When Lin Wan went to Jingyue Pavilion, Emperor Tuoba Hong rushed to Changle Palace with a grand and majestic imperial procession.

  He knew the Empress Dowager disliked noise, so he deliberately waited until all the consorts had left the Chang Le Palace before setting off. Otherwise, if he and they ran into each other, who knows what another storm would be stirred up.

  Tuoba Hong entered the Chang Le Palace and saw that lunch was already being served inside. He sat down to have a meal with Empress Dowager together.

  Although both were vegetarian, the mother and son also enjoyed their meal, with a rare smile on their faces. Tuoba Hong personally picked up a mushroom with his chopsticks and sent it into the empress dowager's bowl, smiling and saying to her: "I heard today that you have chosen three concubines to serve you?"

  The empress dowager listened and smiled faintly: "You are busy with government affairs, I live alone, but just want to find someone to talk to."

  Tuoba Hong's face showed a hint of embarrassment, and after thinking for a moment, he forced a smile and said: "How can the empress dowager choose from among the new consorts? They are young and impetuous, where is the composure of Wang Shi? And aren't you afraid of disturbing the empress dowager?"

  The Empress Dowager smiled and said: "If you really want to serve, Shu Rong alone would be enough."

  Tuoba Hong's heart skipped a beat as he listened, and he asked: "Mother Empress's intention is... the Crown Prince has taken a liking to Jia Kui Ren?"

  "What's the meaning of this?" The Empress Dowager sneered, "Zhen Huan has a lot of petty thoughts, but not much great wisdom. She is useless. With her intelligence, even if she had it, she wouldn't have the ability to raise it big."

  After a pause, the empress dowager smiled again and said: "It's not that I expect her to do much. As long as she can give birth to an imperial heir, if no one in the palace is willing to raise it, sending it to the Ai family will be just the same." The empress dowager looked up at Tuoba Hong and said: "Isn't this what the emperor means? I'm just going along with the situation."

  Jia Gui Ren was born into a humble family and wasn't particularly beautiful, yet she became a noble consort and received a title. The Empress Dowager only needed to think for a moment to understand what the Emperor was thinking.

  Tuoba Hong laughed and said: "After all, the empress dowager sees through me."

  The empress dowager listened and shook her head in her heart. This son of hers, she had been unable to see through him since eight years ago.

  The former emperor was a romantic, but this child is nothing like him - his heart is too cold.

  "Whether it's Jia Gui Ren or Wang Cheng Yi, Ye Cheng Yi, they are all the most suitable in terms of family background." The Empress Dowager said slowly: "Your descendants are really too thin, and the eldest son has the blood of the Shen family. This time, under the pretext of serving the Ahn family, I'll summon the three of them over. If there's a good one..."

  There are more than 50 concubines in the harem, but there is only one son and three princesses. How can the empress dowager not see the problem? In the past, the empress dowager enjoyed her life and didn't bother with harem affairs, but now it seems that she cannot avoid intervening.

  It's said that they are waiting on the sidelines, but in fact, they are just waiting to see which of these people will be lucky enough to get pregnant. Once Long Le Palace is able to protect her completely - of course, it can only protect for a while and not forever. If she's not capable, even if the child is born, it won't survive, so the child will be given to someone who is capable to raise, and the birth mother can fend for herself.

  The Empress Dowager chose three of the Jiagui people, and their attire today had nothing to do with it. These three names were only selected by the Empress Dowager from the flower name book a few days ago - their fathers' official positions were all below the fifth rank, and they themselves were young and suitable for childbearing.

  Interference by relatives of the emperor's wife has always been a taboo for emperors. Because of this, Emperor Xiaowen was not polite to Empress Feng's maternal clan, the Sun family, and never allowed any daughters from the Sun family to enter the palace. Fortunately, Empress Xiaowen was infertile, thus saving him much trouble.

  Tuoba Hong thought to himself, and let out a faint sigh. If it weren't for the Emperor's foolishness, from start to finish he only recognized Mu Wu Wang as his own son, giving him the richest fiefdom and strongest troops, why would he have supported the external relatives in opposing Mu Wu Wang back then? And now, why did he let the external relatives wield great power to control the imperial authority?

  The concubines in the harem are all daughters of high-ranking officials, and they have a thousand threads of connection with the previous dynasty. The Empress's Xiao family, the Gentle Consort's Shen family, the Auspicious Consort's Shangguan family... these powerful families hold great power in the court, controlling the politics, and I am just creating a three-legged cauldron situation to make them attack each other, barely stabilizing my imperial power. If I really give the position of Crown Prince to any one of their families, I fear that I, this emperor, will not be able to sit securely on the throne.

  To store a king, one must first find a suitable birth mother. This person must have a good family background and also possess the ability to protect herself and her child, which is indeed not easy to find. However, taking a step back, even if she doesn't do well, it's still possible for the child to be left with the wet nurse. In that case, the wet nurse and the prince would only be separated by one layer of skin, so they wouldn't be too closely related.

  A suitable woman...

  At this point, Tuoba Hong suddenly thought of something. He raised his head and met the eyes of Empress Dowager, saying: "If we say that the family background is suitable... there is still one person missing. She was recently favored, previously she was unknown, I'm afraid the empress dowager doesn't know her yet..."