Chapter 410: Chapter 408: Is her baby a boy or a girl?
The trusted palace maid advised, "Before coming to the Capital with Your Majesty, this servant often heard the Old Madam say: ’If the harem is not clean, the front court will not be clean. If the front court is not clean, the entire realm will not be clean!’ Your Majesty, as the ruler of the harem, should eliminate these calamities for His Majesty!"
Huo Mingyan washed her hands with a stern expression. "Though I despise seductive women, she is not like the others. If His Majesty harbors no old sentiments toward her, then it’s fine; but if he still remembers the bonds of the past and I rashly move against her, I fear it will estrange him from me."
The Shen Family thinks of her as a fool.
They brought Shen Yinning into the palace—was it truly for sisterly affection? Clearly, they intended to use her hand to deal with Shen Yinning, allowing them to reap the benefits without effort.
Huo Mingyan raised her eyelids.
Shen Xinghan looked down upon her as someone from outside the border, assuming she couldn’t grasp the twists and turns of the Capital. Little did he know that when it came to schemes, she was no less skilled than the carefully trained Bright Pearls of the noble families in the Capital.
Even Shen Yinning...
Even Shen Yinning, who caused headaches for the Shen Xinghan siblings, wasn’t she once exiled and her family ruined because of a light remark from her?
The trusted palace maid frowned deeply. "But Your Majesty, how can we stand by and watch her seduce His Majesty, disrupting the order of the harem? These Shen Family women—one addicted to gambling, one fickle, and one a scheming concubine—have turned our harem into a chaotic mess! Even this servant cannot tolerate it. Were the Old Madam here, according to the customs of our Huo Family, they would all be dealt with severely!"
Huo Mingyan leisurely dried her hands.
"Shen Yinning must die..."
She examined herself in the gilt peony bronze mirror held by two kneeling palace maids. The woman reflected within wore her hair in an ornate cloud bun, elegant and poised, though far from as beautiful as the breathtaking young girl gracing the palace banquet.
Smoothing her immaculate dark hair, she remarked, "However, it cannot be us who do it ourselves. Han Sang, do you understand what I mean?"
The glance exchanged between mistress and servant needed no further explanation. The trusted palace maid immediately smiled knowingly. "This servant understands Your Majesty’s intent."
Huo Mingyan gazed at the bronze mirror and allowed a barely perceptible curl of her lips.
If Shen Xinghan could use her to deal with Shen Yinning, then naturally, she could borrow a blade to strike as well.
The women in this harem were entirely unlike her. They had never seen a broader world, their hearts no bigger than a thimble, fixated solely on their cousin, on their minuscule patch of land.
Were they to learn that Shen Yinning refused to settle down even after marriage and sought to seduce their cousin, they would never let her off.
Huo Mingyan let out a deep breath, then rose gracefully. "Has the teacher arrived yet?"
In order to bridge the gap between herself and the Capital’s nobility, she had hired teachers in recent days to instruct her in the arts of guqin, chess, calligraphy, painting, tea ceremony, and incense culture.
Her days were filled with managing the harem’s affairs and relentless study.
Unlike the young ladies of the Capital, she had always been diligent and industrious. Even though it was already the Yin hour (3-5 AM), she insisted on completing her lessons for the day.
A young palace maid advised, "It’s already very late. Why doesn’t Your Majesty bathe and rest early instead? You’ll stay in the palace for a long time; why tire yourself out?"
"What do you know? I may disdain competing with other women, but I do enjoy competing with myself. My grandmother always taught me, ’Seize the blossoms while they can still be plucked, lest, when the flowers are gone, you’re left clutching only empty branches.’ I cherish every moment like gold and must continuously strive to better myself. Though I lack the head start Shen Yinning had, I am willing to surpass her through hard work. I will present myself as more like the ideal noble lady cultivated by a prestigious family, more fitting to stand by Cousin’s side."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
In the sleeping quarters, the palace maids brought from outside the border knelt in awe and admiration.
The next day.
Thanks to Han Sang’s rumors within the palace, the news of Shen Yinning and Lu Ying sharing a sedan the previous night quickly spread.
Nearly every concubine in the harem had heard about it.
Shen Yunxi smashed a teacup in fury, glaring at Shen Xinya. "Didn’t you say you brought her into the palace to have Huo Mingyan deal with her? Then what is this?! What if she rekindles old feelings with His Majesty? Wouldn’t all our scheming be for nothing?!"
Shen Xinya, cradling a teacup, chuckled lightly. "Sister, stay calm. This is simply part of the plan my brother and I devised. Think about it—the closer she gets to His Majesty, doesn’t it only make Empress Huo more anxious? The more anxious she becomes, the more likely she is to act against Shen Yinning. All we need to do now is keep calm and wait for Empress Huo to strike."
"What if Huo Mingyan is also waiting for us to make the first move?"
"This..." Shen Xinya’s smile faltered for a moment before recovering. "She likely won’t. As long as we remain more patient than she is—"
"Hmph! You’re all about patience, patience! I say, if we wait any longer, that wench might give birth to a child, and who’s to say it won’t be His Majesty’s?!"
Seeing Shen Yunxi grow angrier, almost ready to send someone to trip Shen Yinning up, Shen Xinya quickly changed the subject. "By the way, didn’t Sister invite Madam Liao and the others to play cards today? They should be arriving soon. Why not prepare the card table first?"
Shen Yunxi had recently won a considerable sum—more than twenty thousand taels of patterned silver—and was in high spirits.
She waved a hand lazily. "Fine! I’ll stay calm for now, but I’ll see what you and my brother will ultimately do about her. You two may be working hard for the Duke Mansion’s future, but my winnings at the card table are not a bad contribution either. Mark my words—your expenses may yet depend on me!"
Though rumors swirled throughout the palace, neither the Shen sisters nor Huo Mingyan made any moves against Shen Yinning.
With them holding back, the other concubines naturally wouldn’t risk striking first over mere hearsay.
For a time, the entire harem fell into an eerie calm, all due to Shen Yinning.
Shen Yinning reveled in the peace.
She would occasionally stroll through the Imperial Garden to nourish her pregnancy, or deliberately visit Chunxi Palace to lose money to Shen Yunxi.
She fed Shen Yunxi’s appetite until it grew insatiable. Now, wins or losses of three to five thousand taels were mere trifles to her. Once she sat at the card table, she demanded high stakes and played for hours on end, leaving the affairs of Chunxi Palace entirely in Shen Xinya’s hands.
As the year-end approached, Shen Yinning’s belly grew by the day.
"Princess Zhaoning is seven months pregnant. The fetus remains very stable, and it seems likely she’ll give birth to a healthy baby."
In the Imperial Study, Doctor Xiao Chen reported to Lu Ying.
Three months prior, Lu Ying had secretly assigned him to Furong Palace to oversee Shen Yinning’s pregnancy personally.
Doctor Xiao Chen didn’t understand what the new emperor was planning. He could have openly sent him, but instead insisted on creating the illusion that he had been marginalized and forced to take on Shen Yinning’s case reluctantly. Though many concubines and noblewomen sought his expertise, he presented himself as an idle, overlooked physician, as if taking on Zhaoning’s case was a last resort.
Lu Ying, eyes downcast as he reviewed memorials, asked, "Is the child male or female?"
Doctor Xiao Chen glanced at him cautiously, then whispered, "Based on my expertise, it should be male."