Volume 1 Chapter 90 Family Dinner Incident
The world can only be peaceful if there is someone to keep it in check. If the people who are suppressing it leave, over time all the evil villains and monsters will come out.
Especially in this palace, it is like a bottomless abyss, dark and terrifying, where people are eaten without leaving any bones.
Zhen Rou always kept in mind what Xiang Yun said to her before he left Beijing, asking her to manage the harem well and prevent any major accidents from happening.
So she has been working diligently these days and dared not slack off at all.
On this day, Zhen Rou invited the other four concubines of Xiang Yun to dine in Kunning Palace to promote the relationship between the sisters.
Originally there were ten of them, but after the last "Shangshu Case", six concubines were directly implicated and sent to prison. This was approved by Xiang Yun himself. Now those six have become ghosts in the underworld.
The remaining four people, except Wang Jiaojiao, are all concubines, namely Miao Hanzhi, Feng Changxi and Fang Rui.
These people had married into Xiang Yun's family when he was still a prince. After Xiang Yun became emperor, except for Wang Jiaojiao, he rarely met them, let alone slept with them.
Even after becoming an empress, she was not allowed to leave the palace, so she was bored in the palace on weekdays. These days, she was very depressed and bored.
It’s because Queen Zhen Rou is gentle and easy to talk to, otherwise if she acted up a bit, life would be even more difficult.
Inside Kunning Palace, there was a round dining table. Zhen Rou sat at the main seat, with Wang Jiaojiao sitting next to her, followed by the three others. After everyone was seated, Zhen Rou said, "Xiao Mei, serve the food."
"Hey!" Zhen Rou's personal maid Mei Renyao agreed and quickly called out, and the eunuchs from the imperial kitchen who had already prepared the dishes outside Kunning Palace brought up delicious dishes one after another.
There are eight dishes in total, namely first-class official bird's nest, sweet-scented osmanthus fish fillets, king prawns, stir-fried beef with green onions, Chinese cabbage with mushrooms, braised fish lips, deep-fried quail with wild acanthopanax and Huiren rice porridge.
The dishes are all prepared and served at the same time, and it is just the right time to eat them.
The eunuchs in the imperial kitchen left, and Zhen Rou smiled and said, "Your Majesty often tells me to be frugal and not wasteful, so there won't be many dishes for today's family dinner, but they are all carefully selected by me personally. Sisters, don't be disgusted, eat as much as you can."
Fang Rui's eyes had already sparkled when she saw these dishes. She said quickly, "What are you talking about, Queen? This is already rich enough. If we don't come to the Queen, we sisters will never be able to eat this first-class official swallow in our lifetime."
After hearing this, Zhen Rou hurriedly said, "If Sister Fang likes this official swallow, please eat more. I will have someone send more to Sister's palace later."
Fang Rui was naturally being polite. She didn't dare to ask for more of such a luxurious thing, so she smiled and said, "How can I feel so embarrassed? It's a blessing to eat it today. I won't think about it in the future."
Zhen Rou quickly replied: "It's okay, I don't like to eat these on weekdays, it would be a waste to leave them here."
Then Zhen Rou didn't wait for Fang Rui to say anything else, and said to Mei Renyao beside her: "Xiao Mei, after lunch, send all the first-grade official swallows in the warehouse to Fangpin's palace, understand?"
Mei Renyao was quite unhappy when he heard this, but he still nodded in agreement. However, he cursed in his heart: "What a thing, you just came here and you want my master's first-class official swallow, don't you know that this good thing is worth a thousand gold outside?
Sometimes you can’t buy it even if you have money. The queen is really something. She just gives it away without thinking about the importance of things!”
Fang Rui's face almost froze. Was it really given to her?
She almost doubted her ears, but she still quickly replied: "The Queen is so polite, look at this..."
Zhen Rou smiled and said, "We are all family, why are we so distant? Let's eat quickly."
Fang Rui was extremely embarrassed. Miao Hanzhi beside her quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "That's right, Sister Fang, just eat quickly. We usually have three dishes, but today's dishes are so rich, why don't you eat them quickly? What are you waiting for!"
Fang Rui smiled when she heard that and didn't dare to say anything else. She waited until Zhen Rou picked up her chopsticks first before she hurriedly started to pick up the dishes.
Feng Changxi didn't say anything. She smiled at Zhen Rou and started to eat. Only Wang Jiaojiao had a stern face from the beginning and didn't move her chopsticks.
Zhen Rou saw this and asked immediately, "Sister Wang, why don't you eat? Is it because today's dishes don't suit your taste?"
Wang Jiaojiao said with a bitter face: "Empress, I am feeling a little unwell today, so I will not have dinner yet. Ladies, please eat."
Zhen Rou thought Wang Jiaojiao was being naughty when she heard that. Although she felt a little uncomfortable, she still personally filled a bowl of Huiren rice porridge and placed it in front of Wang Jiaojiao. She smiled and said, "Since you are not feeling well, drink some rice porridge. Other dishes are fine, but this rice porridge is soothing and nourishing to the stomach. You will definitely feel better after drinking it."
Zhen Rou had already taken the soup spoon, but Wang Jiaojiao still had a frown on her face, without any movement of her hands, as if she was in an awkward situation.
Mei Renyao, who was standing by, couldn't stand it any longer and was about to say something sarcastic to vent her master's anger, but Fang Rui had already seen his expression and quickly said, "Sister, I just had this rice porridge and it tastes really good. Come and try it."
At this time, Feng Changxi, who had been silent, also stretched out a hand and placed it on Wang Jiaojiao's hand, and said softly: "Sister, drink a little."
Everyone knows that Zhen Rou is now the queen, and the Zhen family is supporting her outside the palace. She is too powerful to be provoked.
Fortunately, the Queen is usually nice to them, but now the Queen has taken the initiative to show her goodwill. If you don't give her face, your life in the palace in the future will be difficult.
How could Wang Jiaojiao not know this in her heart, but she really couldn't eat it.
Seeing that she hadn't moved, Zhen Rou's expression darkened, and she felt a little annoyed, so she said softly, "Since you're not feeling well, I won't force you. Let's continue eating."
Wang Jiaojiao smiled bitterly in her heart when she heard this, and said, "Then... I'll eat something."
Afterwards, Wang Jiaojiao picked up the Huiren rice porridge, scooped a spoonful and put it into her mouth, when suddenly a feeling of nausea came over her. She immediately dropped the bowl of porridge and vomited violently.
The strange thing was that Wang Jiaojiao just kept retching and didn't vomit anything, but the bowl of porridge had been thrown to the ground, and the bowl of Huiren rice porridge that Zhen Rou had personally prepared was scattered all over the floor.
Maid Mei Renyao couldn't help herself and cursed softly, "My queen treated you well, why are you so ungrateful? It's fine if you don't want to eat, but there's no need to humiliate me like this!"
"Xiaomei!" Zhen Rou shouted sternly. Mei Renyao didn't dare to say anything more, but the look in her eyes when she looked at Wang Jiaojiao was extremely intimidating.
Feng Changxi kept patting Wang Jiaojiao's back, asking her to take it easy. Zhen Rou also noticed something was wrong and asked quickly, "Sister, are you okay? Do you want to call the imperial physician?"
Wang Jiaojiao, who had just recovered, stood up immediately and said with an embarrassed look: "I am sorry to have made a fool of myself, Her Majesty the Queen. I am not feeling well today, so I will take my leave first."
After Wang Jiaojiao finished speaking, she immediately left with her maid. Zhen Rou frowned slightly, but didn't say much.
It was a farce. No one wanted to continue eating at the family dinner. They ate a little bit and said goodbye to Zhen Rou and left.
Fang Rui was the one who walked the fastest, because she seemed to feel that a storm was about to come, and it would be better for her to stay in the palace and protect herself during this period of time.
In Yuxue Palace, Wang Jiaojiao lay down to rest as soon as she came back, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
She hadn't eaten for two days and she knew her own body well, especially yesterday when she secretly called the imperial physician to check on her, and only then did she realize something important!
She was pregnant with the emperor's child!
This should have been something she was happy about, but for some reason she had no appetite these past few days. She felt nauseous and wanted to vomit at the slightest touch, and she felt extremely uncomfortable.
The imperial physician said that morning sickness was a normal phenomenon, but she was one of the few who couldn't eat anything at all. The imperial physician had no idea what to do about it, so he just told her to rest for a few more days and maybe she would feel better after a few days.
Wang Jiaojiao had no choice but to listen to the imperial physician, which led to the embarrassing scene just now.
The Wang family has fallen, and now the baby in her belly is her only support. No matter what, she must make sure the baby is healthy.
It would be impossible not to eat. Wang Jiaojiao thought of this and decided to try again. She quickly shouted outside, "Prepare lunch. I need it!"
In Kunning Palace, Zhen Rou was eating snacks with a frown on her face, and she was obviously not very happy. At this time, Mei Renyao came over and said, "My queen, I think there is something wrong with Concubine Wang!"
Zhen Rou pouted and said unhappily, "Everyone feels uncomfortable sometimes. Let's ask the imperial physician to come and take a look. Eating is a minor issue, but health is the most important. I just hope that Sister Wang doesn't have any serious illness."
"Oh, that's not what I'm talking about!" Mei Renyao whispered anxiously in Zhen Rou's ear: "My queen, the imperial concubine Wang may have had morning sickness today. Could she be pregnant?"
Zhen Rou stood up immediately after hearing this, staring with wide eyes and asked, "Are you serious?"
Mei Renyao said seriously: "It looks like it to me."
Zhen Rou was delighted when she heard this, and said happily: "If it is true, that would be great. If His Majesty comes back from the expedition and hears this news, he will definitely be very happy!
No wonder she was in such a bad state at the family dinner just now. No, we need to ask the imperial physician to check it immediately to confirm it!"
Mei Renyao frowned and thought for a moment before speaking: "My lady, I have something to say but I don't know whether I should say it or not."
Zhen Rou was in a good mood at this time, so she said, "Just say whatever you want to say."
Mei Renyao said in a deep voice: "The emperor has been away on a military expedition for a while, so how could he have visited Concubine Wang? I'm afraid the baby in Concubine Wang's belly..."
"Shut up!" Zhen Rou was furious when she heard this and was about to scold Mei Renyao, but after thinking for a moment, she ordered, "Go to the Jingshifang and check the records immediately. This matter cannot be false. You will know once you check it!"
Mei Renyao quickly agreed and prepared to leave, but Zhen Rou stopped her again: "Forget it, you don't have to go!"
"Someone, call the chief steward of the Jingshifang to come to me!"
A palace maid passed on a message, and the eunuch in charge of the Jingshifang came over quickly, knelt down and said, "Your servant greets the Empress. May the Empress be blessed with good health."
Zhen Rou asked hurriedly, "Check right now whether the emperor had visited Concubine Wang before he left for the war."
The chief eunuch immediately replied, "To answer your question, there was indeed such an incident. During the time of the Empress's enthronement ceremony, the Emperor stayed overnight in the Yuxue Palace."
Zhen Rou smiled brightly upon hearing this, but Mei Renyao beside her asked coldly, "Is it just this time?"
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