"Have you found out?"

Zhuang Luoyan sat on the imperial concubine's chair and looked at Fubao, without any trace of joy on her face about being pregnant with a dragon seed.

"My Lord, I have checked and found that Doctor Mao is an old doctor who has been in the palace for many years. Apart from taking pulses and treating illnesses, he has no contact with other masters in the palace. When he was examining your pulse, he was not supposed to be on duty because another doctor had an accident at home, so he took over without any warning." Fu Bao hesitated for a moment and said, "Besides, my Lord has never asked him to take your pulse before. If someone wanted to plot against you, they would not have asked him to do it."

Zhuang Yuyan frowned, what Fubao said made a lot of sense. In the past, most of the doctors who took her pulse were the same few doctors. If someone wanted to do something about it, they should have found these doctors. There was no reason to find old doctor Mao.

"Master, why are you suspicious..." Yun Xi looked at Zhuang Yuyan's belly and said in a low voice, "Maybe you really have a child. After all, that time more than a month ago..."

"How can it be that easy," Zhuang Yuyan sneered, "The food I've eaten these days is cold in nature. If I really have a child, how can I not have any reaction at all?" Moreover, from a woman's perspective, the joy in her body after having a child cannot be concealed by reason, but after she heard the doctor's diagnosis, she did not feel any joy, but suspicion. When people have doubts instead of the instinct of joy, it can only mean one thing, that having a dragon seed is a joke.

Yun Xi thought about it carefully and her face turned pale. Now everyone in the palace knew that the master was pregnant. If the master was really not pregnant, then the consequences...

Only Yunxi and Fubao were in the room. Tingzhu went to the small kitchen to supervise the meal. Zhuang Yuyan looked at the two people's pale faces and suddenly smiled.

Yun Xi and Fu Bao exchanged glances, and Yun Xi smiled and said, "It is a great joy for the master to have a child. We servants will serve him carefully."

A conspiracy is a conspiracy when the other party is unaware of it, but if the other party is aware of it, it is a joke.

It was the coldest time of the year, and even though the eunuchs were diligently sweeping the snow, the road was still slippery. Outside the empress's palace, Concubine Shugui sat on a stable sedan chair, looking at Zhao Chongyi coming over. When she got closer, she got off the sedan chair and bowed to her, then she smiled softly and said, "Sister Zhao Chongyi, please don't be polite. You are pregnant now, so you must take care of yourself." After that, she helped the palace maid get off the sedan chair, walked to a place three steps away from Zhuang Luoyan and stopped, "It's cold today, I think the empress should sympathize with you because you have a dragon seed and don't pay her respects."

"The Empress is so kind that I have been exempted from paying my respects," Zhuang Yuyan said with a happy smile, "It's just that I don't have much to do in winter, so I will pay my respects to the Empress with my sisters. It's good to talk to her, and it won't be impolite."

Concubine Shugui smiled as usual: "Sister Zhao Chongyi is respectful, obedient and virtuous. No wonder the Emperor and the Empress love her so much." After saying that, she turned and walked towards the gate of the Empress's palace, the smile on her face tinged with a hint of coldness.

Zhuang Yuyan held Yunxi's hand and followed slowly, the smile on her face still showing the happiness of a woman when she first becomes pregnant.

"The Concubine Shugui has arrived, and the Concubine Zhao Chongyi has arrived."

The eunuch's call made everyone sitting in the room turn their eyes to the door, and most of their eyes fell on Zhuang Yuyan who was standing behind Concubine Shugui.

Before Zhuang Yuyan finished paying her respects, the queen asked He Yu to help her get up and sit on the chair that had been prepared earlier. She said in a tone that sounded both reproachful and loving: "The emperor and I have already exempted you from paying your respects. The dragon seed in your belly is more important, so there is no need for such courtesy."

"Your Majesty and the Empress are kind, but I dare not forget the rules," Zhuang Yuyan smiled, "Not to mention that the Empress is kind, and I want to share your blessings with my child."

Upon hearing this, the Queen smiled and praised her a few times, and then gave Zhuang Yuyan some gifts. She was really charitable and generous, as if she was also looking forward to the baby in Zhuang Yuyan's belly.

Zhuang Yuyan sighed in her heart, the empress was even better at acting than Concubine Shugui. In reality, which woman in the world would like another woman to be pregnant with her husband's child? It was just because of her status that she had to be generous and kind, whether she was willing or not.

The other concubines in the room, whether they were happy or not, all said congratulations. Even if there were some who were jealous, they only said something with a hidden meaning, and no one would really say anything bad. After all, if something really went wrong, who would take the blame?

"Zhao Chongyi is a blessed person. If she gets the blessing of the Empress, she will be even more blessed. I believe she will give birth to a dragon son for the Emperor. I congratulate her in advance." Concubine Yan said with a smile, and turned to look at Ye Shurong who was silent. "Ye Shurong, don't you agree?"

Everyone present knew that Ye Shurong had become taciturn since she lost her child last time. It was unclear whether Yan Guipin's words were meant to irritate Ye Shurong or to bring bad luck to Zhao Chongyi, because after all, this child had only been in her belly for a few months before it was lost.

"Zhao Chongyi is naturally blessed," Ye Shurong glanced at Yan Guipin indifferently, then smiled faintly.

However, Concubine Yan felt a little cold after seeing her look and stopped talking. However, she was secretly shocked by the aura in Ye Shurong's eyes. She had underestimated the unfavored Ye Shurong in the past.

"Thank you, Ye Shurong, for your kind words." Zhuang Yuyan could see what Concubine Yan meant, but she seemed calm and composed even though she was not pregnant.

Now that her period is delayed and she has just been diagnosed as "pregnant", the person in charge of this matter will definitely not jump out and expose her fake pregnancy right away. It would be too hasty and arouse suspicion. After all, the emperor is not a brainless person.

As for why her period is delayed, we need to have someone take a close look at her kitchen. I wonder if there is anything "tonic" in her food?

"It is a great joy that Zhao Chongyi is pregnant," the Queen ignored the concubines' hidden meanings and said, "Today is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. There will be a Laba Banquet in the evening. The royal family and Gao Meiguo will go to the palace to attend the banquet. The Emperor's decree will be issued soon. If any of the sisters are blessed to attend the banquet, they must prepare well. Although Gao Meiguo is a poor country, we must not lose the demeanor of a great country."

The concubines all agreed and began to secretly pray that they could attend the banquet. After all, this was the emperor's favor and a matter of honor.

Not long after Zhuang Yuyan returned to Xihe Palace from the Empress' Palace, the eunuch came to deliver the imperial edict, and the content was nothing more than the matter of accompanying the emperor at the banquet.

Not long after the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict left, Fubao came back to report.

"Master, I have found out that apart from the Empress, there are only six other masters who have received the imperial decree to attend the banquet. They are Consort Shu Gui, Consort Xian, Consort Rou, Consort Ning, Consort Xu Zhaorong, and you. Even Consort Yan Gui of Linyuexuan does not have this special honor."

"My Lord, apart from the concubines, only you and Xu Zhaorong will be attending the banquet this time. This shows how much the Emperor loves you." Yun Xi said with a happy smile, "I guess... it will be very lively tonight as well."

"It's been a bit quiet lately, and I want to liven it up a bit," Zhuang Yuyan put the soup pot in her hand on the small table, "I remember the plain skirt that the clothing bureau sent last time was beautiful and tight, with a crescent-colored base embroidered with red plums, which was a perfect match for the snowy scene tonight. With the snow-colored fox fur coat given by the emperor on the outside, it would not look out of place."

"It's white with a hint of red, it couldn't be prettier. Master, your taste is beyond my reach." Yun Xi bent her knees, "I'll prepare it for you."

"Don't worry. The banquet is in the evening. It won't be too late to prepare after lunch." Zhuang Yuyan stood up and walked to the jade lotus. "The more anxious you are, the easier it is to make trouble. It's better to be careful in everything."

"Yes." Yun Xi smiled and stepped back.

When my fingertips touched the lotus leaves of Yuhe, the coolness quickly spread to my heart. Although the lotus leaves were cool, the smooth touch made people feel refreshed. A sip and a bite of them was all I needed.

Pushing open the window, the cold wind blew on her face, stinging her so much that she closed her eyes slightly, but the smile on the corner of her mouth could not be blown away.

"Master, Zhao Chongyi will be attending the banquet tonight."

"Really?" The person who was speaking paused in the dim light. "At a banquet, the food is inevitably complicated. If you eat the wrong thing and miscarry, you can only blame fate."

"Zhao Chongyi herself is not blessed with a child, who can she blame?"

"Yes, who can be blamed? There are always people without luck in this harem."

"On a cold day with snow and frost, I put on my makeup by the window. My dear man takes up his gun and goes to the battlefield. I have waited for you for three years. Today we meet..."

Listening to the graceful singing of the singer, Feng Jin closed his eyes and rested, and even when Gao Dezhong came in, he didn't even blink.

Gao Dezhong glanced at the singer playing the pipa, then looked at the emperor, and then stood quietly in the corner without saying a word.

"Everyone, go down," Feng Jin said after a while. He opened his eyes, waved at the artists in the palace, and looked at Gao Dezhong who was standing in the corner. "Have you found out?"

"Your Majesty, this Imperial Doctor Mao has nothing to do with Zhao Chongyi, and no other master has contacted him before. Master Zhao is really pregnant." Gao Dezhong also felt that Zhao Chongyi was very blessed, otherwise she would not have gotten pregnant at this opportunity.

"In that case, I will send Doctor Yu to check her pulse tomorrow. After all, she is pregnant with my child, so it doesn't hurt to be careful. Some concubines in the palace should also be promoted in status after the new year, and Zhao Chongyi should be included." Feng Jin thought for a while, "Tomorrow, I will send a few palace maids and eunuchs who are good at food to Xihe Palace. I remember that when the empress was pregnant, she had no appetite. Let's have someone prepare now, so that she won't suffer when the time comes."

"Yes, I remember them all." Gao Dezhong agreed one by one.

"Yes," Feng Jin nodded, "Have everyone around Zhao Chongyi serve carefully tonight. There are many people in the harem, and we are afraid of collisions."

"Yes." Gao Dezhong understood what the emperor meant. He hoped that Zhao Chongyi would be blessed with enough fortune to give birth to a child safely. There was no easy person in the harem. Judging from the emperor's intention, it seemed that he also wanted Zhao Chongyi to give birth to this child.

Alas, it’s all thanks to Zhao Chongyi that he has a mother’s family that is worry-free, otherwise who knows what would have happened?