The Empress struggled to suppress her anger and forced a smile onto her face.
Even if she harbored deep resentment, she still maintained a magnanimous demeanor and upheld her status as the First Lady.
Fortunately, in the end, they successfully fooled Sheng Jin's eyes and did not arouse the emperor's suspicion in the slightest.
The Empress's greeting brought the Emperor back to his senses from his jealousy.
"It's you, Empress. You've come to visit the Crown Princess as well?"
Sheng Jin was suddenly interrupted from her thoughts, and felt slightly displeased.
But upon recognizing the visitor as the Empress, she wore a beaming smile, seemingly genuinely happy for the Crown Princess's pregnancy—
The anger that had just risen in Sheng Jin's heart was quietly extinguished.
He had not seen the Empress for a long time.
If it weren't for Bai Qing occasionally telling him about the Empress's condition, he probably wouldn't even remember that the Empress existed.
Thinking of this, a faint sense of guilt welled up in his heart, and then he softened his voice.
"How is the Empress's health? Did you hear the news of the Crown Princess's pregnancy and come to visit her?"
When the Empress heard that the Emperor's first words were of concern for her, she was overjoyed, and tears welled up in her eyes.
But when she heard the next sentence, it was the Crown Princess. All the emotion she had just felt vanished, returning to nothingness.
A bitter feeling welled up in her heart, but she dared not show it at all, for fear that the Emperor would notice something amiss. She quickly lowered her head and said softly.
"Yes, Your Majesty, when I heard the little eunuch below bring good news, I couldn't wait a moment longer and wanted to come and see how the Crown Princess and the little prince were doing."
Speaking of the young imperial grandson, the empress seemed to recall something and added a few more words.
"I can only be at ease when I see it with my own eyes. The Crown Princess is a capable woman. I didn't expect that she would become pregnant with the little prince so soon after she had served the emperor."
These words were tantamount to rubbing salt into Sheng Jin's heart!
But the Empress seemed oblivious to this and continued talking incessantly.
"Just thinking about how Chonghua Palace will have a lovely little grandson in nine months makes me happy, and I look forward to the liveliness of the harem."
Yes, nine months later, the Crown Princess will give birth to a child of the Crown Prince's bloodline, and the relationship between the two will be inseparable.
Sheng Jin wanted to say a few words in agreement, even if it was just to pretend, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
That's right, this self-proclaimed best actor can't keep up his act at all when he thinks about the excitement nine months from now!
Shut up--
"Father, Mother?"
Fortunately, just as he was about to interrupt the Empress, the Crown Prince noticed the two of them and spoke up in time to stop him from saying what he had just blurted out.
"Your son pays his respects to the Emperor and Empress Dowager. Why don't you two come in?"
The sound of the Crown Prince bowing and greeting made Liu Lingxi stiffen. Even after a month, Liu Lingxi did not want to see them again.
However, etiquette cannot be disregarded, so she still had to get up and bow.
"Your subject greets Your Majesty and Your Majesty."
"This servant greets Your Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress."
"No need for formalities, Your Highness. How can you be so tactless? Help the Crown Princess to her feet. She is pregnant."
Sheng Jin hurriedly interrupted the Crown Princess's bow and uttered the words of rebuke.
Without giving it much thought, the Crown Prince thanked the Emperor with a joyful expression and obediently turned around to help his young Crown Princess up.
Only the Empress, her chest heaving violently, managed to suppress the anger in her heart.
She never expected that the Emperor would be so unrestrained, reprimanding the Crown Prince in front of everyone for the sake of a woman!
Will he one day scold himself like that?
No, no.
The Queen tried to comfort herself, but even so, she knew that the expression on her face must have looked terrible.
Noticing that Granny Jiang was tightening her grip on her arm, she tried her best to control her expression, even though she was unwilling.
"Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Otherwise, it will frighten the Crown Princess. You know that the Crown Princess is pregnant. It would be bad if she were frightened by you."
Ideally, it would scare them so badly they'd miscarry!
The queen added maliciously in her heart.
After silently cursing Liu Lingxi, he finally felt a little better.
Unable to hear her inner thoughts and fearing he might frighten the Crown Princess, the Emperor quickly switched to a gentler expression.
However, what he cared about most was the Crown Princess and the unborn baby in her womb.
"What the Empress says is quite right. So, after the imperial physician examined the Crown Princess's pulse, did he say whether her pregnancy is stable?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Wang said that the Crown Princess's pregnancy is going well, but it is still early in the pregnancy and she needs to be observed for a period of time."
"Hmm, not bad. I remember there is a thousand-year-old ginseng in the storeroom, with small leaves. Take it and send it over."
The thousand-year-old ginseng is the only ginseng in the entire country with such an ancient age, and it was passed down from the emperor's ancestors.
It is rumored to be a life-saving medicine that can revive a person as long as they have a breath left.
Unexpectedly, the Emperor would bestow this upon the Crown Princess. He must really value the Crown Prince!
Xiao Yezi was clearly used to this scene and showed no surprise. After taking her leave, she jogged towards the Qianqing Palace.
"Father, this is too precious."
"Your subject thanks Your Majesty for the reward."
The Crown Princess's voice of refusal and the Crown Prince's voice of acceptance rang out at the same time, speaking in unison but with completely different meanings.
The Crown Princess avoided Sheng Jin at all times because she was afraid that he might have feelings for her.
The Crown Prince, on the other hand, was thinking that having an extra life-saving item might be useful in case the Crown Princess gave birth.
In case anything really happens, it can save the Crown Princess's life.
"Alright, just listen to your father. The baby in your belly is your father's first grandson, and he values him very much."
The Crown Prince was afraid that his Crown Princess would anger his father, so he quickly tried to persuade her.
Hearing the Crown Prince repeatedly refer to him as "Little Imperial Grandson," and seeing the undisguised excitement on his face, Sheng Jin felt a surge of jealousy.
However, he also noticed the Crown Princess's gaze upon him, which seemed somewhat uneasy and inquisitive.
Like a little fox, it cautiously extends its tentative paws, only daring to move forward when it feels there is no danger.
Well, with just a casual glance from her, I would surrender immediately.
The small flame of jealousy that had just risen in Sheng Jin was extinguished with a "poof."
"Don't worry about accepting it. I have plenty of treasures in my treasury. There's no need to save it for me."
Little housekeeper.
Sheng Jin continued to silently add to her thoughts, inexplicably feeling a sweet feeling welling up deep within her.
very nice.
Keep your eyes on me, whatever they may be, as long as they're yours.
Sheng Jin felt like she had probably gone mad!
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