Yao Niang's belly was already very big. This was her third time giving birth. She was so skilled that Empress Hong didn't need to send maids to give her instructions. The Ministry of Internal Affairs only sent wet nurses.

Today, Xu Qingrong and Mu Wantong came to see her together.

Their relationship as sisters-in-law is very ordinary, but they still have to interact with each other on the surface. There is nothing they can do about it. What is important in the palace is harmony and they cannot be too sharp.

Mu Wantong's personality did not quite meet Emperor Jianzhang's requirements, so he directly gave two beauties to the Fourth Prince.

"Third sister-in-law is about to give birth, so she doesn't need to go out anymore. Have the wet nurses come?" Mu Wantong looked at Yao Niang in front of her. Although she was pregnant, her skin was smooth and white without a single spot. Her eyes were watery and she was very charming.

The only thing that has not changed over the years is her appearance.

In fact, Luo Yaoniang doesn't take as much care of herself as she does. She spends more time sleeping and rarely goes out, so she can hardly even put on makeup.

She was just an ordinary woman who had always followed the principle of men working outside and women working inside. The only difference was that she was born into a good family. Her father was a Luo Gelao. But with the passing of Luo Gelao, she lost even her family background.

Mu Wantong was different from her. She could walk in the front yard without her husband stopping her.

"The wet nurse and the midwife have already arrived, and I have settled them here. I don't know why, but Chengze has become much more sensible after looking at the baby in my belly." Yao Niang said with a smile.

Xu Qingrong joked: "That's right, you have to be a big brother again, isn't it good? But the third brother can't come back in time. If the third brother comes back in time, you will be fine."

In front of others, Xu Qingrong acted like a good sister-in-law. She spoke in a cheerful manner, but in fact, she was extremely jealous. If Luo Yao's mother gave birth to another son, she would have three sons, and her position would be very stable. Even if she gave birth to a daughter, it would not matter, since she already had two sons anyway.

Cheng Yun has been well taken care of and has started to learn riding and archery. It is said that he is not afraid at all. Emperor Jianzhang praises him very much. The little Cheng Ze likes to read and looks quite like his grandfather Luo Zhizheng.

You have to know that Luo Zhizheng was a child prodigy, a high-ranking official, an expert in both calligraphy and painting, and the Luo family was a family of prominent officials.

The three were talking in a nonchalant manner when the eunuch outside came in and said, "Princess, our prince has returned. I asked you to come back and say hello first."

Gao Xuance is back? How come so soon?

Yao Niang immediately smiled and said, "Okay, I know. Where is the prince now?"

"The prince has been summoned by the emperor and will probably return home soon." The young eunuch was also very happy.

They lived in the Prince Chen's Mansion. Whenever the family had any difficulties, they could ask the Princess Chen for help. She was kind, fair and strict, and everyone in the mansion liked her very much.

The most important thing is that Prince Chen likes the princess very much. The princess will definitely be happy when he says this.

Sure enough, even though Yao Niang was pregnant, when she heard that Gao Xuance had returned, she began to assign tasks. She asked the servants to prepare wine and food to welcome the prince, and also called the two children over.

Seeing this, Xu Qingrong and Mu Wantong left tactfully.

Mu Wantong returned to her own house. They all lived in the prince's residence, which was only a few steps away. Her life was coming to an end. Before, she could act calm in front of her sisters-in-law, but now she was curled up in bed.

Their Mu family was also from the royal palace, but because she was petite, she suffered too much trauma when giving birth to the dragon and phoenix fetus, so she had new symptoms. She was not like Luo Yaoniang who only cared about her own little piece of land. Even if she was not feeling well now, she would ask Zhenniang: "Have you sent the gift to Concubine Li? She is really spoiled now."

Whoever is favored, his words are particularly effective.

Her husband retreated like a turtle when he encountered a little difficulty, but she was not so easily defeated.

She saw everything going on from the sidelines. The second and third brothers were fighting each other fiercely, and Concubine Li's son was still young. Perhaps, this really was an opportunity.

As Zhenniang was taking the gift list, she heard someone say outside, "Princess, Madam Jia came over with some needlework, saying that you allowed her to eat the roasted leg of lamb yesterday."

"It's not a big deal." Mu Wantong shook her head.

Although this Jia is not young anymore, she is a bit greedy and does not care about favors. She seems to think that being raised in the mansion for free is good enough. She is always cautious and never competes for favors, which makes Mu Wantong like her very much.

Emotionally, she will not share her husband with anyone who does not compete with her for her favor. However, in life, she is still very generous and treats them quite well. There is nothing she can do about it, as she will never allow her husband to have other women.

Look at Prince Zhou. He is just a normal man with a concubine, a wife, and several maids, but his mansion is very lively. However, Princess Zhou has many tricks up her sleeve. She does her best to suppress others, but on the surface she has to pretend to be tolerant and act as the most virtuous one in front of the Queen.

Mu Wantong doesn't want this kind of superficial virtue. What she wants is the real benefit inside, and she is the only husband.

"I got some skins yesterday, and there is a yellow fox skin that suits Mrs. Jia's skin. Can you deliver it to her for me?" She decided to be nicer to Mrs. Jia.

Madam Zhen knew that this was the compensation from the Fourth Prince's wife, so she immediately took the order and left. Madam Shihui Jia, who was sent over by her, looked flattered and surprised: "Why bother you to send it over in person."

Madam Zhen smiled and said, "What's the big deal? Our princess always said that it was not easy for you to enter the palace. The palace has many rules and regulations. Even she herself has to greet you in the morning and evening, and manage the house. She never has time to rest. It's just that life is better with these people, and she doesn't want to treat you badly."

"Yes, yes. We all know that the princess is capable." Mrs. Jia smiled.

Seeing that Madam Jia was so interested, Madam Zhen also gave a rare reminder: "Our princess used to be the head of the county in Zhennan Palace, and then married the fourth prince. It is said that the marriage between two princes is very prestigious, but she never boasted about her status. You will understand in the future."

In fact, Madam Jia has been married for several years, and it is not her first time. Of course, she knows how protective this princess is. She can never compete with Mu Wantong, nor does she want to compete with Mu Wantong.

Life in the Zhong family was really hard. She had never expected that returning to the Zhong family from the Luo family would be like returning from heaven to hell. The daughters of the Zhong family all lived in the countryside of Fujian. There was a muddy road at the doorstep, and the mud on her feet could not be shaken off.

The Zhong family is obviously a family of officials, but they only care about their sons and not their daughters.

Before she left, the Luo family did not treat her badly but gave her 120 taels of silver. Yu had all her clothes and skirts from previous years given to her, and even sent a servant to take care of her.

But even so, Zhong's father's career was still completely hopeless. In the end, in order to maintain a living, she was called a young lady at home. She had to follow the adults in the family to do sewing and make ends meet at a young age, and even went to the Jia family when she was a little older.

The son of the Jia family was a little stupid, and she was originally going to marry the son of the Jia family, but an opportunity came by chance. Miss Jia eloped with someone, and she had to take over the matter of entering the palace.

No matter what, it was still good to be in the Fourth Prince's mansion. At least she had no worries about food and clothing, and had two servants. The Fourth Prince's wife was not a treacherous person. Apart from not competing with her for the Fourth Prince, she was quite kind and generous.

In fact, she has no interest in the Fourth Prince, at least not now. That Lin next door is too jumpy. She was treated very badly and is still lying in bed unable to get up. It's better for people to be honest.

Just like the Fourth Prince, just live in peace and don't fight for anything.

With the Fourth Prince around, their lives were easier; without the Fourth Prince, their lives were very difficult.

The two servants who served Mrs. Jia were hastily bought by the Jia family when she entered the palace, for fear that the secrets of the Jia family would be revealed. This was also the reason why Mrs. Jia could subdue them.

"Madam, when I went to the kitchen to get food today, I ran into someone from Prince Chen's mansion. They said Prince Chen was coming home today, so Princess Chen asked the kitchen to prepare a lot of dishes. The eunuch who served the dishes even received a double reward. He was so happy!"

"Princess Chen is so lucky. It turns out that a man like Prince Chen only loves her."

…

Mrs. Jia felt even more upset after hearing this. She originally thought that she had entered the palace and had no worries about food and clothing, which was already very good. However, compared with the real daughter of the Luo family, just look at what kind of life she lives.

Sometimes she wondered, the Luo family had raised her for so many years, could it be that they had no feelings for her at all? They knew that the Zhong family was such a bad family, but they still sent her back, and even ignored her for so many years. It was clearly the Luo family's fault.

She can still remember the dress she wore at Luo's house at that time, with butterflies embroidered on the hem. There were a hundred butterflies embroidered on the dress, dancing gracefully. It is said that the skirt took three years to embroider, and Yu specially asked a tailor to make it for her.

Later, she left and the skirt disappeared, just like her life. Many things she originally owned just disappeared.

In the Prince's Palace

While Gao Xuance was eating, he suddenly wanted to lie on Yao Niang's belly: "Did you fight again? I think this is another son."

"Stop talking nonsense, I like them all. Do you like sons more than daughters?" Yao Niang tilted her head and looked at him.

Gao Xuance shook his head: "As long as it's your child, I like it. If it's not your child, I don't care."

After saying this, Yao Niang felt a little embarrassed. Gao Xuance felt guilty towards her: "I hurried and finally got back. Alas, to be honest, sometimes I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about you."

"Is it true?" Yao Niang smiled and served him a bowl of soup.

"It's true." Gao Xuance thought, if he always looked so glamorous, it wouldn't be a big deal if all the women in the world liked him. But when he was at his lowest point, Yao Niang never despised him.

When he was in a bad situation in his life, his mother would abandon him, but Yao Niang would not.

He had always loved her, and now he could not bear to leave her side. Only when he saw Yao Niang did he know what it meant to relieve the pain of missing her.

When Yao Niang saw that he didn't eat and just kept looking at her, she pushed him and said, "Why aren't you eating? You fool."

"I'll drink the soup now." Gao Xuance drank a bowl of soup and looked at Yao Niang busying around. He felt that there was always someone waiting for him here.

At his age, there are countless temptations around him, some of them are genuine and some are fake, but he doesn't care about them all. There is only Yao Niang, only Yao Niang...

But he knew that if he told her, she would feel burdened.

Although he has not had much contact with Yao Niang for such a long time, he has gradually understood what kind of person she is. She will give to the people she cares about and will not care, but she is afraid of bearing too much love from others, as she will feel burdened by this.

Because the kindness she gives to others is something she can control freely, but she is forced to respond to the kindness others give her.

She may not love him, but she attaches great importance to family, probably because of her childhood. She cares a lot about her children and has feelings for her husband.

But he is greedy and what he wants is love.

Otherwise, she would be the same no matter which husband she had.

Yao Niang didn't know what her husband was thinking. When they finished their meal, washed up and went to bed, she quietly told him what she had taught Cheng Yun.

"I'm not sure whether the emperor listened to our Chengyun completely, but it is obvious that he used the King of Zhou to lead the army in person instead of him, which is like preferring a horse race to a horse appraisal. This is very risky. If the King of Zhou really wins the battle, his chances of winning will increase greatly. If that is the case, it means that God is helping him and he is indeed the chosen one. But if he fails, it means that he is really not capable." Yao Niang still explained the pros and cons.

This really shocked Gao Xuance. He never thought that this idea was actually proposed by Yao Niang. He looked at Yao Niang in disbelief and said, "I think it's a good idea. We in Dalin have always been very afraid of the Donghu. Last time, I only suppressed them temporarily. It's not easy to win a battle. Besides, I'm afraid that my second brother doesn't understand what kind of person our father is."

Yao Niang had been in the inner house and didn't know much, so she couldn't help but ask, "How is the emperor?"

In fact, to be fair, Emperor Jianzhang was good to his successor, and Yao Niang also thought he was a gentle emperor. It was because of such an emperor that the ministers were able to give full play to their abilities, which is the so-called "ruling without any effort".

"Forget it. I'm going to the west to conquer the Western Rong. My father can change three times a day. Most people can't resist it. He is fickle, easily gives up, and often has wild ideas." Gao Xuance also wanted to complain a few words.

Yao Niang exclaimed, "I just wanted the emperor to compare them so that your talent can be more prominent, but I didn't think that it would really bring bad luck to King Zhou."

Oh my God, didn’t she harm King Zhou?

Gao Xuance sneered: "Why don't you ever worry about me?"

He was vaguely unhappy. When Yao Niang first entered the Prince Zhou's palace to be a wet nurse in her previous life, someone told him that the Prince Zhou had a close relationship with her. Xu Qingrong didn't want her at first, but the Prince Zhou kept her on purpose.

But at that time, he was eager to leave, and had nothing to do with Luo Yaoniang. Besides, he couldn't give her what she wanted. He had more important things in his mind, so he didn't care.

But now, after hearing it in his ears, he couldn't help but say it.

Yao Niang seldom saw him like this. The Gao Xuance she knew now was always very considerate and even gentle to her. Sometimes Yao Niang would become addicted to him and unable to extricate herself.

Such negative emotions rarely appear in her eyes.

But I don’t know why she is more obsessed. Maybe this is the real Gao Xuance.

She wanted him to be his true self in front of her, instead of always trying to please her and treating her like a benefactor. Maybe, in his subconscious, he felt that she had seen his worst side, and in the end, she never remarried, and she used her body to shield him from others, and she was very kind to him many times.

In this environment of intrigue and deception, she really touched him, so he regarded her as a benefactor.

But real couples are not like this. They may quarrel, get bad-tempered and show their worst side to each other, and they will be the first to rush forward when the other person is in danger.

If they don't always accommodate each other, they are not a normal couple.

"Of course I'm not worried about you. I was so happy to hear that you were coming back. But King Zhou is your brother after all, whether in the past life or this life. It wouldn't be difficult for you to deal with him with your means, but you never did. I know you still have brotherly feelings for him."

"Stop being so cheesy."

But I have to admit that my wife is right.

He could not deny that King Zhou had always protected his younger brother's safety no matter what happened in his previous life.

Yao Niang suddenly said, "It's good that you talk like this now. I feel it's unreal that you always accommodate me like that. If you say that the emperor is like this, then King Zhou must be difficult to grasp. He is not like you, who is firm and has strong confidence in himself. King Zhou is very suspicious and has a fickle mood. I think the emperor will collapse before he is in trouble. He wanted to watch the fire from the other side before, but it may not be possible if he personally goes down. In this case, your chance is great."

Gao Xuance glanced at her and said, "You can be quite bad sometimes."

Yao Niang said without disguising, "Compared to letting others sit in that position, I want my husband to sit in that position more."

After saying that, she sighed again: "In fact, I think people shouldn't be like this. If people who have done good things don't get rewarded, then it's called God's blindness."

However, it is said that as soon as King Zhou led his army to Donghu, the military supervisor of Emperor Jianzhang came to the court and conveyed the emperor's will, asking everyone not to act rashly and to observe the situation before making a decision.

Emperor Jianzhang has always been like this. He originally wanted everyone to make a plan to attack Donghu, but later he felt that Donghu had strong soldiers and horses, and was not an ordinary person. If they did not win this battle, Dalin would be in trouble. Now the money in the national treasury can only be used for a quick victory, not a long-term fight.

The King of Zhou was no fool, he soon realized that the morale of the army had weakened, just as the saying goes, "At the beginning, the army is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted", which is a famous quote from Cao Gui in his discussion on war. Originally, everyone wanted to win in one go, but now they said they couldn't fight anymore and asked them to stay put for the time being.

They had made many plans on the way here, but now all of them were wasted.

What should he do at this time?

The staff brought by King Zhou proposed many solutions. The first one was of course to write a letter back to the emperor to explain the situation, to insist on fighting, and then to formulate a detailed strategy.

At this time, the King of Zhou suddenly asked them: "Did the King of Chen do the same back then?"

Although I am on the front line, I dare not act independently.

Someone said, "The Prince of Chen was also like this in the past. He was in a dilemma. Sometimes he would issue three secret orders a day, which was completely different. There were also civil officials who would scold him. The Prince of Chen would personally train the troops to boost morale, or fight some small battles first and lead the troops himself to reassure the emperor."

So, does the King of Zhou dare to lead his troops personally to show himself?

If you want the emperor's trust, it's not just lip service. Now it's not a father-son relationship, but a monarch-subject relationship.