wear it lord god

Chapter 2673 Being an Empress Isn't Easy 19
A few days later, the wives of Grand Tutor, Grand Preceptor, and Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince invited Xi Ningxuan to the palace for a chat.

Not long after, the Crown Prince, Prince Wen, and all the legitimate children of the Three Dukes of the same age entered the clan school run by the Grand Tutor for half a year.

The Grand Tutor sent the most people to this banquet, bringing all seven of his granddaughters, regardless of their looks or age. The youngest was only three years old. Xi Ning felt that the Grand Tutor was incredibly generous and proactive.

However, in terms of clan schools, the Grand Tutor's mansion was the best equipped, and it even invited great Confucian scholars to teach.

Therefore, the Grand Tutor would send teachers to local areas, and the Grand Preceptor and the Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince would go there to give lectures on policy essays and the like whenever they had time.

The purpose is obvious. First, the future crown princes and princesses will be chosen from among the clan school, and second, they can gather a group of people they can trust.

By having the children of the three dukes study together and spend time together, it becomes much clearer what kind of people they are and whether they are compatible. Since they are all legitimate children, they have many opportunities.

When the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the Three Dukes and their families will be his greatest support.

After arranging things for the two sons of the deceased, he would then have to focus his attention on the palace.

Previously, when Consort Lü was pregnant, Emperor Cheng was very pleased and promoted her to the rank of Jieyu, bestowing upon her many gifts.

When Consort Bo became pregnant, good things came in pairs. Liu Cheng was very happy and promoted her to the rank of Beauty, bestowing upon her many gifts.

When Consort Chen became pregnant, Emperor Cheng was very pleased. He promoted Consort Chen to the rank of Jieyu and bestowed upon her many gifts.

Soon after, even the newly arrived concubines in the palace received good news, with one or two coming to report the good news every day.

Liu Cheng...

The gifts were given, but the rank wasn't increased. We'll add it after the child is born.

Now, just over two months later, seven or eight of the 27 selected women are pregnant. Xining's newly ordered Lantian jade bracelets and brocade are almost insufficient, so she quickly ordered more to be delivered.

She went to the Empress Dowager to discuss it.

"Another selection of concubines?!" The Empress Dowager was taken aback. She used to absolutely refuse, and would make a huge fuss whenever she heard about adding people to the palace. Now, however, she has changed her mind and is incredibly enthusiastic about it.

Xi Ning nodded solemnly: "That's right. Most of the newly arrived ladies-in-waiting are pregnant and cannot serve His Majesty. We should not hold another selection. This matter should be left to Consort Xiao. She has handled it once before, so she will be very skilled at it again."

The Empress Dowager thought about it and agreed that it was a good thing. The morning had just begun and there was already good news: another concubine had been chosen. If this continued, the Emperor couldn't be left without anyone to serve him.

Then Xining spoke of the many pregnant women in the palace: "Since giving birth to An, my health has been poor, and the imperial physician said I need to rest for a long time. But the imperial heir is hard to come by, and we have so much good news, we can't let it all go to waste. So I came up with a way to both allow more imperial heirs to be born and keep the palace expenses from increasing."

The Empress Dowager became interested: "Tell me about it."

The next day, all the pregnant concubines moved into Chuxiu Palace.

Those who originally lived there but were not pregnant were all moved out to other palaces.

Chuxiu Palace was not only staffed with nannies and maids of impeccable character, but also with experienced midwives and female physicians. The gynecological experts from the Imperial Medical Bureau took turns working twelve hours a day.

Not only that, there are female teachers who teach music, chess, calligraphy and painting every day, female doctors and midwives also teach pregnant women about precautions, the study is filled with carefully selected books suitable for pregnant women from the library, and the palace dancers perform a song and dance every day at the appointed time.

Thus, every pregnant woman, regardless of her status, was accompanied by two maids who would help her walk. When they saw other women, they had to keep a distance of three meters.

Meals became simpler. The food that Liu Cheng had eaten was selected from the dishes that the pregnant woman could eat, and placed on the table for the serving maids to fetch.

If there are any medicines for preventing miscarriage or for warming the body, they should be boiled together and distributed to ensure quality and safety. Although Consort Xiao and Consort Cui, who could no longer have children, were seething with hatred, even they couldn't enter the Chuxiu Palace. The people in the Chuxiu Palace strictly investigated three generations of their families; those with relatives had already been sent to a safe place, making them very difficult to detect.

Even if it is discovered, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor have decreed that if it is revealed beforehand, there will be no crime; if no consequences have occurred afterward, the entire family will be beheaded; if it causes a concubine to miscarry, the person will be executed by slow slicing and their three clans will be exterminated.

No one dared to trade the lives of the three races for money; they simply couldn't get involved.

As the winter wind blew and snowflakes fell, the Crown Prince and the other princes returned to the palace after completing their six-month studies. The second batch of young women were summoned to the palace. Meanwhile, in the Chuxiu Palace, there were already twenty pregnant women.

The first three to become pregnant, Lü Jieyu, Bo Meiren, and Chen Jieyu, will soon be due to give birth.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the silver bones and charcoal burned brightly in Qianqiu Palace.

Xining, dressed in a winter coat with fur trim, leaned against the daybed, with two thick cushions behind her and a hand warmer in her hands.

Prince Ji leaned against the other side of the low table, cracking open a handful of melon seeds, completely relaxed.

She spent a great deal of effort to correct the Crown Prince's habit of bowing and scraping at the drop of a hat.

On the other side were the second son, Wen, and the eldest daughter, Princess Jiahe, who were playing a dice game with some loose silver and copper coins.

“Ji’er, you’ll be sixteen after the New Year, it’s time to arrange a marriage.” Xi Ning yawned while warming her hands with a hand warmer: “You can choose one principal wife and two concubines from among the three legitimate daughters of the emperor. I’ll have your father issue the decree when spring arrives.”

The crown prince was taken aback, spat out the melon seed shells, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Mother, I am still young."

"Little brat!" He cursed directly. Waiting until he was eighteen to get married was just waiting to die. Only by arranging a marriage early would the three dukes work hard to support him, determined to make him the future father-in-law of the emperor.

Seeing the prince's surprised expression, it seems I need to reason with him.

"These past few years have been marked by natural disasters and man-made calamities, resulting in a population decline. Your father has gone to great lengths to increase the family's numbers, holding one imperial concubine selection after another. As the crown prince, you must set an example. If you feel you're too young, you can get married first, spend time talking, playing chess, and having meals together. It's cold now, and being together at night will keep you warm. I refuse to believe that you'll remain single for the next six months, going your own way and not finding anyone you like."

The second son immediately exclaimed, "Crown Prince really likes the second eldest daughter of the Grand Tutor's family. Sister Peiyao is beautiful and eloquent. Every time Crown Prince sees her, his eyes light up."

"Tch~" The prince's face turned red, and he glared at him, but this did not have any effect.

Then he managed to squeeze out, "It's all up to Father and Mother to decide."

"I also hope you're satisfied. After all, marriage is a big deal; it's about spending your whole life together." Xi Ning asked with a smile, "You're only interested in one girl. What about the others? Anyone who's interested in you is fine too."

The second son, Wen, immediately sold out his older brother. He secretly slipped the third daughter of the Grand Tutor's family into his purse, and the fourth daughter of the Grand Protector's family always made extra food for everyone. The eldest daughter of the Grand Preceptor's family was already engaged, but he immediately stopped and came to attend class with her. He kept creating chance encounters and getting close to the two of them.

The scene was so lively, it was even more interesting than a storybook. The palace maids and nannies standing by couldn't help but laugh from time to time.

Xi Ning had a better idea of ​​what to do: "Then the second daughter of the Grand Tutor's family will be the principal wife, and you can choose one from the family of the Grand Tutor and the Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince as a concubine. There's no rush, the decree will be issued after the New Year, so you can think about it carefully."

The Crown Prince replied, "It's entirely up to Father and Mother to decide." But judging from the smile on his lips, he seemed quite satisfied with this choice of his principal wife.

Then he turned to his second son, Wen'er, and asked, "Wen'er, what about you? You'll be of marriageable age next year. Are there any women you like in the Three Dukes' mansions?"

With a quick flick of his wrist, the dice rolled to the ground.

The crown prince laughed heartily, "You didn't expect this, did you? You can't escape either."