Your Majesty, please do not disturb, the empress only wants to engage in business

Chapter 163 There is a Future

Kunning Palace.

Shen Qingyin slowly placed the yellow paper in her hand into the brazier in front of her, watching the flames lick the paper till it was gone. In the end, only a smell like burning incense in a temple remained in the room.

Aunt Hua knelt beside Shen Qingyin, with a Buddhist scripture handwritten by Shen Qingyin next to her.

These Buddhist scriptures that were burned were all custom-made using paper specially sent by the national temple. Paper money cannot be burned in the palace. Even when offering sacrifices to the emperor, these are not needed. They are things used by the common people. The royal family believes that the emperor is the reincarnation of a god in heaven, so naturally they just burn incense and offer sacrifices, and there is no need for these.

But there is one exception.

That is the child who died early.

Naturally, there was only one person who could make Shen Qingyin burn scriptures and pray for blessings at this time, and that was Xie Minghui, the eldest son born to the queen.

Because the child died before the emperor ascended the throne, there has not even been a posthumous title until now. Shen Qingyin has always been worried about this. Fortunately, the emperor did not say anything. After all, he had promised before that he would take care of this matter after the dynasty was completely stabilized in the next two years.

Although a man’s promise is not trustworthy, it is better to have it than nothing, right?
Since she failed to save the child, she should at least give the child the honor he deserves after death.

The first and fifteenth day of every month in Kunning Palace, as well as some special festivals, are the time for the Queen to mourn the child. Everyone in the palace knows about this, and even the Queen Mother will not come to offend the Queen at this time. According to the rules, the Emperor will also come to accompany the Queen on the first and fifteenth days of the month, which makes the couple seem respectful to each other.

Calculating the time, it’s almost time for the emperor to come over for dinner.

Aunt Hua helped Shen Qingyin burn two scriptures, then helped her to get up. After going out, she had to get rid of the smell of sandalwood on her body before she could accompany the emperor for dinner. Her queen still had to continue to accompany the emperor, and she couldn't have the smell of someone who had been worshipping Buddha for a long time like the empress dowager.

She watched Chunju and Xiazhu bring people to work, and found an opportunity to speak: "Empress Zhuang also sent a scroll of scriptures. I read it and it's all in Empress Zhuang's handwriting. I think Empress Zhuang copied it by herself these days. It must have taken quite a while."

Sending these things over at this time was nothing more than wanting to express one's feelings. Concubine Zhuang has always been a dignified and serious person, and has always been very careful about matters of life and death. She has been with the Queen for many years and knows best what kind of practices can please Shen Qingyin, but she has never done these things before. Now that she has done them, it is natural that she has something to ask for.

Even though the other party didn't say anything, Shen Qingyin couldn't pretend that she didn't know.

It was nothing more than the matter of setting up a palace for the eldest prince. The sooner this matter was settled, the better, because once the palace was opened, it would inevitably involve the matter of conferring the title of king. Xie Mingchang was the eldest son and first child of the emperor, and the emperor would not damage his own face, so if he was going to do it, he would do it beautifully.

But it cannot be delayed any longer. The longer it is delayed, the greater the possibility of something going wrong. The Second Prince Xie Mingyuan is getting older. Even if the emperor pretends not to see it, the old ministers in the court will not pretend not to see it. Any prince who can grow up is very important to the royal family. Even if the emperor does not like him, it is a matter between father and son. A prince who can go out and set up his own government can do many things more easily, which is ultimately unimaginable for most people.

So we have to seize the opportunity.

In order to gain this advantage, Concubine Zhuang has now even stopped caring about her own taboos.

But then again, what's the point of using this energy on myself as the queen?
She couldn't even get a result for posthumously honoring her son.

When Shen Qingyin thinks of the child's tiny body wrapped in the quilt, she no longer feels the heart-wrenching pain she did in the first two years. Instead, she feels a helpless numbness.

It was like cutting flesh with a blunt knife. It wasn't that it didn't hurt, but she gradually got used to it. She listened to Nanny Hua's words without any reaction on her face. She was calm as if she had never heard of this matter. "Yuming always does things properly. I know she wants something, but I also think she has good intentions. But what's the point of sending this thing to me? It's better to spend more time to appease the emperor."

Aunt Hua has been with Shen Qingyin since she got married, so she naturally understands what her mistress means.

But how can I say this? Saying it out loud will only make the queen unhappy.

"Your Majesty, please be at ease. Didn't the imperial physician say so? Your Majesty has recovered from her illness over the years. Now, as long as you work hard, you will definitely be able to have another prince. But the imperial physician also said that Your Majesty is worrying too much. You should stop thinking about it."

As soon as everything was cleaned up here, Yuan Shan's voice came from outside.

The emperor has arrived.

……

When the emperor arrived at Kunning Palace, Yao Jinse had just returned from the imperial concubine's Chengqian Palace. After dinner, she was sitting by the window looking at the plum blossoms that were about to fall. Although spring had not yet arrived, the cold winter wind had almost dissipated. At this time of year, the weather was gradually warming up, and there was less snow on the road than before.

So it is not the season for plum blossoms to continue blooming.

"If you can't bear to part with these plum blossoms, why don't you ask the greenhouse to grow some new ones and put them under our windows? Even though they won't bloom as luxuriantly as in winter, they'll still be nice to see."

"The last time the emperor came, he seemed to like plum blossoms. Come to think of it, the emperor hasn't been to our place for a long time. My lady, you don't have to worry..."

When Bai Lu passed by the window, she actually wanted Yao Jinse to close the window. After all, in the girl's opinion, leaving the window open would undoubtedly let the heat in the house dissipate, letting in cold wind and catching a cold, which is always bad for the body.

However, Yao Jinse didn't think there was anything wrong.

She was quite enjoying such a leisurely scene. After finishing the most important things recently, the Imperial Concubine was finally free. With the hope of having a baby, it was like finding a job for Imperial Concubine Rong. On the contrary, Yao Jinse was not so busy anymore.

The days when you don't have to risk your life to accompany a gentleman are always very leisurely. Moreover, with a new target, Concubine Rong is not as difficult to answer as usual. Usually, it only takes an hour or two to deal with it. Not to mention that there are many people who want to show off their face in front of the concubine. Every two days, there will always be two people who will visit Chengqian Palace.

On the other hand, Qiao Yanran and others still did not make any movement, which was also within Yao Jinse's expectations. After all, for such a small place as the harem, now was the moment when the turmoil of the previous dynasty had not yet begun, and it was far from the time for the heroine to make a move.

The real role that the heroine has to play is actually the family behind her, which can provide support in the emperor's court. The heroine herself just happens to be the type of person that the emperor likes. As the two of them get to know each other better, they gradually develop deeper feelings for each other.

But if we say how strong this feeling is at this moment, it is actually not entirely true.

Anyway, if you think about it carefully, this is still the imperial concubine's home court. For the imperial concubine, this is the best time for her to get pregnant. As long as no one snatches the emperor's night away, and as long as she exercises and regulates herself carefully, she will eventually have a chance to get pregnant again.

For Chen Yimiao, this child is now almost an obsession.

She even changed her medication quietly without alerting anyone, which showed that the news she received during the last consultation was still somewhat shocking to her.

Of course, the imperial concubine has not mentioned this matter recently, and Yao Jinse herself will naturally not bring it up. If the imperial concubine doesn't want to talk about it, why should she make trouble?

Yao Jinse stretched her hand out of the window, rubbed Bai Lu's little head, and smiled slightly.

In fact, other things don’t matter. If there is really no fighting in the harem, life would not be impossible. Otherwise, how could Concubine Jing’s Yonghe Palace be so quiet?

If life was really unbearable, people would have quarreled over life issues a long time ago.

As for the emperor...it's not that she is not anxious, but it's because she knows in her heart that being anxious is meaningless.

She had seen all the results in advance, so naturally she had no intention of beating around the bush.

It's like guessing a riddle. When you don't know the answer, no matter how hard you try, you can't come up with a result. But once you know the answer and look back, it's as if you've been saying this word all the time.

Therefore, the most important thing in life and work is to learn to be like her mother and look for answers outside the problem.

In the harem, if one wants to have power, one has to gain the favor of the emperor and become a concubine of a higher position. Of these two methods, the first one does not seem easy now. She is still in the experimental stage, not to mention that even if Xie Yun'an comes to her, she has no energy to deal with him now.

As for the second option...she definitely can't count on the Queen, and the Imperial Concubine won't give her more benefits. She is now thinking about whether she should visit the Queen Mother more often after the spring comes.

"There's an old saying that goes, 'If I get it, I'm lucky, if I lose it, I'm doomed.' It's meaningless to fight for it openly. It will only make you a laughing stock in the eyes of others. There are so many women in the harem who want to see the emperor, but how many of them really get the emperor's attention?"

Perhaps it would be meaningless to say this to Bai Lu, as this girl probably wouldn't be able to understand it, but Yao Jinse still said it.

"Don't worry. The emperor is now focused on the outside world. The affairs of the previous dynasty have already made him busy enough. If we don't cause him trouble at this time, there will be a long way to go."