A middle-aged emperor, childless, was blessed with a beautiful and pregnant concubine who entered th

"Your Majesty is diligent; he's probably reviewing memorials at this time."

But that's what Granny Chen said.

"lie!"

Consort Chen immediately retorted sharply.

"That Lady Zhou is so alluring; she must be trying to seduce His Majesty!"

Chen Mama thought to herself, "Since you already know, why ask?"

She immediately fell silent.

Fortunately, Consort Chen stopped asking questions. She stared blankly out the window, where she could see a sliver of hazy moonlight.

"What do you think Chaoyang is doing?"

Princess Chaoyang hasn't been to the palace for some time now, and no one knows what she's been busy with.

Chen Mama thought to herself, His Majesty and the Empress Dowager couldn't bear to punish the princess, so they specially coaxed her to go out for a walk to clear her mind.

Chaoyang was sent out of the capital, not to be convicted, but to clear his mind.

The matter of Zhou Mingyi being sent to Qingzhou will certainly be handled leniently, and the part about Princess Chaoyang will be perfectly erased.

Chaoyang is still that innocent little princess.

The sordid affairs of the royal family had nothing to do with her.

A few days later, the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Embroidered Uniform Guard reported to Emperor Qianwu that it was a maidservant of Princess Chaoyang who did it behind the princess's back.

The maid had received kindness from Consort Chen in her early years. In order to repay the kindness and to avenge Consort Chen and her daughter, she used the princess as a pretext to attack her.

Zhou Mingyi isn't stupid.

How could a maidservant command Emperor Qianwu's secret guards?

However, Emperor Qianwu pushed out the people around Princess Chaoyang, which can be regarded as clipping Princess Chaoyang's wings.

She has just entered the palace, and Emperor Qianwu is only infatuated with her face and body.

Having children wasn't the most suitable time either; she had no choice but to accept it, whether she wanted to or not.

Therefore, Zhou Mingyi accepted it.

"My kinship with Your Majesty began at Hanshan Temple; I had no intention of causing the princess and the imperial concubine any sorrow."

"The princess is young and has likely been misled by her servants."

Even Zhou Mingyi herself felt hypocritical saying such things.

Princess Chaoyang is sixteen years old this year, the same age as her. If she is still young, then what is she as a "stepmother"?

Unfortunately, Emperor Qianwu and the Empress Dowager deeply agreed with this.

They all genuinely believed that Chaoyang was young and innocent, and that he didn't have any bad intentions.

The Empress Dowager even developed a more favorable impression of Zhou Mingyi because of this.

"Consort Zhen is gentle and considerate. With such a thoughtful person by the Emperor's side, I am very at ease."

Emperor Qianwu also said, "You have been wronged in this matter, but for the sake of the royal family's dignity, I can only deny to the public that you have ever been to Qingzhou."

"As for Shen Kuo, he is, after all, your savior. I will reward him with a few beauties and some top-quality medicinal herbs. The rest will be secretly sent to him from my private treasury."

Zhou Mingyi lowered her eyes. "Your Majesty can decide."

"Besides, it's not that I, General Shen, am the one who saved whose life."

"If we must say who saved whom, we can only say that both I and General Shen are subjects of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and we would never bow down to the barbarians!"

The Empress Dowager and Emperor Qianwu were very satisfied with Zhou Mingyi's maturity.

"Consort Zhen is very much to my liking."

Zhou Mingyi received praise, but as soon as she returned to the palace, she heard that Emperor Qianwu had gone to Jinbaolin.

The pomegranate was indignant.

"His Majesty clearly likes our Empress, so why did he turn around and go to Jin Baolin?"

"It's strange, though. Jin Baolin isn't as pretty as our Empress, but ever since our Empress started favoring her for a month, she's received His Majesty's favor several times, as if she's on some kind of mission..."

Zhou Mingyi thought to herself, "Isn't this a mission?"

Both she and Jin Baolin were women from Hanshan Temple.

In her past life, she was sent to the Crown Prince's residence. Jin Baolin was the woman who had made love with Emperor Qianwu in the side room of Hanshan Temple. Later, she was brought into the harem and enjoyed his exclusive favor for a period of time.

Although she ultimately failed to conceive.

The fact that she could enjoy exclusive favor for a period of time is enough to show that she has some tricks up her sleeve.

Moreover, there's the useful title of "the chosen one".

If Kim were smart, she would have tried her best to hold on.

Zhou Mingyi had no enmity or grudge against her in her previous life.

In this life, she also devised a plan to replace her.

Although it was she who took the initiative to run away, which gave her the opportunity to take her place and have sex with Emperor Qianwu in the side room.

Zhou Mingyi didn't feel she owed her anything.

But she could clearly sense that Kim didn't think that way.

Ms. Kim must feel that she owes her something.

Let's just say she owes her.

Therefore, when Consort Jin was instigated by Consort Chen's people to cause trouble at her investiture ceremony, Zhou Mingyi did not take the opportunity to kill her completely.

On the one hand, she was trying to figure out what Emperor Qianwu and the Empress Dowager were thinking, and knew that Lady Jin could not die for the time being.

On the other hand, it was also Zhou Mingyi's lingering conscience that was at play.

But if she dares to lay a hand on her again, she won't be so polite.

……

She planned to fake her pregnancy after Princess Chaoyang returned.

I'll use this fake child to get my revenge.

She is definitely not that magnanimous.

Princess Chaoyang killed her brother in her previous life and regarded human life as worthless.

In this life, he schemed against her again, sending her to the Qingzhou military camp. His intentions were so malicious. If she really did nothing, how could she face her brother and herself?

But with Princess Chaoyang gone, there's no point in taking revenge on Consort Chen.

As for why she wasn't actually pregnant, it was obviously because Zhou Mingyi didn't want to sacrifice her child.

Even if a child hasn't been born, as long as it's her child, it's a treasure.

They should not be sacrificed.

However, if you take the "fake pregnancy pills" produced by the system, you will experience symptoms of a false pregnancy, just like a real pregnancy.

In this era, no doctor could tell; they would all assume she was truly pregnant.

The fake pregnancy pills allowed her to maintain the symptoms and state of "pregnancy" for up to five months.

For the past five months, her pulse and all her symptoms have been exactly the same as those of a real pregnancy.

In the end, when the child cannot be saved, a mass of flesh and blood resembling the child will appear.

The system told Mingyi that it was fake, and that the "flesh and blood" was not a real child.

Knowing that it wasn't a real child, Zhou Mingyi was relieved.

Most importantly, a miscarriage during a false pregnancy will not harm her body.

It's just like having my period.

……

After observing for a period of time, Zhou Mingyi discovered that Consort Chen was actually deeply in love with Emperor Qianwu.

That silly woman.

In a man's heart, sincerity is the least valuable thing.

Only a foolish woman would indulge in love.

It's better to rely on yourself than on a man's love and sincerity.

A woman who doesn't even understand such a simple principle.

Zhou Mingyi had no interest in targeting her at all.

……

After Zhou Mingyi entered the palace, Emperor Qianwu stayed overnight at her Weiyang Palace for an entire month.

This dealt a severe blow to Consort Chen.

Why should Zhou Mingyi get the honor so easily when she was pregnant?

But gradually, Emperor Qianwu would visit Jinbaolin once or twice a month.

Although not many, most of them were with Zhou Mingyi.

But in the end, she was no longer the only one.

This made Consort Chen feel much better.

Emperor Qianwu had no heir, and besides Zhou Mingyi being his favorite, Lady Jin also carried half of the hope of being a "daughter of destiny".

He really had little interest in other women.

He has worked diligently for years, but nothing has come of it.

He can't take any more abuse; we can't let him have his fill...

If it weren't for the need to balance the power between the imperial court and the harem, Emperor Qianwu truly wouldn't want to go to their place.

However, to maintain balance, he would occasionally visit the palaces of other concubines.