The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 37 Flowery and Adorable
"Your Majesty, the Emperor has been coming over several times recently, and each time he has dined in the evening. Have you ever wondered why he can dine in our palace?" Zhen'er earnestly reminded her.

"Because the dinner at Kunning Palace is better than that in other palaces, once you eat it, you'll want to eat it again and fall in love with it?" Shen Qingwan asked rhetorically.

Zhen'er: ...

She seemed to have found the reason why their mistress had been married to the emperor for so many years but had never been able to consummate their marriage.

Emperor Yuanwu had just arrived at the entrance of Jingyang Palace.

Bai Guiren suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling him.

"who!"

Wu Jixiang, who was following behind Emperor Yuanwu, was startled and rushed in front of the emperor: "How dare you startle Your Majesty's presence!"

"Consort Bai?" Wu Jixiang quickly put away the whisk in his hand: "Consort Bai, what are you doing? Aren't you afraid of startling the Emperor?"

"Your Majesty," Consort Bai curtsied, "This concubine greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"

Emperor Yuanwu gazed at her: "Is Consort Bai very pleased?"

Consort Bai lowered her eyes, shyly pursing her lips: "I am overjoyed that Your Majesty is here."

Emperor Yuanwu scoffed, "Consort Bai is truly audacious. The mistress of Jingyang Palace, Consort Xian, is still bedridden after her fall, and instead of serving her diligently, you're dressed in your finest clothes and seem quite pleased with yourself in the middle of the night."

Consort Bai turned pale with fright, and her smile vanished completely: "Your Majesty, that's not what I meant. I didn't."

"Then what do you mean?" Emperor Yuanwu gritted his teeth and said, enunciating each word clearly.

"concubine……"

"Instead of wasting your time on me, you should focus on serving Consort Xian and think about how to help her get better sooner."

"I know I was wrong."

Emperor Yuanwu took a step forward, nearly stepping on Consort Bai, and his expression of disgust instantly intensified.

But Bai Guiren remained kneeling on the ground, motionless, like a stone.

Unable to bear it any longer, Wu Jixiang kindly reminded her, "Consort Bai, you are blocking the Emperor's path."

Bai Guiren: ……

She knelt down and moved to the side.

Emperor Yuanwu didn't even glance at her, and turned to walk towards Consort Xian's palace.

Consort Xian had been ill for some time, and the palace was filled with a strong smell of Chinese medicine. Although it was a medicinal smell, it also seemed to be mixed with some strange smells that were hard to describe.

The moment Emperor Yuanwu stepped into Consort Xian's bedchamber, a scream erupted from within.

“Your Majesty!”

Lan Cui was only wearing a bodice on her upper body. She was holding her outer garment in her hands. The moment she heard footsteps, she quickly turned her back.

Emperor Yuanwu suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Lan Cui knelt on the ground, turned around, and faced the Emperor directly: "This servant deserves to die, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"How dare you! Instead of properly serving Consort Xian, what are you doing here?" Emperor Yuanwu shouted, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused, his face turning pale and cold in an instant.

"Your Majesty, it was..." Lan Cui glanced at Consort Xian and said, "It was Consort Xian who had incontinence. When I was wiping her body, I accidentally soiled her clothes. I was afraid that she would look for me when she woke up, so I took them off to clean them since no one would be around at night. I have offended Your Majesty's eyes. Please punish me."

Emperor Yuanwu glanced at the ground and indeed there was a pile of bed sheets that had just been changed.

His expression softened instantly: "I will not punish you because I think you have served Consort Xian with all your heart. This is a one-time exception."

"This servant thanks Your Majesty." Lan Cui hurriedly put on her clothes. "Now that Consort Xian is ill, many imperial physicians and guards are coming and going from Jingyang Palace. Next time you change your clothes, go back to your own room to change," Emperor Yuanwu said.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Lan Cui replied.

Emperor Yuanwu, wary of the foul smell in the room, casually inquired a few questions about Consort Xian's condition before leaving.

He knew that Consort Xian had fallen quite seriously this time, but he did not expect it to be this serious, to the point that she had urinated and leaked urine.

The next morning, just after Emperor Yuanwu finished court, the Empress Dowager sent word that he should go to Kunning Palace.

Shen Qingwan also received the notification.

The two arrived at the entrance of Cining Palace at almost the same time.

"Your Majesty," Shen Qingwan curtsied.

Emperor Yuanwu nodded and walked towards his sleeping quarters in the Cining Palace.

The Empress Dowager's eyes widened in surprise when she saw the two of them arrive together.

"sit down."

The two sat side by side opposite the Empress Dowager.

"I have invited the two of you here today because I have some good news to tell you. Yesterday, a report came from Prince Yao's residence that Prince Yao's wife is pregnant. The imperial physician took her pulse and said that this child is a boy."

Shen Qingwan's eyes lit up: "That is indeed a good thing. Prince Yao and his wife have been married for so many years and have had two princesses. Now they finally have a legitimate son. When we return to the palace, I will have someone prepare a congratulatory gift and send it to Prince Yao's residence."

Although Prince Yao had a sharp tongue and always liked to argue with Emperor Yuanwu.

But when Emperor Yuanwu was forced to abdicate by several other princes, Prince Yao was the first to stand up and block Emperor Yuanwu's way.

After Emperor Yuanwu ascended the throne, he still remembered the kindness shown to him in the past, and he never let go of what Prince Yao said.

The wife of Prince Yao was the legitimate daughter of the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. She was kind, well-educated, and reasonable.

Despite the original owner's terrible reputation in the palace, she never lost her manners and always paid her respects at Kunning Palace whenever she entered the palace.

Even before the original owner died, when all the concubines in the palace were waiting to see her make a fool of herself and avoiding her like the plague, only the wife of Prince Yao personally brought thousand-year-old wild ginseng and lingzhi to visit the original owner in Kunning Palace.

Now that her wish has been fulfilled and she is pregnant with a legitimate son, Prince Yao's wife can surely have her long-standing request put to rest.

"What does the Emperor think?" The Empress Dowager looked at Emperor Yuanwu, seemingly wanting to hear his opinion.

"Prince Yao is very fortunate. The Empress should prepare more gifts as a token of my good wishes," Emperor Yuanwu said.

"When did I ask you that? Of course, a congratulatory gift should be sent, but now that carefree Prince Yao has a legitimate son, don't Your Majesty and Empress have any other thoughts?" The Empress Dowager was speechless: "This one is so lucky, that one is so lucky, when will this luck fall on the Emperor? The dignified ruler of a country has only four children in the entire harem. Don't Your Majesty and Empress ever reflect on this?"

Emperor Yuanwu:? ? ?

Shen Qingwan: ...

Why did they have to be dragged into this?

Isn't she trying her best?

Consort Li and Consort Rou are both pregnant.

Emperor Yuanwu was so busy with state affairs that he didn't even visit the inner palace. She couldn't very well stand at the entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation with a whip, urging him to go to the concubines' palaces at night.

Shen Qingwan imagined the scene in her mind. Emperor Yuanwu really did look a bit like a gigolo, but she felt that she was more like a brothel madam.

(End of this chapter)