by her, she might take the opportunity to punish her. After spending more time with her, I found that the Queen Mother is actually a pretty good person. Since she likes her stories so much, she probably won't use it to punish her.

So it's better to take this opportunity to confess directly, so that I don't have to hide it and make excuses in the future.

People can be more sincere with each other.

Yuwen Lan listened to it and thought it made sense, so he nodded, "Okay. If the Queen Mother has any more rewards in the future, I don't have to pass them on."

She was right, it's better to confess sooner rather than later, and the most important thing is that the Queen Mother accepted it, so it's not a bad thing.

Yan Shu nodded, but suddenly frowned and said, "By the way, does Zhu Shu have any opinion about me? Why did she think that the Hu Bi I used was a gift from the Queen Mother when she saw it? Am I a bad person in her heart?"

As soon as these words came out, before Yu Wenlan could say anything, he heard the system say, "It's very simple, because Zhu Shu actually likes the emperor and has always been your rival in love."

Yan Shu hummed, "Zhu Shu likes the emperor???"

System, "Why so many question marks? Is it incredible? After all, the emperor is also a handsome man. Zhu Shu was only thirteen when he came to the Queen Mother, and the emperor was only ten years old at that time. The two of them grew up together.

Yan Shu, "But, but the emperor was not good enough before. 】

Yuwen Lan, who was listening quietly, had his eyebrows jump.

Why did you suddenly bring this up?

That’s all in the past, okay?

System, [Then she didn’t know the emperor was incompetent before! Just like Concubine Zhou, Concubine Ning, Concubine An and others in the past, they just thought the emperor was a normal man. It’s inevitable that you don’t like such a handsome, powerful, young and strong man. 】

Yan Shu, [……]

That’s right, who else in the world is like her, who doesn’t give up when she knows the emperor is incompetent?

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but touch her belly and sighed secretly, the so-called if you work hard enough, you can grind an iron rod into a needle, it really makes sense.

Yuwen Lan, "???"

It’s the wrong word, okay! ! !

Wait until the clouds clear and the moon is bright!

What is the iron rod ground into a needle! ! !

~~

Yan Shu took the imperial sedan back to Ganlu Palace. Not long after, people from the Clothing Bureau and the Treasure Bureau arrived.

They were busy for a long time, taking measurements and selecting jewelry.

On the second day, the imperial edict came down. After the ceremony, she officially became Concubine Yi.

Her family outside the palace, the Loyalty Earl Mansion, was also officially promoted to the Loyalty Marquis Mansion, which attracted countless envy.

At this time, in Ci'an Palace, after kneeling in the Buddhist temple for three days, Madam Zhuang, who was finally able to come out, was crying bitterly and apologizing in front of the empress dowager.

"I forgot the rules in my haste, please forgive me, Your Majesty." The Queen

Mother still said in a cold voice, "Your Majesty has an heir, why are you so anxious?"

Madam Zhuang cried, "I was deeply entrusted by my husband and his wife, and I wanted to help Your Majesty maintain the glory of the Cheng'en Mansion. But now, watching someone else about to give birth to the eldest prince, I feel sorry for the Cheng'en Mansion!" After all, they have been

master and servant for decades, and this is a maid brought from her mother's home. The Queen Mother also knew that she was not lying. At this time, she could only sigh, "What is there to be unwilling about? I have been suffering for more than 20 years. We have tried our best. If they don't live up to our expectations, what else can we do?"

After she finished speaking, Madam Zhuang wiped her tears and said, "After so many things, I thought Lord Cheng'en had reformed. Now the third girl has grown up. You know that she has a docile personality..."

Before she finished speaking, the Queen Mother raised her hand to stop her and said, "Do you think entering the palace is a good thing? You can live a good life outside. Why do you want to enter the palace and suffer these dark tortures? Why do you want to harm the third girl? Do you think I am living a happy life now?"

- If she could choose again, she would never enter the palace again. She watched her life being wasted like this.

Madam Zhuang frowned and said, "But you don't worry about what the Zhou family will do in the future?"

The Queen Mother sneered, "That's something the Zhou family should consider themselves. Considering that you and I are master and servant, if you still want to stay with me, do your duty. If not, I will find a place outside the palace to settle you down, and I will never see you again."

Madam Zhuang paused and could only cry again, "How can I abandon the queen and go outside the palace? I will never mention this matter again from now on."

~~

As the pregnancy deepened day by day, Yan Shu's pregnancy reaction became more and more severe.

At first, she could still eat, but later she felt nauseous when she smelled greasy meat, and vomited for several days in a row.

Seeing that the concubine's face had become noticeably smaller in a few days, the king was naturally worried. After thinking about it, he had to send someone to the mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty to invite the wife of the Marquis of Loyalty into the palace.

As an experienced person, Zhu knew that the concubine was in a bad mood, so she specially prepared the food that the concubine used to like in the mansion and brought it in.

So when Yan Shu saw her mother, she immediately smelled the dreamy smell.

Chive box!!!

Before her mother could speak, she took the initiative to ask, "Did mother bring chive boxes?"

Zhu smiled and opened the bundle she brought, "Madam, your nose is really sharp. Here, I made it before I got on the car, and it's still hot."

Then she handed over a warm chive box.

Yan Shu was like a traveler who had traveled a long distance in the desert and saw a spring of sweet water. She immediately took the water and stuffed it into her mouth.

Well, it was indeed the chive dumplings made by my mother. The dough had a simple wheat aroma. Knowing that she was afraid of greasiness, my mother only used tofu and chives when preparing the stuffing, and almost no oil when frying it. It tasted light and simple, but very fresh and fragrant. It was just what she wanted.

In just a few bites, she finished one.

Mother Zhu was distressed and hurriedly handed over tea, advising, "Eat slowly, madam, there are still some, don't choke."

Yan Shu hummed, picked up another one, and in no time, it went into her stomach.

Well, her stomach, which had been acid reflux for days, finally had something, and she finally felt better.

Yan Shu drank two more cups of tea before she could ask her mother, "Is everything going well at home? How are you and dad? How is grandma?"

Zhu nodded hurriedly, "Everything is fine at home. Madam, just rest assured and take care of yourself. Your grandma is also doing well. I wanted to come with you today, but I heard from the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict that the emperor hoped that I could stay in the palace for two days. That's why I didn't dare to come with you and stayed in the mansion."

Yan Shu's eyes lit up, "Is that what the emperor said? That would be great!"

- With her mother by her side, she felt like she had a spiritual pillar, which made her body, which was tormented by the pregnancy reaction, feel a little better.

Zhu nodded, "That's what the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict said. I even brought a few more clothes on purpose."

Yan Shu hurriedly said yes and asked Lianxin to prepare a room for her mother.

After making the arrangements, she asked, "How is Tianrui doing in the Imperial College? Is he adapting well?"

In a blink of an eye, her brother Li Tianrui has been in the Imperial College for three months.

Unfortunately, due to the rules, Yan Shu has met her parents and grandmother, but has not seen her brother yet.

But her mother nodded and said, "He is doing well. It is really different after entering the Imperial College. Not only has he learned a lot, but his temperament has also improved. He was cheated when buying things on Gongyuan Street two days ago. In the past, he would have fought with the man sooner, but now that he knows his status is different, he dare not discredit you, so at least he held back."

Yan Shu felt strange and asked hurriedly, "How did he get cheated?"

But Zhu said, "That's right, isn't Gongyuan Street full of places selling the four treasures of the study? They are from the Imperial College. He had to use white hemp paper for writing. That day, he ran out of paper, so he went to Gongyuan Street to buy some. But when he got it, he found that the paper was not right. He wanted to argue with the shopkeeper. Fortunately, the people who followed him persuaded him, so he didn't investigate further and went out to buy it from another place. "

Speaking of this, Zhu said specifically, "Your father has warned him that now that we have been promoted to the Marquis' Mansion, there are many eyes outside watching us. It is better to suffer a little loss than to make a fuss that will affect you."

Yan Shu nodded when she heard this, and she also understood her father's good intentions.

After all, Tianrui is now the son of the Marquis' Mansion. If he quarreled with the shopkeeper over the paper, he would be accused of bullying the common people.

It must be difficult for her brother to endure his temper.

At this moment, mother frowned again and said, "It's strange to say, for some reason, several shops on Gongyuan Street are selling inferior paper as good paper. Tianrui went to several places and finally bought real white hemp paper in a small shop next to our house."

Yan Shu was also surprised to hear this. Gongyuan Street is the most famous place to buy stationery in the capital. Most students go there to buy stationery. How dare the shopkeepers sell inferior paper as good paper, so that people can't buy good paper?

But the system said, "It's very simple, because someone in the court used his position to seek personal gain and monopolized several major stationery stores in the capital."

Yan Shu was stunned, "There is actually someone so bold? Who is it?" 】

system,【This man is Bao Qiwen, currently the director of the Imperial College, and is usually in charge of the daily affairs of the Imperial College. He secretly opened a papermaking workshop a few years ago, selling cheap hemp sandpaper as white hemp paper, and took over the supply of several stationery stores on Gongyuan Street. In addition, he also took over the supply of the Imperial College and several other academies under the court. The students usually use his paper.】

Yan Shu felt strange,【How could he be so open about it? Didn't anyone find out? 】

System,【He has been in the Imperial College for many years and has established good relationships with many academies. Besides, he usually uses good paper for teachers and inferior paper for students. Students are young and ignorant, and teachers are afraid of getting into trouble. Besides, it’s the court’s money that’s being spent, so who wants to care about such trivial matters?】

Yan Shu hissed,【Each academy has at least a few hundred students. The daily paper consumption is also a huge expense. Isn’t he making a fortune?】

System,【Of course, he has made a lot of money over the years. He can be called the number one rat who takes advantage of the court.】

Yan Shu,【Then no one has noticed? 】

The system groaned, 【This guy is really good at pretending to be poor. He lives in an old house that was built more than ten years ago and leaks from time to time. His clothes are washed white on weekdays. He and his wife eat simple meals every day. They seem to be extremely stingy. Who else could have thought of this?】

Yan Shu was full of questions, 【Then what's the use of making all this dirty money? Doesn't this mean he can't enjoy anything?】

System, 【Who said he can't enjoy anything? In fact, this guy bought a mansion with the best view of the lake in the luxury residential area next to Jinming Lake in Beijing many years ago. He arranged countless beautiful maids in it and created a pool of wine and a forest of meat. He went there every few days to enjoy it.】

Yan Shu, 【……】

What a great guy!