Annoyance, regret, sadness, grief... a myriad of emotions surged into my heart.
Chen Jingshu hadn't slept all night, but now she pretended to have just woken up and rubbed her eyes.
"Your Majesty, you're awake?"
"You audacious Chen Jingshu, what did you do yesterday?"
"Your Majesty, I have been in the palace for a year, yet you have never visited me. I am also a woman and I also want Your Majesty's favor, so I resorted to this desperate measure. If Your Majesty wants to blame me, I have nothing to say."
Seeing that the Emperor was still angry and wanted to blame him, Chen Jingshu continued speaking.
"Your father has already informed me that many ministers in the court have petitioned you to expand your harem so as to have more sons for the Yue Kingdom's royal family. I am only thinking of Your Majesty's best interests. How can the Yue Kingdom have only one prince?"
Just as the Emperor was about to blame Chen Jingshu, Eunuch Li came to report.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Chen requests an audience."
This Prime Minister Chen was notified in advance by someone sent by Chen Jingshu. Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Chen realized that his daughter had seen the light and wanted to give birth to a son or daughter for the Emperor, so he came to Qianqing Palace early in the morning.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"
"Get up."
The emperor knew that this guy must have come for his daughter, which made him even more agitated, and anger surged to his head.
After Prime Minister Chen got up, he saw his daughter walking out of the Emperor's bedroom.
It's clear from his expression that he succeeded.
The emperor grew increasingly angry and threw several memorials directly at the father and daughter.
"Look at your good daughter, a noble consort of the country, the daughter of the prime minister, who drugged the emperor! Do you know that I can execute your entire family right now!"
Chen Jingshu had always wanted to keep the child, but she never expected that drugging the emperor would also be a crime of treason.
Her heart was pounding wildly, as if it would burst out of her chest; her breathing was rapid and unsteady, as if fear were gripping her throat.
She didn't understand the man in front of her, and she didn't know if he would punish her.
Compared to Chen Jingshu, Prime Minister Chen appeared much calmer.
Prime Minister Chen suddenly knelt on the ground, looking as if he were ready to die, but upon closer inspection, he also exuded an arrogant air. One might mistake the Emperor for the one who had made a mistake.
"Forgive my boldness, but Consort Chen's actions are truly out of desperation. She has been in the palace for a year, yet there has been no news of her. Even the Emperor has not spent a night with her. Whenever this is mentioned, Consort Chen says she wants to end it all, and each time it is her mother who persuades her with earnest words. For a woman, the most important thing in her life is to marry and have children. Now Consort Chen is married, but you... Now there are already many people openly and secretly mocking Consort Chen."
The Emperor listened, his brows furrowed, veins bulging on his face, as he glared angrily at Prime Minister Chen.
Are you blaming me?
"Your subject dares not."
Just then, the Empress arrived, her expression revealing neither anger nor indifference.
"Prime Minister Chen, please rest assured. His Majesty will not blame Consort Chen. If there is nothing else, Prime Minister Chen, you should go back. It will be time for the morning court soon."
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Chen said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. This humble subject will take his leave."
At this moment, the emperor was like a child who had made a mistake, wanting to reach out and hold the empress's hand, but she easily dodged it.
"When I agreed to marry you, I knew that I would not be the only one in the palace. Besides, I also agreed to the late emperor's conferment of the titles of Consort Chen and Consort Qin. So let's keep her in the palace."
It is normal for a monarch to have three palaces and six courtyards; even if the two of them were childhood sweethearts, it would not change this situation.
Compared to the previous emperor, the current emperor has already broken many rules for her.
Consort Qin and Consort Chen were chosen by the late emperor long ago, to have him bear children, which was also the late emperor's last wish and imperial decree.
Consort Qin is now almost full-term, and giving birth is only a month or two away.
The Empress did not want the Emperor to favor Consort Chen because she had been bullied by her since childhood.
The emperor was aware of this, so the two agreed that one day they would send Consort Chen out of the palace to find her a good family to choose from.
"I don't blame you, because you were also forced into this situation. It's just that I have a knot in my heart that needs some time to untie. During this time, Your Majesty should not visit my courtyard."
"Your Majesty, I take my leave."
After the Empress left, Chen Jingshu realized that the matter was settled and that if she stayed, she would surely be implicated.
"Your Majesty, I shall also take my leave."
He was clearly the victim, yet it was as if he was the one who made the mistake.
Since then, the Empress has indeed never appeared in the Qianqing Palace again, while the Emperor goes to the Kunning Palace several times a day to apologize and admit his mistakes.
Each time, she brings small gifts, including rare treasures from various countries and handmade trinkets.
It took half a month for the Empress to gradually forgive the Emperor.
These days, Chen Jingshu has been secretly writing to Yan Shaoheng, while Yan Shaoheng is also training the film studio in an orderly manner.
A month later, Chen Jingshu vomited, just like she had when she was a little over a month pregnant.
The Emperor summoned the imperial physician for her. After taking her pulse, the physician said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations! Consort Chen is pregnant. According to her pulse, she is more than a month along, and the fetus is very healthy."
Long before the imperial physician came to take her pulse, Chen Jingshu had already sent Luo Ying to deliver a "gift" to the imperial physician who was taking care of her.
Otherwise, how could the imperial physician not know about a baby who is over three months old and a baby who is one and a half months old?
However, it was because the "gift" sent by Luo Ying threatened the imperial physician that he began to conceal it from the emperor.
"Everyone in Minghua Hall has rendered meritorious service and shall be rewarded."
Although this child was not what the emperor wanted, perhaps it was a father's heart that made the emperor feel a little happy, and the palace became lively again.
The eldest prince, Yue Yufeng, could be considered to have someone to accompany him.
Chen Jingshu lay weakly on the bed, "What's wrong with me?"
"You are pregnant, so rest well. I will have Eunuch Li send you more tonics."
Even though Chen Jingshu was pregnant with the emperor's child, the emperor could not cross the boundaries in his heart and went to comfort her.
In the end, the emperor only allowed Eunuch Li to deliver some tonics to the emperor from time to time.
Two months later, Consort Qin died in childbirth, and the second prince also died shortly afterward.
Eight months later, Chen Jingshu "suddenly went into premature labor" and became pregnant with Consort Qin, which terrified the Emperor and Empress.
Fortunately, everything turned out alright, and Chen Jingshu gave birth safely, but she didn't look like a premature baby at all.
The imperial physician simply said that it was because Consort Chen had received excessive nutrition during her pregnancy that the Third Prince was so healthy, and despite being born prematurely, he was like a full-term child.
The Emperor was overjoyed and named him Yue Zhixiao.
Not long after, the imperial physician resigned and returned to his "hometown" due to illness.
From then on, no one knew about this except for Chen Jingshu and Yan Shaoheng.
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