Chapter 186: Gong Gao Covers the Lord

Chapter 186

Since the Empress and Noble Consort Xiao gave birth to consecutive children, the most favored person in the harem was only Song Zhao.

Even though she was pregnant and unable to share the bed, Xiao Jingheng would make time every day to visit and occasionally stay overnight at the Changle Palace.

However, he adhered to the rules and did not force Song Zhao to engage in intimate activities during her pregnancy, despite her being six months along and the fetus being stable.

Song Zhao understood that Xiao Jingheng's kindness towards her carried with it certain high expectations for the imperial successor in her womb.

If Song Zhao could give birth to a son, even without the support of her maternal family, her noble status as the mother of a prince would be enough for her to aspire to a position among the imperial consorts. It wouldn't be a difficult task. Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

As for the Empress,

she had been heartbroken for a long time after learning that she would never be able to bear children in her lifetime.

During the past half month, aside from Xiao Jingheng and the Empress Dowager, she shut out all the consorts who came to visit her.

However, Xiao Jingheng only visited her twice.

The first time was to comfort her emotions, and the second time was to name the little princess.

Xiao Jingheng named the princess 'Princess Jinghe' and promised the Empress that Princess Jinghe would never be married off to an external prince. He wanted the princess to stay by the Empress's side as a source of comfort.

As for Noble Consort Xiao's son,

let alone giving him a name, Xiao Jingheng hadn't even looked at him once since his birth. It was as if he didn't have a son.

Looking at it this way, he wasn't neglecting the Empress compared to Noble Consort Xiao.

However, despite this, the Empress still spent her days in sorrow.

She didn't blame anyone but herself, feeling unfortunate that as the Empress, she couldn't give birth to a legitimate son for Xiao Jingheng.

Xiao Jingheng advised her, "Regardless, you are my Empress. You have suffered from a heart condition, and you risked your life to give birth to a princess for me. I will always remember this favor."

The Empress tightly held Xiao Jingheng's hand, tears welling up in her eyes, and said:

"As the Emperor's wife, it is my duty to bear children for the Emperor. I... cough, cough, cough..."

After being treated for so long, the Empress still appeared very weak.

Whenever her emotions became slightly agitated, she would cough repeatedly while clutching her chest.

Coincidentally, at this moment, Judge Chu arrived to check the Empress's pulse, and Xiao Jingheng immediately had him brought in.

Chongling is close to Zhuyin Country, and the Ning family's request for Chongling may be seen as a convenient way to deploy troops and genuinely aim to capture the restless bordering state for the court.

Xiao Jingheng would certainly consider this aspect as well.

However, if, during his consideration, waves of court officials continuously offered advice and urged him to grant Chongling to the Ning family, Xiao Jingheng would inevitably become suspicious and speculate that the Ning family was behind these court officials' persuasion.

As an emperor, he needed mighty generals to help him stabilize the country, but he also feared that these mighty generals might rebel and rise up against him overnight, catching him off guard.

The Empress's actions aimed to make Xiao Jingheng even more wary of the Ning family and bring the suppression of the Ning family to the forefront of the agenda.

Shuang Ruo cunningly smiled and said, "I understand what to do."

"Cough... Cough... Cough..."

As soon as she finished speaking, the Empress started coughing violently.

She tightly clutched her chest and clothing, appearing as if she could hardly catch her breath.

"I feel extremely unwell. Quickly fetch the imperial physician!" she exclaimed.

At the same time, news of Xiao Jingheng's anger during the previous dynasty had also reached Consort Chen's ears through Liu Yue.

Upon hearing the whole story, Consort Chen immediately felt uneasy.

"Has father gone mad? Chongling is the birthplace of the ancestral emperor. Why does he want that place from the emperor? It's completely baseless, and yet he wants the emperor to speculate about his hidden motives..."

Restlessly pacing back and forth within the palace, Consort Chen murmured to herself from time to time.

"Our family has always achieved great military exploits, and the emperor has some degree of wariness towards father. This time, father has truly gone too far."

Liu Yue held a jade fan and followed closely behind Consort Chen, fanning her to keep her cool.

"Don't worry too much, Your Highness. Master is a military man, and he probably didn't think of all those twists and turns. Chongling is closest to Zhuyin Country, and if Master obtains that territory, it would facilitate military deployments. Master is loyal to the country, so I believe the emperor won't suspect anything."

"If he didn't suspect, he wouldn't be angry!"

Consort Chen glared at Liu Yue, snatching the fan from her hand and shaking it irritably.

"What's the use of saying all this? The key is how the emperor perceives this matter. The emperor hasn't rushed to deal with Zhuyin, but father is getting anxious first? Isn't he exceeding his boundaries as a subject and trying to take the emperor's place?"

The more Consort Chen thought about it, the more unsettled she became. She hurriedly urged Liu Yue.

"Go and prepare paper and pen. Write down everything I say. We must send a letter to father, asking him to explain his intentions regarding Chongling to the emperor, so that the emperor won't misunderstand him."

[Three updates today, going crazy as usual.]