The Emperor System was trying to persuade Zhao Yunqi, "Just agree to it. You can keep them company for as many years as you can."

They want to make a big fuss about this matter. Since the emperor cannot have children, it will be useless no matter how many beauties he has in the harem.

Over the years, he only appointed six concubines and supported Zhao Lin, carefully preserving at least the emperor's face.

Now that the situation has changed, those who are loyal to Zhao Yunqi will worry that the emperor will have no successor, so it is natural for them to give birth. This is human nature.

It would be strange if they didn't urge him, because then the emperor would have to wonder if all his subordinates were going to betray him.

Zhao Yunqi had a hard time saying it, he agreed, but the seed drill had no seeds, and taking the beauty into the palace would always remind him of this embarrassing fact.

If you don't agree, all officials will become suspicious, and even rumors will spread all over the world.

After weighing the two options, he could only grit his teeth and agree to take a few concubines into the palace to get by.

As for the fact that no one got pregnant later——

Rumors that he was too old to have children were foreseeable to appear.

But it's better than being sterilized and unable to have children.

Zhao Yunqi pondered, "If I take this opportunity to let Xiao Zhixing know that I am sterilized and Zhao Lin is not my biological son, do you think it is feasible?"

Emperor System: "Why do you insist on letting her know this? It might become a handle on you. From what I have observed recently, she is cold and cruel, and she may not care too much about whether you are her father or not."

Xiao Zhixing: This guy really understands himself.

Zhao Yunqi was silent for a while, but he made a decisive decision. "You are right. Let nature take its course. I will deal with it for a few years. When the crown prince is born and takes the position firmly, I will not have to face this problem."

So at the New Year's Eve banquet, the emperor finally issued an edict to hold a beauty contest in the autumn of the following year to recruit beautiful women in order to continue his family line.

All officials cheered loudly, and those who had ambitious girls of marriageable age at home had decided to go back and hire the best nannies to train their daughters (granddaughters).

The city of Shengjing was in a state of excitement.

The spring examination and the talent show will be held at the same time next year. It can be predicted that Shengjing City will be bustling throughout the year.

After Xiao Zhixing paid New Year's greetings to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor on the first day of the New Year, she no longer had to go out, so until the fifteenth day, she stayed at home and spent time with Xiao Yuanshan.

There was a constant stream of people coming to wish them a happy new year, but of course only a few people got to see her in person, so everyone just bowed and left.

On the tenth day, the father and daughter were enjoying the snow and playing chess. Xiao Yuanshan suddenly asked her, "What on earth is this Junziyuan for? I don't think you guys are serious students at all."

Xiao Zhixing smiled mysteriously, "Father will understand in the future."

Xiao Yuanshan snorted and laughed, "Okay, looking at your appearance, you must be extraordinary."

That’s right, the whole world will be scared to death by then.

"After the new year, the Three Kingdoms Negotiations will begin. I wonder what the bottom line of the Northern Barbarians and the Southern Barbarians is?" Xiao Yuanshan sighed.

Xiao Zhixing placed his white piece, "The Northern Barbarians are still dragging their feet. There won't be any substantive negotiations. As for the Southern Barbarians..."

"What's wrong? Have you discovered anything?" Xiao Yuanshan now has only a few people under his command. When he said he would delegate power, he really meant it. The entire palace and the forces behind it were handed over to Xiao Zhixing, so he is not very well-informed now.

Xiao Zhixing sneered, "The Feng family has close ties with the Southern Yi. I even suspect that they want to make a fortune there. It's hard to say whether they can achieve victory or peace talks."

Later, she asked Yin Yi to send people to keep a close eye on the Feng family and Nanyi. The two sides did not seem to be fighting to the death.

On the contrary, he is very kind and friendly.

Xiao Yuanshan frowned and whispered, "Do they really dare to betray the country?"

"It may be more than treason."

Treason is colluding with other countries and side with the enemy country, but the Feng family’s ambitions may go beyond that.

Xiao Yuanshan gasped, "How could it be? Your Majesty——"

Are you stupid? They can all find out, so he doesn’t believe that the emperor won’t find out.

But not only was he not on guard, he also granted Feng Hui and Feng Min a marriage, a daughter of Zhao Zhong to show his favor, a saintly woman to deepen the connection between the Feng family and the Nanyi.

What’s the difference between this and giving chips to your opponent?

Xiao Zhixing's heart was moved. "Father, what kind of person is Feng Lizhen? Has he changed in recent years? Why did you arrange a marriage between the Feng family and Qi Mengshu? How did Feng Lizhen become your deputy general?"

Normally, if a person is going to betray, there would be no signs at all. Xiao Yuanshan is not a real fool, so he was plotted against without even realizing it.

And the marriage, the Feng family's style of doing things is totally inconsistent with Xiao Yuanshan's values, why would he want to marry his niece into the Feng family? Could it be that he wanted to send his niece to suffer?

When it came to Feng Lizhen's position as deputy general, Xiao Yuanshan did not appoint Xiao Dong as the deputy general, but instead appointed an outsider.

She felt it was strange and out of place at the time, but she didn't think about it too much. Now it seems...

Xiao Yuanshan's hand holding the chess piece was frozen in the air, his thick eyebrows gradually twisted into a knot, his eyes blank, "Yes, how could I be so stupid as to appoint Feng Lizhen as the deputy general?"

The more Xiao Yuanshan thought about it, the darker his face became. "My daughter, do you think your father is possessed by evil spirits? Feng Lizhen had made a few contributions at that time, so I loved him and trusted him immensely. I even liked the Feng family—"

He shuddered, could he really be possessed? !

"If you can't figure it out, just stop thinking about it." Don't scare yourself to death.

Xiao Zhixing pressed the white piece down with a snap, her eyes shining. She seemed to understand why Zhao Yunqi treated the Feng family so strangely.

Did he discover something too?

He curled his lips and sneered. Whether it is true or not, just go and take a look in person to find out.

But she had not yet decided to go south. On the evening of the eleventh day, Bai Mei reported to her, "Your Majesty, the concubine of Prince Li has given birth."

Xiao Zhixing was stunned for a moment before he realized that she was talking about Qi Mengshu. She gave birth so soon? She's not due yet, right?

She immediately went to grab Li Jun's shots.

There was a desolate courtyard in the backyard of the Li Mansion, and the whole courtyard was dead silent.

Li Jun stood under the eaves with his hands behind his back, his expression dull and a hint of anger in his eyes.

Mother Li looked at Chunlan and the two maids kneeling under the eaves with a dark face, and asked angrily in a low voice: "Tell me, what's going on?"

The two maids shook their heads desperately, "Madam, we know nothing, nothing!"

Li's mother waved her hand with a gloomy face and had them dragged away, leaving Chunlan alone in the yard. "What about you? Don't tell me you don't know anything either?"

Chunlan cried in fear, "I don't know. A few months ago, the girl woke up mute one night. I was scared to death. I also begged the maids to find a doctor for the girl, but they refused me. After that, the girl seemed to be possessed by a ghost. She cried and laughed at the same time. I was even more scared and didn't dare to tell anyone..."

Mother Li was so angry that she was shaking all over and gnashing her teeth, "What about the child? What happened to the child?"

Chunlan trembled all over as if she remembered some horrible scene, and suddenly screamed, "I didn't know, it was a monster! Monster! Ahhhhh monster..."

At this moment, the door opened and a maid stumbled out, panicking and terrified, "Madam, something's wrong..."

Li's mother's head was throbbing with anger. "What happened again?"

Mammy knelt down, "Child, child——"

Chunlan suddenly stood up and rushed into the house, and then there was a crazy scream, "Ahhhhhhh!"

(Thanks @this book how to comment for the first reward! After testing, I decided to update in the morning and around 8 o'clock in the evening!)

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