The news of the queen's pregnancy spread far and wide, and the time of a lunch was well known in the harem, compared to the inner calm, the concubines looked much calmer on the surface, everyone knew that it was not a good thing to be the first to come out at this time, and Cining Palace got the news later, it was the emperor who told her the news when he went to the queen mother to greet her after lunch at the queen's place, "Queen mother, the queen has been pregnant for nearly two months!" ”

"The emperor is really pregnant again?" The Empress Dowager asked with a little surprise, the queen was pregnant less than a year after giving birth to the princess, which is really a great miracle for the queen's grade.

The emperor smiled, "Erchen couldn't believe it at first, but even the queen herself was surprised, and she chased the imperial doctor for a long time like me!" ”

"What? Didn't even the queen herself know she was pregnant? ”

The emperor nodded, "Today, the minister went to the queen for lunch, and just happened to meet the imperial doctor to ask the queen for a pulse, so I learned the news, otherwise I am afraid that I will have to wait another month to know about this great event!" "According to the queen's practice when she was pregnant with the princess, she must wait until the first three months before she is willing to say it.

"What a great event!" The Empress Dowager smiled faintly, if the queen gave birth to another prince, it would be a great disadvantage for the Deng family, but in any case, it is a fact that the emperor's heirs are thin, and it is indeed a great joy for the harem concubine to be pregnant, "If the queen can give birth to a prince this time, she will be even more happy!" ”

The emperor agreed, "Yes! The queen already has a princess, and it would be great if I could add another prince to me! Then he smiled again, "When I was dining with the queen, I saw that the queen likes to eat sweet and sour things, and the palace people of Kunning Palace also said that the queen will eat three boxes of sour plum cakes a day these days, and there is a saying among the people, sour and spicy girls, so it seems that the queen's baby does look like a male fetus!" ”

Obviously, the emperor has regarded the child in the queen's womb as a prince, so the queen mother's smile faded a little, "It's great to be a prince, the eldest prince can also have multiple brothers, and the eldest prince has been very lonely these years!" ”

Knowing that the Empress Dowager loves the eldest prince, the emperor also stopped mentioning the queen's fetus with interest, remembering that the empress dowager is now starting to choose a concubine for the eldest prince, so she asked, "Now that the palace maid's belly is already big, the candidate for the eldest princess should also be decided!" ”

The Empress Dowager said, "The mourning family has already taken a fancy to a few, and they will only decide when they see someone!" Remembering that the emperor sent Miss Huang, whom she fancied, to Rouran and kiss last year, she couldn't help reproaching slightly, "If the emperor didn't send the concubines of Huang Xiao's family to kiss last year, the candidate for the eldest princess would have been decided a long time ago!" "Last year, the Empress Dowager was interested in Miss Huang as the eldest princess.

Last year, the queen was pregnant, that was the emperor's second heir after more than ten years, so happy where can the emperor take care of anything else, naturally he listened to what the queen said, knowing that the queen was spoiled by the belly, but he also obeyed. Now that I think about it, it is indeed inappropriate, after all, before the queen gave birth to the prince, he only had one son, the eldest prince, and there was only this one hope, and now although the queen is pregnant again, the family affairs of the eldest prince can not be delayed any longer.

"I remember that the Huang family also has a second daughter, and now she is also at the age of marriage, if the queen mother likes it, she can inspect it!"

The emperor's meaning is self-evident, and the empress dowager also has this intention, "The mourning family has also been inquired, and it is not bad compared to her sister, but the family affairs of the eldest prince are very important, and the mourning family still has to meet and talk about it!" ”

"Then it's going to be hard for the queen mother, next month's Mid-Autumn Festival moon viewing banquet is a good opportunity, the queen mother can take this opportunity to think about it!"

The Empress Dowager also made this plan, "The mourning family also thinks so, taking advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the person of the eldest princess will be selected!" ”

"It's just that now that the queen is pregnant, it is no longer appropriate to worry about the trivial matters in the palace, and the Mid-Autumn Festival moon banquet will invite the mother and offspring to take care of it!"

The Empress Dowager glanced at the emperor dissatisfied, "The queen herself didn't come to open this mouth to the mourning family, but the emperor was considerate of her first!" This is the old age of the mourning family, and they have to worry about the marriage of the eldest prince, so they really have no time to take care of the affairs of the harem, but in addition to the queen, there are many concubines in the harem, and they go to take care of it, why bother to worry about the old bones of the mourning family! ”

The emperor was embarrassed, "But Concubine Shu's background is not high, her knowledge is limited, and she is embarrassed by the big responsibility!" ”

The Empress Dowager said, "In addition to Concubine Shu, there is also Concubine Li, Concubine Hui's father is the Assassin of Changzhou, and Concubine Li's grandfather was also an official scholar of Shangling, such a background should always be enough!" ”

The emperor hesitated, "Concubine Li and Concubine Hui are young, and her actions are a little unsafe!" ”

"Then call Concubine Shu, Concubine Li, and Concubine Hui the three of them prime ministers together! The three of them have a lot of discussions, and the rules set by the queen before, I can't make a big mistake! ”

"That's fine!" The emperor finally nodded in approval.

The Empress Dowager said again, "So Concubine Hui is busy dealing with the affairs of the six palaces, and for a while I am afraid that I will not have the energy to serve the emperor, and the mourning family looks at the low-ranking concubines who entered the palace the year before last, and there are many of them who are good, and the emperor should go to them more when he is free, if he can also spread out and continue the royal bloodline!" ”

The emperor nodded, "What the queen mother said is that the queen also persuaded her sons, and also recommended Li Meiren from Xihuaxuan and Du Meiren from Qiudiyuan!" ”

Li Meiren has always been only the queen's horse, and it is not surprising that the queen recommended Li Meiren to serve the emperor when she was pregnant, but Du Meiren is close to the concubine all the year round, everyone in the palace knows this, and the emperor also knows it, how can the queen recommend Du Meiren at this time? The queen is so generous? The Empress Dowager was noncommittal, but she didn't want the queen to be beautiful alone, so she said, "Li Meiren is too lively, Du Meiren's temperament is much calmer, and when Jiang Meiren was guilty before, it was thanks to Du Meiren's help that ugly thing was suppressed!" Now the emperor is not a young man, and he can't stand the fuss, so let's go to Du Meiren more! ”

"Yes!" The emperor nodded and agreed, but he still wanted a bowl of water in his heart, and the queen recommended two concubines for him to serve in the sake of fairness, although the queen arranged it in order to show her generosity, but she also didn't want to mess with the queen for these little things.

Because the eldest prince now lives in Cining Palace, and there is no eldest prince now, the emperor asked, "Why don't you see the eldest prince?" ”

"Why did the emperor forget? On Chinese New Year's Eve last year, the emperor said that the eldest prince also fought, and this autumn he would take the eldest prince to autumn hunting, so from the beginning of spring this year, every other afternoon, the eldest prince would go to the school field to follow the palace guards to practice martial arts archery! Now at this hour, the Great Prince is in the teaching field! Does the emperor want to go and see? ”

"It's good! It's about to be autumn, Erchen went to see how he learned, don't lose face in front of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military, clan relatives and nobles during the autumn hunt! ”

The Empress Dowager was unhappy when she heard this, and urged the emperor to go to the school, so that the emperor would know that the eldest prince had grown up now until he saw it with his own eyes.