The wicked imperial concubine is courting death again; the comments section teaches her how to win w

I don’t know if the little ones understood, but they always moved a little, as if in response.

After the war started, Xie Ling sent fewer letters home.

Qi Yitang could only dig out his previous letters and read them over and over again, from the first to the last, in order to barely bear the longing.

But one night, she had a nightmare in which... Xie Ling died.

"!" Qi Yitang was startled awake and sat up abruptly.

"Your Majesty?"

It was Chi Zheng's turn to be on night duty tonight. Upon hearing the noise, she immediately got up and deftly lit the candlestick beside the bed.

The warm yellow candlelight flickered, illuminating Qi Yitang's pale, paper-white face.

She was covered in cold sweat, a few strands of hair were wet and stuck to her forehead, and her chest was still heaving violently, as if she had just been pulled out of the water.

Chi Zheng quickly walked to the bedside, reached out and supported her slightly trembling shoulder, "Did you have a nightmare?"

Qi Yitang's breathing was trembling.

The shock she had just experienced seemed to disturb the little one inside. A faint tightening sensation came from her abdomen. Even though she hadn't experienced morning sickness in the early stages, a strange, inexplicable nausea surged up from her stomach.

She forced herself to suppress it and said in a hoarse voice, "...Mmm."

Chi Zheng is clumsy with words and doesn't know how to say comforting things, but fortunately, after being pestered by Qi Jiyun for the past few months, her tongue has become more eloquent than before.

"Dreams are always the opposite, don't worry." She poured a glass of water and handed it to him, "Have a sip to soothe your nerves."

The warm water slid down my throat and into my stomach, and the nausea gradually subsided.

Qi Yitang held the cup, recalling the scene from her dream just now—

On the battlefield strewn with corpses, Xie Ling was surrounded and killed by a hail of arrows, without even having time to utter his last words.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish those images from her mind, but her thoughts were a jumbled mess, tangled together like a rope.

Although the dream wasn't real, the battlefield was extremely dangerous, and Xie Ling might still get hurt.

What if Qin Yuanchao resorts to underhanded tactics behind the scenes, since the problem hasn't been solved yet?

"Your Majesty, please sleep. I will stay here and not go anywhere."

Chi Zheng's tall figure seemed especially reassuring in the night. Qi Yitang looked up at him and asked, "I want to lean on you, is that okay?"

Although Chi Zheng and Qi Jiyun are not married yet, in Qi Yitang's heart, she is already his sister-in-law.

Chi Zheng was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.

When His Majesty was alive, His Majesty would hold and coax the Empress to sleep when she had nightmares.

Now that His Majesty is away, they, as his subordinates, naturally have an obligation to take good care of the Empress.

"Your Majesty, please lean on me."

Chi Zheng sat down silently on the edge of the couch with her back straight. Qi Yitang moved up a little, gently rested her head on her firm thighs, curled up slightly, and closed her eyes.

Chi Zheng had never been so close to anyone before, and her whole body stiffened.

But seeing Qi Yitang's slightly furrowed brows, like an insecure kitten, he relaxed his muscles.

In the candlelight, she was like a quiet wooden figure, even her breathing was soft.

Looking down, Chi Zheng saw a stray strand of hair unruly hanging down beside Qi Yitang's cheek. She reached out to tuck it behind her ear, but stopped just before her fingertips touched it.

Her fingers were rough, covered with calluses from years of holding knives, which would scratch her delicate skin.

Chi Zheng paused, then withdrew her hand from mid-air.

……

As the scorching heat of July subsided and the nighttime temperature gradually dropped, Qi Yitang's sleepiness grew increasingly light.

Nightmares over the past few days have caused my hard-won mental state to collapse again.

Her face had thinned out, even her chin was sharper, and the only thing that was big on her body was her belly, which was quite alarming.

There were no letters from home, and the battle reports hadn't arrived for several days either.

Qi Yitang felt a pang in her heart. Why wasn't Xie Ling writing to her? He used to write to her every two or three days.

Even when I'm busy, I can still write a few words to appease her...

Entering August, it's a month where anything could happen at any time.

Midwives, delivery rooms, imperial physicians, wet nurses, and everything else were all prepared, and the Empress Dowager and Xie Changqing often came to visit.

But they found that Qi Yitang was very well-behaved, even... unusually well-behaved.

Because she had a Buddha statue in her small shrine, she would kneel on the prayer mat and chant sutras whenever she had free time.

Qi Yitang used to not believe in these things at all, thinking that chanting scriptures and reciting Buddhist mantras was just psychological comfort.

After all, Buddha and Bodhisattva have followers all over the world, so how could they possibly hear one person's prayer?

Only now do I understand that when you have something on your mind, even if it's futile, it makes you feel better.

Looking at her slender figure from behind, the Empress Dowager, unusually, refrained from uttering any harsh words.

Qi Yitang has been in the palace for almost four years. In the first two years, she acted too wildly, thinking about other men and having secret rendezvous with Prince Gong. She even slapped the emperor twice. The Empress Dowager really couldn't like her.

I don't know when it started, but I've become a bit more normal. However, spending so much time with my love-obsessed son hasn't made my brain grow much.

The Empress Dowager always felt that she was not worthy of the title of Empress.

However, when an epidemic broke out in Xushui County, the Empress Dowager saw that Qi Yitang, despite being pregnant, was still managing to take care of everyone and even taking out all her possessions. This changed the Empress Dowager's opinion of her considerably.

Seeing her kneeling obediently before the Buddha now feels even more unsettling.

Is this what they mean by... love makes people timid?

Do not understand.

May her son return soon. One love-struck fool is enough; I really can't accept that the palace is full of crazy people.

Even daily chanting of scriptures and worship of Buddha could not truly put Qi Yitang at ease.

Until Song Yunzhi entered the palace.

She dismissed the others and lowered her voice, saying, "Sister, if... I have a way to let you see His Majesty, would you like it?"

Qi Yitang suddenly raised her head, and her dull eyes suddenly lit up.

"Really? You can really let me see him!"

"I can," Song Yunzhi said, "but it can only last for a quarter of an hour at most. It's just one-sided watching, we can't talk, and... sister, you have to promise not to burn me like a monster."

Song Yunzhi's actions were risky. No matter how kind the little angel is, she is still a genuine ancient person with limited capacity for acceptance.

But she really went all out for those last four points of favorability.

Qi Yitang grasped her hand urgently and nodded vigorously, "I swear, I definitely won't!"

She can even see the comments on the screen, so how could she think of Song Yunzhi as a monster?

Even if she was a monster, she didn't harm her, so she was a good monster. Why would she burn people?

Moreover, Qi Yitang was driven to despair by her longing. Just being able to see Xie Ling and confirm that she was alright would be enough for her.

The palace servants were dismissed, and the bed curtains were drawn to create a private little space.

Qi Yitang leaned against the pillow, wondering how Song Yunzhi would let Xie Ling see her, who was thousands of miles away, when suddenly something flashed before her eyes.

Like someone throwing a pebble into the water, the ripples spread out and revealed the person she longed for.

The comments were just words floating by, but Xie Ling in front of me felt real, as if she had never left.

"The inkstone..."

It had been more than a month since I last saw him. He was tanned and thinner, and the angles between his eyebrows and eyes were even sharper than when he left the palace.

Qi Yitang felt a sudden pang of sadness, and she felt like crying.