Chapter 67: Guilty
The sedan chair swayed until it arrived at Wu Miaosu's palace. There were not many flowers in Wu Miaosu's palace, only green plants. It looked fresh and elegant, with only the fragrance of grass and trees.
Zhu Yuhuan saw that there were only Concubine Cao, Concubine Zhao, Zhu Youtong and the palace servants in the courtyard. Concubine Zhao lived in a side hall, which was normal here, but Hu Shanxiang was not there.
Zhu Yuhuan couldn't help but feel a little confused, and asked his sister, "Where's Mom? I heard that she arrived a long time ago."
Zhu Youtong also looked a little nervous and said, "Empress Wu seemed very scared. Mother was worried, so she went in to accompany her."
Zhu Yuhuan suddenly realized and said, "So that's how it is..."
As Empress Dowager Zhang said, it was Wu Miaosu's first time giving birth, and she must have been very nervous. It would have been great if she had someone to accompany her.
Concubine Cao smiled awkwardly and said, "I've never given birth before, so I can't help you much. The midwife also said the delivery room is bloody, and it would be a big taboo for Your Majesty to go in..."
Zhu Yuhuan could understand and nodded slightly, saying, "Don't worry, Concubine. There are many people in there. It's very thoughtful of you to come to Empress Wu's palace to wait for her."
Compared with the day when Concubine Sun gave birth, Wu Miaosu's palace was deserted today. Only two concubines who she got along well with came to visit.
The two sisters sat in the room, listening to the faint moans of Wu Miaosu. This time, Zhu Youtong couldn't sleep. She stood up and sat down, and couldn't help but lean over to look at the delivery room. Finally, she couldn't help but throw herself into Zhu Yuhuan's arms and said aggrievedly, "Sister, what's wrong with Empress Wu? Why hasn't my brother been born yet?"
Zhu Yuhuan rubbed her little face and comforted her, "You can't rush the birth. Have you forgotten that you fell asleep waiting for the birth of Zhen'er?"
Zhu Youtong had forgotten about this long ago, but only just now did he remember it and said, "That's how it is..."
Zhu Yuhuan was still young when Zhu Youtong was born. She woke up from a nap and found that she had a younger sister. Therefore, she had only witnessed Concubine Sun giving birth twice. However, because of this, Zhu Yuhuan was not as frightened as her sister. However, she liked to think too much, and after thinking too much, she felt that giving birth was really not a human thing.
What's that saying? No marriage, no children, and eternal youth. No giving birth, no raising, and eternal longevity. This is the wisdom of modern people, no worse than that of our ancestors. It's truly wise.
Several people were sitting there, their minds all on Wu Miaosu, when the curtain was suddenly opened from the outside, and a palace servant hurriedly said, "Your Majesty has arrived!"
Zhu Yuhuan complained to himself that it was no wonder his eyelids were twitching, it turned out that his father was here to pick peaches again.
Zhu Zhanji was a man who never came to visit someone unless there was something important. If Empress Dowager Zhang didn't come, Zhu Zhanji probably wouldn't even bother to go through the motions, so why would he suddenly come here?
Zhu Yuhuan pondered for a moment and had a guess. Zhu Zhanji was most likely thinking that if Wu Miaosu gave birth to a son, he might be sent to Renshou Palace to replace Zhu Qizhen.
After all, Concubine Sun had spent a long time trying to raise the eldest prince, using both soft and hard tactics to get him back to her. Zhu Zhanji fell for it again, and since other people's lives didn't matter to them anyway, it made sense to do so.
Zhu Zhanji looked around and asked, "Where is the queen?"
Concubine Cao replied, "Her Majesty was worried about Her Majesty the Virtuous Consort, so she went to the delivery room to accompany her."
Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but sigh, "The Queen is too kind to you. Sometimes even I can't compare to her."
Zhu Yuhuan sneered in his heart. If he was nice to the concubines, he would have a sister to talk and chat with. But if he was nice to you, an old man, would he get any benefit?
Concubine Cao didn't know how to respond, but Concubine Zhao, after a moment's hesitation, said, "Your Majesty treats me and the other concubines well in order to maintain peace in the harem. This is dedication to Your Majesty. If the harem is not well managed and is filled with chaos every day, then that would be disloyalty to Your Majesty."
Zhu Yuhuan gave Zhao Cairen a thumbs up in his heart.
In the past, this job was always done by Wu Miaosu. Now that there is someone who understands it, she feels relieved.
Zhu Zhanji was stunned when he heard this, and felt that what Zhao Cairen said made some sense.
Although the Hu family had Hu Shanwei, a top female official who had once been a palace lady, she had never caused him any dirty trouble, let alone messed up his harem like a fool.
Although there had been no further disputes between the emperor and the empress from last year to now, Zhu Zhanji was indeed deeply shocked by Hu Shanxiang's rare toughness and stubbornness that day. He thought he knew Hu Shanxiang quite well, and that she was nothing more than the kind of virtuous wife valued by the elders, who would imitate the ancient virtuous empresses in giving advice from time to time.
But after the quarrel that day, Zhu Zhanji thought about it carefully and realized that Hu Shanxiang did not lack her own personality, but she just never showed it to him.
Now it seems that she has given all her heart to the concubines in the palace. No wonder even Concubine Sun couldn't say a bad word about the Queen.
Zhu Zhanji also felt a little uncomfortable. He was a favored child of heaven, born to enjoy the admiration of all people. What could he not get? Why did the queen think so highly of herself and treat him like nothing?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
