Compared to the 300,000 troops guarding Chudao Kai, the Xiao family's influence spread throughout the world, including generals stationed at the border. In terms of military strength, they were not inferior to the Chu family. However, this disparity in strength was one thing; if they really clashed with the Chu family, the Xiao family would also have to weigh the cost.

  Just like the current Qin state, although it is stronger than the small surrounding countries, it still fears them and even has to give them a large amount of money to appease them - can win but cannot start a fight.

  What surprised Tuoba Hong was that Chuda Kehan had the guts to say such a thing. Knowing he wasn't up to it, yet refusing to back down - this was exactly the kind of minister Tuoba Hong needed, one with courage and determination; even if he didn't have the ability to contend with the Xiao family, at least he could keep them in check.

  "Chu Ai Qing is indeed a capable minister of our Great Qin." Tuoba Hong was increasingly satisfied with Chu Da Kai.

  Chu Dake was not arrogant at all, and respectfully said some words like "dedicating himself to the country". The two of them chatted for a while before Chu Dake took his leave.

  After seeing off Chu Da Kai, Tuoba Hong was alone in the Jian Zhang Palace, reading through the memorials. These days' memorials were mostly flattering and congratulatory words for the fifth prince's birthday, all of which were overflowing with praise. Tuoba Hong patiently read through them one by one, picking out this type of memorial, and then looked at the remaining ones - two were related to the drought in Shaanbei, five were impeaching the Qi state governor for corruption, and several were about the disturbances of the Mongolian and Xiongnu countries in the north.

  When the emperor was not easy, Tuoba Hong looked at it for a while and felt dizzy. He had slept too little in the past few days, wandering between the excitement of the birth of the fifth prince and the depression of the Xiao family's troubles. Can you sleep well? In the end, he simply threw away the folded paper, stood up to stretch his muscles, and went to the back palace to see Hui Bin.

  Tuoba Hong arrived at the Jiyan Building, but found that Lin Yuan was not there. When asked, it was said that she had gone to the Changle Palace to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager. Tuoba Hong remembered that the Left Chancellor had also run to the Changle Palace and asked Yao Fusheng: "Is the Left Chancellor still in the Changle Palace now?"

  Tuoba Hong didn't pay attention to Zuo Chengxiang, but the people around him kept a close eye on Zuo. Yao Fusheng bowed and replied: "Zuo Chengxiang had just withdrawn from the Changle Palace a moment ago, it was just now."

  Tuoba Hong stroked the stubble on his chin, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. Who knows what that old fox Xiao Yu said to the Empress Dowager? It's only been half an hour, and he's already finished talking about it? He's being sensible, not trying to drag things out with the Empress Dowager.

  Forget it, let's wait for the Empress Dowager to ask herself. Tuoba Hong immediately ordered: "Prepare the carriage for Changle Palace."

  Chang Le Palace is magnificent, but after all, it's a widow's residence, located in the northernmost part of the imperial city, and it's quite far from Jian Zhang Palace and the East-West Twelve Palaces. The emperor's carriage was neither fast nor slow, and before they even reached Chang Le Palace, he unexpectedly ran into Lin Yin halfway. Lin Yin saw the emperor chasing after her and had a moment of surprise, but immediately understood that the Left Chancellor wasn't just leaving Chang Le Palace? She smiled brightly as usual and stepped forward to pay her respects.

  Lin Yan's belly is already six months along, her petite figure accentuated by the prominent bulge visible under her loose maternity clothes. To be honest, for men, a pregnant woman's body shape is not exactly beautiful. And those so-called husbands who feel extra tenderness towards their pregnant wives are also unrealistic.

  In modern times, the likelihood of a husband's infidelity after his wife becomes pregnant is much higher than usual. This cannot be blamed on men; it is determined by the evolutionary laws of humanity over millions of years. In primitive societies, if a man was interested in a pregnant woman and wasted precious reproductive time on her, he would end up with nothing and eventually become genetically extinct. On the other hand, those men who went out to cheat on their wives during pregnancy would unexpectedly gain illegitimate children, thereby strengthening the transmission of their genes.

  It's just that men in modern society are constrained by moral laws and have a stronger sense of family responsibility, so they don't dare to offend their wives too much. But in ancient societies...

  Lin Wan looked at the man in front of her. After becoming pregnant, she worked harder than usual to dress up and adorn herself, emphasizing her facial features since her figure was not beautiful. Later, when the child was five or six months old, her face also became swollen and developed jaundice. Lin Wan was speechless about this and ordered the Shang Gong Bureau to present the most expensive Jia Lan rouge from Western Xia - a kind of flower that blooms like flames, from which a precious oil is extracted to make the rouge. This thing, except for being offered to the Chang Le Palace, all went into Lin Wan's Brocade Smoke Building, and others, even the quiet consort, couldn't get a bit of it.

  Lin Wan couldn't stand her own face, even if she was spoiled and arrogant, she had to make Tuoba Hong like her. Later, she remembered that when the noble consort was pregnant, her beauty was still unparalleled, so she hurriedly went to the Shang Gong Bureau to ask what kind of supplements the noble consort used at that time, and she also used them all.

  At this time, Tuoba Hong saw Lin Wan and felt that her face was white and delicate, with fine eyebrows and eyes. Her hair and clothes were also pleasing to the eye. He had a feeling of being distracted, and then he came back to his senses, hurriedly stretched out his hand and said: "Since we met, why not ride together in the same carriage? You are pregnant, it's not good for you to walk long distances."

  Lin Wan smiled slightly: "As a concubine, how can I sit in the same sacred carriage as Your Majesty?"

  "Does Yuer also want to compare with Ban Jieyu's 'yet virtuous deed'?" Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei stretched out his hand, not withdrawing it, and chuckled: "Yuer wants to be a virtuous concubine, but I don't want to be a wise ruler today."

  Lin Wan just slightly pushed away a sentence, seeing Tuoba Hong's persistence, she smiled and stretched out her hand to hold his. Being pregnant has many privileges, such as sitting on the dragon sedan chair at this time without being caught by others.

  "Where did Lin Yu'er just go?" Tuoba Hong asked casually. The palace maid from the Brocade Smoke Pavilion said that Lin Yu'er had left half an hour ago, how could she still be on her way now?

  Lin Wan smiled coquettishly: "Today, the Jade Beauty and Gejinzi in Lin Garden are all open, and the concubines were so enchanted that they stayed there for a long time."

  She did go to Shanglin Garden, but it wasn't to see the flowers.

  Ye Guixi's residence, Tinglan Xiaozhu, was just near the peony garden in Shanglin Garden. She used admiring flowers as an excuse to go and have a few words with Ye Shi, and stayed for some time in the peony garden, thinking that no one would suspect anything.

  Everyone in the palace knows that she and Ye Shi do not get along. At first, the two of them vied for favor, and later because Ye Shi relied on the Empress, they became even more incompatible. Now that Ye Shi has given birth to a prince, who is still a sturdy child, highly valued by the Emperor. The palace people all say that Hui Bin is extremely jealous of the fifth prince.

  Since the false image of "discord" was set from the beginning, Lin Yan didn't want to break it now, letting them think that she and Ye were enemies, which made some things easier to do - for example, the last time they schemed against Empress Xiao, no one would have thought that it was a collaboration between the two of them.

  "Hmm, the weather is slowly warming up. The scenery of Shanglin Garden is always the most beautiful in summer." Suddenly, Emperor Taizong of Tang smiled and said: "If you like peonies, I can transplant the flower beds from Shanglin Garden to Jiyan Building, it's also feasible. Gejinzi is an ordinary variety, but Yumeiren is a rare tribute from the Western Regions, I've long wanted to reward you with it."

  Qianwu one morning did not have Tai Zu's rules that big, except for the empress, the favored concubines' palaces could also plant peonies.

  Beautiful and noble flowers, who doesn't like them? It's just that the Jade Beauty is too eye-catching. Lin Yuanchen supported her chin, thought for a while, and smiled: "Peonies are indeed too precious and delicate, moving them back and forth will probably kill many of them. I heard that some Butterfly Orchids were also tributed from the Western Regions? I like those."

  "Alright!" Tuoba Hong now catered to Lin Yuan's every request, and immediately ordered Yao Fu Sheng: "Did you hear what the princess said? Tomorrow, move all the orchids in the Shang Gong Bureau to the Fei Yan Building."

  In the blink of an eye, they arrived at Chang Le Palace. After more than a month, the purple bamboo garden in Chang Le Palace was dug three feet deep, and not only were those unclean things gone, but even insects and ants were swept away. If it weren't for the fact that the purple bamboo was expensive and would be a pity to pull out, Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei would have liked to flatten this garden into a flat land.

  Chang Le was in a good mood these days, taking care of the fifth prince. Before the nanny for the fifth prince was settled, he could only be raised by her. Raising children is a laborious task, but the empress dowager enjoyed it freely.

  The Emperor brought Lin Wan in when the Empress Dowager was personally holding a small drum, leaning against the stroller to play with the Fifth Prince. The Fifth Prince was small but had a loud voice and could be heard from afar calling out "ah ah". Tuoba Hong smiled and stepped forward saying: "Mother should also rest, being entangled by this little demon king, isn't it chaotic?"

  The Empress Dowager had a grandson, and she didn't even bother to glance at Tuoba Hong. She stretched out her hand to grasp the small fist of the Fifth Prince, her face full of affection: "I only have this one good grandson, while he's still young, I must spoil him." When Zhao Wang was little, he had always been by Shen Shi's side, and the Empress Dowager had never taken care of him. Moreover, the Empress Dowager didn't particularly like Shen Shi, Gui Fei, or Xiao Huang Hou, and she was also wary of the power behind Zhao Wang, so even though he was her own grandson, there was a distance between them.

  But the current Fifth Prince is different. His birth mother, Ye Shi, was tightly controlled by the Empress Dowager, and this child was also very promising, growing up strong and sturdy, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, he was the most precious treasure.

  The Empress Dowager was preoccupied with the fifth prince and didn't notice that Lin Wan had also followed, only seeing her when she turned around. She looked at Lin Wan's belly, the smile in her eyes growing thicker: "Consort Hui is here too! Come on, let's go to the inner chamber, I'll have a chat with Consort Hui."

  Got it, with Lin Wan, the Empress Dowager can finally put down the fifth prince. At this time, Tuoba Hong's mood is also very pleasant. He has lived for 30 years and has never seen his mother so happy before - when his father was alive, his mother endured humiliation and struggled to survive for 20 years; later, he ascended to the throne, but it was a usurpation of his father's will, equivalent to seizing power, and the court was in turmoil. The Empress Dowager still had to support him with her aging body.

  Now the empress dowager can finally be truly happy. With her beloved grandson, the death of her political enemy Mu Wu Wang, she saw a stable and peaceful future. The only worry was the matter of the queen consort.

  The Empress Dowager had always liked Lin Wan, and this time when Lin Wan came over, she bestowed many nourishing gifts as usual. She spoke directly to Lin Wan, "You should give birth to a child like the fifth imperial son." Lin Wan didn't dare respond, only smiling warmly.

  What if a princess was born? The empress dowager's face would probably look bad. Lin Yu had some small worries about this.

  Lin Wan's greatest advantage is not her cleverness or quick thinking, but rather her understanding of her own identity. Even at the height of her glory, she knew that she was just a concubine of the imperial family, just a useful tool in the hands of the empress dowager. If she couldn't meet the empress dowager's expectations, she would be discarded immediately.

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