Everyone in my harem is talented

Chapter 321 Thoughts

A line of white slowly rose on the horizon.

In the Pepper Room, Shen Ningyue got up early and the palace maids opened all the windows. The temperature in August was just right, and the refreshing autumn breeze dyed the smiling golden flowers yellow and blew the maple leaves of the trees red.

On the tenth and fifth days of every month, the concubines would come to the Pepper Room early to pay their respects. Shen Ningyue sat in front of the dressing mirror, with a palace maid standing behind her, combing her hair into a bun.

"Your Majesty, Consort Shun has brought the twelfth prince to the Pepper Palace."

"Go and ask her to come in and wait."

Shen Ningyue's fingers slid across the phoenix hairpins, picked out a hairpin with a phoenix holding a golden bead, and pointed with her fingertips to signal the palace maid beside her.

The palace maid immediately understood what the Empress had meant, and according to the main hairpin chosen by the Empress, she tied her hair into a proper bun.

"I've met the Queen!"

Shun Guiren Shi Qingzhang bowed and said.

"Why did you come so early? And you brought the twelfth prince with you?"

Shen Ningyue sat upright, motionless, looking through the mirror in front of her at Shi Qingzhang who was bowing to her side, and the twelfth prince Qin Mingfan who was drowsy in the arms of a palace servant beside her.

"Today is the day to pay respects, I dare not neglect it. The twelfth prince cannot leave me, so I will take him with me."

Shi Qingzhang smiled faintly, his brows lowered, his attitude as humble and respectful as ever, and he did not become arrogant just because he had his own biological prince.

The two talked in low voices, and soon, the palace maid who was doing the hair-binding put on the last jade hairpin and stepped aside.

Shen Ningyue gently stroked the golden hairpin on her temples and said softly, "Okay, let's go out. The other sisters should be here by now."

"Your humble concubine, your concubine, greets Her Majesty the Queen. May Your Majesty be blessed with good health and happiness."

"Stand up, everyone, take a seat."

Shen Ningyue sat on the main seat and looked down intently. All the concubines in the palace were present today.

"Thank you, Queen." The concubines said in unison.

"Is today a special day? Why are Concubine Xian and Lady Lan here? Concubine Xian is still pregnant with a baby, so I have already exempted you from paying respects.

The same goes for Concubine Lan. Your Wenming Palace is a bit far from the Jiaofang Palace. You are pregnant with the royal heir, so don't get too tired."

"Thank you for your concern, madam."

The virtuous concubine Fu Mengli stood up and bowed slowly, and then the noble lady Lan Alanruo also bowed and thanked her.

"The Queen has been busy with the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet recently and has not had much time to see me and other concubines. I thought that I couldn't delay the Queen's business, so I took the opportunity of the day to come and ask the Queen for a favor."

Fu Mengli's face looked a little haggard, and she pleaded respectfully in a rare manner.

"But is the baby in your belly bothering you? I noticed that your lips are a little pale. Did the imperial physician say anything?"

"This pregnancy of mine was very peaceful, and it didn't bother me at all. It was just that I was a little depressed and couldn't sleep. The imperial physician said that medicine is three-quarters poison, and heart disease needs heart medicine to cure it."

Fu Mengli frowned and lowered her eyes pitifully.

"It's not a big deal, it's just...I miss my family.

My mother passed away early, and when I was young I often lived in my uncle's house, where I was taken care of and raised by my aunt. I miss my aunt very much.

Recently, I heard that something happened in my uncle's family, and I couldn't help but feel at a loss.

I heard that my uncle's eldest cousin committed a crime and was sent to jail, and he also implicated my uncle and was stripped of his title.

Although I have become a concubine, it is still difficult for me to see my aunt, who is no longer a noblewoman, and I feel very depressed. "

In the past, during the holidays, when her aunt came to the palace to pay her respects, she would often tell her that once she became a concubine, she could summon her aunt to the palace to talk often.

Now she is a virtuous concubine, but her aunt has lost her status as a lady of noble birth and has become a commoner.

How about the position of concubine? Even the imperial concubine was helpless. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was just around the corner, but she could only get her wish by begging the queen.

"This is the first time that Concubine Xian has come to me for help. How can I let you down?"

Entering the palace to pay homage, being a commoner is no big deal, but being the mother of a guilty minister... well, there is still at least some time before being convicted, so there is still room.

Shen Ningyue thought for a moment and then agreed.

As the concubines were talking, the twelfth prince Qin Mingfan woke up, yawned, and sat quietly in the palace maid's arms. He rubbed his eyes. His pair of eyes, like black grapes, looked left and right boredly.

When Shi Qingzhang saw this, he opened his arms towards the twelfth prince and held him in his arms.

Shen Ningyue smiled and said, "Is our Twelfth Prince awake? It's a pity that Little Ten and Little Eleven are too lazy to sleep until the end of the morning hour, so they can't play with Little Twelve."

"I have met the Queen Mother. May you be well and safe."

"Mother, all the ladies, good morning."

The twelfth prince Qin Mingfan struggled to get down from the ground and first greeted Shen Ningyue, then Shi Qingzhang and other concubines.

Shen Ningyue smiled and waved at him.

"Little Twelve is so well behaved. In two years, our Little Twelve will also go to school. Looking at the two pregnant sisters, does Sister Qingzhang want to have another child?

There are also Concubine Yi, Concubine Hui, Concubine Zhen, and Concubine Min. The Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Princes have all gone to school. Concubine Shu and Concubine Yu have not given birth yet."

She hasn't wanted to get pregnant and have a child in the past few years. If all the concubines in the palace were pregnant at this time, what a grand scene it would be... A thought flashed through Shen Ningyue's mind.