Chapter 264 - The Empress Fought Back

It was no longer a secret that Noble Consort Xian and the Empress were not on good terms with each other. Today, at Prefectural Prince Yi’s banquet, Noble Consort Xian and the Zhao Family’s patriarch crossed swords. The other officials were unwilling to participate, so they lowered their heads and drank silently. For a moment, it seemed that there was a shortage of wine.

However, Bu Yunqing knew that it was Baili Junyi’s promotion ceremony banquet now, so she wouldn’t make the scene too embarrassing. Seeing that Zhao Kun sat on his seat with an ashen face and didn’t dare to make a sound, she restrained her anger and whispered to Shen Ninghua beside her.

At this time, inside Ningkun Palace, Meixue tidied up the porcelain pieces on the ground and brought another bowl of swallow nest porridge. “Your Majesty, calm down. Being angry is bad for your health.”

Zhao Huiying glanced at the bowl and the anger in her eyes became even fiercer. “White swallow nest? Haha, when have I ever eaten this kind of thing!”

“Your Majesty, I went to the Internal Affairs Department today and the Chief Steward Xiao Qi said there was no golden thread blood swallow nest, so I brought some white swallow nest instead.” Moreover, the white swallow nest was in small pieces, but she would in no case dare to tell the Empress about this.

Zhao Huiying suddenly raised her hand and swept the bowl containing the swallow nest to the ground. “Good, truly good. I have always known that people in the Palace are good at flattering the powerful and stepping on the weak, but I never thought that these people dare to step on me!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down. Although it is said that Consort Li and Consort Jing are in charge of the palace affairs together, Noble Consort Xian is too arrogant, which is why…”

“Bu Yunqing, what a Noble Consort Xian! What does she think she is!” Zhao Huiying’s eyes flashed with a cold light. “Meixue, you failed to deal with Shen Ninghua last time. If I give you another chance, you won’t fail again, right?”

“I am eager to hear your instructions, Your Majesty. I will do my best.”

“Alright. Which one do you think is more important for the newly promoted Prefectural Prince Yi, mother or wife?”

Meixue hesitated. “I can’t say for sure. However, Prefectural Prince Yi does not mind that Noble Consort Xian is disfigured and visits her every day. This shows that he is exceptionally filial. Besides, he is also extremely loyal to Princess Zhaohua. It is likely that both are difficult to part with.”

Zhao Huiying laughed coldly. “If he doesn’t care about either of them, then things will be difficult for me. The more he cares, the more painful it will be when he loses them! However, people cannot eat their cake and have it. Since that’s the case, then I will help our Prefectural Prince Yi make a choice. In two days, Royal Prince De will marry his side concubine Yang Yingxue. I will send a gift.”

One was your mother, and the other was your pregnant wife, and you could only save one of them. Baili Junyi, I would like to see your choice!

“The deeper the love is, the easier it is to get hurt. He has just been titled the prince, but he is going to lose his wife and child. Haha, when the time comes, I would like to see what Bu Yunqing will do!”

After the banquet finished, Zhao Kun returned home and saw his wife Madam Zhang walking over quickly. “Master, here is a message sent by the Empress from the Palace.”

Zhao Kun had a sullen expression on his face. He took it and quickly read it. He suddenly laughed loudly. “Good, Her Majesty’s scheme is truly good. Hahaha, I finally have a way to get revenge for what I suffered today!”

Madam Zhang was a little hesitant. “Master, have you thought of a way to deal with Noble Consort Xian?”

“More than just Noble Consort Xian. Her Majesty wants to kill three birds with one stone. Prefectural Prince Yi, Princess Zhaohua, and Noble Consort Xian, none of them will be able to escape. If we do it right, we can also make Royal Prince De suffer. Haha.”

Hearing Zhao Kun mentioned Princess Zhaohua, Madam Zhang’s expression changed. “Master, that Princess Zhaohua, I always feel she is unusual. Have you forgotten about Ruyun…”

Zhao Kun frowned. “Petty opinion! Can that little slut Shen Ninghua compare with Her Majesty?”

If the Empress really had unparalleled intelligence, then she would not be grounded now. Moreover, after such a long time, had Shen Ninghua suffered any loss?

Madam Zhang disagreed in her heart, but she did not dare to refute Zhao Kun. “I’m just worried about Ruyun. Her wedding date with the Sixth Prince is getting closer. If we cannot subdue Shen Ninghua this time, we will arouse her anger and she might cause trouble at Ruyun’s wedding banquet. At that time, won’t our daughter suffer instead?”

“Ruyun’s marriage was personally bestowed by His Majesty. In addition, she was protected by the martial art experts sent by Her Majesty. How can Shen Ninghua overturn the heavens? Moreover, after this attack at Royal Prince De’s wedding banquet, whether Shen Ninghua could remain alive before Ruyun’s marriage date was a problem!”

Zhao Kun smiled complacently. Seeing that Madam Zhang still had a lot on her mind, he frowned and said impatiently, “Alright, I think you’ve been scared out of your wits by Shen Ninghua. She’s just an overly lucky little slut. Relax down. I will go to Concubine Cheng’s place tonight. You should rest early.”

Seeing Zhao Kun left in a hurry, Madam Zhang snorted with anger. “Concubine Cheng? This bitch really has some tricks. She can actually bewitch him for such a long time.”

Zhao Ruyun walked in and took a few breaths before bowing to Madam Zhang. “Greetings, mother.”

Madam Zhang quickly forgot about Concubine Cheng and pulled Zhao Ruyun to sit down. “Ruyun, why are you here?”

“I heard Her Majesty, my aunt, is in a precarious situation in the harem, so I came to ask.”

“You just take care of yourself. Don’t think about anything else.” Although Zhao Ruyun could move freely now, her foundation had been damaged. She was sensitive to the cold in winter and hot in summer. She would even pant even after taking a few steps.

Zhao Ruyun grabbed Madam Zhang’s hand tightly. “Mother, Her Majesty has many ways to deal with her situation. No matter what, she is the mother of the Crown Prince. His Majesty will not embarrass her too much. You must not rashly make a move and provoke Princess Zhaohua.” She had already been scared out of her wits by Shen Ninghua and no longer dared to provoke her.

“… Alright, you don’t have to worry. Go back and rest.”

While the Zhao Family was carefully calculating, Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi were in an exceptionally good mood.

After all the guests had left, the two of them returned to the backyard. Looking at the characters “Huajun Pavilion” written in gold on the high plaque, Shen Ninghua curled her lips. “Did you specifically name this courtyard?”

“Yes, not only is the name the same, even the decorations inside are exactly the same as the Princess Mansion. All the things were made by the Internal Affairs Department again, and they are exactly the same as the previous ones. So you will not feel unaccustomed here. However, the gardens in the two mansions have different scenes. If you are tired of living here, we can also go back to the Princess Mansion.” Baili Junyi looked at Shen Ninghua with a gentle gaze and held her hand a little more tightly.

Shen Ninghua leaned into his embrace, and her lips curled up slightly higher. “I’m afraid that the Internal Affairs Department’s Xiao Qi must have been extremely busy.” The things in the Princess Mansion were made exceptionally meticulously, and it took about half a year to make everything ready. And with Baili Junyi’s order, the Internal Affairs Department had to make a new set within two months. It was truly a bit too difficult.

“Many of the materials were ready-made. The craftsmen just had to work overtime to complete them. Besides, you saved Xiao Qi’s wife and child. He was extremely grateful. When he heard that this was for you, he spent all day supervising the workers. He almost wished he could do it himself.”

Shen Ninghua laughed out loud. Looking at the same layout in the room, her heart was warm. After Xiao Qi became the head of the Internal Affairs Department, his wife had a difficult delivery. Even the imperial doctors could not help. In the end, Shen Ninghua helped save her. Xiao Qi was very grateful. From then on, as long as the Princess Mansion needed something, he would personally deliver it and did everything meticulously.

Baili Junyi carefully helped Shen Ninghua sit down, and Bai Ruo entered the room to help the two of them wash up. Baili Junyi then took out a book. Seeing the book in his hand, the smile in Shen Ninghua’s eyes became even more intense.

Ever since the baby interacted with Baili Junyi last time, he seemed to have gone crazy. He searched for all kinds of books about teaching children and read them every day.

Moreover, he pressed his ear against her belly when reading. If the baby had a reaction when he read a part, he would carefully read this part over and over again. His explanation was even more thorough than that of an old scholar. This would continue until Shen Ninghua was tired of listening.

Baili Junyi pressed his ear against her belly and carefully avoided Shen Ninghua’s body in case he pressed down on her and the baby. “Good baby, yesterday you especially liked this part of Zhuangzi dreaming of becoming a butterfly, so father will repeat it for you.” Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a weak force. He immediately laughed happily. “It seems that he does like this part.”

Shen Ninghua held back her laughter. “Perhaps he is expressing his dislike. After all, you read this ten times yesterday.” Looking at his exceptionally awkward posture, she raised her hand to pinch his neck. In such an awkward position, he was very likely to sprain his neck.

Baili Junyi raised his head. “He’s bored?”

Shen Ninghua nodded seriously. “That’s right. Think about it. The two of us are exceptionally intelligent, so our baby is definitely very intelligent. He will definitely remember the content after hearing it twice. You repeated for so many times and he has to listen to things that he has understood. I’m afraid he will be bored of it.”

Baili Junyi was suddenly enlightened. “That’s right, I didn’t think of this.” When he thought of the baby listening to the same thing over and over again, he felt sorry. He immediately stroked Shen Ninghua’s belly with care. “Don’t blame father. I won’t repeat it in the future. If you like it, I will say it twice.”

Shen Ninghua found a comfortable position to lie down. She closed her eyes to hide her smile. It was not that the baby was bored of it, but that his mother was bored. Every day, she listened to Baili Junyi excitedly talking about old anecdotes. She was so bored that even her appetite was affected.

Baili Junyi muttered to himself for a long time. As he listened to Shen Ninghua’s breathing gradually calming down, he slowly shut his mouth. He gently covered her with the blanket and slowly leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. He leaned over and whispered into her belly. “Good baby, you have to be filial to your mother. It is extremely hard for her to carry you.”

There was a slight force towards his ear, and the doting look in Baili Junyi’s eyes deepened. “You are indeed father’s good baby. Now you have the strength to respond to me. Maybe you are a fat boy. In that case, your mother will be our shared treasure. If you are a good daughter, then you and your mother are my treasures.”

In a daze, Shen Ninghua listened to the muttering beside her ears and kept hearing the word “treasure”. In the middle of the night, she dreamed of a fat boy with protruding ears carrying a pile of gold ingots and keeping calling her mother. When she woke up, the smile on her lips still lingered.