Because of Empress Xiaohu's affair, Emperor Xianwen of Northern Wei was in a terrible mood and urgently ordered an investigation into the Changle Palace, not summoning any imperial consorts for several days.

  The queen's downfall was like a sudden collapse of a grand mansion, leaving everyone caught off guard. The Empress naturally became the most popular person in the palace, and gradually there were rumors that "the Queen would be deposed due to her crimes, and the Empress would enter the imperial palace soon." As for Hui Bin Lin Yuen, because she was also pregnant like Ye Liang Yuen who was implicated by the queen, she was disliked by the emperor. Now with only one Hui Bin left, she became even more attractive to people's eyes.

  Huixian and Jingfei both lived in Huayang Palace, so the prosperity of Huayang Palace was even more prosperous than that of Yuan month. The palace gate was like a market, and the concubines and palace people vied with each other to curry favor. The grand scene of Huayang Palace had a tendency to surpass Changxin Palace as the main palace of the harem.

  In such a turbulent time, Ye Liangyuan was also about to give birth. The harem became even more restless.

  Ye Liangyu moved out of Changxin Palace after the Empress was confined, as the Emperor's edict stated that the Empress was seriously ill and unable to take care of Ye Liangyu's pregnancy. Moreover, Ye Liangyu's residence in Changxin Palace was adjacent to Xie Shi's, who had been put to death, which was extremely unlucky.

  The reason is grand and majestic, but people with discerning eyes can see clearly that the emperor simply doesn't want Empress Xiao to have a chance to take over this child.

  Ye Liangyuan moved to a small attic not far from Jianzhang Palace, called "Tinglan Xiaozhu", according to the emperor's intention. Although it was not one of the twelve palaces, the place was exquisite and luxurious, and the location was good, so it was not humiliating for her. At this time, Qingfei was in power, and Ye's fetus naturally fell under Qingfei's care.

  Ye Shi's production was the first major thing to be done since Jing Fei took power in the palace.

  How well she does will be crucial for her future.

  Jing Fei was particularly meticulous, she ordered the palace staff to set up a delivery room in Tinglan Pavilion and arranged for experienced midwives to attend. Although imperial consorts would normally be attended by skilled female doctors from the start of their pregnancy, Jing Fei took extra precautions and specially invited an elderly midwife to assist with the birth, fearing that the young doctors might not have enough experience.

  Ye Liangyu's dependence on the Empress was a well-known fact in the palace, and because of the Empress' downfall, the Emperor had also become distant from Ye Liangyu. To say it, Ye Xiu Xin was quite pitiful - the big tree behind her back, the Empress, happened to have fallen out of favor, and although the Emperor cherished the flesh in her belly, he couldn't help but feel displeased with her in his heart. The other consorts in the palace were also jealous of her humble origins yet fortunate pregnancy, and seeing that the Emperor had become cold towards her, they felt an unknown joy, and hastened to bully her.

  Not long after entering the harem, rumors spread that Ye Shi was close to the Empress and might also be involved in the poisoning of Chang Le Palace.

  Queen Jeonghui was worried that Lady Yeol's pregnancy might be affected by her excessive thoughts, so she personally visited her to comfort her. Later, during a morning lecture, Queen Jeonghui spoke out in front of all the palace ladies-in-waiting:

  "Yeshi is about to give birth, and now she is the most precious person in our harem. I know that some of you have been jealous of Yeshi and have been speaking ill of her behind her back, trying to ostracize her at every turn. Now, let me tell you, if I hear anything like this again, I will definitely punish her according to the palace rules as a warning to others."

  This is the first time Jeonghui has been strict in front of everyone.

  Although she is gentle and weak, not like the majestic and dignified queen, she speaks and acts with precision, earning everyone's trust. Now that she has taken charge of the concubines, everyone agrees in unison, not daring to disobey her.

  After this time, the rumors about Ye Liangyu in the harem indeed decreased a lot.

  On May 26th, while Queen Jeong was inviting the royal consorts to enjoy a performance of Huangmei Opera at Hwagyeong Palace, Yeolya began experiencing labor pains in her chambers.

  Jing Fei's expression changed upon hearing this, she stood up and tidied her appearance before ordering someone to go to Ye Shi's place.

  The imperial concubines all rose to their feet and followed Jing Fei, but Jing Fei ordered everyone to return to their respective palaces, no need to go together. The harem of the Great Qin had always had rules, the palace wives should get along harmoniously, when a pregnant wife gave birth, everyone would pretend to be concerned and rush to guard her, if anyone didn't go, they would be considered by the emperor as having an unkind heart and not caring about their sisters.

  When Empress Xiao was in power, the harem had always followed this rule, but now that it had come to Jing Fei, she broke the precedent first.

  The imperial consorts were shocked and puzzled at first, but later they all secretly rejoiced and hastily made excuses to leave. In the palace, everyone called each other sisters on the surface, but in reality, there was no affection between them. It was already a blessing if they didn't become enemies. And whenever an imperial consort became pregnant and gave birth, everyone had to pretend to be happy and accompany her for a whole day, standing outside her quarters. Who would want to bear this burden?

  What's more, there were unexpected events during production. Taizong had several children who were full-term but encountered trouble during delivery. This unexpected event was not trivial, and the concubines present at the scene could not help but be implicated, ultimately causing everyone to panic. If that dirty water splashed onto yourself, the consequences would be enough to make you unable to turn over for this lifetime.

  Therefore, the women in the harem disliked nothing more than accompanying other women giving birth.

  In the past, it was impossible due to the rules, but now there is a wise and just Empress Jing who has ordered the abolition of this rule.

  The imperial consorts all kept quiet and hid their joy in their hearts, secretly praising Rong Fei for her wise handling of affairs and her kindness.

  At this time, Jingfei saw that the group of women had dispersed and she didn't have time to dawdle either. She hastily boarded her sedan chair and headed towards Tinglan Xiaozhu. The palace attendants were quick on their feet, and for the second time, they came to report to her that Ye Shi's situation was still fine, having just entered the delivery room and not yet started laboring.

  Jing Fei was a veteran, knowing that the process of childbirth for this woman was not simple. Just the labor pains would take two or three hours, and after the water broke and she gave birth, they would still have to wait for more than half a day. But she didn't dare slack off; even if Ye Liangyu took three days and three nights to give birth, wouldn't the person in charge of the harem have to accompany her for three days and three nights?

  Before long, Zijun arrived at Tinglan Xiaozhu, and the palace maids by Ye's side came to welcome Jingfei's sedan chair. Jingfei rushed into the main hall and asked Zhao Taishi, who was kneeling beside her: "How is Liangyu now?"

  Dr. Wu was the imperial physician originally assigned by the empress to attend to Ye Xiu's pregnancy, although later on he went to serve Lin Wan and the emperor, seeing that there were not enough people, assigned another imperial physician, Dr. Lü, to Ye's household, but Dr. Wu still often came to take Ye's pulse, being very diligent.

  Wu Yu Yi lowered his head and replied to Jing Fei with a bow: "The young master and mistress Ye are safe and sound, and the birth is proceeding smoothly."

  Jing Fei let out a gentle sigh and said, "This is good, truly heaven's blessing." She sat down in the main seat, her face relaxed, and continued, "The children in the palace have always been plagued by disasters and difficulties. Ye Shi also experienced the calamity of witchcraft and almost lost her life. But she survived the great disaster and must have good fortune to come, I think this time she will be able to give birth safely."

  Wu Yu Yi didn't say much, bowed to Jing Fei and turned to enter the inner chamber to take care of Ye Liangyuan. The palace maid beside Jing Fei smiled and said: "With Your Majesty here, Ye Xiaozhu is naturally safe and sound. In the beginning, Ye Xiaozhu lived in our Huayang Palace, but later moved to Changxin Palace. However, Ye Xiaozhu became pregnant while still living in Huayang Palace. It seems that the feng shui of our Huayang Palace is good."

  The palace maid's words were somewhat arrogant, the feng shui of Huayang Palace was good, but that of Changxin Palace... However, since the Emperor was not present and Jing Fei had no scruples, she smiled and continued: "This is also Ye Shi's own good fortune. In the past when Chang and Gui Fei were favored by the Emperor and became pregnant, everyone said they had the most prosperous fortune, but in the end, they had a difficult birth and almost had an accident. So, this good fortune cannot be determined until the very end..."

  Before she could finish speaking, the curtains in the inner chamber were lifted, and a woman wearing a rose-purple palace dress with large sleeves emerged. If it weren't for her rather plump belly, her figure would have been as lithe as a flying fairy. She held a beautifully crafted ivory-handled fan with golden threads, gently swaying it back and forth as she smiled at the Empress: "Your Majesty seemed to be saying something interesting? I didn't quite catch it just now, could you please repeat it?"

  Wei Hao Zhuang looked at her that owed a beating face and felt suffocated in his heart. It had to be said, Hui Bin's heavenly beauty was not exaggerated, but if only talking about looks, she couldn't compare with Hui Bin, even more so with Chang He Guifei.

  But what's gotten into Hui Bin today, she's pregnant and shouldn't be exerting herself, yet instead of staying in the Crimson Smoke Pavilion to rest, she's come all the way to the Tindall Pavilion to cause trouble.

  The people in Tinglan Pavilion didn't even inform me beforehand that Concubine Hui was here...

  Jing Fei's fingernails dug into the cuff, suppressing her anger: "What is Hui Bin doing here? This palace was just worrying about Ye Shi, fearing that she would not give birth smoothly."

  Lin Yan smiled and sat down in the chair beside her, not treating Jing Fei as an outsider at all. She pouted and said with a smile: "So, Princess Jing was actually concerned about Ye Liangyuan. No wonder you mentioned Changhe Guifei just now and said that Changhe Guifei had no good fortune and died in childbirth... Hmm, it's good that you're worried about the Ye family, but since Changhe Guifei is of a higher rank than you, you'd better not discuss her casually from now on."

  Jing Fei's face turned white with anger upon hearing these words. She was originally an elegant and introverted woman, who thought she had strong endurance, but since meeting Lin Shi, she was always provoked to the point of wanting to jump up in frustration...

  If it were usual, Jing Fei would never speak ill of the Imperial Consort in front of others, and give them something to gossip about. Seeing that Ye Shi's side was in a mess, and there were no outsiders around, she didn't hold back. But who would have thought that Lin Shi was hiding inside the house?

  Lin Yan looked at her complexion, secretly ridiculing in her heart. Jing Fei's words were not finished yet, what she really wanted to say was that Chang He Guifei was unlucky, not only had a difficult labor but also ended up being demoted and sent out of the palace.

  It's probably in Jing Fei's eyes that both Xiao Huang Hou and Chang He Guifei will eventually be trampled under her feet.

  The Empress did not wait for the Queen to speak, and Lin Wan hurriedly said: "Queen Jing is knowledgeable and reasonable, and she is also in charge of the harem. What she just said must have been an unintentional remark."

  The best way to deal with Hui Bin is to ignore her. Jing Fei glanced at her sideways and beckoned the palace maid, "Go take a look at Ye Liangyu's situation again."

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