When I opened my eyes, I was on the soft couch in the main courtyard. Bai Xia noticed that I was awake: "Master, you're awake. There's some bird's nest soup warming on the stove. I'll bring it to you to soothe your throat."
I responded and then Donghui came in. A moment later, Baixia brought in the bird's nest soup. "Don't make me tea anymore, make me honey tea. The stuff is in that box, go get it."
Bai Xia responded with a "yes," then took the things and left.
This honey is a special kind of honey, made from flowers specially selected by Ho Cho.
When He Zhuo was young, he discovered a secluded and sparsely populated place. He Zhuo set up a protective array around it and placed several beehives inside.
Before she got married, she would collect honey twice a year while she was on the imperial estate, to give to her grandmother, mother, and fourth sister. The honey flowers would be dried at her own herbal medicine shop each year to make tea, and some would be made into rouge, face powder, and other products.
This medicine shop was set up by He Zhuo before he returned home at the age of 7. It was located in a county near the capital. The shop housed some orphans he had met, most of whom became herb farmers. A few others were quite talented, and He Zhuo taught them martial arts. After a few years, they became quite respectable.
He also opened two "Jin Family Pharmacies" in two counties near the capital, taking the name of He Zhuo's "Golden Spirit Root." During the years He Zhuo traveled abroad, he also told others that he was from the Jin family.
Time flies.
He Zhuo's lower abdomen was already showing a slight bulge, indicating that the fetus inside her was already 4 months old.
This child is very loving towards his mother. Apart from severe nausea in the second month of pregnancy, he didn't experience any other particular discomfort except for being sleepy and easily fatigued.
Yinzhi cared deeply for the child, visiting him every day after school to inquire about his well-being, but he rarely stayed overnight in the main courtyard anymore.
Before he was pregnant, apart from his wife's private time, Yinzhi usually didn't go into the back courtyard. In many cases, he didn't even go into the back courtyard for his wife's private time, but just lived alone in the front courtyard.
Since his wife became pregnant, Yinzhi spent significantly more time in the inner courtyard, visiting about ten days a month. The women in the inner courtyard, nourished by his affections, all became as beautiful as flowers.
During this period, He Zhuo did not leave the prince's residence as a precaution. Consort Hui also specifically instructed that he be exempt from paying his respects. Of course, the main wife of the prince was also exempt from paying her respects, in case she accidentally bumped or fell.
Hojo was quite cautious about this pregnancy.
The fetus in my womb is now 4 months old.
Tomorrow is the first day of the lunar month. The pregnancy is stable now, so I can't skip paying my respects to my mother-in-law and great-grandmother. Otherwise, bad rumors will spread, like I'm being arrogant because I'm spoiled, or disrespectful to my mother-in-law.
He Zhuo didn't want to bear these burdens, so he had to get up early tomorrow to pay his respects.
Khoja went to pay his respects to Empress Dowager Hui, and the order of paying respects in the inner courtyard was naturally restored.
He Zhuo had previously been impatient with seeing them, and after discussing it with a few trusted confidants, he decided to change the days for paying respects to the main courtiers to the first and fifteenth of each month.
As the old nanny put it, "If they don't pay their respects to the main wife for so long, they've probably forgotten their place in the household."
The maids have already gone to inform everyone in the backyard.
He Zhuo believed that the old woman was not making baseless accusations. Indeed, the inner court had become much more restless in the past month, all for the sake of vying for favor and for the sake of having offspring (after He Zhuo was three months pregnant, Consort Hui personally ordered that the medicine be exempted).
They delivered soup to the master's study every day, but little did they know that it all ended up in the bellies of the former eunuchs and palace maids, and the young eunuchs all gained weight.
Later, the master got impatient and beat several servants in the front yard, giving them a good thrashing. Only then did things quiet down in the study, and no servant dared to deliver soup to the concubines in the back yard anymore.
The women in the back courtyard, having lost their target, would start making a scene: "Today I pushed you, and you twisted your ankle; the day after tomorrow, my maid spilled water and soiled your dress." Every few days, they would put on a show, but all of this had nothing to do with He Zhuo; these matters were left to Granny Shi and Granny Sun in the front courtyard to handle.
Granny Sun was impartial and incorruptible.
Therefore, during Hezhuo's pregnancy when the fetus was not stable, she mentioned to Yinzhi that the affairs of the inner courtyard would be temporarily handled by Granny Shi and Granny Sun.
Of course, this is only temporary. He Zhuo's situation is special, and she needs to protect her pregnancy.
Yinzhi naturally had no objection.
He was utterly fed up with the jealousy and rivalry among the women in his backyard.
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