Time flies, and perhaps because love makes even water taste sweet, Tan Baozhu doesn't find life boring at all!
Even when the Empress Dowager caused him trouble, the Emperor stopped her. Even the Empress Dowager's niece, who wanted to enter the palace to become Empress, was betrothed to someone else by the Emperor.
Situ Rui went directly to the Empress Dowager's palace and told her not to cause trouble for the Consort, that he liked the Consort and wanted to live with her for a long time.
Perhaps because she had been warned, the Empress Dowager never caused any more trouble for Changchun Palace.
He also didn't cause trouble for Tang Baozhu when he paid his respects to the Empress Dowager. It can be said that he lived a particularly carefree life.
The top leader wouldn't cause her any trouble, and no one else would either. After all, all the emperor's princes and princesses were born to Tang Baozhu. If anyone else wanted to cause her trouble, they would have to consider whether they were qualified.
Time seems to fly by, and before we knew it, it was time for the triplets to have their first birthday celebration.
Having eaten plenty of good food, she could already talk and even walk a few steps before she was even one year old. Hui'er often brought her twin brothers back to see the triplets, and she especially liked to see the little princess. After all, she didn't care much for her brothers, since she already had so many brothers, and she only liked her sister.
Overall, the brothers had a good relationship, probably because they were born to the same mother, so their relationship was not affected by outside interference and they were particularly close.
She got up early in the morning and dressed up with the help of the palace maids. Looking at her clear reflection in the glass mirror, Tang Baozhu was very satisfied with her appearance. Perhaps the original owner had a good foundation and then ate so many good things, which made her look better and better.
With his hand on Yu Xiang's, the group of people walked in a grand procession toward the banquet area.
They ran into Situ Rui halfway there.
"Why has Your Majesty come here? I thought Your Majesty was waiting for me over there."
"I was thinking of coming here with my beloved consort, and I also wanted to give her a surprise today. I'm sure she'll like it."
This made Tang Baozhu particularly curious, since she lacked nothing. Her only regret was that she had not yet climbed to the position of Empress. Without becoming Empress, she would always be a concubine. She was thinking of getting rid of her status as a concubine and moving towards the position of Empress.
The emperor clearly liked her so much, but he never bestowed any title upon her, which made her a little disappointed.
However, she did not test the emperor. After all, if she asked for it herself, it would be meaningless and pointless. She preferred things to be delivered to her.
"Your Majesty, could you tell me in advance? I'm really curious to know what surprise Your Majesty has prepared?"
Situ Rui took Baozhu's hand and walked directly towards the main hall. "If I had told you beforehand, it wouldn't have been a surprise. Baozhu, don't worry. I've said before that I will give my beloved concubine a share of anything good I have."
Tang Baozhu pondered to herself, "This good stuff is one portion, and this thing is one portion. It seems like I don't lack anything."
Since she couldn't guess, she decided not to. "I can't guess. I can only wait for Your Majesty to tell me."
"His Majesty has arrived! His Highness the Imperial Concubine has arrived!"
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Imperial Concubine! Long live the Consort!"
Even though I've experienced this three times already, every time I stand on the high platform with the emperor, looking down at all the ministers, their families, and the imperial concubines kneeling in worship, the feeling is still quite wonderful.
No wonder so many people in past dynasties wanted to be emperor; the feeling of wielding power and standing at a high position is indeed quite good.
"All of you, rise."
"Let's begin the baby's first birthday celebration."
Soon, a eunuch brought over a large table and placed it in the center of the hall. The table was covered with all sorts of things: books, seals, small swords, and so on, filling half the table.
Then the two little princes and the little princess were placed on the table. Tang Baozhu did not train them in advance because, to her, these were her youngest children. It didn't matter what they caught, as long as they grew up happily and peacefully.
The two princes didn't hesitate; each grabbed a sword and a book. Only the little princess dawdled, grabbing the seal and then a whip.
This made Tang Baozhu gasp. She hadn't trained them beforehand. The little princess had grabbed the whip, and her future reputation was in jeopardy. It seemed she needed to start grooming a husband for the little princess in advance.
As for the seal, since it was the little princess who grabbed it, there was no problem. Tang Baozhu could tell from the sight of what they grabbed that it must have been the wet nurse who had trained them.
Otherwise, given how young he is and how he doesn't usually like these things, how could he possibly grab this one right away?
Generally, when all the young princes are one year old, their wet nurses are sent back to their parents. This is because it is feared that if the wet nurses spend too much time with the young princes, they may develop selfish motives, and that the princes may become too close, thus affecting the mother-son relationship between the wet nurses and the princes.
When Situ Rui saw what the children had grabbed and the meaning behind it, he burst into laughter.
"My beloved consort, you have given me several wonderful children. If it weren't for you, I might never have had any offspring in my life. You are a meritorious official of the Great Liang. Little Li, convey my decree."
"Your servant obeys the decree."
Eunuch Li took three steps forward, then took out the imperial edict and began to read it aloud.
Because the emperor issued an imperial edict, all the ministers knelt on the ground. Tang Baozhu was originally going to kneel to receive the edict, but the emperor stopped her, holding her hand tightly so that she could not kneel down to receive it.
The Empress Dowager watched from the side, no longer caring about her image, rolling her eyes the whole time, feeling that her son was simply unbearable to look at.
Who would have thought that someone in their thirties would suddenly be like an old house on fire, spending every day cuddling with the Imperial Concubine? Fortunately, it didn't interfere with important matters, otherwise she would never have let that vixen, the Imperial Concubine, go.
Tang Baozhu certainly felt the gazes directed at her from the side, the kind of gazes that seemed to want to kill her. There was no doubt about it; she didn't even need to guess who it was.
"Your Majesty, I am afraid."
She whispered something to the emperor, her voice soft and pitiful.
When Situ Rui saw the way his beloved concubine looked over, he followed her gaze and saw the unfriendly look in his mother's eyes.
Fortunately, the Empress Dowager still knew to give the Emperor face, and when she saw him looking over, she looked away.
Sometimes, Situ Rui didn't know what his mother was up to. His beloved concubine was perfect in every way, so why did his mother disapprove of her? It seemed he would have to protect Baozhu even more in the future.
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