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

"Having accompanied the Empress Dowager for lunch, shouldn't it be my turn for dinner?"

"I carried this child for ten months with great difficulty, and now you've been so busy spending time with her?"

Granny Chen was startled. "Your Highness, please watch your words!"

She thought to herself, "The Emperor, whom the Empress Dowager carried for ten months and went through so much hardship to give birth to, spends more time with his concubines than with the Empress Dowager."

Moreover, the reason Her Majesty wanted the Princess to accompany her was not because of their mother-daughter relationship.

Instead, he wanted to use the princess to invite His Majesty to the palace.

Princess is His Majesty's only child, so it's natural that the Empress Dowager favors her.

If the Empress Dowager doesn't favor Her Highness the Princess, the Empress will likely have something to say.

Consort Chen knew in her heart that what Granny Chen said was right, but she had no such thoughts at the moment.

"Everyone in the palace is one of our own. Anyone who dares to speak out of turn will be skinned alive!"

Upon hearing this, the palace servants trembled.

Even Granny Chen could only manage a couple of awkward, dry laughs.

"Your Majesty, I know you acted rashly in a moment of panic..."

Consort Chen raised her hand to interrupt her, "Alright, go to the Empress Dowager's palace and tell the princess that I have asked the Imperial Kitchen to prepare her favorite steamed shad."

Shad is a rare river fish found in the Jiangnan region, and it dies as soon as it is taken out of the water.

However, Princess Chaoyang loved to eat shad.

Therefore, Emperor Qianwu specially established a "Shad Factory" for his beloved daughter, and used ice ships to rush thousands of miles to deliver the shad as tribute.

Only Princess Chaoyang had such an honor.

Every year during shad season, whenever shad enters the palace, it is always sent to the princess's residence.

Princess Chaoyang liked it, and naturally the Empress Dowager liked it too.

Therefore, gifts were also sent to the Empress Dowager's palace.

Besides that, there was Consort Chen's palace.

She was the birth mother of Princess Chaoyang, who often dined in the palace and needed to be kept on hand.

"Yes, Your Highness and the Empress Dowager will be informed immediately."

Consort Chen waited anxiously in the palace.

It's unclear how long they waited, but Princess Chaoyang finally arrived at her palace.

She immediately stepped forward and carefully examined her daughter from head to toe before taking her hand and leading her into the inner hall.

"You've finally arrived! Your mother specially prepared steamed shad for you. Did you think about it?"

Princess Chaoyang said coquettishly, "Every year during shad season, Father Emperor's shad farm always supplies shad as tribute. My princess residence has never lacked any. It seems that this year's shad season has come a little later than usual?"

Consort Chen held Princess Chaoyang's hand and said, "Yes, now that the palace has it, your princess residence will surely send someone to deliver it soon. However, today your mother specially had steamed shad prepared, so you will dine with your mother and your father."

Princess Chaoyang was pleased to hear this.

"Father is coming too? That's wonderful!"

"Your subject also misses Father Emperor."

Consort Chen playfully pinched her daughter's nose. "You! If you ever don't enter the palace, your mother will always feel a void in her heart."

"Your old palace is still empty, why don't you move back in?"

"This way, it will be easier for your mother to see you."

Despite saying that, Consort Chen was thinking that although Chaoyang lived outside the palace and could come to the palace whenever she wanted, it would cause a lot of trouble to come and go.

If they lived in the palace, she and the Empress Dowager could see their child anytime they wanted.

Having seen it so many times, there's no need to fight over it anymore.

Besides, if Chaoyang lived in the palace, His Majesty would see his daughter every day and naturally think of her as his birth mother.

This was entirely beneficial to Consort Chen.

Princess Chaoyang, however, was unwilling.

She finally came of age and moved out of the palace. Her father even built her a magnificent princess's mansion, and she also had her own fiefdom.

Living outside the palace, the entire princess's residence revered her.

She can do whatever she wants; she has so much freedom!

If I move back to the palace, my father, mother, and grandmother will be watching me all the time; just thinking about it gives me a headache.

Besides, she doesn't live far away. As long as she's in the capital, she'll definitely go to the palace within two days at most.

It's not like we haven't seen each other for that long...

"Mother, I'm all grown up now, what kind of talk is it for me to still be living in the palace?"

"I don't want to become a laughingstock!"

Consort Chen said, "Who dares to laugh at my Chaoyang? Your father, your grandmother, and I will not forgive him!"

Princess Chaoyang was immediately amused.

The mother and daughter chatted and laughed until it was time for dinner.

Consort Chen had already ordered people to make preparations.

It was placed in the main hall, on a table.

He also sent someone to invite Emperor Qianwu well in advance.

The three of them would then enjoy their dinner together in harmony. After dinner, Princess Chaoyang would stay in the palace until dawn the next day before leaving.

Since Your Majesty has come to dine, you must stay.

Consort Chen had a good plan, but when the palace servant returned, he said, "Reporting to Your Highness, His Majesty..."

"He's probably a bit too busy..."

Consort Chen looked immediately disappointed.

Emperor Qianwu was so engrossed in state affairs that he went more than a month without ever entering the inner palace during his busiest periods.

This is all commonplace.

So she didn't feel that anything was wrong.

I'm just a little disappointed.

She specially arranged a shad feast today and even invited Chaoyang to accompany her.

While governing the country is important, does that mean enjoying family life is unimportant?

Just then, Granny Chen suddenly hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself...

Consort Chen frowned. "What is it? Speak your mind."

Granny Chen said, "This servant...this servant's people saw that His Majesty's entourage and Eunuch Fuquan went to Weiyang Palace..."

"What?"

Consort Chen immediately stood up in disbelief.

"Did you tell His Majesty that there was shad on the table today, which is Chaoyang's favorite food?"

She looked shocked and incredulous, with a hint of grievance in her eyes.

Granny Chen dared not say it, but she naturally did.

How could she dare disobey the orders of the Imperial Concubine?

But she is not His Majesty, so how could she influence His Majesty's thoughts?

"Perhaps... His Majesty made an appointment with Consort Zhen beforehand..."

Consort Chen immediately smashed the teacup in her hand.

"Consort Zhen!"

Granny Chen immediately knelt down, pleading, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

Princess Chaoyang, also known for her fiery temper, immediately stood up, drew her whip from her waist, and declared, "This princess will go and meet that Consort Zhen!"

"She was lucky she wasn't killed last time! This time, I, the princess, will personally slap her face until she seduces Father Emperor!"

Consort Chen immediately calmed down.

"My son! Don't go!"

"Your father now dotes on Consort Zhen. Since he has abandoned us, mother and daughter, what's the point of forcing him to stay?"

But the more she said that, the angrier Princess Chaoyang became.

Granny Chen didn't even dare to raise her head.

She even wondered if the Imperial Concubine was saying that on purpose.

Sure enough, Princess Chaoyang's anger flared even more upon hearing these words.

"What do you mean by forcing or not forcing! I am Father Emperor's only princess, am I not even as good as Consort Zhen?"

"Wasn't that woman defiled? How could she still enter the palace? Has Father lost his mind?"

After Emperor Qianwu learned that Princess Chaoyang was responsible for sending Zhou Mingyi to Qingzhou, he simply replaced the bodyguards around her.

They even sent the person to Jiangnan overnight.

This sent a signal to Princess Chaoyang: her father still protects her.

That Zhou family member is nothing compared to me!

Therefore, even though she knew that Zhou Mingyi would eventually enter the palace, she didn't take it seriously.

Since we can't have children anyway, what's there to be afraid of?