SFL Chapter 52

The relatives of Concubine Sun Gui had no idea what she was thinking. In fact, they had never imagined that their daughter would ever leave the deep palace.

After all, once a woman became the emperor’s, her fate was almost sealed for life.

While widows in the common folk could remarry, even if the emperor’s women dared to remarry, no one would dare to marry them.

So, although these consorts continued to pray in the temples, in reality, they had gradually returned home. Even if they didn’t consider remarrying so far away, reuniting with their families was also good.

After much thought, Concubine Sun Gui agreed to return home with her family, which greatly upset the other consorts who were on the same side as her.

Previously, most of the other consorts had already left, and since their paths diverged, they didn’t say much. However, since Concubine Sun Gui had gathered them together, and they hadn’t achieved anything yet, how could they let her just leave like that.

Concubine Sun Gui’s eyes flashed when she saw the consorts blocking her, and then she persuaded them to return home with her.

“Concubine Sun Gui, have you lost your mind? Going back means giving up all hope?” At least their status as consorts could still allow them to occasionally participate in palace banquets or events, keeping them somewhat connected to the palace.

But once they returned home, it would be much harder to reenter the palace.

“I have my own plan. After all, outsiders are unaware of our situation. Do we really understand how slim our chances are? Even if His Majesty visits the temple, how many of us can he actually take in? It’s better to go home first, restore our status as potential brides, and then figure things out.” Concubine Sun Gui stated directly.

The consorts who could choose this path were not foolish and quickly understood the trick. However, just to be safe, they watched Concubine Sun Gui follow her family down the mountain before leaving one by one.

The consorts never expected Concubine Sun Gui to directly expose their desire for the emperor to their families. Their families didn’t have the courage to bear the consequences of their reckless actions. After bringing them back home, the families couldn’t afford to be discreet and quickly arranged new marriages for them.

On Concubine Sun Gui’s side, she rejected her family’s plans to find her another match and instead had her hair styled back into the hairstyle of a maiden awaiting marriage.

The ambitious consorts didn’t understand how they had ended up in this situation even after remarrying. It was far from what they had imagined.

All the consorts from the temples returned home, leaving behind only an empty shell of their reputation. Wang Huijun withdrew the personnel from the temple.

By now, her months were not few, and what was even more alarming was her belly, which bulged out with a roundedness far exceeding that of an ordinary pregnant woman.

The imperial physician diagnosed it as twins, which terrified the empress dowager and took away her initial joy.

On the other hand, Wang Huijun, the pregnant woman herself, never doubted whether she could safely give birth because she knew Yun Jingli would not let anything happen to her.

Perhaps due to being pregnant and becoming more fragile, Wang Huijun found herself increasingly dependent on and attached to Yun Jingli. Her eyes could hardly leave him.

Sometimes, even when the couple was doing their own things, they could feel the warmth in their hearts without saying a word.

The system also honestly provided Yun Jingli with timely updates on Wang Huijun’s emotional changes. With Yun Jingli’s gentle care during Wang Huijun’s pregnancy, her affection for him had increased from 10% at the beginning to 70%.

At the same time, the investigation Yun Jingli asked the system to conduct had yielded results.

[Ding! Target Strategy: Wang Huijun, no abnormalities detected.

Starting with 100% progress in the strategy is a one-in-a-million occurrence and does not constitute the norm.]

After all, it’s rare for a supporting female character to start off completely devoted to the male lead. Characters like Wang Huijun, who have clear likes and dislikes, can easily break free from such a setup.

Yun Jingli relaxed his brow and felt reassured as he looked at Wang Huijun, who was sleeping on her side next to him.

He placed his hand on her small belly and could clearly feel the movements of the two children.

Perhaps because their mother was also asleep, the two little ones in her belly were also sleeping peacefully, behaving very well.

Because she was pregnant with twins, the midwife and nurses who would assist Wang Huijun during childbirth had been prepared early on. As for those in the palace with ulterior motives, they had no chance to take advantage of the situation since Yun Jingli stayed in the palace every day, leaving them nothing to do but watch helplessly.

On this day, the empress dowager quietly summoned Yun Jingli and asked him what he thought.

Wang Huijun’s jealousy was well-known throughout the harem. She kept a close eye on Yun Jingli, the emperor, and even the empress dowager, the emperor’s mother, felt sorry for her son.

Now that Wang Huijun was pregnant and still monopolizing Yun Jingli, even the empress dowager, who favored her grandchildren, began to have reservations.

Yun Jingli naturally staunchly defended his wife, explaining that it wasn’t the empress who wanted to monopolize him but that he had personally allowed her to do so. This revelation left the empress dowager feeling bewildered.

Fortunately, the original host had already kept this from the empress dowager, so Yun Jingli wasn’t afraid of being exposed. He boldly declared in front of the empress dowager, “Mother, I am the emperor. How could I be tainted by those ordinary women?”

After speaking, he stared directly at the empress dowager, letting her see the cold pride in his eyes.

The empress dowager’s eyebrows twitched incessantly. Having lived for most of her life, she had never imagined that one day she would hear these words from a man’s mouth, let alone from her own son.

“Those palace maids indeed have low status, but what about those noble ladies? There are those born from high-ranking families, just like the empress,” the empress dowager said.

“And then? Let them become concubines, lowering their status and that of their children, causing them to suffer for a lifetime?” Yun Jingli scoffed.

“What kind of talk is this? How is entering the palace as a consort causing them harm?” the empress dowager couldn’t agree with this.

“Mother, I have decided to support the empress in this life. I don’t want my empress to become another empress dowager, calculating everything for the sake of her own children, scheming for a lifetime. I also don’t want to become like my father, a heartless man who ignores the plight of his wife and children and the bloodless struggle of the entire harem, only interested in enjoying beauty without taking on the responsibilities he should have,” Yun Jingli said. “Mother, we are the victors. Let’s not transfer the suffering we once endured onto another group of people.”

“Mother, you have suffered too much in your life. It’s time for you to enjoy your later years peacefully, rather than witnessing the strife in the harem and reopening those old wounds,” Yun Jingli said to the empress dowager.

Tears welled up in the empress dowager’s eyes, which she wiped away with her handkerchief. She took a deep breath and said to Yun Jingli, “You are much better than your father.”

“If your father had shown me even a bit of understanding, I wouldn’t have suffered so much when I was young. Now, my son is much more responsible than his father ever was.”

The empress dowager was a mother, but she was also a woman. How could she not know what was most important to a woman? As empresses, Wang Huijun was much luckier than her.

Fortunately, Wang Huijun was now pregnant, so the issue of heirs was no longer a problem. There was no need for her, as the mother-in-law, to act as the villain.

“Now that you have made up your mind, live well with the empress. I promise you, I will no longer meddle in the affairs of your harem,” the empress dowager said to Yun Jingli.

With the empress dowager settled, Yun Jingli felt a sense of calm. With her around, the consorts who had thoughts of scheming naturally didn’t dare to meddle in the emperor’s affairs.

And so, as the end of August approached, Wang Huijun’s months passed. She rubbed her belly, her brow furrowing slightly, feeling uncomfortable. Just a few days into September, Wang Huijun’s contractions started ahead of schedule.

The palace was not lacking in professional help, but childbirth for women had always been a perilous journey, and no one dared to be negligent.

The empress dowager even came personally in a carriage to preside over the situation.

Meanwhile, Yun Jingli gritted his teeth outside, listening. His feet moved involuntarily.

“Jingli, do you see? Do you see how much the empress suffers for you? I still remember when I gave birth to you. I suffered for a day and night, but your father, he only came to look at me once and then went back to accompany his favorite consort because he thought women giving birth was dirty…”

“After I come back from this perilous journey, I will know that the only person I can rely on in this life is you, who is still in swaddling clothes.”

The empress dowager held a string of Buddhist beads, fiddling with them in her hand, and said to Yun Jingli, “The empress will make it through. She will make it through for you and the children.”

“I also believe she will make it through,” Yun Jingli said, pulling the corners of his mouth.

The red blood flowed out in buckets, and Yun Jingli felt more pain watching that red than he did from his own injuries. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, joyful cries came from the delivery room.

Before Yun Jingli could fully react, the empress dowager had already stood up and entered the delivery room.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, Your Highness, it’s a pair of twins, a prince and a princess,” the palace attendants in the delivery room quickly congratulated the empress dowager.

“How is the empress?” The empress dowager had just asked when Yun Jingli entered.

Yun Jingli felt Wang Huijun’s pulse and said, “The empress is a bit weak, but otherwise she’s fine.”

The empress dowager was relieved and quickly asked Yun Jingli to go see the children.

The twins were small, with red skin, looking fragile as if they had no bones. Yun Jingli, as a new father, felt completely lost.

On the other hand, the empress dowager skillfully held the babies and said to Yun Jingli, “Your Majesty, the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix is an auspicious sign.”

Yun Jingli nodded, and then announced to the palace that twins had been born, with the eldest son being named the Crown Prince and the eldest daughter the Crown Princess. He also issued an act of grace, pardoning all.

The news spread, and everyone rejoiced.

Especially Wang Huijun’s family, the Wang family, who never expected that Yun Jingli would already establish a position for the children while they were still infants.

This undoubtedly symbolized the emperor’s favor.

Without a doubt, the little Crown Prince in swaddling clothes would be the future emperor.

With a “crash,” a blue-and-white porcelain lamp fell from Sun Yanrou’s hand. Upon hearing that Yun Jingli had named Wang Huijun’s child as the Crown Prince, Sun Yanrou, once Concubine Sun and now a member of the Sun family, felt her vision blur.

Since she had ambitions, she naturally desired not only the emperor’s favor but also his offspring.

But now, things had taken a turn. Yun Jingli had given away the position of Crown Prince, and no matter how many women entered the palace in the future and bore children, they would never surpass Wang Huijun and her children.

This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to her.

Sun Yanrou couldn’t hold on any longer and fainted on the spot.