The Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, looked at Consort Tong with a gentle expression, but this gentleness was not for him, but for his younger brother and sister who were born under a special arrangement.
The Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, kept telling himself that these were his younger brothers and sisters, and it was only natural that his mother liked them.
But seeing that most of the attention had been diverted to Consort Tong, the Fourth Prince Yinzhen still felt uncomfortable.
Before the Fourth Prince Yinzhen could even clear his mind of all the chaos, the voice of a young eunuch rang out from outside, and then faded away.
Emperor Kangxi, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, strode into the palace. Before Consort Tong could even pay her respects, he quickly sat down in front of the warm couch.
His dignified voice was tinged with tenderness, and his eyes were full of affection as he looked at Consort Tong.
"If you're not feeling well, cousin, you don't need to get up. Be careful with your stomach."
Consort Tong's delicate and refined face was full of smiles. Although she was pale and weak, perhaps due to the excitement and joy of the body's owner, a hint of pink slowly rose on both sides of her face, making her look even more delicate and boneless, and incomparably beautiful.
Especially with those teary eyes, it's impossible not to feel tenderness towards her.
"My imperial cousin, I am pregnant with a little prince. I am overjoyed, overjoyed."
As she spoke, Consort Tong threw herself into Emperor Kangxi's arms and burst into tears.
Where Consort Tong could not see, Emperor Kangxi held her in his arms, lowered his eyes, and looked at her still-flat belly with a complicated expression.
Consort Tong's pregnancy was something Emperor Kangxi had not anticipated. As his maternal family, the Tongjia clan already held a prominent position in the court.
Deep down, he did not want a prince with the blood of the Tongjia clan to be born, as that would disrupt his plans in the court.
But seeing his beloved cousin crying tears of joy because of her pregnancy, he couldn't bear to just abort the child.
Emperor Kangxi closed his eyes and exhaled. He would wait three months to see if it was a boy or a girl. If it was a princess, everyone would be happy.
If it were a prince, Kangxi clenched his fist. His cousin was young and could still get pregnant. With proper care, she would definitely be able to conceive again.
He thought to himself that he would make it up to his cousin elsewhere. After a few moments of reflection, Kangxi opened his eyes again, his eyes filled with tenderness.
"Cousin, don't cry. Pregnancy is a happy thing. Didn't you want to give birth to a prince for me? Now that you're pregnant, I'm just waiting for you to give birth to a prince for me."
Consort Tong lifted her head from Kangxi's embrace, wiped her tears with a handkerchief in embarrassment, glanced at the Fourth Prince Yinzhen beside her, and waved for him to come over.
"Cousin Emperor, Zhen'er has been studying and writing diligently lately. Do you think he's grown a bit taller?"
Emperor Kangxi stroked the bald head of the Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, with his large hand, squinted and looked at him carefully. He then looked at Consort Tong with tenderness and a hint of nonchalance.
"It seems like he's grown taller; my cousin is taking good care of him."
The Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, felt the warm touch of the large hand on his head and couldn't help but feel excited.
Since he grew a bit older, his father has reduced these intimate behaviors. When he was little, his father would often hold him, but now that he's older, that privilege is gone.
Since he went to the Imperial Study, Mother said he has grown up, I have learned to take care of myself, and Father has reduced his intimate behavior towards him.
Today, after being patted on the head and praised by Emperor Kangxi, the Fourth Prince Yinzhen forgot his worries from his time with Consort Tong and smiled again.
Although the current Fourth Prince Yinzhen is more mature than most children, he is still a child who seeks closeness with his mother and father.
Compared to the seemingly warm and cozy scene in Consort Tong's Chengqian Palace, the news of Consort Tong's pregnancy caused ripples and chaos throughout the harem, like a drop of water falling on a hot pan.
This caused a great reaction in the harem. The concubines had always thought that Consort Tong was infertile. It had been almost 10 years since Consort Tong entered the palace. Consort Tong was favored and had many nights with the emperor. They had not gotten pregnant in all this time, so they thought that Consort Tong's body was ruined and that she would never be able to get pregnant in her life. Who would have thought that...
The hen that was usually thought to be unable to lay eggs suddenly produced one today.
This caused a sensation among all the concubines in the harem, with the strongest reaction coming from Empress Niohuru and Consort De, Uya.
Empress Niohuru was afraid that Tongjia would give birth to a prince and threaten her position as the head of the harem. Although she was of noble status, she had not yet given birth to any children. Tongjia was also eyeing the position of empress. How could she not be anxious?
Empress Niohuru lost her composure and spoke anxiously to the wet nurse beside her.
"Granny, what should we do?"
"Your Majesty, there's no need to rush. She's only been pregnant for a month. There are countless women in the harem who don't want her to give birth. Even if we take a step back and assume she's born, there's no guarantee she'll raise her to adulthood," said the wet nurse, Granny Du, calmly.
"There's no need for Your Highness to take action. There are plenty of people in the harem who don't want Consort Tong to get pregnant. There's no need to dirty Your Highness's hands. We just need to wait quietly for them to make their move and reap the benefits."
After listening to the words of her wet nurse, Granny Du, whose calm voice seemed to have a magical soothing effect, Empress Niohuru calmed down.
"So we'll just wait quietly for now? Oh, right, Granny, Consort Tong is pregnant, so we should also get our people moving so that the Fourth Prince knows who his biological mother is."
Empress Niohuru smiled and spoke in a relaxed and cheerful tone, as if she had done something right for someone else, like a helpful and kind person.
“Your Majesty, you are right. I had forgotten about that. This is the perfect time for the Fourth Prince to recognize his mother.” Standing beside her, the wet nurse, Granny Du, smiled broadly. Her Majesty’s happiness was her happiness. She couldn’t bear to see Her Majesty upset over someone unrelated. Anyone who displeased Her Majesty should not exist.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
