"Enough!"
Seeing Consort Ning becoming more and more presumptuous, the Empress was angered.
"I am the one in the central palace, my words are the imperial edict!"
She swept her phoenix eyes across the concubines sitting below, stating firmly: "Consort Yin, sit down!"
With the Empress's support, Consort Yin regained her confidence and sat down neatly.
Consort Ning glanced at her and looked at the Empress with a cold voice: "Since the Empress's palace can't accommodate me, then I don't need to stay here and watch you all put on a performance of sisterly affection."
Arrogant as she was, after snapping at the Empress, Consort Ning turned around to leave immediately.
However, she had not taken two steps when she suddenly heard the Empress retching, and then heard Consort Shu say:
"Your Majesty, you must not get angry, be careful of hurting the fetus."
Upon hearing this, the entire hall was in an uproar.
Consort Ning's feet froze as if filled with lead.
She stiffly turned her head back and looked at the Empress on the phoenix seat pretending to retch.
The concubines began chattering eagerly,
"Hurt the fetus? Don't tell me Her Majesty has good news?"
"That's right, look, today Her Majesty didn't even drink her usual golden needle, only a cup of warm water in front of her."
"When is the happy event? Her Majesty didn't tell us so we could also bask in the joy!"
Faced with the influx of concern, the Empress remained quite calm.
She smiled and took a sip of water to suppress the urge to retch, then said,
"The reason I asked you all to come today is to tell you this. I do have a three-month pregnancy."
Three months?
Song Zhao glanced at Noble Consort Xiao. Her expression clearly flickered for a moment.
Counting it out, her pregnancy was also over three months...
So the Empress had gotten pregnant at almost the same time as her?
If that was the case, the Empress must have kept it steady, concealing it for three full months until the fetus was stable before announcing it.
Not just Song Zhao, but most of the concubines probably realized this.
But the Empress gave them a reasonable explanation,
"Actually, I was muddled. My health has always been poor, my monthly cycles irregular. With many trivial affairs to attend to in the palace, coming and going, I neglected it even more. Please don't laugh, but I only found out about this news last night when I asked the imperial physician to take my pulse."
How could the Empress have forgotten?
If she gave birth to Xiao Jingheng's first child, and it happened to be a boy, this child would not only be the crown prince, but also an honored child, with an extremely noble status.
He would probably have already taken half of the seat of Crown Prince into his swaddling clothes as soon as he was born.
Although the concubines acquiesced to the Empress's words, whether genuine or fake, smiles couldn't stop spreading across their faces.
Only one person was different. Consort Ning had a straightforward temperament, her likes and dislikes clearly written on her face.
She looked plain-faced at the Empress for a while, her gaze finally falling on her flat belly, "What woman doesn't have children? Why are you all rushing to congratulate? Wait until the Empress safely gives birth to the imperial heir, that will be the time you flatter up to congratulate her!"
What was originally a joyous event was ruined by Consort Ning's words, and everyone's expressions darkened.
Consort Yin scolded loudly, "Consort Ning! How dare you curse the central palace!"
Consort Ning scoffed disdainfully, "What do you know, you cheap thing? I'm not cursing the Empress, on the contrary, I'm sincerely caring about her. Childbirth itself is a brush with death for women, and with the Empress's heart condition, giving birth will be going through mortal danger."
She saluted the Empress slightly, watching the scene as if it were a play and sneered coldly, "This concubine looks forward to the Empress's safe delivery of mother and child!"
After making that sarcastic remark filled with innuendo, Consort Ning strode away arrogantly under everyone's gaze.
"So disrespectful of superiors and inferiors, no wonder His Majesty has tired of her!"
The concubines criticized Consort Ning's impropriety, and began to comfort the Empress again.
However, the Empress did not get angry again because of Consort Ning.
She said calmly, "No one understands my health better than I do. If fate looks kindly upon me, I will deliver safely on my own. But if fate is unwilling to fulfill my wish..."
A fleeting sadness flashed through her eyes as she unconsciously clenched her fists, speaking firmly:
"Even if it kills me, I will give birth to an heir for His Majesty."
Consort Yin quickly said, "Your Majesty must not say such things..."
Consort Shu also said, "Yes, this is a joyous event to begin with. Your fortune will surely protect you and the child to safely deliver."
The mood in the Phoenix Concubine Palace reached an unprecedented high that day.
Later, Xiao Jingheng also went and was very happy to hear about the Empress's pregnancy. Not content with rewarding her with the best things, he also said that at the end of the year he would personally accompany all the concubines there to pray for the Empress's safe delivery of mother and child.
Song Zhao watched as blissful smiles spread across the Empress's face and somehow, she felt a little heartache.
The women in the harem were undeserving to begin with.
She thought: If I were in her place instead, knowing that giving birth this time might endanger my life, yet my husband was still fully delighted for me to give birth, how would I feel?
It turned out that even as the mother of the nation and Xiao Jingheng’s wife, in the end, the Empress's life mattered less than the mere title of a legitimate heir. How ironic.
*
Compared to the excitement in the Empress's palace, the once bustling Yonghe Palace now appeared unusually bleak.
Consort Ning sat alone in the palace on a camphor wood chair carved with phoenix patterns.
This chair was bestowed on her by Xiao Jingheng.
She was also the only concubine in the entire palace, apart from the Empress, who could have phoenix pattern decorations.
She caressed the phoenix pattern on the chair in fascination, memories of sweet nothings Xiao Jingheng used to whisper to her in their times of affection flooding into her mind.
Thinking of it, her eyes brimmed red.
A glimpse from the corner of her eye showed the wood seemed to be discolored and faded. Consort Ning immediately became anxious and shouted loudly,
“Ying Xiang! How do you do things? The color is fading already, go get some pine oil to moisturize it!”
The one who stumbled in hastily to respond turned out to be palace maid Qiu Lan instead.
“Please don’t be angry, My Lady. I’ll go now.”
Seeing her instead of Ying Xiang, Consort Ning suddenly realized that Ying Xiang was gone...
Ying Xiang had served her since the age of six for over ten years. She served her wholeheartedly.
Now she had died at the hot springs villa. Consort Ning couldn’t even see her for the last time, much less give her a proper funeral.
Seeing tears shimmering in Consort Ning’s eyes, Qiu Lan carefully comforted, “My Lady...”
“What are you still dawdling around for!” Consort Ning suddenly glanced up and glared at Qiu Lan resentfully, "Get out and do what you're supposed to do!"
Qiu Lan was so frightened that she almost fell over as she scrambled out like her life depended on it.
Shortly after she left, while Consort Ning was still brooding alone, she heard movement outside the door again and scolded without even lifting her head,
"Didn’t I tell you to get lost and do your job? Do those two pieces of flesh on your cheeks no longer work?"
"Why is my sister so angry?"
Hearing Consort Yun's voice, only then did Consort Ning lift her head and glare at her, still sounding displeased. "What are you doing here?"
Consort Yun cautiously closed the door and lowered her voice while standing beside Consort Ning, pretending to whisper secretly,
"I know sister is upset about the Empress’s pregnancy. But isn’t this the perfect opportunity for sister to take revenge? I’ve just used up my share of fragrant powder here, so I’ll take some more back today. During your trip to the hot springs resort with His Majesty these days, the Empress has been quite intimate with me. I'll just pester her everyday, make sure she can't carry to full term before her heart condition acts up and she miscarries!"
Consort Ning shot her a sideways glance. For some reason, she felt a few degrees more disgusted by her than before.
When the Empress didn't have a child, she always equivocated and refused over and over at her attempts to harm the Empress.
Now when she heard the Empress was pregnant, she even eagerly took the initiative herself?
Consort Ning was silent for a moment, then indifferently said, "Never mind, don't bother then."
"Don't bother?" Consort Yun looked completely baffled. "You've always suspected the Empress had something to do with your miscarriage back then. Now there's finally a good opportunity to avenge your unjustly dead child, yet you are..."
“Of course I hate her!” Consort Ning’s emotions suddenly became agitated, her eyes wide open as she said furiously: “I hate her so much I want to skin and debone that cheap woman and throw her into a pot to be fried into scraps! But...but...”
She was initially full of hatred,
But I don't know why, her tone gradually weakened,
There were tears welling up in her dim eyes as she stroked the phoenix pattern on the chair and said with grief:
“But her child is also the Emperor's child.”
"How could I let the Emperor be heartbroken..."
