Chapter 468: Falling Into The Water

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

“Congratulations, Your Majesty. It must be an auspicious sign from the heavens for such a miraculous item to appear after the birth of the eldest grandson!”

“Your Majesty, the eldest grandson was born extraordinarily. This is the blessing of Great Xia!”

Xiaoxiao looked up. Good lord, they even copied her promotional slogans. The Yan Family was really thick-skinned.

The Emperor glanced at the Empress and said, “But when Princess An’ning offered the watermelon, she said that she was just putting on a mold outside.”

“She also said that as long as the mold was done well, she could get any shape she wanted.”

The palace maid was dumbfounded.

Everyone who could be the Emperor was suspicious. The palace maid was brought away, and the Emperor did not even look at the Empress. He only asked Xiaoxiao, “Why did you think of this?”

Xiaoxiao had already prepared a reason. “At first, I thought that watermelon was round and liked to roll around easily, so I wanted to make a square one. Later on, I thought that since I was going to make a mold anyway, I might as well make more shapes. This word ‘fortune’ has a good meaning and is suitable for giving away. I still have chicks, ducks, and rabbits at home!”

It was indeed in line with her temperament at her age. The Emperor teased, “Then did you make something in the shape of the word ‘happiness’?”

Xiaoxiao scratched her head. “There are too many strokes. It’s not easy to do.”

The Emperor was amused—she had really thought about it! This girl!

“I like this watermelon very much. If there’s anything you like in the storeroom later, feel free to pick it up. Just treat it as me adding dowry for you.”

After making arrangements for Xiaoxiao, the Emperor looked at the Empress coldly.

“Do you think I’m old?”

As the Emperor, it was the greatest taboo for someone to covet his position when he was in his prime. Moreover, the person who thought so was the Empress of the Yan Family.

The Empress panicked. She wanted to defend herself, but she could not say firmly that the palace maid had nothing to do with her. She was at a loss for words for a moment before the Emperor left with a flick of his sleeves.

The Empress felt uneasy. Recently, the Emperor’s patience with her had been getting worse.

On the contrary, he seemed to admire the Third Prince more and more. Could it be…

Ever since she was punished for drugging Noble Consort Ji last time, the Empress realized that she could no longer tolerate the Emperor’s high regard for Noble Consort Ji. In Xiaoxiao’s words—

“It’s normal. She’s going through menopause. Most women at this age will experience emotional instability because of their natural reactions. If they don’t recuperate, they’ll easily do something impulsive.”

For example, she severely punished the palace maid who said the wrong thing. Even though that person kept emphasizing that she really did not receive any news from the Empress, she really only followed the Empress’s instructions.

In the Empress’s opinion, she was already exceptionally benevolent to her by not flogging the palace servant who had made a mistake. However, in the eyes of the palace servants, the Empress was just an evil mistress who did not treat them as humans.

After the incident with the fortune watermelon, the Empress hated Xiaoxiao and Rong Yan even more. However, the two of them had long formed a grudge with the Yan Family, so they didn’t care about these things. On the other hand, Noble Consort Ji kept feeling that she had implicated the younger generation and almost couldn’t eat again.

It was “almost” because Xiaoxiao had sent her a few jars of chili sauce and spicy pickles. These things were really to her liking. Coupled with the fact that she had let go of the heavy burden in her heart and made up with her son, she had actually gained weight unknowingly…

Noble Consort Ji pinched her much rounder face in front of the bronze mirror and decided to take a walk to digest her food. As she walked, she met the Empress, who was venting her anger on the koi in the lotus pond.

Noble Consort Ji accidentally ate a little too much for lunch. It was mainly because Xiaoxiao’s culinary skills were too good, and she had been in a good mood these few days. As soon as she wasn’t paying attention, her stomach was a little bloated. She couldn’t help but touch her belly a few times when she walked.

This action happened to be seen by the Empress, and her heart instantly ached.

She lost her temper today because Consort Liu was diagnosed by the imperial physician as pregnant.

The Emperor doted on the other concubines, but when he came to her palace, he was either approving memorandums or sleeping soundly from exhaustion. The last time… she couldn’t remember when.

From the looks of it, could it be that Noble Consort Ji also had one?

In order to verify this, she even specially called Noble Consort Ji over and touched her stomach.

It was really a little protruding!

In a fit of anger, the Empress exerted strength in her hand and actually pushed Noble Consort Ji.

She actually didn’t use much strength, but Noble Consort Ji was still immersed in the regret of forgetting to inhale. In addition, the railings at the place where the fish were fed were low, and Noble Consort Ji was tall, so she was actually pushed down by her in a moment of carelessness.

The cold lake water drowned her breathing. Noble Consort Ji choked on the water in surprise. Then, she adjusted her posture and swam to the other shore while coughing inexpertly, looking at the Empress across the water.

After all, it was just a sudden thought. The Empress could not arrange for people. At the first moment of this accident, a palace maid had already quietly and quickly slipped away to get reinforcements.

Hence, before Noble Consort Ji could think of a way to go ashore, the Emperor rushed over with the palace maid leading the way.

The Empress did not know how to explain, nor did she have the chance to speak because the Emperor raised his hand as if he wanted to slap her.

The Empress was stunned. Fortunately, the Emperor quickly clenched his fists and retracted his hand.

“I don’t hit women.”

“But you disappoint me too much.”

“Men, bring the Empress back to the Phoenix Palace. Without my permission, she is not allowed to take half a step out of the palace!”

As he spoke, he turned around and picked up Noble Consort Ji, who had just been saved and was drenched. “Summon the imperial physician!”

As she was too close, Noble Consort Ji didn’t miss the true anxiety on the Emperor’s face. For a moment, she was a little stunned.

The Emperor muttered as he walked, “Are you cold? Are you feeling unwell? Did you drink the water just now? If there’s anything wrong with your stomach, tell me quickly. Don’t be embarrassed to ask.”

Noble Consort Ji looked at his court attire on her and fell silent.

She actually did not want to be carried by the Emperor like this, but he wrapped her too tightly. She could not struggle even if she wanted to, but how could he do this?

“Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t touch me?”

The Emperor was so angry that he laughed. “What time is it now? Why are you still telling me this?”

He snorted. “Alright, take it that I went back on my word. What do you think?”

After that, the two of them fell silent. Noble Consort Ji was still in a daze when the Emperor placed her on the dragon bed and handed her to the imperial physician, while the Emperor himself stared at his hand for a long time.

She was warm after soaking in the water for so long.

Wait a minute.

“Doctor, is she having a fever?”

The pampered Noble Consort Ji was sick.

It was unknown if it was because her tense nerves that had been tense for many years had relaxed, but she suddenly fell ill. The little cold caused Noble Consort Ji, who was famous for her beauty, to quickly lose weight, making the Emperor vexed.

“Aren’t you quite smart? Huh? Why did you end up like this?”

“You’re just, just!”

After staring for a long time, he only said, “Get up and drink the medicine!”

After all, he had been the Emperor for so many years, so he was quite dignified when he was angry. This Noble Consort Ji, who was most afraid of drinking bitter medicine, couldn’t even say “no”. She obediently stuffed the entire bowl of black bitter stuff.

Seeing her frown and remain silent, the Emperor was angry and heartbroken.

In the end, he handed over the candied plums gloomily..