Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 102: Pregnancy

   “Lord Yonglian! Lord Yonglian!”

Wei Yingluo had already been dozing off when she was jolted awake by the Empress’s anguished cry. Together with the group of night-watch eunuchs, she rushed into the sleeping chamber.

The Empress seemed to be trapped in a nightmare. Her hands clawed wildly at the air, their shadows cast on the snow-white bed curtains like tree branches thrashing madly in a storm.

“Empress! Empress!” Lord Hongli had stayed in Changchun Palace that night. When Yingluo arrived, he was already holding the Empress in his arms, calling to her urgently. “Wake up, wake up!”

The Empress slowly opened her tear-filled eyes. After sobbing for a moment, she said in a trembling voice: “I dreamed of Yonglian. He was crying… he kept crying…”

Lord Hongli looked at her with pity. “Empress, it was only a nightmare. Listen—where in Changchun Palace is there any sound of crying?”

The Empress dazedly looked around. When she heard crying, she felt heartbroken. When she heard nothing, she felt even more heartbroken.

Unable to bear seeing her like this, Lord Hongli said: “Another day I’ll bring Yongrong here for you to see. The child somewhat resembles Yonglian. Let him keep you company for a while.”

The Empress tightly embraced him, yet the bitterness in her heart only deepened.

How could someone else’s child serve as a substitute for her own? If he did not resemble Yonglian at all, it might be bearable—but if he truly bore even a slight resemblance to Yonglian, how could the Empress bear to part with him again? And if she insisted on keeping him in the palace, how could she face the child’s own birth mother?

“No need. It’s enough to have you by my side.” The Empress gently declined. Then, clutching at Lord Hongli like someone grasping at straws in the water, she said in a pitiful yet devoted tone: “Lately I keep dreaming of Yonglian, but when I wake, I cannot see him… This kind of pain—only you understand it, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Lord Hongli stroked her back gently, as though soothing a child. “I understand. I’m here with you. Don’t let your thoughts run wild. Everything will be all right… everything will be all right…”

The dew turned white with the coming dawn. The two of them held each other close until daybreak.

This nightmare finally made the Empress resolve herself.

The next day, she summoned Erqing alone: “Where is that fertility prescription?”

Joy surged in Erqing’s heart, though she kept her face composed. Respectfully, she presented the brocade box containing the formula. Only after the Empress had accepted it did she deliberately ask: “Do we truly not need to inform Yingluo?”

The hand the Empress had placed on the box stiffened. She sighed. “Never mind. Yingluo worries too much about me. For now, let us not tell her.”

Days can feel short or long, depending entirely on whether there’s work to be done.

For Wei Yingluo, time passed quickly—sometimes accompanying the Empress during her rehabilitation, sometimes maintaining and polishing her crutches, sometimes handling the large and small affairs of Changchun Palace. In the blink of an eye, three months had gone by.

On this day, Imperial Physician Zhang came as usual to take the Empress’s peace pulse.

He had expected it to be the same routine formality as always, but unexpectedly, his expression grew more and more grave. After one examination wasn’t enough, he checked again and again.

Wei Yingluo’s heart immediately rose in alarm. “Physician Zhang, you’ve been examining for half an hour already. Is there something wrong with Her Majesty’s health?”

Physician Zhang kept his fingers on the Empress’s pulse and asked in return, “Has Her Majesty’s appetite been rather poor lately?”

“…Her Majesty has been somewhat disinterested in food recently, and her body has grown noticeably thinner.” Wei Yingluo glanced at the Empress’s slightly gaunt profile, feeling even more uneasy. When she turned back, she saw Physician Zhang let out a long breath of relief. He lifted the hem of his robe, knelt down, and said, “Empress, congratulations—great joy!”

Before Wei Yingluo could even speak, Erqing hurriedly asked, “What joy is this?”

Physician Zhang’s face was wreathed in smiles. “Her Majesty is showing a happy pulse—of course it is great joy!”

A look of delight appeared on the Empress’s somewhat pale face. Subconsciously, she glanced toward Erqing, who smiled and nodded at her.

The interaction between the two could not escape Wei Yingluo’s eyes. She looked from one to the other, and finally her gaze settled on Ming Yu.

Ming Yu lacked the depth of composure the other two possessed. Her eyes immediately darted away, a trace of panic showing.

“What is going on here?” As soon as they left the Empress’s bedchamber, Wei Yingluo grabbed Ming Yu by the arm and demanded, “The conditioning prescription that Ye Tianshi wrote included purple eggplant flower, which has contraceptive properties. He said that only after Her Majesty’s body was fully recovered could the medicine be stopped to prepare for pregnancy. But now Her Majesty is already with child—which means you all stopped the medicine long ago!”

Ming Yu looked troubled. “Yingluo…”

A soft chuckle came from behind. “Wei Yingluo, do the affairs of Changchun Palace really need to be reported to you? Isn’t that a bit too self-important?”

Wei Yingluo spun around sharply. “Erqing… this has something to do with you!”

A hand pushed open the door. Erqing stood in the doorway, making no attempt to hide the smug satisfaction on her face. “You should say that thanks to me, Changchun Palace has received this happy news!”

Wei Yingluo looked at Erqing, then at Ming Yu, and slowly everything became clear to her. Her voice grew cold. “You all knew, and you kept it from me alone?”

Ming Yu waved her hands in flustered apology. “Yingluo… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

Wei Yingluo scoffed with icy disdain, flicked her sleeve, and walked away.

Along the way, the palace servants who had already heard the news were all beaming with joy, making her seem out of place.

Everyone only saw the child in the Empress’s belly; no one saw how much thinner and more worn the Empress’s body had become.

Wei Yingluo did not want to see their smiling faces, nor did she wish to remain in Changchun Palace any longer. Silently, she walked out of the palace and, without realizing it, found herself outside Yong Alley.

Someone had already spotted her and immediately passed word of her arrival to Yuan Chunwang.

“Sigh.”

Yuan Chunwang had not yet stepped out of Yong Alley when he heard a sigh.

“Sigh.”

Amused, he deliberately slowed his pace, letting the sighs from the other side continue again and again. Finally, he stopped right in front of Wei Yingluo and sighed of his own. “Sigh.”

“Sigh.” Wei Yingluo, sitting on the ground, echoed the sound, then looked up at him. “What are you sighing about?”

“This is the thirtieth sigh you’ve let out.” Yuan Chunwang stood with his hands behind his back, the hem of his robe revealing a black boot that tapped the ground idly, now and then. “I deliberately wore the shoes you made for me—they really are comfortable and convenient. Yet you don’t seem to have noticed at all.”

“Sigh.” Wei Yingluo let out her thirty-first sigh. “The Empress is pregnant.”

“Then why are you sighing?” Yuan Chunwang burst out laughing. “Isn’t this tremendous good news?”

Wei Yingluo shot him a glare and snapped irritably, “But Ye Tianshi said before that the Empress’s body is weak. If she becomes pregnant and gives birth again, it will surely shorten her lifespan! She clearly knows this, yet she still made this decision. I really don’t understand— is her health more important, or having children?”

Yuan Chunwang replied as if it were obvious, “Of course having children is more important!”

Wei Yingluo was stunned. “Brother!”

Yuan Chunwang’s gaze was calm. Unlike Wei Yingluo, who cared too deeply for the Empress and therefore couldn’t see what was right beside her, he observed everything coldly and clearly understood the greater currents in the palace.

“Yingluo,” he said gravely, “during the time the Empress was bedridden, Noble Consort Xian held great power, and Noble Consort Chun monopolized the Emperor’s favor. If the Empress continues like this, sooner or later she will lose her position. You already know the Empress’s decision is not wrong—so why are you angry?”

Wei Yingluo shook her head. “I don’t care about power or favor. I only want the Empress to be safe and sound.”

Yuan Chunwang was different from her—he actually hoped the Empress could give birth to a legitimate son. Because the Empress was Wei Yingluo’s greatest backer. The more secure the Empress’s position, the greater the benefits Wei Yingluo would receive. And a legitimate son—or better yet, a Crown Prince—would make the Empress’s status unshakable.

But these thoughts he kept to himself; he would never say them aloud to Wei Yingluo, lest she fly into a rage. Yuan Chunwang patted her on the head casually and said, “The deed is already done. What’s the use of worrying now? The important thing is to take good care of the Empress so she can give birth to a legitimate son.”

“I know, I know.” Wei Yingluo’s head spun from being patted; she quickly pushed his hand away and said fiercely, “Of course I’ll take good care of the Empress. No matter what tricks Erqing tries to play, as long as I’m here, I won’t let her succeed.”

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