Phoenix Hairpin

 Empress Qiao suddenly became angry, and Princess Hui’an was also shocked.

  Empress Qiao came from a scholarly and prestigious family, was well-versed in literature, and had exceptional talents. She exuded grace and poise, emphasizing the importance of not revealing emotions on her face. This display of anger, with her face filled with fury, was almost unprecedented.

  ”I’m just talking casually. If the Royal Mother doesn’t want it, then why get angry.” Princess Hui’an felt a little wronged, and argued for herself in a low voice: “Furthermore, wasn’t I just looking for Royal Mother and the second brother?”

Empress Qiao said with a serious face: “Such thoughts are not allowed in the future.”

“I have been married to your father for many years, and he favors Consort Meng, treats Consort Qin kindly, and numerous shu[1] children were born one after another. If I had wicked intentions, how could all those shu princes have grown up safely and soundly?”

“I also hope for your younger brothers to be outstanding, and have a stable position for becoming the Crown Prince. But I would never resort to such sinister and malicious deeds. It goes against my principles and moral boundaries.”

“Our mother is truly naive,” Princess Huian thought to herself.

  What principle, what bottom line! In the final analysis, she was too soft-hearted. If she had been more ruthless, she would not have fallen into the predicament she was in now!

  Princess Hui’an reluctantly swallowed these words back.

  Empress Qiao glanced at Princess Hui’an: “Do you think the Royal Mother is too stupid?”

  Princess Hui’an couldn’t bear it anymore and nodded.

Empress Qiao’s mouth twitched in self-derision. “In reality, I haven’t been as dignified and serene as I may have portrayed. In the past, when Consort Meng and her son were in the limelight, I also occasionally had some thoughts. Your father is exceptionally sharp and noticed some signs of it. He warned me that if anything happened to Consort Meng and her son, he would hold the three of us responsible.”

“I can endure for myself, but I cannot ignore the safety of you, my children.”

“Therefore, over the years, I have swallowed my pride and made concessions everywhere. Only through this did I earn your father’s respect, preserve my position as the legitimate wife, and secure your identities as legitimate children. Otherwise, if your father insisted on favoring his concubines over his wife, who could stop him?”

Princess Hui’an:”…”

  Princess Hui’an suddenly stood up, with sparks in her eyes, and her voice changed a little: “What the Royal Mother said is true? My second brother and I are the sons and daughters of the father, how can the father be so biased!”

Empress Qiao said lightly: “People’s hearts are always biased. Fortunately, your father is not confused, and he is not bad towards you two siblings. As an Empress, I just do what I am supposed to do. I shouldn’t do what I can’t do, and I must not stretch out my hand.”

An indescribable anger surged in Princess Huian’s heart.

She tightly pursed her lips, pacing back and forth like a trapped animal.

  Empress Qiao sighed softly, her voice lowered a lot: “Hui’an, I actually don’t like Miss Lu’s temper. But your second brother is determined to marry her, and I can’t stop him. Besides, after thinking about it carefully, Lu Mingyu also has advantages that others can’t match. When she passes through the door, you get along well with her and don’t let your second brother be in a dilemma.”

Princess Huian let out a soft snort, her voice filled with anger, “Fine, fine, I’ll yield to her in everything, will that be enough!”

Then, with a face full of displeasure, she stormed away.

Empress Qiao rubbed her forehead and let out another sigh.

  …

  The news that the Eldest Huángzi fēi was pregnant quickly spread outside the palace.

  After Lu Mingyu and Li Jing got engaged, the whole Lu family paid special attention to the movements in the palace.

  Lu Mingfang made a special trip back to her mother’s house, and talked about it with Lu Mingyu: “…I heard that the Eldest Huángzi fēi has been lying on the couch to protect the fetus.”

“I heard that the Crown Prince’s consort is feeling melancholic and has been affected by prenatal qi; her pregnancy condition isn’t very good.”

Whether the Eldest Huángzi fēi’s pregnancy was safe or not, and whether she can give birth to the Emperor’s grandson in one fell swoop, was a very important matter for Lu Mingyu.

  Lu Mingyu’s eyes flickered slightly, and said calmly: “Meng Guifei is too anxious.”

  If Meng Guifei hadn’t been impatient and forced two palace servants on the Eldest Prince, the Eldest Huángzi fēi wouldn’t be depressed and angry. In the previous life, the Eldest Huángzi fēi was not stable at all, and she had a miscarriage within three months.

  On the contrary, the palace maid serving the Eldest Prince became pregnant and gave birth to a son.

  Then, the Eldest Prince went out with the army and died on the battlefield. The bad news spread to the capital, and the Eldest Huángzi fēi hanged herself that night.

  After Li Hao ascended the throne, the young grandson of the Emperor also died very soon.

  The battle for the throne was so cruel and ruthless.

Lan Mingfang held Lan Mingyu’s hand and sighed softly, “Mingyu, you’ve always had a straightforward and cheerful temperament, yet fate has led you to marry into the imperial family as the Prince’s consort. Every time I think about the challenges you’ll have to face and navigate in the future, I can’t help but worry for you.”

  Li Jing was the prince born to the main wife. So he must fight for the Crown Prince’s position.

  In the future, Lu Mingyu and Li Jing, this pair of husband and wife will be one and attack and retreat together. I don’t know how many troubles they will encounter.

  Lu Mingyu smiled slightly, and held Lu Mingfang’s hand behind his back: “Don’t worry, elder sister! Since I dare to marry Li Jing, I am mentally prepared to deal with everything.”

Lu Mingfang nodded, stopped talking, and started talking about Lu Fei’s marriage: “There are two months left, and the second brother will get married. When Shen Lan passes the door, you will slowly leave the household chores to her.”

Lu Mingyu replied with a smile: “My elder sister and I have the same thought. When elder sister Shen passes the door, I will not care about this mess at home.”

The sisters will get married one by one, and Lu Xuan was still young. So Shen Lan would naturally be in charge of the Lu family’s inner house in the future.

  …

  Half a month later, the news of the Eldest Huángzi fēi’s miscarriage really spread in the palace.

  After Lu Mingyu knew about this, she also secretly sighed for the Eldest Huángzi fēi.

  In the past few years, she was quite familiar with the temperament of the Eldest Huángzi fēi.

  The Eldest Huángzi fēi was actually quite calculating, not as gentle as she looked on the outside. However, at most, it was a private calculation, and she hadn’t done anything evil.

  It was not that the Eldest Prince had no affection for the Eldest Huángzi fēi.

  But to the Eldest Prince, heirs were more important than affection.

  As expected by Lu Mingyu.

  After the miscarriage, the Eldest Huángzi fēi was in tears all day long, feeling depressed. The Eldest Prince came to sit in the room of the Eldest Huángzi fēi every day for a while and slept in the study at night.

  Within a month, one of the palace maids named Yang sent good news.

  The Eldest Huángzi fēi was lingering on the sick bed, unable to manage the family, let alone take care of the pregnant palace servant.

  Concubine Meng Gui directly asked people to bring her into the Yanxi Palace to take care of her and promised the maid that she would be raised as a side concubine after giving birth to the Emperor’s grandson so that maid Yang could raise the baby with peace of mind.

  The Eldest Prince also completely forgot about “keep the son and leave the mother”, and went to Yanxi Palace to pay his respects almost every day.

  The Eldest Huángzi fēi was hit hard by this, and she fell ill for a while, almost dying.

  These things, to everyone, were just a talk. Apart from the Liang family, who would care about the mood of the Eldest Huángzi fēi?

  Lu Mingyu also had no time to pay attention to these.

  It was the tenth month of the Lunar Calender, and the day when Lu Fei and Shen Lan will get married, was approaching.

References

References↑1concubine born children