“His Majesty will surely understand Your Majesty’s sincere intentions.”
Zhulan whispered softly.
The Empress Dowager sighed slowly.
“This old one is aging, and now the only thing I cannot let go of is the Emperor.”
“If the Emperor could have his own heir, then even if it meant this old one going to meet the late Emperor immediately, I would gladly accept it.”
Zhulan comforted the Empress Dowager, “His Majesty is blessed by heaven, Your Majesty and His Majesty will surely have your wish fulfilled.”
The Empress Dowager glanced at her, “I hope so.”
“Over these years, this old one does not know how many methods I have tried, nor how many days and nights I have bitterly prayed before the Buddha.”
She looked at Zhulan and changed the subject, “But this old one has a premonition that this time, we will surely succeed.”
“The abbot of Hanshan Temple said that the Heaven’s Mandate Maiden is within Hanshan Temple.”
“It is hateful that those court officials, knowing full well that this old one and the Emperor are quietly cultivating in the temple, have all stopped coming! Hmph! Isn’t it just because they fear this old one will select their daughters?”
Aunt Zhulan sighed inwardly.
The Empress Dowager and His Majesty share a deep mother-son bond, and has she not also accompanied both masters from humble beginnings all the way to the present?
When the Empress Dowager was young, she was not a high-ranking imperial concubine, nor was she favored; she was merely a lowly Fei.
It was just that she was extremely fortunate, receiving only one night of favor from the late Emperor and becoming pregnant with the Emperor.
The late Emperor had two Empresses, as well as several high-ranking imperial concubines, and countless other young palace ladies like the Empress Dowager, resulting in many descendants and particularly brutal struggles for the throne.
There were three legitimate sons alone.
At that time, the Empress Dowager only wanted to protect herself and her son wisely.
But being in the rear palace, one cannot always act as one wishes.
Even if she and her son did not contend, no one would believe it.
It was then that His Majesty suffered a covert scheme.
He was poisoned with a “strange toxin,” said not to impair male dignity but to affect offspring.
The Empress Dowager was furious. After failing to obtain the antidote, she personally had that concubine who administered the poison skinned, dismembered, and her bones ground to dust!
His Majesty ascended the throne at seventeen. In the third year of his reign, the then Talent Chen, now Consort Chen, became pregnant.
At that time, both she and the Empress Dowager thought that the so-called “heir-ending strange toxin” was nothing more than that—it must have been that vile woman exaggerating or being deceived.
His Majesty would surely have many descendants.
Who would have thought that now, with His Majesty having been on the throne for twenty years, there is still only Princess Chaoyang, this one daughter.
Only then did they realize that Princess Chaoyang was the exception, and that strange toxin had truly taken effect.
Zhulan knew how arduously His Majesty and the Empress Dowager climbed to their current high positions.
But without an heir, if the throne were to benefit outsiders in the future, wouldn’t it all be for naught, preparing the bridal chamber for others?
Not to mention the Empress Dowager and her son, even Zhulan felt stifled just thinking about it.
With the Emperor heirless, it was understandable that court officials, thinking of their own daughters, were unwilling to send them into the palace.
“It is their daughters who lack the fortune to bear a young prince for His Majesty.”
Zhulan said sincerely.
Hearing this, the Empress Dowager was indeed pleased.
“Zhulan deeply understands this old one’s heart.”
She originally thought that since the abbot said the Heaven’s Mandate Maiden was within Hanshan Temple,
if the Emperor encountered the daughter of some official, they could grandly welcome her into the palace.
If she could successfully give birth to a prince, even if her status were somewhat low, she could rely on her son to gain honor and be established as Empress.
Who knew they would be so ungrateful!
The Empress Dowager had no choice but to select an unmarried woman of proper character and appearance, from a clean family background, within a ten-mile radius of Hanshan Temple.
This woman’s mother was fertile, so presumably she would not be lacking either.
However, to ensure no mishaps occurred, the Empress Dowager immediately decided to have the emperor and that woman consummate their union in the temple’s side chamber.
The emperor was no longer the youth once sheltered under the Empress Dowager’s wing. He was now a man of great talent and vision, deep in thought and strong-willed.
Thus, the Empress Dowager administered an aphrodisiac to him and the woman.
“I believe that if the Heaven’s Mandate Maiden and the emperor unite under the Buddha’s protection, it will surely help us achieve our wishes!”
Zhulan said, “Your Highness is benevolent; the Buddha will surely understand.”
As she spoke, her expression grew hesitant.
Having served the Empress Dowager for decades, Zhulan was well understood by her.
“Speak your mind.”
Zhulan paused before saying, “His Majesty and that woman have already been inside for over an hour…”
“His Majesty is vigorous, and the woman is experiencing this for the first time. I fear she may not be able to endure it…”
The Empress Dowager fell silent for a moment. “Have Fuquan keep watch with some men to prevent any accidents.”
Zhulan lowered her gaze and bowed. “Yes.”
…
To ensure the act appeared convincing, Zhou Mingyi exchanged a Lust-Inducing Pill from the System’s store.
This pill was remarkably potent, not only stirring desire but also causing Zhou Mingyi to emit an irresistible, warm fragrance when aroused.
Even so, Zhou Mingyi still felt weak in the waist and knees.
Wasn’t it said that the emperor was thirty-seven this year?
Why did he feel even stronger than the twenty-four-year-old Crown Prince from her previous life?
Zhou Mingyi sat atop Emperor Qianwu, her jade-like arms draped around his neck, her delicate, boneless body trembling like a leaf with nowhere to cling.
Emperor Qianwu’s hands gripped her slender waist tightly, the force leaving shocking, ambiguous red marks on her snow-white, slender form…
Outside the side chamber, Fuquan waited anxiously.
His Majesty was vigorous, and few of the palace consorts could endure him, often fainting within half an hour at most.
But now… they had been at it for nearly two hours inside!
Although… if something happened to the woman and ruined His Majesty’s mood, it would be the servants who suffered.
Just then, Aunt Zhulan from the Empress Dowager’s side arrived.
Fuquan immediately poured out his troubles to her.
“It’s been almost two hours! His Majesty and that young lady… no, Her Ladyship still haven’t come out. Auntie, what should we do?”
Fuquan was Emperor Qianwu’s most trusted eunuch attendant, deeply favored by the emperor, and naturally understood His Majesty’s thoughts.
Even though the Empress Dowager had a hand in this, the emperor was a man of deep thoughts and immense self-control.
This indulgence precisely proved his great fondness for the woman.
That young lady… had an extraordinary fate and was destined to enter the palace as a consort or Fei.
Aunt Zhulan leaned closer slightly and heard the woman’s sweet, melodious voice in the throes of passion, like a nightingale emerging from a valley, occasionally mingled with the emperor’s husky, impassioned groans…
For a moment, she was at a loss for how to respond.
Just then, an imperial guard actually brought forward a captured woman.
The woman’s mouth was gagged, her expression terrified.
Having served the Empress Dowager for many years, Aunt Zhulan had cultivated a calm demeanor that remained unshaken even in the face of disaster. Yet, upon seeing the woman, her expression suddenly changed.
“You…”
“How are you here?”
Hearing this, Fuquan also sensed something amiss.
But Aunt Zhulan hurriedly took the woman to the Empress Dowager.
Upon seeing the Empress Dowager, the young, delicate-looking woman turned deathly pale.
With a thud, she knelt down. “Noble One, spare my life!”
“The commoner woman has a beloved, she is not without a match; it was her parents who, behind her back, arranged for her…”
“Spare my life, noble one!”
The Empress Dowager’s prayer beads suddenly tightened in her hand.
Frowning, she looked at Zhulan, “What is going on?”
Aunt Zhulan recounted how she had been ordered to deliver a message, but unexpectedly saw the Emperor’s personal guards apprehending this woman.
The Empress Dowager’s expression changed.
The woman she had arranged had secretly tried to escape and was caught by the guards, “Then who is the one in the side chamber with the Emperor?”
Beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on Aunt Zhulan’s forehead.
“This… when this servant arrived, His Majesty was in high spirits, that young lady…”