After Mu Qing left, Mu Zhi was helping Lin Xi prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts. Thinking of how well Lin Xi and the Emperor were getting along now, she couldn't help but smile and say to Lin Xi: "Your Majesty's relationship with the Emperor is getting better and better, we servants are really happy about it."

  Lin Yan smiled slightly and didn't say anything.

  Is it okay? It's better than before.

  She can now guess a little about the emperor's feelings for her. When she first entered the palace, the emperor only treated her as a younger generation to pamper and love, without any male-female relationship in between. At that time, she was not prepared yet, and followed the trend to rely on her as an elder.

  The emperor now looks at her and treats her with a truly masculine gaze, the way a husband treats his wife. In this regard, he should still have some affection for her, but it's far from reaching the level of love. It can only be said that his feelings for her are deeper than those for other palace concubines.

  This fondness, if developed further, may turn into love; if stagnant, it can also become affection after a long time. In any case, whether developing into romance or affection, both are good for her.

  But Lin Xiao was thinking again, what kind of feelings did she have towards the Emperor?

  When she was a kid, she thought of him as a tall and reliable elder, she had already forgotten why she liked to follow him around back then.

  But now she is also learning to get along with him in her wife's way, treating him as a woman treats a man.

  She still likes him very much, and the emperor has a kind of maturity that makes her feel like she can rely on him.

  At home she is the eldest sister, she is used to taking care of others. When facing her parents and elders, she also learns to treat herself as an adult, not letting them worry. Even when dealing with the crown prince or other peers, she can't help but treat them as people who need her to take care of them.

  Only in front of the emperor could she feel the feeling of being pampered and taken care of.

  But in this liking and dependence, is there a liking between men and women? Is there love? Lin Daiyu didn't know.

  She only knew she needed the emperor's feelings for her, whether it was love or affection, the deeper the better. So she worked hard to win them over, even using a bit of cunning in her pursuit.

  Then she was like a miserly merchant, the emperor gave her as much emotion as she accurately responded with, not willing to give an extra bit.

  But isn't love supposed to be unconditional and selfless? Like Lin Yan and Dou Yu, one spoiled the other, Lin Yan would scold and pout at Dou Yu, but he would still feel happy even when she was angry with him. When they saw each other, their eyes would only see each other, and when they couldn't see each other, they would deeply miss each other, and thinking of each other would make them feel sweet.

  Is this really love?

  But Lin Xiao was very clear that every bit of emotion she paid to the emperor required a return. Even if it wasn't returned to her, it had to be returned to the Lin family.

  Lin Yan always says she's rational like someone outside the red dust, knowing everything but remaining detached. Lin Yi sometimes doesn't like her own rationality either; in fact, she sometimes envies Lin Yan for being clear-cut in her likes and dislikes, passionate and fiery.

  Lin Tan let out a sigh, temporarily shaking off the thoughts in her mind, and handed over a stack of name lists to Mu Zhi, saying: "Prepare the rewards for each government office according to the list."

  Mù zhī dào le shēng shì.

  Lin Yan said: "Remember to urge the people in the food department to hurry up and prepare the moon cakes, and send them to each mansion with the rewards."

  Lin Xiao finished speaking, Mu Ye brought in a tray of medicine and placed it in front of Lin Xiao.

  This is the medicine prepared by Mu Ye for her physical conditioning.

  Since the news of Jiang Xi's pregnancy came out, the people in Changkun Palace seem to be anxious for her to get pregnant quickly. Even Mu Ye is studying medicine and diet more diligently, as if she wants to make her a woman suitable for childbirth immediately.

  It's not just Changkun Palace, I heard that Hu Zhaorong's Huayang Palace and the newly entered palace concubines' Yuxi Palace and Xuanhua Palace are also the same. Recently, the medicinal materials for physical conditioning in Shangyaoju have been consumed particularly quickly, which is why Cairen and Wang Cairen of Xuanhua Palace can still remain calm.

  Mu Ye saw Lin Xiang finish drinking the medicine, and smiled as she said: "According to my prescription and dietary plan for Your Highness, by next year, Your Highness can prepare to give birth to a little prince."

  Lin Xiao looked at her and said, "Don't worry, having a child is no big deal even if it's two years later."

  Anyway, she's not relying on the child to gain favor now. According to her idea, it's best for her to have children after the crown prince gets married. At that time, with a crown princess, she can worry less about the crown prince and slowly give birth to and raise children.

  It's better to give birth to a princess, if it's a prince, her child will also be the legitimate son. Although he is far apart from the crown prince in age and does not seem to pose a great threat to the crown prince's position, it is inevitable that he will be used by those with ulterior motives.

  Daughter is good, mother said, daughter is a thoughtful little cotton-padded jacket.

  Lin Xiao thought of last night's events and asked Mu Ye: "The medicine you gave me to eat, can it be detected from the pulse?"

  Mu Ye was taken aback for a moment, then said: "After all, this is a medicine that hinders women from getting pregnant. A skilled doctor can always find one or two ways out."

  Lin Dai nodded, thinking to herself that the emperor didn't seem like a skilled doctor either and probably hadn't noticed anything. This reminded her to be more careful in the future when the imperial physician took her pulse. Fortunately, Liu Taizhen, who had been taking her pulse all along, was not a talkative person and could be trusted.

  Lin Xiao said to Mu Ye: "It's all right, you can go down now."

  Mo Ye nodded and then took away the medicine bowl.

  On the second day, people from Zhongshan Houfu came to the palace to visit Jiangshi.

  However, Lin Xiao did not expect that the person who came from the Zhongshan Hou Mansion was neither Madame Zhongshan nor Jiang's mother, but Lin Wei.

  Lin Xiao couldn't help but smile, it seems that the attitude of the Zhongshan couple towards Jiang's family is also worth pondering.

  It is said that the Emperor has recently been using people from the Jiang family, and will also promote Gan, the brother-in-law of the Marquis of Zhongshan and the commander of the Gui City Garrison, to be the Commander of the Imperial Guard. Other members of the Jiang family have also been promoted. The Emperor's favoritism towards Empress Jiang is not only because she resembles Lin Xiang, but also due to her connections in the imperial court.

  The Zhongshan Marquis Manor obviously relied on the Wu family, but the emperor promoted and reused the Jiang family, eroding the Wu family's territory, with a hint of using the Jiang family to replace the Wu family.

  Wu's family assisted the emperor in ascending to the throne with merit, and it should not be to the extent that the Jiang family replaces the Wu family. However, suppressing the Wu family is certain. But Lin Daiyu felt that the emperor seemed to have more than one purpose, only Lin Daiyu temporarily couldn't guess the emperor's other purposes.

  But if things go on like this, if the Wu family's power is further eroded by the Jiang family, can their alliance still be stable? Can the Wu family still trust the Jiang family, and will the Jiang family be willing to submit to the Wu family? Or will they want to replace them?

  Let's just wait and see what happens in the end with the Jiang and Wu families.