Conflict

  Mingfei calculated the time, and it should be around March when Yifei became pregnant with the fifth prince. That means Yifei has been pregnant for almost two months now, and she must have known about it herself. Every day, she needs to be supported by two people when walking, her face has become rounder, and her hands are always unconsciously placed on her belly, even speaking less than usual.

  In the morning, after the consorts came to pay their respects to Mingfei, Mingfei looked around at the consorts sitting below her and smiled warmly: "You've all been taking care of yourselves for a while now. Later, I'll have the two chief physicians from the Imperial Hospital take your pulses one by one. Who knows which sister might be pregnant? If anyone is pregnant, everything will follow the usual rules as before, and the rewards will naturally not be lacking either. None of you should feel envious."

  Third Brother has just returned in the past two days, and because of Mingfei's meritorious service, Rong Gui smiled and flattered: "After all, the noble consort is kind and considerate, always thinking of us servants."

  Everyone began to flatter and try to win him over.

  Only Yu's expression seemed to reveal a hint of reluctance, was it just a coincidence? Just as she had become pregnant, she had to check, could it be that the Imperial Consort already knew? She raised her eyes and stole a glance at Ming Fei, but was met with Ming Fei's enigmatic gaze, causing her heart to skip a beat, her hands and feet turning cold. What she had done was so secretive, how did the Imperial Consort know? Could it be that there was a traitor among her close relatives? The more she thought about it, the more worried she became, wishing she could immediately return to investigate, her mind preoccupied for the entire morning until she returned to the Cixi Palace.

  Yi Pin entered the bedroom, changed into a loose dress, replaced the flower pot with soft-soled embroidered shoes, leaned against the brocade pillow, and closed her eyes to rest.

  The fragrance of jasmine wafting slowly from the incense burner made her thoughts gradually clearer. Nian Nian was her wet nurse, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were like mother and daughter. She didn't believe that Nian Nian would harm her. Liu Su and Cai Yun had been following her since she entered the palace, and they had gone through thick and thin together. When she was at her most miserable, these two hadn't abandoned her; so why would they betray their lord now that she had received favor and become pregnant?

  Or perhaps the imperial concubine didn't even know she was pregnant, but why did she look at her with that gaze, piercing right through to her heart, exposing even the darkest corners? That enigmatic smile seemed to mock her foolishness, mock her ignorance. She felt like a clown, ashamed and humiliated in front of the imperial concubine.

  She stroked her belly and slowly let out a breath, turning her head to look at the standing Cow Niu, Liu Su, and Cai Yun. Her eyes dimmed slightly as she slowly spoke: "I'm afraid the Imperial Consort has found out about my pregnancy."

  No one could understand the meaning of this sentence better than Niu Jiaonu, and all three of them knelt down in horror: "Master, slaves are absolutely loyal to Master!"

  The three of them looked at each other in astonishment, especially Liu Su who almost opened his mouth.

  Yi Pin's heart was slightly calmer, and her voice was softer than before: "Get up, I know your loyalty, but I just can't figure out how the noble consort knew."

  The old nun said in a low voice, "Your Majesty's undergarments must have been stained with blood. No one else could guess this, but I've heard that some experienced nuns can tell if someone is pregnant just by the way they walk."

  Yi Pin felt that she had also heard such a statement somewhere, she nodded and said in a vague tone: "I hope so..."

  She paused and looked at the three of them with a determined expression: "I'm pregnant, so from now on you all need to be extra vigilant about what's going on here. We can't let that vicious person take advantage of us. As long as I can safely give birth to my child, you will all be rewarded. I won't treat you unfairly!"

  The three servants hurriedly said: "We will definitely be able to protect our master completely!"

  Liu Su's voice was slightly slower than the other two, making the three people's voices not as cohesive. Everyone knew that Liu Su's reactions were sometimes a beat slow, and if it wasn't for anything else, just hearing this would make Yihuan's ears feel uncomfortable, suspecting that the seeds that had been quietly planted would grow day by day.

  As expected, when Mingfei accompanied Kangxi for lunch, the news of Yihui's pregnancy arrived, and the reactions of the imperial consorts were different.

  Kangxi looked very pleased, Mingfei smiled and said: "The slave congratulates the emperor, Yihui will soon give birth to a dragon son."

  Kangxi smiled and said, "I know that Imperial Concubine Yi is pregnant. Your merits will not be ignored. First, you will give them medicine to regulate their bodies. Then, the imperial physician will take their pulse again. I will also heavily reward you!"

  Mingfei covered her mouth and smiled: "Yihuan is pregnant, I'd better not participate in this reward, Your Majesty can exempt me from it."

  Kangxi shook his head: "The Netherlands has offered some interesting things, I'll let someone pick a few for you to play with."

  Mingfei heard it was a foreign thing and saw Kangxi's intention to reward him, so he made a bow to thank him.

  Kangxi told Mingfei to sit down beside him, and Mingfei said: "If I accept this reward, will Your Majesty say that I am ungrateful?"

  Kangxi lowered his head to drink tea, suddenly laughed and put the teacup on the table, pinched her hand and said: "Just now you said you were long-sighted...you went back again...when you were six years old, you took a fancy to my set of Ming dynasty tea utensils, staring at them without blinking, looking at me as if I would be too embarrassed not to give them to you, so I gave them to you...you said 'Slave takes this reward, will the emperor say that slave is ungrateful?'"

  A vague memory slowly unfolded, and Mingfei saw a little girl with braided pigtails, blinking her bright black eyes, smiling up at a young boy. The boy's eyes were full of tolerance, pinching the girl's small nose, and said with a smile: "More clever than before."

  The little girl received praise, and her eyebrows immediately curved up, like a crescent moon in the sky.

  Mingfei blushed and lowered her head: "Your Majesty still remembers things from that long ago..."

  Kangxi smiled and got up, walking towards the side hall: "Go take a look at Yongzheng."

  Mingfei got up and followed him, Kangxi was so nostalgic that she and her son's lives were probably still guaranteed. Unconsciously, her footsteps quickened.

  Yi Pin became pregnant, and the emperor rewarded two people generously. The reward given to Guifei was no less than that of Yi Pin's.

  Yi Pin's original joy was completely ruined by this news, and in anger, she smashed several pieces of porcelain in the bedroom: "I knew she was too kind-hearted, it turns out she was waiting for this opportunity! What a great calculation! My pregnancy is my own doing, what does it have to do with her? Why did she also receive a reward?"

  Yi Pin is a pin, but she doesn't live in the main hall. She lives close to other people's places. Niu Mama hastily advised: "Your humble servant's good master, you're still pregnant with Little A Ge, don't get angry! In this place, anyone who yawns can be heard by others, if your words are told to the Imperial Consort, what will happen? The Imperial Consort is the emperor's first cousin, her relationship is not comparable to ordinary people, even if you're pregnant, you'll still be at a disadvantage!"

  Yi Pin didn't faint after all, her face turned iron-green as she held back her voice. Cai Yun Liu Su and Niu Yi Niang helped Yi Pin sit down on a chair, fed her hot tea and helped her relieve her anger, barely suppressing Yi Pin's fiery temper.

  A gentle voice came from outside: "Is Princess Yihuan in?"

  "Go, give Uya Guiren two slaps in the face, tell her about hierarchy and teach her discipline. What kind of behavior is this, making a ruckus and disturbing my rest? How can I let Xiaoge get hurt?"

  The old lady thought, as long as the master doesn't get angry, it's all right.

  She rushed out of the bedroom and slapped Uya's face with two slaps: "Don't you have any rules? The master is resting, you woke up the master and hurt the little prince in the master's belly, can you afford it?"

  Yi Pin heard the crisp slapping sound inside and her anger was slightly alleviated.

  Wuya didn't expect Yihuan's reaction to be so direct and violent, but she wasn't simple either. The resentment in her eyes flashed by, and she fainted on the ground.

  A small palace maid beside her said in a sharp voice like a needle stab: "Concubine Yi has knocked Uya Noble Lady unconscious!"

  It won't be long before everyone in the palace knows that Imperial Concubine Yi hit Uya Gui Ren.

  Yi Pin heard the voice inside and slammed her fist on the table: "You scoundrels! All of you are scoundrels!"

  Mingfei had just played with Abao for a while when she heard Yihuan beating Uya.

  Mingfei's fingers slowly tapped on the table and asked the little palace maid Chang Yao below: "Why did Yihuan beat Uya Guiren?"

  "Speaking of the mistress, Concubine Yi said that Uya Kui had disturbed her rest and was afraid of hurting the little prince in her belly, so she let Niu Mama go out to teach Uya Kui some discipline. Unexpectedly, two slaps knocked Uya Kui unconscious."

  It's really bold of Yihuan to do this, as Weiya Gui Ren is the emperor's favorite and has been extremely favored lately, overshadowing Yihuan. Yihuan slapped Weiya Gui Ren's face with both hands, isn't she afraid that the emperor will vent his anger on her due to unfulfilled desires?

  Mingfei smiled slightly and nodded towards Changyao, who immediately retreated.

  Mingfei said to the eunuch beside her, "Later, you go and tell Yihuan that 'I didn't expect Yihuan's body to be so weak. In the future, I won't dare let Yihuan come over to pay respects. It's better for Yihuan to stay in her own palace and take care of herself. If Yihuan needs any medicine, just ask me to get it. The most important thing is for Yihuan to take good care of herself and give birth to a prince.' Bring some calming medicine and my token, go and invite a imperial physician to examine Yihuan carefully. Also, go and check on Wuya Guiren, don't forget to bring the Jiulü Shēng Pí Gāo (a type of medicinal cream), and make sure Wuya Guiren's facial injury is healed."

  He bowed and backed away.

  Wang's expression turned stern as she said, "Is it not afraid that others will say that the Empress is being unreasonable and making a fuss just because she is pregnant?"

  Mingfei got up and took Wang's hand to the side hall: "She is too proud of herself, there will be times when she loses out. By the way, have someone make me a bowl of lotus seed porridge, I suddenly feel a bit hungry."

  He smiled and agreed.

  The imperial concubine was in fact restricting Yihuan's movements, but no one could find fault with that. After all, Yihuan's body was too weak to go out and move around easily. This also gave face to the noble lady Uya, and it seemed that the Nine-Luminous Cream would still be available for use by the imperial concubine. As a result, the fantasy of many people about the noble lady Uya being disfigured would not come true.

  Yi Pin's temper was not good, but she blamed everything on Wuya Guiren. The words "despicable person" were silently spoken countless times, and how could Wuya Guiren not hate Yi Pin? It's just that the time had not yet come to secretly harbor resentment in her heart.

  Alas... I don't know when the first King ticket will appear~~~~ Seeking flowers and collections, don't be careless, try to bubble up~~ O(∩_∩)O~

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