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The bells stopped, but the drums and music continued to resound.

Emperor Yuan, accompanied by officials from aristocratic families, went through a series of procedures, including welcoming the gods, offering jade and silk, and presenting sacrificial offerings, all of which proceeded smoothly.

During the first offering, the divination blocks were tossed three times, and a divine message was received: Heaven blesses the Great Peace.

During the offering of the prayer, the divination blocks were tossed three times, and a divine message was received: Two phoenixes will come to court.

The moment this divine decree was uttered, everyone was astonished.

This divine oracle has been studied extensively and has not appeared for a long time, yet it has reappeared today during the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven.

The phrase "Phoenix as Empress" undoubtedly refers to Empress Meng, while the other person refers to the Crown Princess.

Throughout the history of the Great Jing Dynasty, every emperor who inherited the throne as the crown prince would receive this divine decree during the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven after marrying a wife; the late emperor was no exception.

The imperial sacrifices to Heaven after the late emperor ascended the throne never received such a divine decree again.

The crown prince during the reign of the late emperor was weak and mediocre. In addition, during the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven, there was never a divine decree that two phoenixes would come to court. As a result, the other princes gradually began to covet the throne.

Among them, Prince Su was the most ambitious.

Prince Su held one-third of the military power in the Great Jing Dynasty and was the most powerful. Everyone thought that Prince Su would replace the Crown Prince, and even the Crown Prince thought so.

But no one expected that the one who would eventually ascend the throne would be Emperor Yuan, who was then the Prince of Qin.

The Xue family, the maternal grandfather of the King of Qin, were civil officials for generations. With only the Xue family's support, the King of Qin had no competitive advantage.

However, the Meng family had been in charge of military affairs for generations, and the Meng family army they controlled accounted for one-third of the military strength of the Great Jing Dynasty. When the King of Qin married a woman from the Meng family, he gained the support of military generals.

Back then, when King Su poisoned the crown prince, the officials condemned him, and King Su was accused of treason. King Qin personally led the Meng family army to kill King Su.

The result was that the entire Su family was executed, and the King of Qin ascended the throne as emperor.

Of all the succession struggles in the previous dynasty, only Prince Yu was not involved. Later, Emperor Yuan conferred upon Prince Yu the title of Prince Yu.

At this moment, another oracle was issued.

Everyone immediately thought of Prince Rui, Xie Yuqi.

He had just married a concubine when the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven was blessed with the divine decree that two phoenixes would descend upon the court.

It's probably not a coincidence.

Song Qingning never believed in the divine oracle. She revered heaven and earth, and she revered ghosts and gods. In her opinion, the so-called divine oracle was nothing more than a trick by those who abused power.

This has always been the case.

Now Xie Yuqi has set his sights on divine pronouncements, hoping to win popular support and manipulate people's hearts through divine will; his ambition is not small.

But divine pronouncements alone might not be enough.

Song Qingning glanced at Xie Yuqi, whose expression was calm and composed, as if he had everything under control.

Then he looked at Song Qingyan.

Song Qingyan's face was pale and her lips were colorless, as if she were very weak. Yet, a smile suddenly appeared on her lips.

Immediately afterwards, Song Qingyan frowned, rubbed her forehead, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.

"Concubine..." Xie Yuqi exclaimed in surprise, rushing to help her up.

This attracted everyone's attention.

The sacrificial ceremony to heaven was interrupted.

Emperor Yuan turned around and gave Xie Yuqi and Song Qingyan a cold look, seemingly displeased.

Consort Hui smoothed things over, saying, "Consort Song is weak. Quickly have a maid help her to the side and ask the imperial physician to take a look. Prince Rui, don't worry, the sacrificial ceremony is the most important thing."

Xie Yuqi gestured to the maid to help Song Qingyan down.

The sacrificial ceremony to Heaven continued, followed by the final offering ceremony.

The divination blocks were tossed again, once or twice, and both times the result was a positive result. On the third toss, as soon as the blocks landed, someone nearby exclaimed, "Great joy!"

Everyone turned to look at the sound.

The imperial physician looked overjoyed, then realized he had disturbed the sacrificial ceremony. He hurriedly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was out of control. Is there really such great joy?"

Emperor Yuan glanced at the reappeared "Holy Grail," his mood brightening considerably. "You said great joy, what is it?"

"Your Majesty, it is Prince Rui who is very happy. Just now, I took the pulse of Prince Rui's concubine, and it was a pregnancy pulse."

Pregnancy is indicated!

Everyone present could not hide their surprise.

A little over a month after Prince Rui's marriage, his concubine became pregnant, which was both unexpected and reasonable.

"Very good, very good, indeed a joyous occasion. On this day, Consort Song is pregnant; it must be a blessing from heaven," Emperor Yuan said with a smile.

The emperor's approval immediately brought to mind the divine decree of "two phoenixes descending to court" that had just been issued.

For a moment, the officials from the prominent families present secretly speculated about the emperor's intentions.

During the subsequent sacrificial ceremony, Emperor Yuan specifically ordered Song Qingyan to offer incense at the altar.

The maid "Zhi Xia" helped Song Qingyan.

Song Qingyan was dressed in an elegant white dress today, with several crescent moons outlined in silver thread on the dress, which subconsciously reminded some people present of Mingyue Xian.

All eyes were on Song Qingyan, filled with admiration and appreciation.

Song Qingyan had long been accustomed to the admiration and respect of those aristocratic students, and had grown accustomed to it.

The prince brought her here today and gave her a fake pregnancy drug, hoping to match her with the "Crown Princess" in "Double Phoenixes Reign".

The prince wants her to be his crown princess!

She is faking her pregnancy now so that she can show the noble families that the Mingyue Xian they admire is about to give birth to the eldest grandson of the emperor before the sacrificial ceremony, thus increasing Prince Rui's chances of winning the crown prince position.

After today, the false pregnancy will become real.

Prince Rui would be even more anxious than she was to cover up the lie.

Song Qingyan smiled broadly and paused briefly as she passed Song Qingning, a hint of smugness gleaming between her brows.

"Song Qingning!"

Song Qingyan called her name softly, without saying anything, but the meaning was self-evident.

She wanted Song Qingning to witness firsthand the world's adoration for her, to be consumed by jealousy and resentment, yet powerless to do anything about it.

Seeing Song Qingning frown, Song Qingyan felt extremely pleased.

Little did she know that Song Qingning's attention was not on her at all.

Song Qingning subtly glanced at the maid, watching as the maid helped Song Qingyan toward the altar. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, silently preparing for battle.

She didn't think Xiao Ling would make any unusual moves. If he did, she was confident she could subdue him on the spot.

Sure enough, the maid escorted Song Qingyan to the altar and then withdrew.

There were no unusual changes.

Song Qingyan offered incense and knelt in worship.

Among the officials, some whispered among themselves:

"The divine oracle just now mentioned two phoenixes attending court; one of them was Empress Meng. Could the other, the Crown Princess, refer to Consort Song?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it reached Song Qingning's ears from not far away.

Song Qingning looked at that person.

He was the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In his previous life, he was very close to Song Mingtang and was considered one of Xie Yuqi's confidants.

As soon as he finished speaking, someone beside him chimed in: "But Consort Song is a consort."

"So what if she's a concubine? The late emperor ascended the throne as the crown prince, and the empress he appointed was a former concubine, as was Consort Shen back then..."

In the imperial family of the Great Jing Dynasty, there were many precedents of concubines becoming empresses.

Even when Emperor Yuan ascended the throne, he intended to make his concubine, Lady Shen, his empress.

Although Madam Shen was the daughter of a merchant, she was virtuous and modest.

She took the initiative to persuade Emperor Yuan to remember the Meng family's merits, and only then did Emperor Yuan establish Lady Meng as Empress.

The conversation was quiet, but it was enough to make the group of aristocratic officials think of all sorts of things.

A divine oracle has been issued.

Only Prince Rui has taken a wife, and today only Mingyue Xian is present.

The oracle may be hinting that Prince Rui is the future crown prince!

They would not object if Mingyue Xian became empress.

After offering incense, Song Qingyan was about to leave.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew by, not a strong wind, but it overturned the painting in front of the artist.

The painting wasn't finished yet; the paint had stained the paper, leaving it a mess.

"I deserve to die! I will redraw it immediately!" The painter knelt down in panic, hurriedly begging for forgiveness and trying to make amends.

But Minister Cui glanced at the painting and looked disgusted.

He then proposed to Emperor Yuan:

"Your Majesty, since Mingyue Xian happens to be here today, why not let her paint a picture? She will surely create another masterpiece that will be remembered for generations to come."