wear it lord god

Chapter 2677 Being an Empress Isn't Easy 23
After midnight, the Empress Dowager returned to Yongshou Palace. As Empress, Xi Ning accompanied Liu Cheng to offer sacrifices to their ancestors.

After the ancestral worship ceremony, the emperor returned to Changqiu Palace for a short rest. At the crack of dawn, he was to receive the families of officials from the capital. The emperor went to the court to receive the officials' congratulations.

Then came the palace banquet. In fact, the palace banquet only had a limited number of dishes. At that time, there was no trade with the Western Regions, nor had the emperor gone to Southeast Asia. The emperor had just climbed out of the Nine Tripods of Food, and there were only a dozen or so dishes in total. Even stir-frying had not yet been invented.

Even if the vegetables are cut nicely and the meat contains more game, they are usually served cold or lukewarm.

Men were afraid of being poisoned, and women were afraid of being impolite, so they used it very little. They mostly watched the song and dance performances and, when toasting, uttered flattering words like "Your Majesty is wise and mighty" and "The world is peaceful and prosperous."

And so the New Year passed by in a lively and bustling manner.

By March, the Empress Dowager was frantically going through the lists of candidates for the imperial concubine selection sent from all over the country. It was said that in order to prevent pregnant women from entering the palace before their children were to be selected, several experienced matrons and female physicians would be added to the screening process.

Xining had told everyone to keep their mouths shut, but it's hard to say whether the matter has leaked out of the palace. Sometimes, things not recorded in official history are covered in unofficial accounts.

Consort Xiao could have been promoted to Imperial Noble Consort through the imperial concubine selection, but now it's all over. She will be confined for half a year and will probably be released when the selection ends.

When the time came, Cui Zhaorong would be promoted to Zhaoyi for her meritorious management of Chuxiu Palace. Overwhelmed with gratitude, Cui Zhaoyi continued to use her family's money to support herself, striving to be promoted to Imperial Concubine the following year.

Consort Lü was promoted two ranks to become Consort Lü Zhaoyi because she gave birth to a prince and assisted in managing the Chuxiu Palace.

Cui Zhaorong was initially quite happy about her promotion, but when she saw that Consort Lü had given birth to a prince and was only contributing her time and effort in the Chuxiu Palace without spending any money, she suddenly felt unhappy again.

Two other concubines who had given birth to princes were also promoted in rank: Consort Qian was promoted to Consort Qian, and Lady Bo was promoted to Consort Bo, both advancing one rank. The entire palace was filled with joy.

Xining ordered his men to send gifts, one hundred taels of silver and a longevity gold lock to each person.

Sending clothes is risky; you might worry about something being added or laced in them and burning them as soon as you deliver them. Even if they don't burn, they'll just sit in the back of a drawer, and you never know when you'll ever use them. So, it's better to send gold or silver—it's practical and impressive.

After thinking for a moment, she ordered Qiu Shi to order forty more of the same gold locks.

Autumn harvest...

No, Your Majesty, will you be able to use it all?

But considering there were still over a dozen pregnant women in Chuxiu Palace, plus the unknown number of new women entering the palace this time, Qiu Shi hesitated, then said nothing, and went to the Sizhen department to place the order according to the required number.

When the Empress Dowager learned of this, she also ordered someone to place an order with the Imperial Jewelry Department for forty gold Ruyi lockets.

The goldsmiths in the Imperial Jewelry Department...

In March, we didn't make any jewelry, just kept clanging and banging on gold locks and lock plates.

Before the talent show, Xining took the opportunity to decide on the candidates for Crown Princess and Crown Prince's concubine.

The Crown Prince's principal wife is the second daughter of the Grand Tutor; the two concubines are the daughters of the Grand Preceptor and the Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, respectively.

The age range for this selection is fifteen to twenty years old. The legitimate daughters of these three families have just reached the age for the selection this year. It would be better for them to become the Crown Prince's principal wife or concubine than to become the emperor's concubine, who is old enough to be his father.

So the three families happily accepted the emperor's bestowal of marriage, and secretly began to discuss how, after the crown prince's wedding, they would recommend him to the court to listen to government affairs and study together.

By the end of March, Chuxiu Palace experienced its first baby boom. There were newborns almost every day, sometimes even two a day.

The Empress Dowager was busy with the imperial concubine selection, and she was also getting old.

The Empress said she was going to arrange the Crown Prince's marriage. The Crown Princess would be betrothed by matchmakers, and the two concubines would also have to be respectful and give her as much face as possible. So they were too busy to handle everything.

The emperor is very busy with state affairs. Last time, he stayed up all night and half a day, which really scared him. This time, he absolutely refuses to be present during the delivery.

Only Consort Cui and Consort Lü toiled day and night in Chuxiu Palace, and after half a month, they both lost a lot of weight.

The problem is that pregnant women still come in from time to time.

What nearly drove Consort Cui mad was that Consort Chen was pregnant again. Only three months had passed, and she was pregnant again.

When Consort Chen was carefully helped into Chuxiu Palace by a palace maid, and occasionally touched her still-not-yet-pregnant belly, and said with a smile from five meters away, "I am pregnant and it is inconvenient for me to pay my respects to Consort Zhaoyi," Consort Cui's expression immediately collapsed, and the powder on her face almost fell off with anger.

The first prince of the new year was born, and the good news reached the emperor, who was very pleased. He promoted this concubine to the rank of talented woman.

When the second princess was born, the good news reached the emperor, who was very pleased. He promoted this concubine to the rank of talented woman.

Another prince was born, and the good news reached the emperor, who was very pleased. He promoted this concubine to the rank of talented woman.

On the fifth report, good news reached the emperor. The emperor sat behind a mountain of memorials, holding a vermilion pen, his brows furrowed, and his tone slightly displeased: "According to the old rules, promote him by one rank. From now on, there's no need to report anymore. Just notify the Imperial Household Department directly, and handle everything according to the old rules."

When the news reached Xining, she was looking at the list of betrothal gifts, as well as the betrothal gift lists for the two Crown Prince's concubines.

So he said, "From now on, there's no need to submit reports anymore; just send them according to the old rules."

One hundred taels of silver, plus a longevity gold lock—now the newly made gold lock can finally be put to use.

After thinking for a moment, he added, "Just report the total every two weeks."

Autumn harvest...

The imperial heirs are treated like accountants; they just need to submit an account every now and then.

In early summer, the talent show ended, and newcomers entered the palace; there were thirty newcomers this time.

In the autumn, after the crown prince's wedding, some officials in the court offered their advice.

He spoke for half an hour, citing classical texts. He said that historically, too few imperial heirs were detrimental to the country, but too many imperial heirs were equally detrimental.

This so-and-so, this king, because he had too many sons, fought for the throne, which led to fratricide and chaos throughout the land.

This official was a disciple of a great Confucian scholar, and the Grand Tutor had also studied under this scholar.

This statement was echoed by officials from the Wang clan, who were part of the Empress's faction.

For a moment, the voices of "I second that proposal" filled the air.

When Liu Cheng returned home after court, he was shocked to learn that he already had eleven princes and eight princesses, and that seven more pregnant women had entered the Chuxiu Palace in the past few months.

Moreover, none of their many offspring died young, whereas in the past, almost as many as they were born died.

He frowned, and after a long while, he summoned the imperial physician to inquire whether the contraceptive soup would harm his health.

The imperial physician cautiously replied that prolonged use would have adverse effects. The Empress had already explicitly forbidden the Imperial Medical Academy from prescribing contraceptives to any concubine.

In just one year, he has already surpassed any emperor in the dynasty in the number of his offspring. If he were to have any more children, he would be no different from a tyrant.

Liu Cheng never imagined that he, who once struggled to have children, would one day be troubled by having too many offspring.

Lowering her voice, she asked with difficulty, "Are there any men among them?"

"The man's... what?" Even the imperial physician, though intelligent, couldn't immediately understand what it meant.

Liu Cheng rolled his eyes in anger, lowered his voice even further, and asked through gritted teeth, "A tonic for male sterilization? It doesn't harm the body, and the body can recover when you stop taking it."

With a thud, the imperial physician knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly: "Your Majesty, I dare not! Your Majesty is of noble birth, how can you be infertile..."

Zhang Shanzhong, who had been serving him faithfully the whole time, almost couldn't hold back his tears. He lowered his head and thought through all the sad things in his life before finally suppressing the smirk on his face.