Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks

Chapter 3588: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (7)

“Congratulations to Your Majesty on becoming a father.”

Ning Shu smiled with gentle elegance. Her eyes were twinkling like stars, and they looked exceptionally sincere.

Ao Tianze’s expression was indifferent as he said, “This emperor thanks the empress. This emperor hopes this child is born smoothly, rather than having problems like before. Can the empress achieve this?”

Ning Shu smiled without showing her teeth. “This empress can certainly achieve this. I will definitely ensure the child is born smoothly and will not leave her side for a single step. Please rest assured, Your Majesty.”

Ao Tianze’s mouth twitched. He flicked his sleeves, threw out a sentence saying he still had matters to attend to, and left.

Consort Xuan caressed the items Ao Tianze had sent over. There was an unstoppable smile on her face, and she looked incredibly blissful as she stroked her own belly.

Ning Shu’s face remained impassive. She walked over to look at the rouge, powder, jewelry, and clothing, saying gently, “His Majesty treats you very well. Once you successfully gives birth to the child, your rewards will certainly be even more plentiful then.”

The smile on Consort Xuan’s face grew even brighter. She radiated an unstoppable joy. “Many thanks, Your Highness.”

“Xi’er, put all these things away,” Ning Shu said to Xi’er.

“Yes.” Xi’er and a few palace maids gathered up the jewelry from the trays.

“Ah…” Consort Xuan watched as all these good things were put away. Her face twitched twice before she said to Ning Shu, “Your Highness, these were bestowed upon this woman by His Majesty. This woman must eventually use them to show gratitude for the imperial grace.”

Ning Shu smiled and said, “Sister, what you need to do right now is safely give birth to the child. You also saw how much His Majesty is looking forward to the child in your belly. When the child is born, let alone rouge and powder, if it is a boy, just think about it. This child will be His Majesty’s eldest son.

“You should look further ahead.

Consort Xuan’s brows relaxed a bit, as if she were imagining what Ning Shu had said. She then added, “But His Majesty hopes this woman can remain beautiful.”

Ning Shu’s expression was somewhat serious as she replied, “Sister, you are pregnant now and cannot serve him in bed. Even if you are beautiful and even if His Majesty comes to see you, he will only sit for a bit. If you are truly afraid, I will have the female physician prepare some skincare products made from dew and flowers for you.”

“This woman understands,” Consort Xuan said, biting her lip. Because she was pregnant, she truly could not resist wanting to claim credit. She felt that she was a pregnant woman now and wanted to make sure His Majesty saw her contribution.

“Sister, rest well,” Ning Shu said gently. She left the martial-arts-trained maidservant by Consort Xuan’s side and then headed to the storeroom. The female physician was currently inspecting the items Ao Tianze had sent over.

“Your Highness, there is safflower in this rouge. It cools the blood and dissipates blood stasis, which is detrimental to the fetus in Her Highness Consort Xuan’s belly,” the female physician said to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu picked up the rouge box and took a sniff. It was very fragrant. Perhaps it was deliberately made so fragrant to mask the ingredients inside.

If Ning Shu were not here, Consort Xuan would probably have used these things. Who would ever imagine that an emperor would kill his own child? On the surface, the child in Consort Xuan’s belly still belonged to Ao Tianze.

If anything happened when the time came, she would definitely still be the one to take the blame. As the empress, she spent day and night with Consort Xuan, making it very easy for her to tamper with things.

Killing two birds with one stone. Ao Tianze was truly playing this game to perfection.

“Your Highness, these are musk beads.” The female physician handed Ning Shu a bracelet. Ning Shu placed it under her nose and took a sniff. It was very fragrant.

The musk beads were polished exceptionally smooth and looked particularly exquisite. No woman could resist such magnificent jewelry.

“This is also an abortifacient, Your Highness…” The female physician was somewhat uneasy, seemingly having discovered something terrible. Why were all the things sent over by His Majesty abortifacients?

Ning Shu set the bracelet down and said calmly, “Just pretend you do not know about this matter, and do not speak out of turn.”

“What about the rest?” Ning Shu picked up a bangle and held it up to the light to take a look.

“Your Highness, it is hard to tamper with this kind of bangle. However, the clothing and the fragrant sachets both contain abortifacients,” the female physician said with some trepidation.

Ning Shu touched the clothes and the fragrant sachets with a smile hanging on her lips. What ‘This emperor hopes you will remain beautiful during your pregnancy’? Didn’t he just want Consort Xuan to use the things he sent over?

No one could ever imagine that the emperor wanted to induce a miscarriage.

Having no heirs in the inner palace was also detrimental to the stability of the outer court. However, compared to that, Ao Tianze was even less capable of tolerating the birth of a child without his blood.

Ning Shu said, “Pack all these things away securely and place them out of Consort Xuan’s reach.”

“Yes.” The female physician wrapped these items up in layer after layer of material, placed them in a trunk, and then used other items to conceal them.

In short, it was to prevent the scent of these items from leaking out.

Ning Shu said to the female physician, “Once Consort Xuan successfully gives birth, you will leave the palace.”

The female physician knelt down in terror and pleaded with Ning Shu, “I beg Your Highness to spare this servant. This servant promises not to say a word.”

It seemed she had learned something terrible. Was she going to be silenced with death?

The female physician felt extremely anxious. Ning Shu helped her up. “What do you think this empress is going to do to you? You are a member of my Tan family. You came here to help, so I will not do anything to you.

“To tell you the truth, the emperor exclusively favors Lady Min and does not want any children to be born in the inner palace. If something happens to this child as well, His Majesty will definitely convict this empress of the crimes of being an immoral empress and murdering imperial heirs. It will even implicate the Tan family,” Ning Shu said calmly.

“This servant understands.” The female physician felt utterly miserable inside. She had learned too much again. However, she also knew that her lips had to remain tightly sealed, otherwise, she wouldn’t even know how she died.

“Prepare some beauty-enhancing items for Consort Xuan that will not harm her body,” Ning Shu said to the female physician. Consort Xuan simply treated Ao Tianze’s words as an imperial decree. She was terrified that she would become ugly and subsequently be despised by him.

But those who served others with their beauty would see love fade when their beauty waned.

The women in this inner palace all had lives like duckweed. They had no control over their own fates whatsoever, after being sent here from their maiden families.

The women in this inner palace amounted to absolutely nothing. In the struggles for imperial power, they were merely insignificant women. With homes confiscated and entire clans exterminated at the drop of a hat, who would care about how many inner palace women the emperor had killed?

Women were practically objects, and the emperor possessed the right to dispose of them.

An emperor talking about love with a woman? How could that be possible!

Fu Min possessed a massive protagonist halo. She was able to subdue an emperor of his generation and become a person envied by all women.

Consort Xuan was pregnant, so quite a few consorts came over to visit and gift her various items. All these things were put away by Ning Shu.

Ning Shu pretty much understood what these women were thinking in their hearts.

Children were expendable commodities in the inner palace. Men always wanted to gather more women to multiply their offspring. As a result, the more women there were, the more the offspring withered away.

Whenever the consorts came to visit Consort Xuan, it would become incredibly noisy. Ning Shu shooed everyone away, telling them to come visit after the child was born. They didn’t even need to come pay their respects in the mornings anymore. For now, she exempted the consorts of all palaces from their daily greetings.

Looking at the treatment Consort Xuan was receiving, everyone was so green with envy that they gnashed their teeth. Ning Shu smiled and said, “You all must also hurry up and conceive His Majesty’s heirs to spread branches and leaves for the imperial family.”