The beauty of the Hou family and the king's plan

When she woke up, candles were already lit in Kunning Palace.

Shen Baozhao opened his eyes wide and looked at the phoenix hanging from the curtain above his head. He moved his hand but found that his right hand was held tightly by someone.

"Zhao Zhao, you're awake." Xiao Yuanhuai's eyes were filled with joy.

God knows how scared he was when he was handling government affairs in the Qinzheng Hall and heard the palace servant report that the Queen had fainted.

My whole body felt as if it was falling into a crack in the ice and snow, and even my bones were filled with a trace of fear.

I recalled that day when I stood on the wall of the imperial city and watched her fall to the ground after being shot by an arrow. Every pore of my skin told of the heart-wrenching pain!

He rushed back to Kunning Palace like a madman, and seeing her lying pale and motionless on the bed, he wanted to kill the mother and daughter of the Mei family.

Fortunately, Zhao Zhao was in good health. Zeng Yuanshi said that she was upset and had a miscarriage. She needed to be well taken care of.

He had to temporarily let the Mei mother and daughter go for the sake of his reputation.

Recently, all the joint petitions from court officials regarding the beauty pageant were suppressed by him. If he knew that the empress was furious after hearing about the beauty pageant, it is possible that more and more petitions would be filed criticizing the empress.

Shen Baozhao opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Xiao Yuanhuai put the teacup to her mouth, lifted her up and fed her water.

Shen Baozhao touched her belly and looked at Xiao Yuanhuai nervously.

Xiao Yuanhuai knew what she was worried about and comforted her, "Our child is fine."

She had just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to speak when he pressed his finger against her lips.

"Zhao Zhao, please listen to me first."

Shen Baozhao nodded and signaled him to take his hand away with his eyes.

Xiao Yuanhuai did not retract his hand. Instead, he bent his knuckles and rubbed her face a few times.

He looked down at her with greedy and loving eyes.

"I didn't plan to draft. You and I being able to be reborn once again is a blessing from God.

I cherish you very much and wish I could stay with you every day. How could I take other concubines into the harem to cause you trouble? "

Xiao Yuanhuai sighed, "You almost scared me to death today, I can't bear the pain of losing you anymore.

I didn't firmly oppose the courtiers' suggestion. It was just a delaying tactic. I thought it would not come true and there was no need to argue with you.

So you don't have to worry about me when you're pregnant."

"Who would have thought that the Mei family would come to you to cause trouble!"

He was careless. He didn't consider how sad Zhao Zhao would be if she heard this from someone else.

Shen Baozhao saw the guilt in his eyes, smiled at him, reached out and touched his cheek to comfort him: "Ahuai, it's my fault. I made you worry."

"But what do you mean by delaying the war?" Shen Baozhao was a little confused.

“That person showed up.”

"Who?"

Shen Baozhao suddenly thought of something and sat up straight.

"Where? Whose are they?"

Xiao Yuanhuai patted her on the back and signaled her not to get excited.

"It is not clear who is behind this yet, but the person has already entered the capital and is under our surveillance. If we muddy the waters, the answer will soon be revealed."

The two of them were like playing a riddle. The reason why Shen Baozhao was arrested in the imperial city in his previous life was because Xiao Yuanhuai trusted one person too much.

He was a general in his rebel army, Lieutenant General Li, who was brave and good at fighting, brave and resourceful. He was a rare talent.

He arranged for Lieutenant General Li to secretly meet Shen Baozhao and asked him to ensure Shen Baozhao's safety.

Xiao Yuanhuai never thought that he would betray him and disappear from the public eye.

In his previous life, he dug three feet deep into the ground but could not find any trace of Dali. But in this life, he finally waited for this person to appear.

Shen Baozhao understood why Xiao Yuanhuai did not stop the draft. He suspected that the person behind Lieutenant General Li was aiming to get rid of him.

And whose way was she getting in the way of? Naturally, those who were expected to become Xiao Yuanhuai's concubines, especially those who were qualified to hold high positions.

She quickly thought of a solution.

"Ah Huai, I have an idea, what do you think?"

......

On the second day of the morning court session, Xiao Yuanhuai changed his previous hesitation and firmly opposed the selection of a concubine.

He also threatened that from now on there would be only one queen in the harem and he would not take any other concubines.

As soon as these words were spoken, a huge uproar broke out, and all the ministers were outraged, especially those who had daughters or nieces of marriageable age.

Some upright censors even wanted to commit suicide by hitting the pillar.

In the end, the king and his ministers parted on bad terms.

After the court was dismissed, Xiao Yuanhuai issued another imperial decree to reprimand Madam Mei for her lack of moral integrity and her outrageous remarks that offended the Queen.

She was punished to stay in Jizhao Temple to practice asceticism for a year and was not allowed to leave the temple without imperial order.

Mrs. Mei felt wronged, so she took off her hairpins and begged at the palace gate, begging the queen to be magnanimous and allow His Majesty to select the concubines.

This incident caused a lot of uproar, and the court officials suddenly realized that it was the queen who was jealous and refused to participate in the selection.

Some people even organized many candidates who came to Beijing to take part in the palace examination to criticize the empress in teahouses and restaurants for being jealous and not behaving like a mother of the nation.

Some candidates who were instigated and impulsive spontaneously wrote a letter of protest and asked others to sign it, intending to risk their lives to submit it to Your Majesty.

For a time, Shen Baozhao became a concubine who brought disaster to the country, like Daji and Baosi.

The rumors became more and more intense, and there were even calls for His Majesty to divorce his wife.

Inside Kunning Palace.

Shen Baozhao, who came up with the idea, had naturally considered that things would explode, but she did not expect that the person behind the scenes would be so powerful.

It can provoke the anger of all readers.

The couple's mood was not affected by the rumors outside at all. They were still playing chess.

Xiao Yuanhuai looked at Shen Baozhao, who was regretting his move, with tenderness on his face.

He said jokingly, "Zhao Zhao, you play chess like this, aren't you afraid that the baby in your belly will learn the same thing? If you give birth to a little chess loser, let's see what you will do."

Shen Baozhao snorted and raised his eyelashes: "Do you dislike me?"

This was a life-threatening question, so Xiao Yuanhuai naturally didn't dare to answer it, but instead avoided the question and talked about other things.

"Today, the crabs that Ah Xin sent to the palace are pretty good. I asked Envoy Zeng that pregnant women can eat a little.

How about asking the imperial kitchen to steam two later and a pot of last year's chrysanthemum wine?"

Seeing how he was trying to please her, Shen Baozhao also nodded softly and then moved on from the issue.

An Yi had something to report and was waiting outside Kunning Palace.

Xiao Yuanhuai originally wanted to arrange a position for An Yi in the army, but An Yi refused no matter what, saying that the secret guards under him had not been trained yet and he was worried about his master being left without protection.

Therefore, when he had nothing to do, he would go back and forth between the Qinzheng Hall and the Kunning Palace like Xiao Yuanhuai every day.

He interrupted the emperor and empress's enjoyment in the boudoir at this time, probably because he had something very important to report.

The two looked at each other and let Qingkong Xuanan enter the hall.

When An saw that the person coming was Qingkong, he was overjoyed. He didn't want to be a deputy general, because that would mean he wouldn't have the chance to meet Miss Qingkong.

His lifelong affairs were not resolved, so he decided to stay in the palace.

Qingkong felt a burning sensation on his back, as if someone was staring a hole through it.