Since the Empress and Noble Consort Xiao gave birth to consecutive children, the most favored person in the harem was only Song Zhao.
Even though she was pregnant and unable to share the bed, Xiao Jingheng would make time every day to visit and occasionally stay overnight at the Changle Palace.
However, he adhered to the rules and did not force Song Zhao to engage in intimate activities during her pregnancy, despite her being six months along and the fetus being stable.
Song Zhao understood that Xiao Jingheng's kindness towards her carried with it certain high expectations for the imperial successor in her womb.
If Song Zhao could give birth to a son, even without the support of her maternal family, her noble status as the mother of a prince would be enough for her to aspire to a position among the imperial consorts. It wouldn't be a difficult task.
As for the Empress,
she had been heartbroken for a long time after learning that she would never be able to bear children in her lifetime.
During the past half month, aside from Xiao Jingheng and the Empress Dowager, she shut out all the consorts who came to visit her.
However, Xiao Jingheng only visited her twice.
The first time was to comfort her emotions, and the second time was to name the little princess.
Xiao Jingheng named the princess 'Princess Jinghe' and promised the Empress that Princess Jinghe would never be married off to an external prince. He wanted the princess to stay by the Empress's side as a source of comfort.
As for Noble Consort Xiao's son,
let alone giving him a name, Xiao Jingheng hadn't even looked at him once since his birth. It was as if he didn't have a son.
Looking at it this way, he wasn't neglecting the Empress compared to Noble Consort Xiao.
However, despite this, the Empress still spent her days in sorrow.
She didn't blame anyone but herself, feeling unfortunate that as the Empress, she couldn't give birth to a legitimate son for Xiao Jingheng.
Xiao Jingheng advised her, "Regardless, you are my Empress. You have suffered from a heart condition, and you risked your life to give birth to a princess for me. I will always remember this favor."
The Empress tightly held Xiao Jingheng's hand, tears welling up in her eyes, and said:
"As the Emperor's wife, it is my duty to bear children for the Emperor. I... cough, cough, cough..."
After being treated for so long, the Empress still appeared very weak.
Whenever her emotions became slightly agitated, she would cough repeatedly while clutching her chest.
Coincidentally, at this moment, Judge Chu arrived to check the Empress's pulse, and Xiao Jingheng immediately had him brought in.
After examining her pulse, Xiao Jingheng asked him, "Why does the Empress's condition still appear to be unstable?"
Judge Chu replied, "Empress, you had a premature birth and suffered from excessive bleeding, which caused a significant loss of vitality. Combined with your preexisting heart condition, after going through all this, your health is not as good as before. You'll need careful recuperation in the future."
Xiao Jingheng then said, "You have been responsible for the Empress's health all along, and her heart condition has improved under your care over these years. I trust your medical skills, so please continue to take good care of the Empress."
Another four or five days passed, and the Empress still claimed illness, refusing to receive visits from the consorts in the Six Palaces.
In the afternoon of this day, right after the Empress took her medicine, she saw Shuang Ruo enter with a secretive smile on her face, and she respectfully said to her:
"Your Majesty, the Empress, this morning the Emperor was furious."
"What happened?"
"The Ning family achieved a victory in the northern frontier, and the Emperor intended to reward them by granting them Ying City as their fiefdom. However, Ning Bochuan, that ambitious person, was not satisfied and dared to ask the Emperor for Chongling, a border area near Ying City!"
Upon hearing this, the Empress was greatly shocked and sat up abruptly from her warm seat.
"Chongling? That is the place where our ancestors made their mark. Has Ning Bochuan gone mad?"
Shuang Ruo replied, "Great achievements can make people arrogant. So the Emperor couldn't maintain his composure and his face turned pale, but he didn't reprimand Ning Bochuan. He only said that this matter will be discussed later."
The Ning family is full of skilled and brave warriors, and they have indeed achieved significant military exploits during the Qi Dynasty.
Although Ning Bochuan is somewhat proud, he is ultimately loyal.
So the Empress thought, perhaps there is another hidden motive behind his request for Chongling?
"I remember that Chongling is adjacent to Zhuyin Country, which has been quite restless lately. Ning Bochuan asking the Emperor for Chongling might be a plan to deploy troops and set up defenses there, taking advantage of the frequent military triumphs of the Qi Dynasty to capture Zhuyin as well."
Shuang Ruo pondered for a moment and said, "According to Your Majesty's words, can we consider Ning Family's actions as loyalty to the country?"
"Ah," the Empress sneered, "Whether he is loyal or disloyal, it's not for us to decide. It depends on how the Emperor thinks. Sometimes loyalty and betrayal are determined by the Emperor's whim."
She caressed the phoenix-patterned golden incense burner on the small table, contemplated for a while, and then said:
"Go and deliver a message to my father, urging him to win over some court officials and offer more advice and persuasion to the Emperor."
Shuang Ruo was momentarily stunned, "Persuasion?"
The Empress continued, "Of course, it is to persuade the Emperor to grant Chongling to the Ning family. Ning Bochuan has made great contributions to the Qi Dynasty, pacifying internal and external troubles. He is indeed a renowned general of the Qi Dynasty. Our prosperity today is thanks to his protection. Therefore, whatever he asks for, we must give it serious consideration."
Shuang Ruo understood immediately.
The Empress intended to take advantage of the situation and push the Ning family into an irreversible abyss.
Chongling is close to Zhuyin Country, and the Ning family's request for Chongling may be seen as a convenient way to deploy troops and genuinely aim to capture the restless bordering state for the court.
Xiao Jingheng would certainly consider this aspect as well.
However, if, during his consideration, waves of court officials continuously offered advice and urged him to grant Chongling to the Ning family, Xiao Jingheng would inevitably become suspicious and speculate that the Ning family was behind these court officials' persuasion.
As an emperor, he needed mighty generals to help him stabilize the country, but he also feared that these mighty generals might rebel and rise up against him overnight, catching him off guard.
The Empress's actions aimed to make Xiao Jingheng even more wary of the Ning family and bring the suppression of the Ning family to the forefront of the agenda.
Shuang Ruo cunningly smiled and said, "I understand what to do."
"Cough... Cough... Cough..."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Empress started coughing violently.
She tightly clutched her chest and clothing, appearing as if she could hardly catch her breath.
"I feel extremely unwell. Quickly fetch the imperial physician!" she exclaimed.
At the same time, news of Xiao Jingheng's anger during the previous dynasty had also reached Consort Chen's ears through Liu Yue.
Upon hearing the whole story, Consort Chen immediately felt uneasy.
"Has father gone mad? Chongling is the birthplace of the ancestral emperor. Why does he want that place from the emperor? It's completely baseless, and yet he wants the emperor to speculate about his hidden motives..."
Restlessly pacing back and forth within the palace, Consort Chen murmured to herself from time to time.
"Our family has always achieved great military exploits, and the emperor has some degree of wariness towards father. This time, father has truly gone too far."
Liu Yue held a jade fan and followed closely behind Consort Chen, fanning her to keep her cool.
"Don't worry too much, Your Highness. Master is a military man, and he probably didn't think of all those twists and turns. Chongling is closest to Zhuyin Country, and if Master obtains that territory, it would facilitate military deployments. Master is loyal to the country, so I believe the emperor won't suspect anything."
"If he didn't suspect, he wouldn't be angry!"
Consort Chen glared at Liu Yue, snatching the fan from her hand and shaking it irritably.
"What's the use of saying all this? The key is how the emperor perceives this matter. The emperor hasn't rushed to deal with Zhuyin, but father is getting anxious first? Isn't he exceeding his boundaries as a subject and trying to take the emperor's place?"
The more Consort Chen thought about it, the more unsettled she became. She hurriedly urged Liu Yue.
"Go and prepare paper and pen. Write down everything I say. We must send a letter to father, asking him to explain his intentions regarding Chongling to the emperor, so that the emperor won't misunderstand him."
[Three updates today, going crazy as usual.]
