Favored concubine deposed empress? I'll seize your throne and marry you to a powerful minister.

Wei Rong could no longer pay attention to Ling Xianru. She stepped forward, and people on both sides quickly made way and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress!"

"Greetings to Your Majesty." Lin Changying endured the pain and performed the curtsy, then was helped up by Wei Rong's hand.

The back of my hand, which had been hit, was already bright red and starting to swell.

When Lu Ziyin saw her, he bowed and was about to leave with a livid face when he looked up and saw Ling Xianru standing behind Wei Rong with a cold and stern expression.

He stood still in the same spot.

"Are you going to fight over this?" Wei Rong told Qiaoyu to go find the imperial physician for some ointment, while simultaneously asking Lu Ziyin, "What are you arguing about?"

Lu Ziyin was born into a noble family, but he had an eccentric personality and did not like to make friends with others.

The marriage between the two was arranged by their parents and a matchmaker, and Wei Rong knew that Lu Ziyin might not necessarily like Lin Changying.

But Lin Changying insisted on marrying him. Unlike Wei Rong, although both came from military families, she was always reserved and a true lady of high society.

A fleeting glimpse in her youth, and Lu Ziyin became her obsession.

Lu Ziyin remained silent, clearly still angry, and wouldn't even glance at Lin Changying.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward, but Wei Rong insisted on saying, "I'm not a child anymore. If the Marquis asks me to lay a hand on you again, I will have the old Marquis discipline you."

Lu Ziyin smiled coldly: "Does Your Majesty the Empress concern herself with everything, including the quarrels between husband and wife?"

"It's wrong of you, Lord Marquis, to take action," Ling Xianru suddenly spoke up. "Come with me to pay our respects to His Majesty."

He took Lu Ziyin away, and the surrounding stares finally subsided somewhat.

Wei Rong applied the medicine to Lin Changying's skin and whispered intimately, "What happened?"

Outsiders shouldn't interfere in a couple's relationship, but over the years, Wei Rong has watched Lin Changying grow up and treats her like a younger sister, so naturally she cares about her more.

"I'm pregnant," Lin Changying announced the good news, smiling at Wei Rong to comfort her, "I'm already more than two months along. I've been having severe morning sickness lately, so I didn't come to pay my respects to Your Majesty on New Year's Eve."

I'm pregnant...

Wei Rong looked at her flat stomach, slightly surprised: "He wasn't paying attention when she was pregnant, didn't he know?"

Hearing this, Lin Changying's smile faltered, and she said, "He knows."

I know, but I don't want it.

"Sister Rong," Lin Changying looked up again, her eyes filled with tears, "Gu Jinyu is dead."

Gu Jinyu.

Wei Rong had heard this name many times, and it became a thorn in her side as Lin Changying got married.

Gu Jinyu came from a poor family and was taken in by Lu Ziyin when she was only thirteen. Later, she officially became his concubine, but in reality, they had already secretly pledged their lives to each other.

Lord Lu naturally wouldn't allow Lu Ziyin to marry a woman of unknown origin as his principal wife. Therefore, he negotiated a condition: as long as Lu Ziyin married Lin Changying, Gu Jinyu could become his concubine.

Wei Rong had advised Lin Changying to think it through. She said that even though she would be the legal wife, she would have to spend her whole life competing with the concubines for her husband's favor.

He might even be seen as a thorn in Lu Ziyin's side, a obstacle between him and Gu Jinyu.

In fact, Wei Rong's words came true.

Life after marriage was not satisfactory. Even the consummation of the marriage was due to a scheme by the old Marquis Lu, who had his servants put an aphrodisiac in Lu Ziyin's tea.

Lin Changying was unaware of the incident, but after it happened, Lu Ziyin hated her to the core, pointing at her and cursing her, and smashing everything in the house to pieces.

I heard that Gu Jinyu attempted suicide that time, but failed, and was sent out of the mansion by Lu Ziyin and raised outside.

Lu Ziyin himself also returned to the Marquis's residence less often.

"Two months ago, on the old Marquis's birthday, as his only son, he was bound to return to the manor," Lin Changying said, a hint of fear in her eyes. "He seemed to have quarreled with Gu Jinyu. He drank a lot of wine that night. Your Majesty, he could barely walk. I couldn't possibly let him ride a horse out of the manor. And yet, he mistook me for... for Gu Jinyu—"

Lin Changying was trembling all over, and Wei Rong put her arm around his shoulder to comfort him.

Once she calmed down, she covered her face with her hands, burying her face in her palms, her voice trembling: "But the very next day, Gu Jinyu died."

Gu Jinyu died, and Lu Ziyin attributed it all to Lin Changying's fault, refusing to listen to explanations or defenses, and simply using her as a vessel for his hatred.

What could Wei Rong say? She could only say that it was all a tragic fate.

Both she and Lin Changying trapped themselves in an arranged marriage, feeling as if they were stuck in a quagmire.

But to say that they have trapped themselves is utterly innocent.

"Let him hate it if he wants," Wei Rong could only comfort him. "Having a child gives you something to look forward to. The old Marquis has taken a liking to you and will raise the child in the future. Life has to go on."

"I thought people's hearts could be warmed, Your Majesty. They've known each other for six years, and I was prepared to spend twelve or twenty years warming his heart. But I never imagined Gu Jinyu would die. I never imagined it..."

Can a person's heart be warmed?

Wei Rong herself didn't know. She was covered in fleas, and she and Xiao Heng were more like enemies than husband and wife. How could she explain it clearly?

She couldn't say whether the child's arrival was timely.

Lin Changying was also the apple of the Lin family's eye, and was raised with great care.

In the Great Jing Dynasty, there were not many rules governing husbands and wives. Divorce agreements could be reached through discussions between the two families, and remarriage was not uncommon.

However, since Lin Changying was pregnant, the old Marquis could not possibly approve of her getting a divorce.

Wei Rong patted her shoulder again: "Changying, persistence only leads to suffering. If you ever come to your senses and want to go back to the Lin family, I will help you."

Lin Changying finally couldn't hold back her tears and they flowed down her cheeks.

She was miserable in the Lu family. If the old Marquis hadn't ordered Lu Ziyin to take her out today, she wouldn't have been able to see Wei Rong.

But she was no longer like she used to be, able to bury her face in Wei Rong's arms and cry.

She knew that Wei Rong was also having a hard time, and didn't want to worry her sister any further, so she smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you don't need to worry about me. As you said, I have a child now, and the old Marquis values ​​this child very much. Moreover, it is said that children are the bond between parents. Perhaps he can let the Marquis know that, besides Gu Jinyu, I can also give him a home."

"That's good."

Wei Rong gently stroked her lower abdomen, but there was no sign of pregnancy yet.

But strangely enough, there was a glimmer of hope within this – Lin Changying's hope for Lu Ziyin.

She also thought of how many people had advised her to have children. In this vast palace, a legitimate son would be her greatest support in the future. If she could give birth to one, she could be assured of a peaceful life for the rest of her days.

Perhaps her initial intentions for marrying Lin Changying were different, so she didn't want to have a child to salvage anything.

The thought that the child would be trapped here for the rest of his life, vying for power and making all sorts of schemes, with his father on guard, filled her with inexplicable fear.

She didn't want her child to be born in such an environment.

Lin Changying knew her temperament, so she didn't ask anything about her situation, only saying, "Your Majesty, please be careful in the palace."

Wei Rong agreed, and the Imperial Observatory sent someone to invite her over.

The ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven was complicated and lengthy, and even the emperor and empress had to kneel and worship Heaven and Earth.

Wei Rong and Xiao Heng stood side by side, their two bright yellow figures complementing each other perfectly. To outsiders, they appeared as a harmonious pair, a match made in heaven.

Of the imperial concubines, only Shen Mingxiu came; the other concubines were not of high enough rank, while the rest were royal marquises and high-ranking officials.

Shen Mingxiu stood side by side with Ling Xianru. Following the Emperor and Empress's movements, she raised the incense above her head, bent slightly, and whispered, "The Prime Minister and Her Majesty the Empress seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation. What did they talk about?"