Everyone in the harem knew that the empress was ill, and many people were waiting for her to be deposed. Even in the court, people began to submit memorials to depose her. For a while, both the court and the harem were in chaos.
Feng Jin sat on the dragon chair, watching the civil and military officials below quarreling over the women in his harem. When they had almost finished quarreling, he spoke up, "My lords are really in a good mood. You are so diligent for my harem. Why don't you decide the affairs of the previous dynasty?"
Everyone could tell that the emperor's words were not to their liking. They were so frightened that no one dared to speak again. Their original intention of sending their family members to the palace also faded a lot.
"I dare not, but the Empress has no children, and her father and brother are extremely treacherous and evil. She is not fit to be the Queen Mother." A historian said, "The Queen Mother should be a role model for women in the world. The Queen's virtue is lacking. I think she should be deposed."
Feng Jin glanced at Yu Shi who was speaking. He seemed to have some connection with Concubine Xian Gui's family. He sneered and said, "I know the empress's character better than you do. Since she has no children, she should be deposed. I remember that your sister has been married for 18 years and has no children. Her husband's family should also divorce her."
This historian never expected that the emperor actually knew about his family affairs. His face changed and he dared not say anything.
"You are simply incomprehensible!" Feng Jian stood up and waved his sleeves angrily, "You all are talented pillars of the court, but who would have thought that you only cared about the affairs of the harem. I am really sad!" After that, he left the hall in a rage, leaving behind a group of court officials who looked at each other with horrified faces.
The matter of the deposed queen disappeared without a sound, and the concubines in the harem gradually realized that the queen would not be deposed. For a while, Concubine Xiangui, who had been making frequent moves in recent days, felt a little embarrassed. Sometimes when she walked outside, she felt vaguely that someone was laughing at her, but when she turned around, she only saw these people's respectful looks. Gradually, she didn't like to go out anymore.
Without the eldest prince and the emperor's favor, Concubine Xian knew in her heart that when the empress recovered, she would definitely bear a grudge against her for her actions in the past few days. Although the empress was gentle in nature, she was definitely not the kind of woman who would repay evil with kindness.
Waving the fan in her hand restlessly, Concubine Xian Gui took a sip of the cool tea beside her. When she saw the palace maid rushing in, she hurriedly asked, "Have you found out how the queen is doing?"
The little palace maid knelt in front of her with an ugly look on her face, not daring to say a word.
"The virtuous concubine really cares about my health," the queen suddenly walked in with a group of palace maids and eunuchs, with an indescribable smile on her face, "seeing that I am fine, is the virtuous concubine disappointed?"
Concubine Xiangui smiled and bowed: "I pay my respects to the Empress."
"If everyone in the palace behaves themselves, I will be at peace too," the queen sneered at her, sat down at the head of the table, and slowly fanned the beauty fan in her hand. Her slightly sickly face did not show any sign of dejection. "My virtuous concubine, don't you think this is reasonable?"
Concubine Xian Gui did not dare to sit down. She stood obediently in front of the empress and said with a forced smile, "Your Majesty, you are right."
"It's best if you can understand this logic. My trip here is not in vain," the Queen continued to slowly wave her fan and glanced at Consort Xian Gui with a little dissatisfaction. "Forget it, I just happened to pass by. It's so hot today. I'm going to take a look at Xihe Palace." After she finished speaking, she stood up and was about to go out, and saw a eunuch hurried in.
"Your Majesty, the Queen, the Royal Concubine, and the Zhao Concubine are probably about to give birth. They have already entered the delivery room that has been prepared long ago."
"What?!" The queen's face changed, and she didn't care to continue to make things difficult for Consort Xian Gui, and said anxiously: "Hurry to Xihe Palace, have the imperial physician and the midwife ready? Also, have someone watch over Xihe Palace, and detain all suspicious people."
"Yes," the eunuch who delivered the message hurriedly retreated, and the empress also hurried to Xihe Palace. She knew very well in her heart that the emperor was in a bad mood now. If something happened to Concubine Zhao or her child, life in the harem would be difficult, and the first to suffer would be her, the empress whose position was precarious.
No one felt hot at this moment. The empress sat on the phoenix sedan chair and sweated from fanning the handle, but she still felt cold on her back. When the phoenix sedan chair stopped at Xihe Palace, she did not bother to look at the concubines who were paying their respects in front of her, and walked inside holding He Yu's hand. The rest of the concubines looked at each other and followed in silence.
When they arrived outside the delivery room, they didn't hear any screams, but they could hear the faint voice of the midwife coming from the room, and palace maids bringing in food.
Palace maids and eunuchs brought some chairs, but no one dared to sit down at this moment. Everyone stared at the delivery room with serious expressions.
On the delivery bed, Zhuang Yuyan endured the bloating and pain brought by contractions while trying hard to swallow food, obviously trying to save energy for giving birth.
"My queen, you must not scream loudly later, it will consume your energy," the midwife said after checking Zhuang Yuyan, "You are in good condition now, there will be no problem. When the old slave says it's okay, you can push with the contractions. If the contractions stop, you can take a break. You must remember not to scream loudly."
Zhuang Yuyan nodded, feeling the contractions causing her to shift. She finished her meal reluctantly and took a breath, "You don't have to worry about me. If I don't do anything right during the birth, just remind me loudly. I won't blame you. After the birth, I will reward you handsomely."
Several midwives breathed a sigh of relief. Giving birth was extremely painful for women, and sometimes they had to remind women in labor loudly what to do to keep them awake. Since Concubine Zhao had said this, they could pay less attention to her later.
Zhuang Yuyan was sweating profusely at this moment. She had never suffered such pain in her life. She could even feel the fetus in her belly kicking desperately, as if it was in a hurry to come out.
At this time she still had the energy to think, no wonder most women love children more than men. After ten months of pregnancy and enduring the greatest pain in the world to give birth to a little life, how can they not love it more than their own life?
At this moment, warm liquid flowed out from under her body. A midwife's face changed slightly, "Madam, your water has broken. Please listen to my command and push harder."
Zhuang Luoyan felt her mind was confused. Without the amniotic fluid, every movement of the baby in her belly was more painful than before. She followed the midwife's instructions, gritting her teeth and pushing hard. It seemed as if the pain had disappeared. She only thought about how to give birth to the baby as quickly as possible, because if the amniotic fluid broke, the baby would be deprived of oxygen if it was held in the birth canal for too long, and in severe cases it might even cause congenital mental retardation.
Outside the delivery room, the queen was sweating with anxiety. Hearing the low groaning coming from Concubine Zhao in the room, she said to Heyu in an impatient manner, "You and Tingzhu go to the kitchen to bring the soup. If Concubine Zhao has no strength left, let her drink it." After that, she began to chant Buddhist scriptures.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
When the queen heard the news, she breathed a sigh of relief. She turned around and saw the emperor striding towards her. She was stopped before she could finish her greetings.
"How is Concubine Zhao?" Feng Zhen's usually calm face was tinged with anxiety. He looked at the empress seriously, "Did the midwife say anything? Is Concubine Zhao's fetal position correct?"
"Your Majesty, the midwife said that Concubine Zhao's fetal position is very good, and the fetus is also very good." The queen was stunned, looked at Feng Jin, and seemed to have figured something out, and smiled faintly, "The mother and child will be safe."
Feng Jin nodded and stared at the delivery room in silence. After less than a quarter of an hour, he frowned and said, "Why can't I hear Concubine Zhao's voice? Your Majesty, please send someone to check it out." Then he said, "Forget it. Don't scare them with all the people coming and going." After that, he stopped talking and pushed away the eunuch who came forward to fan him.
Feng Jin felt a little depressed, so she paced back and forth. Seeing Ting Zhu carrying ginseng soup into the delivery room, she frowned again, took a breath, and said, "Empress, why did this woman take so long to give birth?"
It's only been a quarter of an hour, how can it be considered a long time? The queen forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, this is how women have to go through childbirth. They suffer."
Feng Jian's face became even darker. Just at this moment, he heard the voice of the midwife. His face became almost as black as ink.
"My lady, please don't rest, push harder, the baby will be out soon."
"Hurry, drink some ginseng soup!"
Feng Jian was sweating profusely at this time. When an eunuch came up to report that a certain lord wanted to see him, he kicked him and said, "No, get out!"
The young eunuch rolled over and crawled out of Xihe Palace, hating the officials who came to see him for being blind. Concubine Zhao was giving birth at the moment, so how could the emperor be in the mood to see them?
When the official who wanted to see the eunuch came running over in a dusty mess, he was startled, thinking that he had angered the emperor. He stuffed a purse into the eunuch's pocket and asked carefully, "Eunuch, does the emperor not want to see me?"
"Sir, you'd better go back earlier. The emperor, empress, and other nobles are all in Xihe Palace now. The emperor will not see anyone today." After saying this, the eunuch hurriedly withdrew.
The official was stunned, and then his face changed. Does this mean that Concubine Zhao is about to give birth? Thinking of this, he hurried out of the palace. In any case, it was a good deal to let the Zhuang family know about this matter.
Zhuang Luyan felt that everything in front of her eyes had gone dark and she seemed to have no strength left in her body. She thought that if she closed her eyes she could fall asleep. In a trance she seemed to hear the midwife say something like "it's almost out".
She suddenly opened her eyes, using up almost all her life's strength, gritting her teeth and exerting her last bit of strength, and then she felt something separating from her body.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Congratulations, Your Majesty. It's a healthy and plump prince!" The midwife's joyful voice reached her ears. She seemed to have regained her strength. Looking at the child who was held upside down by the midwife, he did not seem to be sticky but very clean. Although he looked small, his cry was very loud.
She thought drowsily, this sound is so loud, I am afraid that half of the harem can hear it? She closed her eyes sleepily and fell asleep to the sound of the child crying.
"It's born, it's born!" The queen's eyes were slightly red, and she rushed to the door of the delivery room with some excitement. She saw the midwife carefully holding a package and kneeling down with a happy face: "Congratulations to the emperor, congratulations to the queen, Concubine Zhao has given birth to a prince."
Feng Jin seemed to have just reacted. He strode up to the midwife and asked, "How is Concubine Zhao?" He then looked down at the wrapped child. The baby's hair had grown past the ears, and its face was red. The baby looked small and soft.
"Empress Zhao has fallen asleep," the midwife said, "She must be too sleepy."
Feng Jin nodded, then reached out and carefully held the child. Looking at the child's half-closed dark eyes, he smiled and said, "Reward, everyone will be rewarded!"