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Chapter Ninety Five Pregnant
The Emperor had become angry at Court, the officials underneath were all shaking. But some were very envious of the Tian Family. To have this kind of niece, it was really the good fortune from the previous life.
He Yuan still attended court, but due to the case of Jiang Nan, he didn"t have much power to meddle in other affairs. Hearing the officials beside him discuss the relations.h.i.+p between the Imperial Couple, he revealed a scornful smile. In this world, how many men had a love as deep as the ocean and how many emperors could be like the Yu Ming Emperor of the previous dynasty?
Before the He Family took the country, the world was ruled by the Tong Family, and Yu Ming Emperor had been a rare good ruler in the previous dynasty. This person had done something that was famous in the world. That was, his palace only had his Empress, and no other woman.
Many people had written their own versions of the love story between Yu Ming Emperor and Zhao He Empress. The stories were happy or sad, touching and wistful, but in all of them, they praised the infatuation of Ming Yu Emperor and his wisdom, as well as the virtues and intelligence of Zhao He Empress.
People always had a shortcoming. The rarer something was, the more they liked to tell of it. The fact that there was so much written about Yu Ming Emperor and Zhao He Empress, wasn"t it because an emperor"s true love and monogamy were rare?
Thinking of it, the smile on He Yuan"s face grew wide. How many Yu Ming Emperors were there in this world?
After He Heng left the court, he started to walk towards the rear hall of Tian Qi Palace. As he walked, the coldness on his face retreated to become warm. When he reached the entrance to the rear hall, it seemed normal. The taijian guarding the door saw him, and was going inside to report before being stopped.
"Ming He, go pa.s.s on zhen"s decree. Summon the Dean of the Imperial Hospital to take the pulse of the Empress," He took the step into the door as he finished.
Qu Qing Ju felt that as she travelled into this era, her hobbies became more and more elegant. Reading, calligraphy, flower arrangement, pruning, poetry, painting. She had done all of them. It was a pity that she could never have a sustaining interest in any of the hobbies.
Disinterestedly looking at the bonsai that had been trimmed by her into a mushroom shape, she sighed: "There"s nothing to play with this bonsai."
Mu Jin knew that the Empress was bored. In the hougong, aside from the feipin and n.o.blewomen coming to pay their respects, it was the people of the Department of Internal Affairs coming to ask about the matters of the palace. After a time, it wasn"t interesting.
"Empress, nubi saw the chrysanthemums in the Imperial Gardens have bloomed. Why don"t we summon some n.o.blewomen into the palace to keep you company and admire the flowers, it would pa.s.s the time." Mu Jin suggested, "This way, it can also decrease the distance from you to them."
Qu Qing Ju sighed. No wonder when she had searched for historical information in her previous life, there would always be some woman riding a horse, woman toying with a cat, and scenes of parks and kickball. It was because an idle life was too one-note, and the crowds of Ms. Perfects needed to find things to pa.s.s the time.
But the relations.h.i.+p between the Empress and the wives of the officials was important. The Emperor was the boss of the men of the world, therefore the Empress was the boss of the women of the world. If there weren"t any interactions, it wouldn"t be right.
"Alight, ben gong knows. Three days from now, summon the wives above third-rank into the palace to attend a banquet to admire the chrysanthemums," Qu Qing Ju pondered for a second, "If there are unmarried di daughters in the family, they can bring them as well."
"Yes, nubi will go to let the female official announce the decree." Mu Jin wholeheartedly plotted for Qu Qing Ju. Any matter that was advantageous for Qu Qing Ju, she would cleanly and nimbly do, and wouldn"t leave any blemishes.
Just as she turned, she saw the Emperor walk in. She quickly retreated to one side and knelt down, proclaiming: "Nubi greets Emperor."
Qu Qing Ju heard Mu Jin"s voice and raised her head to see He Heng walk over, still wearing the gold dragon-patterned robe that he wore when at court. She stood, meeting him and asking: "Emperor, why have you come right now?"
"When I got off from court, I remembered that a taiyi was being summoned today to see your pulse and came to take a look," He Heng held her hand to sit down on an armchair at the side. Seeing the bonsai that seemed to be almost bare, he smiled and remarked, "Just now on the outside, I heard you want to have a banquet, is it because the hougong is boring?"
Qu Qing Ju smiled: "A bit duller than at the w.a.n.g fu. But it will slowly get better."
"It probably won"t happen this year, but next year, I will take you out," He Heng touched her sighing, "If you are really bored, you can summon Tian furen in to talk with you, don"t shut yourself in."
"Alright," Qu Qing Ju felt that the other thought of her as a lonely and weak white flower. She smiled helplessly, responding: "Emperor doesn"t have to be so worried. I"m the Empress. If I"m bored, the servants would naturally think of ways to make me happy."
He Heng knew that what she said was true and a grimace appeared. Treating her like this, he really couldn"t rest his worries. This was what it felt like to have your heart tied up with someone.
A while later, Ming He came in to report that the Dean of the Imperial Hospital had arrived.
Qu Qing Ju saw a sixty-something man come in wearing the official uniform of the Imperial Hospital. A fine sweat was on his forehead. He must have hurried over. Otherwise, in this early autumn, where would the sweat come from?
"Subject Du Bai Zhu Shu greets Emperor, greets Empress."
It was possible to know from the name that he came from a family of medical pract.i.tioners. Qu Qing Ju silently examined the taiyi. His cheeks were red, his hair was salt-and-pepper but his overall energy was good. He must have taken very good care of his own health.
"Du taiyi doesn"t have to be so courteous. You have been in the Imperial Hospital for many years and very experienced. Recently, the Empress" appet.i.tes have increased. Come to take the pulse of the Empress and see if there are any ailments." He Heng looked at Du Bai Zhu kneeling and indicated for him to come near to take Qu Qing Ju"s pulse.
When Du Bai Zhu heard the two words increased appet.i.te, he paused. Then after thanking, he bowed and walked in front of Qu Qing Ju, holding his hands up and apologizing: "Empress, subject offends." Finis.h.i.+ng, he took a silk cloth from his sleeve to place over Qu Qing Ju"s wrist and started to take Qu Qing Ju"s pulse.
Five minutes later, Du Bai Zhu switched to his other hand and then Qu Qing Ju saw his expression become joyful.
Du Bai Zhu took away the silk cloth over Qu Qing Ju"s wrist, his face full of joy as he knelt in front of He Heng; "Congratulations Emperor, congratulations Emperor. The Empress has a slippery pulse, it is a happy occasion."
Qu Qing Ju"s eyebrows jumped. Slippery pulse …… did he mean she was pregnant?
"Really?" He Heng, who didn"t usually express his emotions, asked in surprise, "Can you tell how many months?"
"Because the pulse isn"t very evident, it shouldn"t be more than a month. Unless a taiyi had practiced for many years, it would have been unlikely to detect the pulse." Du Bai Zhu"s face was full of delight, as though he was happier than anyone else that the Empress was pregnant. But at the same time, he didn"t forget to compliment himself.
"Good, good," By this time, He Heng was grinning from ear to ear. He waved his hand, "Reward, heavily reward."
"This subject thanks Emperor, thanks Empress." Du Bai Zhu gasped at his luck inside. The Empress" pulse wasn"t evident but it was definitely pregnancy. This time, he really showed his face in front of the Emperor and Empress.
If this matter had occurred with xiandi, he would have been shuddering with fear. But now, the hougong was managed by the Empress and the Emperor only favored the Empress. He had nothing to worry about. It was a very good thing.
"From today onwards, you don"t have to attend anyone else, just serve the Empress," He Heng mused as he barely managed to suppress his joy, "From the Imperial Hospital, you can pick two trusted people to be your a.s.sistants. The diet of the Empress, zhen will get a pregnancy mama to pay more attention. If there is anything that cannot be used, you have to tell the pregnancy mama. Zhen requires you to guarantee that Empress and the child in her stomach will be absolutely safe."
"Chen will not fail Emperor"s trust," Du Bai Zhu gave a kowtow. Wealth could only be found through danger. If he could serve the Empress well this time, his status in the Imperial Hospital would be unshakable!
After Du taiyi left, Qu Qing Ju finally looked in disbelief at He Heng: "I"m pregnant?"
The palace maids and taijian in the room were all kneeling with happy faces as they gave their congratulations. For them, the fact that the Empress had children, it was a good thing to them. Only when their mistress was well, would they, as servants, be well.
"Yes, you have our child," The smile on He Heng"s face hadn"t disappeared. His hand cautiously touched Qu Qing Ju"s belly. As though afraid of harming the child, he quickly jerked his hand back, "Tomorrow, I"ll pick a useful and trusted pregnancy mama to serve you. Don"t worry about any other matters, I"m there for everything else."
"Then the affairs of the hougong, I"ll hand over to the two muhou," Qu Qing Ju wasn"t attached to the power of the hougong. Even more, with He Heng"s heart here, she would always be the first in the hougong. If He Heng didn"t treat her well, it was useless even if she kept a grip on the power of the hougong.
"Right, I have to tell the two muhou," He Heng thought, "Take a good rest, I"ll be back quickly. I"ll eat the noon meal with you."
Qu Qing Ju gaped at He Heng as he rushed out of the room, appearing to float in the air. She shook her head in helplessness and then gave a faint smile.
Empress Dowager Wei and Muhou Empress Dowager had been chatting together when they saw the Emperor rush in. They were surprised but seeing that his face was full of joy, the two were very happy, and also smiled.
"Muhou, just now, the taiyi took the pulse and found Empress is pregnant," He Heng was happy and sketched a bow to the two, "This son is coming to announce the good news."
It had been a long time since Empress Dowager Wei saw her son forget appearances. She even felt that her son"s eyes had become brighter. Her heart warming, she smiled, replying: "Since that"s the case, you should be keeping Qing Ju company. Us here, it"s fine to let someone else report."
"This son was just too happy and forgot," He Heng curbed himself slightly, but from each strand of his hair to his feet, "jubilation" was written in large font, "This son has also come to ask a certain favor."
"Aijia had expected that you were here about the management of the hougong." Hearing it, Muhou Empress Dowager smiled, "aijia had managed the houyong for decades, and doesn"t want to suffer again. If you care for your wife, then beg your muhou. Aijia isn"t willing to meddle."
Hearing this, Empress Dowager Wei responded: "Jiejie is making things difficult for me. I haven"t managed such things before. How about meimei will temporarily work, but can ask jiejie for help everyday. After our erxifu has given birth, then let her manage herself. Us two, being muhou, might want to be lazy but still have to care for the younger generation."
"That"s fine," Muhou Empress Dowager smiled, agreeing, "After our big grandson comes out, we only have to care about grandson."
Naturally, He Heng gave his profuse thanks. As to the two Empress Dowagers expressing explicitly that they would only manage until the Empress gave birth, he understood the two"s desire.
Leaving Fu Shou Palace, He Heng got the Department of Household Affairs to present more good things to the palaces of the two Empress Dowagers to express his gratefulness.
Empress Dowager Wei looked at the things that He Heng let others deliver and smiled helplessly. As a mother, she wouldn"t bear to see her child in difficulty. The peace of the hougong, to an emperor, it was an important matter.