Palace Intrigue?: I Make the Emperor Cry by Rewinding Time!-Chapter 171 - 144:

Handing over the letter to the Emperor to Qing Que, Yun Jiao hurried off to play with Sister Concubine Li.

There isn’t much to do in the harem; with the Emperor not around, the concubines seem more like companions passing the day. Seeing her arrive, Concubine Li, without uttering a word, showed a smile: "You’re wandering around everywhere, making Nanny Ye worried."

"Nanny Ye said that during pregnancy, the worst thing is to lie down and nourish too much, making the baby too large and difficult to deliver. I’m just following the doctor’s advice."

"You always have a reason."

Concubine Li sat down, giving her a coquettish glance.

Whenever Yun Jiao visits Qixiang Palace, she returns with something. This time, she brought back a box of tangrams to assemble while listening to Concubine Li talk about today’s events: "What was said today doesn’t sound like something Concubine Feng could say. She has never been so sharp-tongued; she is timid."

"Does Sister think someone was instigating her from behind?"

Mentioning a hidden manipulator, Yun Jiao’s mind instantly pictured Lady’s hibiscus-like face.

"What good does mocking your father’s talent do for her? I think it’s more because the Emperor hasn’t visited the harem in a long time, she’s growing bored and envied your pregnancy, having a reliable future, thus making such spiteful remarks."

The Emperor’s power is so overwhelming that not everyone can fall in love with him.

Yet if you ask which of the Six Palace Concubines wishes to bear an imperial heir, ten out of ten will say they do.

The extra one is a palace maid by a concubine’s side wishing to climb up to the Emperor’s bed for a higher status.

Therefore, the Imperial Palace is the place with the highest desire for childbirth in the world.

No wonder, giving birth to a son guarantees financial freedom as a Prince, getting allocated a courtyard within the Second Ring Road of the Capital City, and lifelong high-standard state support. Yan Chi no longer needs to princess-marry with another state; if a daughter is born, she gets a Princess Mansion built in the Capital and has the right to divorce anytime.

"Dependence," Yun Jiao touched her slightly bulging abdomen, musing: "He is my dependence now."

"I didn’t expect you to think so far ahead; you still seem quite childish."

"Now, pregnant as I am, if I lay in front of Jianzhang Palace, the Empress would still have to coax me up."

Concubine Li vaguely felt that imperial heirs weren’t meant for such things.

...

This pregnancy of Yun Jiao’s was still smooth, with no one causing any trouble for her.

When Xie Zhixing didn’t accompany her, Attendant Lady Zhen was summoned the most often, which invited a lot of hatred. During summer, she once fell into the water and was saved by a water-skilled eunuch. Other than being frightened, she was unharmed.

Typically, she summoned an Imperial Physician once every ten days, having a stomach upset or being slapped was commonplace too.

Every time Attendant Lady Zhen suffered, she’d receive an imperial reward.

Once, she requested the Emperor, saying there weren’t many places to spend Silver Tael in the palace, and asked to send money to her family periodically... The Emperor easily agreed, observers meanwhile thought Attendant Lady Zhen was shallow-eyed, merely currying favor for rewards and grew even more envious of her. As Attendant Lady Zhen believed she was living a dreamlike immortal life with Silver Tael and Ah Zhu, it seemed only right to endure some physical hardship for the Emperor, and she willingly continued her extravagant antics in the palace.

Today, she spoke disrespectfully to Consort Jiang, tomorrow she arrived late to pay respects at Jianzhang Palace, holding her waist and saying she was worn out from last night, and came to pay respects late today, asking for Lady’s punishment.

Princess Wei, seeing her demeanor, winced, baring her teeth: "Enough, you might as well shake each of our shoulders, saying—Concubine favored me last night! Concubine is favored well! Save us the affectation, the pretentiousness, and stop annoying me."

Consort Xu echoed: "Lady is right."

She’s practically rooted in her Consort title.

After Concubine Xi, she truly couldn’t accept another new upstart squeezing her position further back.

"Serving the Emperor is meritorious, but it shouldn’t delay the time to pay respects. If this palace doesn’t punish you, everyone will learn and chaos will ensue?"

The Empress gave no leniency to this newly favored concubine, directly punishing her to kneel outside Jianzhang Palace.

Attendant Lady Zhen went off sobbing.

As she retreated, her slender waist swayed exaggeratedly, like she was acting. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The pastries at Jianzhang Palace were made with real ingredients; usually, when not eligible to speak, the concubines would eat some, but today, all was disrupted by Attendant Lady Zhen, and no one touched the pastries. The Six Palaces felt no surprise she would get slapped—her every action was too irksome.

Due to the Emperor’s recent attitude, the Empress didn’t dare to wantonly mistreat the concubines anymore. After half an hour, Dong Qi, with a cold face, sent her back.

"Really no need to kneel longer?" Attendant Lady Zhen showed a look of regret.

"You’re the current most favored one before the Emperor, not the servant or maid you used to be. In those days, breaking a teacup meant crawling on the ground like a dog to clean it, but now, there’s no way you’d be made to kneel long!"