Chapter 11: The Angry Emperor with No Heir x The Cannon Fodder Female Match and the Concubine's Daughter 11
"My lady, please eat a little more."
Concubine Yu Gui waved away the bird's nest that Qing'er handed over, frowning impatiently, "What are you eating? The emperor clearly knew that I was pregnant, but he still stayed in Kunning Palace yesterday. Isn't this a slap in my face?"
"Your Highness," Qing'er put the bird's nest in her hand on the table, thought for a moment and said, "After all, the Emperor brought Concubine Yuan into the palace, so the Emperor must keep her fresh for a while."
Concubine Yu Gui suppressed her irritation, held her forehead with her hand and asked, "What's the Queen's reaction?"
Qing'er waved away the palace maids and said, "I heard that the Emperor forgave Concubine Yuan's greetings today, which made the Empress very angry. I heard the sound of porcelain breaking in the room from a distance."
Concubine Yu Gui sneered and said disdainfully, "She is indeed a jerk as the queen."
She thought of something and patted her belly and said, "I will let her be the queen for a few more months."
For ten consecutive days, Mo Liyuan stayed in Kunning Palace every day, and Jinjin Qiao never went to pay her respects to the empress.
That day, after Mo Liyuan went to court, Jinjin Qiao woke up, looked at the dim sky outside the window, and rang the bell on the bedside.
"My lady, why did you wake up so early today?"
Aunt Qiao sat up, rubbed her dizzy head and said, "It's really not right for you to always not pay your respects. Change my clothes."
Jin Lingyu pursed her lips in embarrassment and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor said you don't have to pay your respects."
"I know that the emperor loves me, but I cannot enjoy this love as I should."
"If this continues, who knows what trouble the previous dynasty will cause. I don't want to embarrass the emperor."
There was nothing that Jinling and Yinling could do, and what their queen said made sense.
Yongning Palace
The queen sat in front of the dressing table, looked at herself in the mirror, and touched her pale cheeks. "Mammy, do I look old?"
Aunt Zhang carefully combed the empress's hair, with distress in her eyes. "My queen, you are only thirty years old, you are still far from old."
The queen smiled softly, with a few wrinkles in the corners of her eyes. "You are always saying nice things to coax me, how come you haven't aged? The new Concubine Yuan is young and beautiful, and the emperor dotes on her so much that even the pregnant Concubine Yugui ranks behind her."
"She didn't come to pay her respects again today?"
Aunt Zhang sighed and said, "No one came to pass on the message today."
"Oh?" The Queen raised her eyebrows. "That's new. Is the Emperor willing to let her come to pay her respects today?"
Nanny Zhang wasn't very clear either, but she knew that as long as no one came to pass on the message, Concubine Yuan would definitely come.
"I think the emperor also feels that it is not right to not greet you for a long time."
When Aunt Qiao arrived, she met Concubine Yu who was sitting in a sedan chair.
Concubine Yu Gui just glanced at her with disdain in her eyes.
The empress did not come out immediately, but waited until most of them had arrived before she came out with the help of Nanny Zhang.
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Queen."
The Queen sat at the top and looked at the concubines below and said, "Stand up. It's unusual today. Not only is Concubine Yuan here, but Concubine Yugui is here too. Was this discussed beforehand?"
Concubine Yu Gui covered her mouth with a handkerchief, looked at the empress with a smile and said, "I am in a good mood today, and I am full of energy. But why do you look so bad, Your Majesty?"
The queen gritted her teeth and held onto the handle of the chair tightly to prevent herself from making a noise. "I am very busy every day, so I am certainly not as free as Concubine Yugui."
Aunt Qiao looked around and found that Concubine Shu was gone.
"What are you looking for, Princess Yuan?"
Hearing the Queen's question, Qiao Jinjin stood up, slightly bent her knees and said, "Your Majesty, I'm looking for Sister Shufei."
The Queen snorted and said, "The Yuan Concubine really doesn't care about the affairs of the harem. The Shu Concubine has long been punished and confined by the Emperor."
Aunt Qiao raised her eyebrows. Is this because of her? The emperor acted quickly enough.
"This Yu Guifei is pregnant, Yuan Fei must try hard, don't let her be favored a lot but fail to give birth to an heir, that would be unacceptable"
Concubine Yu Gui glanced at the Empress with a mocking look, stroked her hair and said, "Your Majesty, please don't use me to criticize Concubine Yuan."
The Queen was extremely angry with Concubine Yu, but she did not dare to do anything to her. After all, this was the Yongning Palace, and the people she had placed in the Yanxi Palace had not yet found out whether Concubine Yu was really pregnant. If something really happened in the Yongning Palace, it would not be as simple as being reprimanded by the Emperor.
The Queen waved her hand impatiently at Concubine Yu Gui and said, "I see that you are not feeling well, so please don't come to Yongning Palace to pay respects before you give birth."
This will prevent you from blaming me if something happens to you.
Upon hearing this, Concubine Yu Gui couldn't help but laugh out loud, "The Queen is truly virtuous. If the Emperor knew about this, he would definitely praise her."
Jin Jin Qiao watched the Empress and Concubine Yu fighting without saying a word, and the other concubines didn't say anything either. It seemed that the Empress and Concubine Yu had been holding a grudge against each other for a long time.
"Jinling, what is the grudge between the Queen and Concubine Yugui? Why is there such a deep hatred between them?"
On the way back to Kunning Palace, Aunt Qiao couldn't help but ask what was in her heart.
Jin Linghuan looked around and saw that no one was around before she said, "Five years ago, Concubine Yu was pregnant, but she miscarried when she was three months pregnant. I heard that it was the Empress who caused it."
Aunt Qiao frowned. According to the feedback from the system, it was impossible for any other woman except her to bear the emperor's child.
This Concubine Yu is addicted to pretending to be pregnant.
"Forget it, then why is Concubine Shu under house arrest?"
Jin Ling glanced at Aunt Qiao's face, bit her lip and said, "Your Majesty, the emperor saw something that day and asked Eunuch Ma to ask me the reason. I didn't dare to hide it. The emperor punished Concubine Shu by confining her to her room the next day for her lack of moral character."
"Okay, I don't blame you. Look how scared you are..." Seeing Jin Ling's face turning pale with fright, Aunt Qiao shook her head speechlessly.
"Madam, what kind of person do you think this Princess Yuan is?" After all the concubines had left, the Queen asked Madam Zhang.
Nanny Zhang paused as she was removing the phoenix hairpin, and after a moment's thought, she said, "When paying respects today, Concubine Yuan didn't say much. She only looked around when she was looking for Concubine Shu, but she kept her head down the rest of the time."
The queen nodded, squinted her eyes and took a sip of tea. "I finally understand your Majesty. The appearance of the Princess Yuan is really impeccable."
"I remember there is a coral ornament in the storeroom. Please send it to Kunning Palace in a month."
"Your Highness," Nanny Zhang was shocked when she heard this, and immediately knelt down in front of the empress. "This is too risky. If this is discovered..."
The queen waved her hand nonchalantly and said, "It's not that easy to detect. Even a miracle doctor may not be able to tell the difference, let alone someone from Kunning Palace."
Seeing that her persuasion was ineffective, Nanny Zhang thought that there was still a month left, so she might as well give the baby some persuasion from time to time.
If Princess Yuan really fell for that kind of thing, she would soon fall out of favor, but it was too risky.