Chapter 28

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

While eating her morning meal and complaining to Qiu Yue about the three children's various shortcomings, Shen Yao now even had to worry; fortunately Xiao Yanchen was their biological father, and with his own foolish-dad halo filter, he always felt the three of them were obedient, sensible, and ambitious — if it were anyone else, they'd be annoyed to death.

Sigh

Sighing again, Shen Yao thought to herself that this really counted as sweet troubles.

After all, healthy children that others couldn't even hope for, here she was both disliking and worrying about them — in modern terms, that's just too Versailles.

"Clear the table."

After finishing the morning meal on the table, Shen Yao stood up, propping her still-unshowing pregnant belly, and swayed back to the couch once more.

By now the time had entered the eighth month, and the palace selection was also reaching its final stage.

The reason Shen Yao kept restricting Xiao Jin and the other two from running outside was precisely because at a time like this, the only ones who could still remain in the palace were those selected ladies with background and backing.

If they accidentally bumped into one or two, Xiao Jin and the others would naturally be fine, but the inexplicable grudges formed could last who knows how long.

Shen Yao also didn't want the children to grow up still bearing several inexplicable hostilities, so she simply didn't go out, deciding to endure this period first.

The result was discovering that doing this had little use; the three little ones still didn't understand the malice of human hearts, and ran out whenever they had the chance.

No choice, Shen Yao could only use yesterday's dog-hole-drilling method to give Xiao Jin and the others a lesson, striving for some effect, letting the three little ones dodge this period first.

Although Xiao Jin and the others were all imperial princes and imperial grandsons, and ordinary people couldn't do anything to them, Shen Yao still wanted to cultivate them more — at least not truly raise them into spoiled aristocrats; otherwise, what use were healthy bodies? If their brains weren't enough, they'd still be handed over for nothing.

"I heard that in this selection, quite a few ministers at court actively petitioned His Majesty to take more consorts. The families of this batch of selected ladies are almost all those with flourishing descendants — it seems they came prepared."

While touching her lower abdomen, Shen Yao spoke laughingly with Qiu Yue.

Qiu Yue ordered the meal on the table to be cleared, turned and replied, "Your Highness, they're all people with shallow vision; you need not worry over this."

No matter how capable others' selections are, they can't compare to our mistress who already had three treasures in one birth and is about to have a second pregnancy.

One thinks that once Your Highness safely delivers this pregnancy, the Noble Consort position that was originally only one step away will fall into your hands.

At that time, she Qiu Yue will become the first favored person under the Noble Consort.

Hehe, she really ought to properly thank her elder sister Chunhua who stayed in the Shen family and gave her this good position of serving the mistress; without Elder Sister Chunhua's help, how could she have such fortune.

While answering her mistress's questions, Qiu Yue was thinking of the Shen family outside the palace, little knowing that at this moment Chunhua, who had already married and given birth in the Shen family, was also thinking of Qiu Yue who had entered the palace.

Chunhua regretted it.

Especially after learning that Shen Yao entered the palace and gave birth to three children in one year, was directly made an Imperial Consort, then turned around and became pregnant again with a bun in the oven.

Chunhua: She was wrong, wrong to an outrageous degree.

The current Shen family is no longer the Shen family of three years ago with a Fifth Rank Assistant Official.

They transformed in a leap, becoming a Fourth Rank Minister of the Ignore Temple; although the official rank only rose one grade, in importance it increased considerably.

At least Shen Yao's biological father attending court for morning audience no longer has to stand waiting outside the palace gates, and can finally enter the great hall to gaze upon His Majesty's bearing and appearance.

Joyous and congratulatory, the Shen family ancestors thanked Shen Yao countless times in their hearts for raising them up.

If not for Shen Yao's efforts, their Shen family would still be stuck on a Fifth Rank minor official post, stubbornly holding on like a nail household.

However, although promotion was promotion, Xiao Yanchen had already learned Shen Yao's biological father's character from Shen Yao's mouth — merely raising a rank to give Shen Yao and the three children some face, with no intention of truly employing Shen Yao's biological father.

Before, Shen Yao's biological father fished for salary while slacking; now, Shen Yao's biological father still fished for salary while slacking.

And this time slacking while fishing for salary was by His Majesty's personal order to the department head, guaranteeing that Shen Yao's biological father could slack contentedly and draw his salary with peace of mind — even the Shen family ancestor (Shen Yao's grandmother) sighed that His Majesty was truly thoughtful enough, sending the cheap granddaughter into the palace was not a mistake.

The Shen family got what they wanted, so their behavior became even more honest.

Ordinary matters they avoided meddling in if they could; the several grown concubine-born sons and daughters were also suppressed very tightly by the cheap grandmother, absolutely not giving them any chance to cause trouble.

In short, Xiao Yanchen's single move thoroughly resolved Shen Yao's rear worries.

From now on, Shen Yao no longer needed to worry that the Shen family outside the palace would drag her down; she only needed to take good care of the several children and peacefully live her life in the palace.

Otherwise why would Shen Yao choose to get pregnant — wasn't it because she thought Xiao Yanchen was reliable enough, she herself was young and healthy, and she wanted to seize the opportunity to quickly give birth to a few more pregnancies, so in the future she could live off gnawing on the man and gnawing on the children? Just thinking about it felt beautiful.

Shen Yao's reason for being pregnant again was so plain and unadorned that even the Childbirth System in her mind fell silent.

Although this host always complained that this system sounded rather improper.

But the Childbirth System could swear to heaven, it truly was a certified three-have system.

Even signing a contract with the host, it would not force the host to keep giving birth just because it arrived in a new world.

Its Childbirth System did not take number of births as the fulfillment condition; even if the host only gave birth to one, but that one achieved quite high merit, it would be more useful than ten or eight ordinary people tied together.

Therefore, the host could live well in every mission world, and settlement of missions could also earn a lot — precisely because the host inadvertently glimpsed the true essence of the Childbirth System's mission issuance.

Quality is more important than quantity.

If there is both quality and quantity, that's even better.

The reason Shen Yao looks relaxed and at ease right now is because she is certain Xiao Yanchen will manage the children; with such healthy, disaster-free children finally obtained, Xiao Yanchen would surely seize every opportunity to educate them well, preventing Great Jing from perishing due to withering imperial offspring.

Since it's like this, Shen Yao only needs to give birth well; the later education problems she needn't worry about — as long as she ensures the children's normal worldviews don't go crooked, she can just wait for the harvest.

"Qiu Yue, has there been any fresh news in the harem recently? Tell me about it."

Turning over to let herself lie more comfortably, Shen Yao exhaled, her fingers involuntarily flipping through the stack of books placed in the corner.

These were all storybooks she herself had pestered Xiao Yanchen to grind out; some were proper, some were improper.

But all told, they were enough to let Shen Yao kill time.

Only the storybook content was too limited; the tropes went round and round, just those few patterns.

Shen Yao also didn't like going out, so naturally she'd grown tired of reading them.

Hearing this, Qiu Yue hurriedly dismissed the palace servants clearing the Eight Immortals Table, and she herself scurried two steps to Shen Yao's side and stood, "Your Highness, there's no lack of fresh news in the harem; which palace's do you want to hear?"

There are many harem palaces; of course, the famous ones are still those few who either have children, or have favor, or hold high position.

After all, compared to other ordinary consorts, they each had their own advantages; once placed in the palace, they would attract more attention than other consorts.

Shen Yao's daily pleasures, aside from finding things to do herself, were listening to Qiu Yue gossip about the consorts in the imperial harem.

At the moment, Shen Yao touched her chin, "Let's talk about Fengyi Palace and Chaoyang Palace, and also Yu Fu Hall."

One Empress, one Noble Consort, plus Ning Guipin, who had always been hostile toward her—yes, all the elements were there; Qiu Yue could unleash (start speaking) now.

Qiu Yue showed an expression of "as expected," her clear and beautiful face smiling even more, "Your Ladyship, speaking of Fengyi Palace, recently the Second Prince fell ill again."

The Empress directly dismissed a group of palace attendants serving the Second Prince and transferred new manpower from the Imperial Household Department.

Pity the new hands weren't skilled; it's said the Second Prince still wanted to switch back to his original attendants and is currently quarreling with the Empress."

Shen Yao raised her eyebrows, "The Second Prince has had serious and minor illnesses without cease these past years; the Empress keeps changing the attendants around him. The Second Prince is already six years old, the age to go to the study to read, yet he's kept confined by the Empress's side, unable to move—truly." She shook her head; Shen Yao didn't know what to say. Anyway, she really couldn't understand: previously, the Empress had acted so normally—how had she made so many blunders in the last two years?

Although most of the Empress's tricks backfired on herself, over time they also affected the wedding guests' impressions.

Even Xiao Yanchen, upon coming to Weiyang Palace, would occasionally complain to Shen Yao that the Empress was becoming increasingly muddled.

Look, this was still a husband who had shared weal and woe with her—not to mention the others in the imperial harem.

Qiu Yue sighed, "Perhaps it was that illness two years ago that frightened the Empress Dowager."

Shen Yao nodded after listening, "It's quite possible. That wind-cold nearly took the Second Prince's life."

From then on, the Empress truly held the Second Prince in her mouth and cradled him in her heart."

It was at the end of the year Shen Yao first gave birth to a consort's child that someone pushed open the window of the side hall where the Second Prince slept.

The Second Prince, frozen solid for a whole night, immediately ran a nonstop high fever with convulsions all over; if not for the Imperial Physician administering a strong medicine at the last moment, the Second Prince very likely would not have survived.

"Not only the Second Prince; the Crown Prince and Third Prince have also faced many disasters and hardships these past years."

"When Xiao Jin and they go out, this palace is terrified; this imperial harem is truly dangerous."

Where does the danger come from? Not only inside and outside the palace, but even the children's own Grandfather has reached out to meddle.

Nowadays, the two Empress Dowagers in the imperial harem basically no longer appear in the harem.

Whether it was Xiao Yanchen's Birth Mother or his Birth Mother, both were caught by Xiao Yanchen with evidence and, directly under the pretext of praying for blessings in the Great Jing Dynasty, were confined to their own palaces and forbidden to go out.

If not for the fact that Yichang Garden still had a Qin Zi alive, Xiao Yanchen had no way and no opportunity to commit patricide; Xiao Yanchen might very well have sent these three old things on their way together.

No way, after all Xiao Yanchen didn't have many sons, but his Cheap Nephew was not few.

Although it's unknown where the next generation of these Cheap Nephews is in some remote corner, nowadays speaking, Xiao Yanchen is the one wearing shoes afraid of the barefoot, and cannot compete with these people.

"Your Ladyship, the imperial harem is much more peaceful now, and the Eldest Misses are not as dangerous as before."

Qiu Yue, afraid her master would be sad, hurriedly opened her mouth to persuade her.

Living this kind of comfortable life now, Qiu Yue occasionally still recalls the terror of the past two years.

Truly, they couldn't even step out of the room door, and even without going out they would be schemed against.

If not for the master's quick reaction and the Eldest Misses' decent body foundations, who knows they might end up like the Crown Prince and them, sickly and without hope at first glance.