wear it lord god

Chapter 2656 Being an Empress Isn't Easy 2
Yesterday, the person in question was so angry upon learning that the emperor was going to choose a concubine that they didn't eat dinner. They threw a tantrum and smashed many things. They cried in bed until midnight before finally drifting off to sleep.

That's why the face in the bronze mirror looked so haggard, and the eyelids were swollen.

Ha! Don't they realize that few emperors are truly faithful? Zhu Jianshen, who doted on Consort Wan, even tolerated her harming imperial heirs, yet he still had other concubines.

While Empress Dugu was alive, Emperor Wen of Sui, though without concubines, still had an affair once. After the empress's death, freed from restraint, he immediately indulged in unrestrained behavior.

If the original owner hadn't had three sons and two daughters, plus the Zhenguo Duke's mansion, the impeachment memorials from the ministers would have overwhelmed even the emperor's desk.

Xi Ning thought for a moment and then had someone bring her father-in-law in.

Not long after, in Yongshou Palace, Empress Dowager Dou was having breakfast with Emperor Liu Cheng.

The report from the eunuch they had sent surprised the two of them.

"She really said that?" The Emperor was incredulous. After sixteen years of marriage, he knew the Empress's temper all too well. She was throwing things and getting angry just yesterday, and she changed her mind overnight?

The eunuch knelt there, head bowed, and said, "If Her Majesty the Empress really said that, I dare not lie."

The empress sat in front of her dressing table, holding a small bronze mirror in one hand, looking at the corners of her eyes and mouth, her one-inch-long fingernails occasionally brushing against them.

The sunlight streaming through the latticed window made her appear dignified, but her voice carried a hint of languor: "I am so old."

The father-in-law smiled obsequiously: "Your Highness has not aged at all. This servant sees that Your Highness looks exactly the same as when you first married into the Crown Prince's residence. You have hardly changed at all."

"You're quite the smooth talker." The Empress seemed quite satisfied with the answer, and the eunuch could only force a smile.

The Empress looked in the mirror again and drawled, "Hmm~, Your Majesty should indeed fill the harem. It is my duty to ensure the royal family's prosperity. However, I have been feeling unwell recently, so I will not take charge of this matter. I will leave it to Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager to decide."

The emperor said he understood, then looked at the Empress Dowager and asked, "Mother, what do you think we should do?"

Empress Dowager Dou's lips curled up, still displaying that three parts kindness and three parts authority in a forced smile: "I didn't expect her to actually come to her senses. Since that's the case, let Consort Xiao handle it. I'll go with you to see what happens."

The Empress's meaning was clear: she did not want to participate in this selection of concubines, so whether the selected women were good or bad was none of her business.

That's fine too. After all that fuss, if we compromise and get it done, it's expected. If it doesn't, it'll seem like we did it on purpose.

The emperor naturally agreed, and then sent an imperial physician to the empress to check her pulse, and also sent someone to the storeroom to select some tonics to send over as a symbolic expression of concern.

When the imperial physician arrived, the empress was already dressed in plain clothes, leaning against a soft couch, flipping through a book.

Xining removed her elaborate palace attire, but the palace maids searched the entire wardrobe and found only her inner garment, which was relatively simple. Even the inner garment was made of fine silk and satin, so she had no choice but to wear it for now.

The imperial physician knelt and respectfully took her pulse: "The Empress may have developed an ailment from giving birth to the seventh prince. She needs to rest more. I will prescribe a recuperative formula for her to drink for a few days."

"Yes, thank you for your trouble." Xi Ning picked up the book again, and Qiu Shi asked the imperial physician to go outside to write a prescription.

The books were boring, the history books were alright, but the protagonist had been studying at a small private school in the mansion with the young masters since childhood, so he already knew a lot about the history of this world.

Qiu Shi brought over the prescription from the imperial physician. She took it and looked at it; it was all mild tonics that wouldn't kill her but wouldn't do any good either. It would be more effective to add some goji berries and angelica to chicken soup. She tucked the prescription into a book and handed it to Qiu Shi: "I'm not going to look at it anymore. Go find some contemporary vernacular stories."

Qiu Shi was taken aback for a moment, but then answered yes.

She sat up: "Accompany me for a stroll in the garden."

Qiu Shi helped her up, followed half a step behind, and walked outside.

The sun is shining brightly today; it's early April, a mild spring day. The garden is large, filled with various flowers. Even larger is the lotus pond outside, where only the growing lotus leaves are visible, not yet the blossoms. A stone path encircles the pond, surrounded by trees.

As Xi Ning walked, she thought about various palace dramas, and the more she walked, the more uneasy she felt.

Look how smooth this stone slab is... If it rains or if one of the concubines' beaded threads breaks and she slips on it, there's a high chance she'll bleed and miscarry.

This lotus pond is so big! The water in the middle is enough for more than a dozen boats to paddle in. In the height of summer, the lotus leaves are so lush and green. Paddling a small boat through the layers of lotus leaves, picking flowers and lotus pods, how poetic and picturesque... Ten people died tragically: two fell into a well, three hanged themselves, and four drowned in the lake.

No, no, we must eliminate any possibility of being framed. Even if we don't pin the blame on myself, the peace and tranquility of the household is a standard by which we judge the competence of the matriarch.

The emperor was reviewing memorials when, before he knew it, evening had fallen.

The personal eunuch Zhang Shanzhong softly reminded, "Your Majesty, it's time for dinner."

"Hmm~" Liu Cheng closed his sore eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a tired nasal sound.

Nine dishes and a soup were served. Upon seeing the steamed and roasted bear paw on the table, which was first steamed and then roasted and then drizzled with honey, Liu Cheng asked, "Does the Empress have any?"

"Of course it was sent." Zhang Shanzhong replied with a smile, "The bear sent by the Duke of Zhenguo, according to His Majesty's decree, the bear skin has been detanned and prepared as a birthday gift for the Empress Dowager. Of the four bear paws, one was given to the Duke of Zhenguo's residence in the capital, one to the Empress Dowager, and one to the Empress. I reckon they're all eating them now. Half of the bear meat was distributed among the officials and the various palaces, and the other half is being kept for later use during ancestral worship if nothing better is available."

The ancestral worship ceremony will take place during the Ghost Festival in July, which is three months away. The meat will definitely need to be processed, either by salting, smoking, or air-drying.

Bears are nothing special, but a bear this big is truly rare. Its entire body is dark brown, unlike ordinary black bears, and the bear paws on this table are twice the size of ordinary bear paws. The Duke of Zhenguo dispatched over a hundred men and dug more than a dozen traps to capture it.

They were brought in alive, but they were too ferocious, killing and injuring many animal trainers. They were also incredibly strong, able to scale walls taller than a person and smash through iron fences with a single blow. They were rumored to be ferocious beasts, and keeping them alive was considered unlucky, so they had to be killed.

Last winter was extremely cold, and the coastal waters were frozen. When spring came, many strange wild animals emerged.

Liu Cheng took a bite, found it tasted good, and continued eating. Halfway through, he casually asked, "What did the Empress prepare today?"

"Her Majesty the Empress ordered people to find some storybooks and sent people to the Imperial Textile Bureau to order several sets of cotton summer and autumn clothes of various colors. She also instructed the Imperial Kitchen to stop serving rare and exotic animals, and to simply serve ordinary chicken, duck, or mutton with good taste."

Liu Cheng put down his chopsticks, somewhat confused. The Empress had been raised in luxury since childhood, wearing only fine silks and eating only the finest delicacies; she also sought to gain a reputation for wisdom, reading only classics and historical texts. Was this really the Empress?

"And another thing," Zhang Shanzhong's lips curled up even higher, as if he was trying to suppress a laugh, "The Empress has been leading people to repair the courtyard all day."

2025 has passed, and 2026 has arrived. Another year has finally come to an end. Wishing everyone happiness and all your wishes come true.