Chapter 264: Arrival
Virtuous Consort, who was Shen Hanyu’s mother, was worried that Noble Consort Liang would be unhappy, so she immediately comforted her, “His Majesty is not someone who prioritizes appearances. It’s just that an emperor’s words are not to be taken lightly.”
Then Pure Consort and Virtuous Consort fell silent.
But the truth was, His Majesty not only didn’t favor women, he also had a low libido.
There was no shortage of beautiful women in the harem, but had His Majesty ever shown special favor to any of them?
No!
His Majesty had said that whoever gave birth to a princess would be made empress. His Majesty always kept his word, so the empress position ended up falling to a peasant woman.
His Majesty rarely even favored the young and beautiful consorts who had recently entered the palace, so would he be charmed by a middle-aged woman who had already given birth and was at least in her thirties?
Having witnessed His Majesty’s indifference and lack of interest in women for over twenty years, none of them believed it!
At this moment, Noble Consort Liang spoke up and reminded them, “His Majesty values rules the most. The Empress is of noble status, we should show her respect. After all, we are all elders in the palace, our sons have grown up, why should we be jealous?”
After all, they were sisters who had lived in the palace together for many years. Her words were also a reminder to them not to anger His Majesty, otherwise, if their rank was lowered, it would not be worth the loss.
Actually, Noble Consort Liang was indeed a little disheartened when she first learned that His Majesty wanted to establish an empress.
She originally thought that His Majesty would never establish an empress in his lifetime, and she would be the first person in the harem. Unexpectedly, a peasant woman suddenly appeared, giving birth to the princess he had been longing for. He hadn’t even met the person yet, and it was unknown whether she was truly of the dragon lineage. Before His Majesty went to pick her up, he had already ordered the preparation of all matters related to the empress’s investiture.
From then on, she would no longer be the first person in the harem.
However, later her son came, and she thought that her son was already the Crown Prince. Even if His Majesty favored the princess, could he really pass the throne to a princess?
Even if she couldn’t be the empress now, once her son ascended the throne, she would be the esteemed Empress Dowager.
Therefore, she didn’t care anymore. As for vying for favor? She was already middle-aged, would she still compete for favor? After all, she had only served His Majesty a few times in her youth. After conceiving the Crown Prince, His Majesty no longer favored her.
Now that she was old, would His Majesty still fancy her?
Besides, His Majesty wasn’t interested in intimacy at all. If it weren’t for the ancestral instruction to hold an imperial selection every three years, and those candidate consorts came from powerful families, forcing His Majesty to consider the ministers’ opinions, he probably wouldn’t even come to the harem.
Now His Majesty only came to the harem a few times a year, and he only went to the newly arrived consorts. Before favoring them, he even had the imperial physicians calculate which consorts were in their fertile period. The purpose was clear, he wanted to have a princess, but they all gave birth to princes.
There were already twelve princes in the palace!
The four of them were considered lucky because they were the first to follow His Majesty, and their families were prominent, so they were granted the rank of consorts.
As for the other consorts who gave birth to princes, His Majesty initially raised their ranks, but after being disappointed too many times, in recent years, he no longer promoted those who gave birth to princes! If anyone dared to act arrogantly due to favor, he would even lower their rank!
So what if she was the Empress? An empress who only gave birth to one princess might not be as well-off as those with princes to rely on!
The four consorts had seen it all clearly over the years, their hearts had grown indifferent, they no longer held any hope for His Majesty, and they knew that the empress was just a title. Her treatment would be the same as theirs, unfavored. Anyway, once the empress returned, they would just show her respect!
However, the younger batch of consorts who entered the palace in recent years didn’t think so.
Especially Noble Lady Ning, who had just given birth to the twelfth prince, and Noble Lady An, who discovered she was pregnant after the Jin Kingdom Emperor left.
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This Noble Lady An hit the jackpot on her first try!
Noble Lady An touched her slightly bulging belly, feeling a little unwilling. This child was most likely a princess. In a few months, the empress position would have been hers, but now someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Noble Lady An looked at Noble Lady Ning, who had just finished her postpartum confinement, and said with a smile, “It’s a pity, I thought you would definitely give birth to a princess this time, then the empress position would be yours. After all, the old nannies in the palace all said that the shape of your belly looked like a girl’s, and His Majesty also had high hopes.”
Noble Lady Ning’s expression turned a little ugly. It was this vile woman who said that the shape of her belly was round and looked like she was carrying a princess, so she asked the old nannies in the palace to take a look. She also loved spicy food, so everyone thought it must be a princess. His Majesty had great expectations, but the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment! His Majesty glanced at the twelfth prince with a grim expression, then instructed people to take good care of her and the twelfth prince during her confinement and left. She also heard that His Majesty was so angry that he vented his anger on the ministers during the morning court session!
She knew that Noble Lady An was provoking her, but she still felt aggrieved.
That’s right, she almost, almost became the empress!
Because of this vile woman’s words, everyone thought she was carrying a princess, and she thought so too, who knew it wasn’t!
She glanced at the other’s belly nonchalantly and offered a sincere blessing, “I hope you are carrying a princess.”
Now that there was already an empress, if she gave birth to a princess, her position would be unstable!
Noble Lady An’s expression changed. She felt that she was being cursed, but she couldn’t find anything wrong with her words. She also hoped that she was carrying a princess so that she could receive His Majesty’s favor.
“Noble Lady Ning’s words are like gold, I hope your words come true!”
Noble Lady Ning secretly called her a fool.
Noble Lady Ning was the most beautiful of the three candidate consorts who entered the palace three years ago, and her father was the newly appointed Minister of Revenue. Although she hoped to give birth to a princess and become empress, she was also happy to have a son, as only a son could inherit the throne.
She was still young and beautiful, and His Majesty had long since stopped favoring the older consorts in the palace. Moreover, His Majesty had said that the harem would not be expanded, and future imperial selections would only be for choosing consorts for the princes.
From now on, she would be the youngest and most beautiful consort in the palace!
That empress was said to be in her thirties already. His Majesty only made her empress for the sake of the princess and would definitely not favor her.
She would have plenty of opportunities to give birth to a princess in the future!
A peasant woman, who probably couldn’t even read, could be a good empress?
She patted her son in her arms, not worried at all!
She was still young, and there was a long way to go!
~
More than a month later, the group finally arrived at Ten-Mile Slope outside the Jin Kingdom’s imperial capital.
On both sides of the road at Ten-Mile Slope, Shen Hancheng, along with ten of his imperial brothers, all the civil and military officials, and the consorts from the harem were waiting.
Seeing this grand scene, the coachman slowed down.
Shen Hancheng, upon seeing Shen Dong and Shen Nan, immediately led the way and knelt down, “Respectfully welcoming Father Emperor, Mother Empress, and Imperial Sister back to the country!”
Following his lead, everyone behind him knelt down in unison and shouted loudly, “Respectfully welcoming Emperor, Empress, and Princess back to the country!”
Xingnong and Chu Tiankuo were riding in the same carriage. After sitting in the carriage for a long time, she became tired, so she entered the space. Only Chu Tiankuo remained in the carriage. However, as they approached their destination, Chu Tiankuo called her out in advance.
