Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Pregnant

Su Guipin is pregnant.

Ever since Xiao Rongzi delivered the message to her, Yun Si had been mulling it over. All signs pointed to her guess being almost certainly correct.

Yun Si had to attend and serve the Emperor daily, but Qiu Yuan did not, so Yun Si had no choice but to instruct Qiu Yuan to closely observe every move within Qingyu Courtyard.

When the incident happened during the morning greetings at Kunning Palace, Yun Si received the news immediately.

Su Guipin had fainted during the greeting.

When the message reached the imperial study, Yun Si was helping Tan Yuanchu grind ink. There were no ministers present in the hall, so Xu Shunfu did not stop the messenger and allowed the palace attendant to enter. The attendant knelt on the ground:

“Su Guipin has fainted. Her Majesty the Empress sent me to ask His Majesty to go over.”

Yun Si’s eyes flickered imperceptibly. Deep down, she knew that Su Guipin’s fainting was not something so simple.

Tan Yuanchu had just finished reviewing a memorial. Upon hearing this, he calmly looked up and said indifferently, “If she’s fainted, then call the imperial physician. What, am I supposed to treat her?”

The palace attendant was rendered speechless by his words, and the tension in Yun Si’s heart gradually eased. She glanced at Tan Yuanchu. The longer she stayed in the Yangxin Hall, the more she realized how utterly indifferent Tan Yuanchu could be.

Sweat appeared on the palace attendant’s forehead. She stammered, “According to the imperial physician, Su Guipin’s has a slippery pulse which suggests a possible pregnancy, which is why Her Highness sent me to ask His Majesty to come.”

Yun Si noticed that when the palace attendant said the words “slippery pulse,” Tan Yuanchu’s hand paused in the act of opening the memorial. He finally set the memorials aside and ordered Xu Shunfu, “Prepare the carriage.”

Su Guipin’s fainting didn’t earn a shred of his attention, but the moment there was a suspicion she might be carrying a royal heir, he didn’t hesitate in the slightest—he immediately ordered the imperial carriage to be prepared.

Yun Si found Tan Yuanchu truly contradictory.

If he cared about heirs, then when Lu Cairen was pregnant, there had been no sign of extra tenderness toward her. But if he didn’t care, then why was he always thinking about the Eldest Prince and the little princess?
While serving at his side, Yun Si often heard Tan Yuanchu inquiring after the two royal children.

And now, he also seemed to place great importance on the heir in Su Guipin’s womb.

But this attention was different from the affection he showed the two existing heirs. It gave Yun Si an indescribable feeling—almost as if only those heirs who had already been born were truly seen by him. Otherwise, it was merely a matter of some mild expectation.

The imperial carriage headed straight to Qingyu Courtyard. The atmosphere within was somewhat odd. As the beaded curtain was lifted, Yun Si quickly swept her gaze over everyone in the hall.

Su Guipin was gently touching her lower abdomen, and even her usually cold face carried a smile. As she lowered her gaze, a hint of bashfulness naturally appeared. The Empress also wore a smile as she patted Su Guipin’s hand. Just as Yun Si entered, she happened to hear her say:

“Since you’re with child now, you must take more care in the future—you can’t have another incident like today.”

The other consorts wore congratulatory smiles, but no matter how one looked at them, they seemed stiff.

Yun Si especially took note of Rong Zhaoyi. Her expression was rather careless—despite Su Guipin’s pregnancy, it hadn’t managed to stir even a flicker of attention from her.

Yun Si found that a bit odd, but the sound of the consorts rising to greet His Majesty forced her to suppress her suspicions and return to herself.

She stepped aside, retreating along with Xu Shunfu.

When Su Guipin saw the emperor, her eyes suddenly lit up. She was being helped up to rise, but Tan Yuanchu stopped her.

“No need for formalities.”

The Empress stood and gave up her seat to Tan Yuanchu.

The scene inside the hall became one where Su Guipin lay on the bed, Tan Yuanchu sat at her bedside, and everyone else stood off to the side, watching as the coldness in Su Guipin’s face gradually gave way to a flush of red. None of them felt particularly at ease.

Tan Yuanchu lifted his eyelids, as if he hadn’t noticed the rosiness in Su Guipin’s cheeks. During the entire journey here, his emotions had already settled, and he asked calmly, “Is there any lingering discomfort in your body?”

Su Guipin lightly stroked her lower abdomen, a smile on her face.
“Thank you for Your Majesty’s concern. This concubine feels no discomfort now.”

Tan Yuanchu followed her hand with his eyes and saw only a flat abdomen—no sign of anything yet.

But Tan Yuanchu said nothing. After offering Su Guipin a few words of comfort, he turned to the imperial physician standing nearby and asked,

“How is Su Guipin’s condition?”

The physician respectfully replied,
“To answer Your Majesty, Su Guipin is merely a little qi-deficient. The royal heir in her womb shows no signs of concern, but since it has only been one month, the early stages require careful rest and care.”

Tan Yuanchu listened attentively, then gave a direct order. “From now on, you are to personally oversee this pregnancy. I do not want anything to go wrong with Su Guipin’s child.”

His tone was mild, but no one dared take his words lightly. Imperial Physician Li could only smile bitterly in his heart—whether or not anything would go wrong with this child wasn’t up to him at all.

But all he could do was bow respectfully and accept the task.

The Empress, tactful as ever, led the other consorts in taking their leave. Soon, only Tan Yuanchu and Su Guipin remained in Qingyu Courtyard. Su Guipin looked up at Tan Yuanchu, a hint of guilt in her voice.

“It was my carelessness that led to fainting today. Fortunately, nothing happened to the child.”

No matter how cold Tan Yuanchu could be, he wouldn’t blame her for something like this. He brushed the matter aside casually and said in a light tone, “It was the servants who did not attend to you properly.”

With that, he swept his gaze across the palace attendants in the hall. Every servant who met his eyes instinctively bowed their heads in deference.

Su Guipin hadn’t expected him to respond this way and was momentarily at a loss for words. After a pause, she forced a small smile and said nothing more, fearing that if Tan Yuanchu got any sudden ideas, he might decide to replace all the servants in her palace.

The palace servants in her quarters had been with her ever since she entered the palace—they were familiar and well-trained. She had no desire to replace them.

Yun Si and Xu Shunfu both kept their eyes lowered, pretending they had heard nothing, minds focused on their breathing, though they couldn’t help but mutter internally: with Su Guipin looking so rosy and full of life, who would believe she had just fainted?

Even His Majesty had chosen to gloss over the matter—why bring it up again yourself?
Isn’t that just asking for embarrassment?

No one heard Yun Si and Xu Shunfu’s inward complaints. Tan Yuanchu stayed in Qingyu Courtyard for an hour before the imperial carriage finally departed.

Today happened to be the fifteenth, and the carriage went straight to Kunning Palace.

The weather had warmed, and Yun Si had switched to a lighter spring dress: a gown of blue-green cloud-patterned brocade, with a fine gauze shawl draped over her shoulders. She had even lightly applied makeup today, a touch of rouge on her lips and a subtle definition to her brows. In the glow of the setting sun, she looked particularly striking.

On the way, Tan Yuanchu lifted the embroidered curtain several times, his gaze occasionally brushing across Yun Si’s cheek.

But he said nothing—until just before they stepped through the gates of Kunning Palace, when he suddenly made an inexplicable remark.

“Why are you so disappointing?”

Yun Si was completely baffled.

Xu Shunfu, on the other hand, was taken aback. He glanced at the emperor in surprise, then couldn’t help but look toward Yun Si. In his mind, he elevated Yun Ni’s status yet again.

Under the late emperor, there had been many heirs, and though the current emperor had been most favored, the road to becoming crown prince hadn’t been smooth. In the imperial family, fratricide seemed like an inescapable fate.

After the battle for the crown prince’s seat, Xu Shunfu had gradually sensed that the emperor held a somewhat contradictory attitude toward the matter of heirs.

Aside from a legitimate son, whether the other consorts were pregnant or not never seemed to matter much to him.

If they became pregnant, he looked forward to it; if they didn’t, he appeared unbothered.

Precisely because the emperor placed no such expectations on his consorts, it was all the more surprising that he now hoped Yun Si girl would conceive.

It wasn’t until they were inside the hall that Yun Si finally understood what Tan Yuanchu’s words meant. She paused for a moment, her brows faintly furrowing.

To be honest, Yun Si had never considered getting pregnant.

At the very least, during her time in the Yangxin Hall, she didn’t want to become pregnant with a royal heir.

One only needed to look at the ranks of the new consorts chosen during the selection to understand that newly entered concubines never held high status. Perhaps getting pregnant would prompt Tan Yuanchu to grant her a title sooner—but so what?

She didn’t believe Tan Yuanchu would grant her a rank above third class just like that.

If that was the case, then she didn’t want to get pregnant so early.

According to the rules of the current dynasty, consorts below the third rank were not allowed to raise royal heirs. Even if they gave birth to one, the child would have to be raised by a higher-ranking consort.

Yun Si had no intention of bearing a child only to have it raised by someone else.

Thinking of this, Yun Si couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. She hesitated slightly, wondering whether she should take some kind of precaution.

Her wandering thoughts were soon interrupted by the Empress’s voice. The Empress still wore her usual gentle smile.

“Now that Su Guipin is carrying a royal heir, what kind of reward does Your Majesty think would be appropriate?”

Tan Yuanchu answered with little interest, “What do you think?”

The Empress picked out a piece of fish for him and said unhurriedly, “To carry a royal heir is no small merit. Whatever reward is given would seem too little. Why not promote Su Guipin in rank? What does Your Majesty think?”

Yun Si couldn’t help but find it strange, suspicion rising in her heart. Did Su Guipin save the Empress’s life or something?
For the Empress to advocate for her like this?

Of course, Su Guipin had never saved the Empress’s life.

But that didn’t stop the Empress from seeking benefits on her behalf. Tan Yuanchu paused only briefly, then nodded carelessly.

“Promote her to Jieyu. As for anything else, we’ll wait until she gives birth to the child.”

Yun Si’s eyes flickered.
Wait until then? Jieyu was already a proper fourth-rank title. The next step up would be Xiurong, a third-rank title, which granted the right to raise a royal heir.

Tan Yuanchu’s words were no different from telling the Empress directly: once Su Guipin gives birth to the child, she will be promoted to the third rank.

Yun Si lowered her gaze, concealing the thoughts in her eyes.

Tan Yuanchu was not typically generous when it came to conferring titles on his consorts—in fact, he could be considered stingy. But when it came to those who bore his heirs, he seemed particularly generous.

A third-rank consort not only had the right to raise a royal heir but was also the mistress of her own palace. Even if imperial favor waned in the future, no one would dare treat her with the slightest disrespect.

The next day, news of Su Guipin’s promotion to Jieyu quickly spread. In no time, a stream of people headed to Qingyu Courtyard to offer congratulations. But before Su Jieyu could make any formal response, the Empress issued an order: no one was to disturb Su Jieyu while she was nurturing her pregnancy.

At that moment, Yun Si was dining with Qiu Yuan. Peach blossoms were in full bloom lately, and the imperial kitchen had sent over plenty of peach blossom cakes.

Upon hearing of the Empress’s decree, Yun Si didn’t even lift her head.
She simply said softly, “Her Highness is truly kind to Su Jieyu.”

Qiu Yuan wiped her hands and frowned upon hearing this. “A little too kind.”

So kind, in fact, that it seemed unnatural.

After all, any alliance requires both sides to benefit. The Empress had done a great deal for Su Jieyu—but what could Su Jieyu offer in return?

The Empress’s position was unshakable. Whether or not the Emperor visited the inner palace, Kunning Palace still received its two monthly nights of attendance. The authority over the six palaces was entirely in her hands. To put it bluntly, it was the other consorts who needed to curry favor with her—why would she need to win anyone over?

Then, as if recalling something, Qiu Yuan suddenly lowered her voice.

“Do you think… it’s possible the Empress wants to borrow a womb to bear a child?”

This idea wasn’t far-fetched. After all, the Empress had power, status, and the Emperor’s respect—she lacked nothing except an heir of her own.

Yun Si frowned slightly, but after a moment’s thought, she shook her head and dismissed Qiu Yuan’s theory.

“If it were just to borrow a womb, helping Su Jieyu secure a night with His Majesty would’ve been enough. Why go to such lengths to push for a promotion in rank?”

It didn’t make sense.

Once Su Jieyu’s status was elevated, she would have the right to raise her own child. At that point, the Empress would have no claim over the heir at all.

Besides, if that were really the case, why wouldn’t the Empress choose those consorts of low rank and humble background?
Comparatively speaking, those consorts had even less chance of being allowed to raise a royal heir.

Qiu Yuan fell silent, realizing her own theory didn’t hold up.

After a long while, she shook her head, unable to make sense of the Empress’s motives. “It can’t just be a moment of kindness.”

Yun Si frowned, falling into deep thought.

Qiu Yuan was right—the Empress couldn’t possibly be acting out of sudden goodwill. There must be a reason behind it. But what was it about Su Jieyu that made her so worth supporting?

Yun Si kept going over everything she knew about the Empress. Suddenly, a spark of clarity flashed through her mind.

“The Mid-Autumn Banquet!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, both Yun Si and Qiu Yuan froze. They looked at each other and immediately sensed something was off.

If there was anything unusual about the Empress, it was that the annual Mid-Autumn Banquet was always organized by Consort De. Yet aside from the Mid-Autumn Banquet, all other palace banquets were personally arranged by the Empress.

That alone was strange.
What made the Mid-Autumn Banquet so different?

The side chamber fell silent for a long while before Qiu Yuan spoke with difficulty, “I remember… the year His Majesty ascended the throne, Her Highness the Empress suffered a miscarriage. So the Mid-Autumn Banquet that year was handled by Consort De.”

After she said this, no one in the hall spoke again. A heavy, deathly silence descended.

—

In Kunning Palace, Bai Zhi was attending to the Empress’s bath. A screen shielded the spring scene behind it, steam filling the air. The Empress leaned back in the bath, eyes closed, resting.

The entire hall was hushed. After stepping out of the bath, she was assisted into her robes. Walking out from behind the screen, she seated herself on a soft couch, and Bai Zhi came forward to towel-dry her dark hair.

Bai Zhi glanced hesitantly at the Empress—again and again—clearly wanting to speak but holding herself back.

The Empress noticed her gaze but didn’t respond. She knew full well that this girl could never keep her mouth shut for long.

Sure enough, not even a quarter of an hour passed before Bai Zhi asked worriedly, “Your Highness… do you really think she’ll make a move?”

The Empress opened her eyes and glanced at Bai Zhi without the slightest surprise. Bai Zhi, feeling a bit awkward under the gaze, rubbed her nose with a sheepish look.

After a long pause, the Empress replied unhurriedly,

“What wouldn’t she dare do?”

A trace of sarcasm flitted across her lips. She was utterly reckless—so long as anyone threatened her position, there was nothing she wouldn’t do.

In this entire palace, only she had a son by her side. How could she possibly be willing to let that kind of privilege fall to anyone else?

Even when the Empress herself had held the supreme position, hadn’t she still dared to strike?

When the Empress miscarried, His Majesty flew into a rage. Though no evidence was ever found, she didn’t dare act again under such scrutiny. It was only because of that that Rong Zhaoyi had been lucky enough to give birth to the little princess.

And fortunately, it was a princess.
Had it been a prince, would she have let it go so easily?

Even in the matter of Lu Cairen, the Empress knew full well who was behind it. After her demotion, Eunuch Liu had gone to Yihe Palace multiple times—that alone spoke volumes.

The timing had been especially “convenient”—the palace had gone a long time without a pregnant consort, and her rare, subtle actions had been carefully hidden. Combined with the Emperor’s cold nature, it had kept her from being exposed.

The Empress curled her lips slightly.

“She always believes that, with the Eldest Prince by her side, no one can threaten her position—and that His Majesty will tolerate her for the Eldest Prince’s sake. But she forgets… even tolerance has limits. Especially when it comes to His Majesty.”

Bai Zhi was left speechless. After a while, she whispered sadly, “All this servant hopes… is that she gets what she deserves, sooner rather than later.”

The Empress said nothing in response. She looked at the woman in the bronze mirror, her lips curving in self-mockery.

She had suffered a miscarriage—who could she blame?

Consort De… and also herself, for being so foolish.

Back then, she had actually allowed Consort De to give birth to a royal heir—she had even believed in Consort De’s outward display of modesty and obedience, raising a white-eyed wolf at her side who could never be truly loyal.

Once Consort De’s position was secure, she naturally became a thorn in her side—her greatest obstacle.

The Empress closed her eyes, but quickly opened them again. The self-mockery in her gaze vanished. Her voice was calm as she said, “Have someone keep a close eye on the heir in Su Jieyu’s womb. And have the Central Province Hall send over two experienced matrons.”

Bai Zhi nodded. “This servant understands.”

After everything had been properly arranged, Bai Zhi noticed that the Empress was still sitting motionless. She asked, a bit puzzled, “Your Highness, is something the matter?”

The Empress withdrew her gaze from the bronze mirror. She said lightly, “I was just thinking of Yun Si.”

Bai Zhi didn’t understand, but the Empress offered no explanation. She merely said, “It’s nothing,” then turned and lay down on the bed. Bai Zhi didn’t dare press further and quietly blew out the candle.

In an instant, the hall was plunged into darkness.