Chapter 21: After Binding the Child-Bearing System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 21: Cannon Fodder Minor Consort (21)

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Shen Yao glared with dead fish eyes, staring blankly at Xiao Yanchen sitting at the highest seat in the grand hall, currently exchanging compliments with others, thinking to herself that this person really came at a bad time — she and the System hadn't finished their private conversation yet.

Forget it, forget it. Now that Xiao Yanchen, the principal party, has arrived — including the Empress and both Empress Dowagers — plus the several princes and their sons sitting diagonally across from Shen Yao at the upper seats, along with their respective family members... tsk, she hadn't expected the Great Jing Dynasty's imperial clan relatives to be this numerous.

Fortunately the Retired Emperor fell ill this time, suffering from wind-cold with high fever, making it truly unsuitable for him to set out from Yichang Garden and rush to the palace to attend the New Year's palace banquet; otherwise today's banquet would likely have been even more lively.

Sneaking glances at the crowd above, Shen Yao agreed incessantly in her heart.

Fortunately Xiao Yanchen also understood that everyone today had come ultimately for nothing much.

Without idle chatter, he only spoke two auspicious phrases, and with the banquet opening, palace servants like a long dragon carried trays in from outside the doors, placing one exquisite dish after another on everyone's dining tables.

Shen Yao lowered her head, looking at the dishes she couldn't name, thinking the royal family was truly lavish.

There's a saying: behind vermilion gates wine and meat rot, while on the road lie frozen corpses.

In this freezing weather, bitterly cold, many ordinary families could only spend a shivering New Year, while those in the imperial palace all ate their fill and dressed warmly, still having the mood to amuse themselves and make merry.

No wonder the imperial examinations in ancient times were so valued — the sole chance for a carp to leap the dragon gate; if grasped, it meant eating delicacies and drinking fine wine, reaching the peak of life; if not, one could only muddle through in a daze, a muddled lifetime.

While sighing with emotion, Shen Yao had the System hurriedly appraise the food on the table.

She was the birth mother of triplets — if she didn't eat her fill, how could she replenish her body's nutrition?

System:...

"Host, one piece of good news, one piece of bad news — which do you want to hear first?"

The System played a guessing game with Shen Yao too, making her, upon hearing the commotion, unable to resist rolling her eyes.

What good news, bad news — for her, she definitely had to hear both; who made these things concern her vital interests?

"Say both. Don't tell me the dishes in front of me can't be eaten."

Shen Yao reacted, her gaze fixed on the table piled full before her.

She thought: if they can't be eaten, that would truly be a waste — this whole banquet spread, without a hundred or eighty taels it absolutely couldn't be put together.

Tsk tsk, from this one could infer just how extravagant the royal family's daily life was; no wonder so many people wanted to marry into the royal family — not only was power moving, but wealth was enticing too.

"The dishes can be eaten; there is no problem with the dishes on the table.

However, the bowls and chopsticks used to take the dishes have a problem — they were coated with a layer of medicine powder containing blood-activating and stasis-resolving ingredients, which is disadvantageous to the Host as a pregnant woman."

The System's voice had just fallen when Shen Yao's follow-up question came.

"Would it cause a miscarriage?"

The System answered bluntly, "No, but it would disturb the fetal qi and require bed rest.

By then the fetal breath would gradually weaken; for the Host, with the System's help, this is a minor problem, but for a normal pregnant woman it would be fatal.

You must know the current Emperor's seed quality is poor; during a pregnant woman's pregnancy, the slightest disturbance would affect the offspring in her womb."

The final outcome is none other than fetal death in the womb or giving birth to a frail body that is hard to raise to adulthood.

After all, the three princes in the harem perfectly illustrate just how poor Xiao Yanchen's seed quality truly is.

The System thought to itself that this world was comparatively ignorant, including many whose thinking was hopelessly outdated.

If placed in the world where the System survived, with technology developing rapidly, someone like Xiao Yanchen would have long lost any competitiveness — even if a thousand technological means could solve Xiao Yanchen's problems, that era pursued authenticity; things like gene-modified humans? Would be regarded as inferior.

Mm, thus one can see every era has its own superiority and limitations.

One cannot deny that a system's existence must conform to current social development.

Take the feudal dynastic rule at present — at the very least it will not end in the hands of Great Jing.

Shen Yao listened to the System's words, didn't say much more, but had the System monitor the entire grand hall, while she picked up the problematic bowls and chopsticks, and during the process of adding dishes, smoothly let the bowls and chopsticks slip from her hand, whereupon Qiu Yue at her side silently swapped them for new, problem-free ones.

As long as one's thinking doesn't backslide, methods always outnumber difficulties.

Holding a new set of bowls and chopsticks, Shen Yao happily enjoyed the dishes on the table.

Mm

A real gold-and-silver banquet spread — Shen Yao said she absolutely could not waste it.

Below at the consorts' section, Shen Yao ate cheerfully all by herself.

Among the big shots at the top seats, there were also quite a few taking this opportunity to size up the crowd.

Xiao Yanchen, while acting false and treacherous with others, drank the wine in his hand without appetite.

His gaze unconsciously fell on Shen Yao, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

In the end she's still a naive young woman — only she has the appetite to dine at a time like this; didn't she see everyone else watching all directions and listening to all sides?

Xiao Yanchen felt inexplicably irritated; if the court weren't unstable, he wouldn't have the mood to exchange cups with these people — each one's true face behind the scenes was disgusting to the extreme; did they really take him, this Emperor, for dead?!

Xiao Yanchen's displeasure was openly displayed — whether the two Empress Dowagers who gave birth to and raised him, or the Empress who had interacted with him for many years, both could read it.

Heh!

Wei Jingyi coldly watched those uncles and nephews still pushing and shoving, speaking with barbed words, thinking these people truly had enjoyed good days too long — they even dared to chatter endlessly before the Emperor's face; had they forgotten how the Emperor dealt with them back then?

Xiao Yanchen's ability to sit firmly on the throne wasn't without skill.

Back then it was only because the Retired Emperor woke up in time, and used the Emperor's successive private treasuries to buy these people's lives; otherwise Xiao Yanchen's blood relatives would have been reduced by at least half.

The Xiao family of Great Jing, having seized power by raising troops in rebellion, had nothing but killing blood flowing in their bones.

Wei Jingyi coldly watched from the sidelines as people courted death, while pondering how to cultivate her own son.

Xiao Heng — still too frail; according to the Imperial Physician, he still needed several years of careful recuperation.

She couldn't be anxious, couldn't let others exploit openings; as long as Xiao Heng lived, she as Empress had hope — otherwise, without Xiao Heng, making her live like the Eastern Palace's Zheng Taihou, Wei Jingyi could not accept it.

Hu

Exhaling softly, Wei Jingyi fixed her gaze on the imperial consorts below.

She paid most attention to the pregnant Shen Yao and Zheng Pin.

Yet compared to Shen Yao's cleverness, Zheng Pin was instead cleverness that backfired.

Empress Dowager Zheng had clearly stated she would not help her, yet Zheng Pin foolishly ran to the Dong Palace anyway; seeing Zheng Pin's expression, Wei Jingyi told herself she should prepare, so that when Zheng Pin miscarried or gave birth prematurely, she could react quickly.

The festival celebration did not disperse until very late.

Shen Yao sampled the dishes on the table, then returned to Hehuan Palace with her round, bulging belly.

By the time she returned to Hehuan Palace, the sky was already late, and being pregnant, even though she had taken various pills good for the fetus, she still lacked energy.

Indeed, Shen Yao yawned incessantly as Qiu Yue helped her take a hot bath, then she did not bother with anything else and simply got into bed and fell asleep.

Waiting for Shen Yao to ask her system:...

Shen Yao, sleeping soundly, opened her eyes again; the time had already come to the morning of the second day.

New Year's Day

"There's nothing much today, no need to go out; I'll just lie in bed and rest for a day."

"Qiu Yue, have someone bring the morning meal and keep it warm on the brazier; I'll eat whenever I'm hungry."

Shen Yao had no appetite right now; she opened her eyes with effort to tell Qiu Yue, then fell asleep again in a daze.

Qiu Yue:...

Seeing her mistress sleeping so frequently lately, Qiu Yue could only resign herself helplessly.

The Imperial Physician said this was normal for a pregnant woman, so what else could she manage?

Better to have the food ready so the mistress could eat whenever she was hungry.

Shen Yao just lay in bed like that, eyes open to eat, sleep after eating, wake to eat again, eat and continue sleeping... until she finally recovered her spirit enough to move about simply, the time had already come to noon.

Well, time for lunch.

Shen Yao scratched her head rather embarrassedly, thinking it was all pregnancy's fault.

Three children kicking in her belly meant the daily nutrition consumed was no small matter.

Eating more and resting more was also for the children's sake.

"Host, don't you care about what was mentioned before—retaining the genes of hosts from each world, and whose hand did that problematic set of bowls and chopsticks at the Dian Dian last night come from?"

The system couldn't help but beep softly; Shen Yao was simply too uncompetitive.

The system thought that if it didn't open its mouth, the host could drag it out for several days.

Hearing the system speak, Shen Yao understood this was about last night.

Oh dear, terrible, terrible, she had truly forgotten.

Lowering her head, she somewhat embarrassedly drank some nourishing soup Qiu Yue had just brought back from the Imperial Kitchen.

All were fresh and delicious nourishing soups; the Emperor and Empress had personally spoken, just to supplement nutrition for the pregnant Shen Yao.

Even the Emperor had told the Empress to open a small kitchen for Shen Yao.

The small kitchen could not make many things, but it could satisfy Shen Yao's wish to eat some snacks when hungry during her free time.

Heaven is great, earth is great, the pregnant woman is greatest.

Even if the Empress thought Shen Yao too affected, fortunately Shen Yao only quibbled about food and otherwise caused no trouble for Fengyi Palace.

The Empress said a couple of words and then left everything to Shen Yao; compared to Zheng Pin who caused a scene every three or five times, the Empress truly thought Shen Yao was beautiful and kind-hearted.

Right now, Shen Yao lived this kind of life where clothes came when she stretched out her hand and food came when she opened her mouth.

"Say it then; if you don't bring it up, I will," Shen Yao first explained to save face, then chatted idly with the system while eating.

The system did not believe Shen Yao's nonsense; "Speak of the bowls and chopsticks first."

According to the system's surveillance, after you changed to new bowls and chopsticks, during that period, five people in the entire Dian Dian suddenly changed expression.

Analyzing by time and motive, three of them had the greatest suspicion.

They were Ning Fei, Concubine Sun, and Zheng Pin.

Shen Yao still held her bowls and chopsticks without letting go; "What about the other two? Say them all together."

Time and motive were the least reliable in the Huang Hou, because there were many people for no reason at all.

Even without conflict, someone might act against you just because they disliked the look of you; truly there was nowhere to reason.