Chapter 151
Xia Xue woke up in shock, and Chu Zhenxuan's face was full of worry.
I don’t know if it’s because of the frequent dreams recently or because Chu Zhenxuan has a bad feeling, but after the New Year’s Eve dinner, Chu Zhenxuan took a long vacation and never went to court again.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone in the palace attended the ancestor worship ceremony. Yang Junyi officially gave Yang Yun a proper name, gave him a seal, and named him the crown prince. He announced it to the world and gave him the crown prince's mansion.
The legitimate daughters of the generals of the cavalry were all named Crown Princesses, and the legitimate granddaughter of the Minister of Rites and the only daughter of the Grand Academician of the Cabinet were all named Crown Princesses.
The Queen Mother was not feeling well, so she left after the ancestor worship ceremony. Concubine Ying endured all the discomfort and waited until the ceremony was completed before leaving.
As soon as everyone returned to the palace, they heard that Wei Chongyuan had passed away. After falling into the water on the day of the New Year's Eve dinner, Wei Chongyuan had been in a daze. The imperial physician diagnosed that she had severe water accumulation in her lungs and could only do her best to treat her. As a result, after the New Year's Eve, everyone in the palace was busy with the matter of the new crown prince, and no one paid attention to Wei Chongyuan anymore. As a result, she survived until the first day of the new year, but then she died.
It was New Year's Eve after all, but Wei Chongyuan chose a bad day for the fireworks, which upset the prince.
The emperor directly ordered people to suppress the matter and not to report it for the time being. He asked the eunuch chief to quietly settle the matter, and buried the maids and servants in Wei Chongyuan's palace with her as a little comfort to Wei Chongyuan.
Wei Chongyuan had a sharp tongue all her life, but in the end she didn't make any friends and left quietly.
During this period, someone mentioned to the emperor that Wei Chongyuan's fall into the water on the day of the New Year's Eve dinner was suspicious, and asked the emperor if he needed to investigate further. The emperor only said, "I have been helping the harem for so long, but I can't even save my own life. Who can I blame?"
This sentence spread quickly, and the emperor's attitude of not wanting to intervene further accelerated Wei Chongyuan's tragedy.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor rewarded the former court and the harem again. Almost all the concubines in the harem were promoted, especially Xia Lu, who was promoted to Defei.
This made many people in the palace unconvinced, but the emperor directly mentioned that when Prince Lu rebelled, Xia Lu fed him blood every day, which saved his life. No one dared to say a word.
Concubine Ying was granted the title of Imperial Noble Concubine and was in charge of the harem, with Concubine De assisting her.
Everything seems so beautiful, but everything also seems to make people very worried.
There has never been such a large-scale promotion like this year before. People can't help but wonder whether the emperor will abdicate soon?
Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind. After all, the emperor was still very young and there was no need for him to abdicate now. However, this large-scale promotion seemed like a sign of abdication, and people were secretly discussing it after dinner.
Three months passed in a blink of an eye. Prince Yang Yun had become somewhat famous among the people. He built dams, canals, and roads to promote commerce and benefit farmers.
Fu Yuqing made a lot of efforts in this process, because Yang Yun had always been taken care of by Fu Yuqing before entering the palace. Now Yang Yun is being reused, and there is a tendency for Fu Yuqing to enter the court as an official.
"No, no, I can't do that. It's okay for me to give some advice behind the scenes, but I don't want to get up early and go to court every day." Fu Yuqing refused firmly.
Yang Yun said that she could be exempted from attending the morning court, but could be given a female official position and asked to contribute to the court.
In the end, Fu Yuqing still didn't agree.
However, when Princess Xian heard that the Crown Prince had invited the owner of "Zhilan Pavilion" to serve as an official in the court, she was incredulous at first. Later, when she learned that the Crown Prince's recent political achievements were all related to this woman, she directly called Prince Bo over and had a long talk with him all night.
No one knows the details, but the result should not be difficult to guess, because since that night, Prince Bo has been running to "Zhilan Pavilion" every day, and from time to time he asked Fu Yuqing when she could marry him and be his wife.
When Fu Yuqing told Xia Xue about this with a happy face, Xia Xue knew that Princess Xian had completely agreed this time. Especially when Prince Bo "exposed" that he knew martial arts and was very talented, no one took the initiative to extend an olive branch and offer Prince Bo a position.
This made Princess Xian, who had been silent for many years, truly realize that the glory of their Xian Palace was a thing of more than ten years ago.
Since Fu Yuqing has been kind to the current crown prince and future emperor, and is in love with her son, this is the best way to restore the former prosperity of Prince Xian's Palace.
then......
Xia Xue sighed and looked at Fu Yuqing who looked so happy. She just hoped that Fu Yuqing would not be like her and be forced to leave one day.
Xia Xue's belly was already noticeable, and she no longer had the dream that portended her pregnancy. However, she could not summon Bibi either. She had a vague feeling in her heart that she was not far from being pregnant.
Taking advantage of Chu Zhenxuan's busy schedule, she went back to the Xia family to stay for half a month. After Xia Lu was promoted to Consort De, the Xia family made further progress. Although the first branch of the family was devastated because of Cai Deqizhu, the old lady let them return out of nostalgia. Now they no longer fight for power or profit, but cooperate well with other branches and family businesses, and their life is quite comfortable.
In the past half month since she returned home, the former Aunt Jia, now her mother, no longer cares about her birthday and prepares various meals for her personally every day. Xia Xue can obviously feel that her belly has become bigger in these few days since she returned home.
During the half month that Xia Xue went home, Xia Zhi came back and said that the emperor's condition was getting worse and worse. His five internal organs were almost injured and he was only relying on a little bit of vitality to support himself. The emperor now seldom went to court. He asked Yang Yun to discuss many important matters with Chu Zhenxuan. Chu Zhenxuan was completely ready to become the regent.
Chu Zhenxuan also felt bad. He knew in his heart that the emperor was probably about to die.
In the harem, the emperor seldom went to the harem in recent months, and if he did, he mostly went to Concubine De's palace. So Concubine Ying, who was always smart, felt that something was not good, and tried her best to invite the emperor several times, but failed.
Fortunately, with the title of Imperial Concubine, Concubine Ying managed the harem very well, and nothing happened in the past few months.
Everything seems to be going on in an orderly manner.
In the blink of an eye, it was the hottest month of August. One day, Chu Zhenxuan, who had not been home for nearly half a month, hurried back with a serious face, "The emperor is not well."
Xia Xue was stunned. Has this day finally come?
"He vomited a lot of blood this morning, and then fell into a coma. Now all the concubines and the crown prince and the second prince are guarding him. The imperial doctors said that he will only live for a few days." Chu Zhenxuan looked solemn.
Xia Xue nodded and suppressed the discomfort in her heart. Although she had known that this day would come, it was still hard to accept when it really came.
Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in the lower abdomen, and Chu Zhenxuan hurriedly supported Xia Xue.
Xia Xue was sweating profusely. "Maybe I'm about to give birth."
In a flash, she fell into endless darkness.
At this time, Xia Xue heard Bibi's voice again.
【Bibi: It's time, Master.】
[Xia Xue: But my child hasn't been born yet. Can't you let me take a look at him before leaving? ]
[Bibi: The system rules prohibit this. The original owner has returned.]
Xia Xue glanced at the woman struggling desperately on the bed and smiled bitterly. The original owner must have been confused as well, giving birth to a child right after returning. However, she actually preferred to bear the pain and happiness of childbirth herself.
Chu Zhenxuan, who was standing by anxiously, did not notice Xia Xue's change.
The floating soul of Xia Xue smiled bitterly, not knowing when he would be able to find her, or maybe he would never find her?
At this time, an eunuch came in hurriedly and whispered a few words to Chu Zhenxuan. Although the voice was audible to only two of them, Xia Xue heard it.
The eunuch said, the emperor has passed away!