Shi Zhenxiang saw him staring at her and thought he had been caught watching the commotion, so she quickly lowered her head, pretending she hadn’t seen anything.
In Sheng Jinyan’s eyes, however, this action was misinterpreted as her being so worried she was about to cry, and she had hurriedly lowered her head for fear that he would notice and become concerned.
Sigh, this woman.
She truly was deeply devoted to him.
Forget it.
He let out a sigh, and for the first time, compromised with the Empress Dowager. “Fine, but this is a one-time exception.”
After speaking, he turned and left.
The Empress Dowager looked stunned.
She hadn’t expected this stubborn boy to make an exception just once. It seemed her son did dote on her after all.
Knowing that she was toiling for his sake, they were still mother and son at heart, so he could make an exception for her.
The Empress Dowager’s mood lifted immediately.
Her furious expression from moments ago softened at once, and she even treated Shi Zhenxiang with a bit more kindness.
“Go and make yourself presentable. Strive to conceive tonight.”
Shi Zhenxiang…
Did she think she was an old hen that could lay an egg on command?
Back when she first transmigrated, she had to bear one or two children to protect herself.
Later, she continued giving birth because abortion techniques here were backward and she didn’t want to die too quickly. Plus, having more children did solidify her status, so she kept on.
As for contraceptives, taking them was utterly useless.
She was truly a woman destined to bear daughters.
Fortunately, during this visit to her maternal family, she specifically had someone find a top gynecologist to give her a few acupuncture treatments, ensuring she wouldn’t conceive for several years.
Once she was older, not being able to conceive would be a relief.
To strengthen the insurance, she also took contraceptive pills.
With double insurance, she should be safe from pregnancy.
But outwardly, she had to claim she was taking fertility medication, after all, no one would suspect a woman who had given birth to five daughters of not wanting to try for a son.
Even Sheng Jinyan thought all those soups and medicines she took were certainly for boosting fertility.
That evening, the two of them were under the same roof for once, and there was still a bit of awkwardness.
After all, it had been a month since they last shared a roof.
And now that the palace maids had all left, the atmosphere in the bedchamber suddenly became more intimate.
The Empress Dowager even instructed someone to light incense to set the mood.
Shi Zhenxiang…
She felt the Empress Dowager’s urgency for a prince was even greater than Sheng Jinyan’s.
After all, she had never seen Sheng Jinyan so anxious about not having a prince that he couldn’t eat or sleep.
On the contrary, his complexion was ruddy, and he didn’t seem irritable about not having a son. Instead, he was as calm as ever.
Shi Zhenxiang was quite curious about his thoughts, so she couldn’t help asking, “Your Majesty, what if I can’t conceive a prince?”
Hearing her worrying for him again, Sheng Jinyan waved his hand dismissively. “No matter. Fate will arrange everything as it should.”
Although Old Zhengzi said that not bearing a son was the woman’s problem, he believed some things in life were predestined.
For instance, he could only have children with Shi Zhenxiang, and only daughters at that. Not a single imperial concubine had borne him a child. This meant Heaven only allowed him to have children with Shi Zhenxiang.
As for sons or daughters, he had also come to terms with it.
If they came, fine. If not, there was no help for it.
Let everything take its natural course.
Shi Zhenxiang hadn’t expected him to be so open-minded.
After all, he seemed quite old-fashioned, and his speech and actions were very rigid, not the type of person with progressive ideas.
But after spending time with him, she felt he wasn’t so feudal after all.
Over the years, the court officials had put a lot of pressure on him to father a son. At first, he was a bit worried, but later he seemed to gradually let it go.
He was also very good to her princesses.
Now hearing him say “no matter,” she was relieved she didn’t have to bear another child.
So she stood up and asked, “So tonight, are we still going to… you know?”
To be honest, from initially looking forward to sharing the bridal chamber with a handsome emperor to later discovering his poor skills, Shi Zhenxiang no longer wanted to sleep with him.
Asking now was purely to get him to leave.
But Sheng Jinyan mistakenly thought she was very eager to sleep with him, and for once, he hesitated.
Normally, the day for them to share the same bed would have been a year later.
Today was far too early.
Logically, he should have directly refused.
But he had already agreed to the Empress Dowager this morning.
On top of that, this woman seemed very expectant.
This put him in a difficult position.
He didn’t like breaking the plans he had set, but he also feared this woman would secretly cry.
After thinking it over, he finally asked, “Do you really want to?”
Shi Zhenxiang…
No, she didn’t want to at all.
But she couldn’t show it on her face; she had to say something nice.
“Your Majesty, I don’t wish to make things difficult for you. How about we just sleep tonight, no intimacy?”
“That way, we won’t break your rules, nor will we upset the Empress Dowager.”
“As long as you are happy, it’s no big deal for me to swallow a little grievance.”
Seeing her again sacrificing herself and considering his feelings, Sheng Jinyan almost softened.
He was about to make an exception when Shi Zhenxiang suddenly stood up and swore to him, “Your Majesty, I swear to heaven that tonight, I absolutely, absolutely will not touch you.”
“I will restrain myself!!”
Sheng Jinyan…
Was his charm really that great to her?
So great that she had to make a solemn vow to keep herself from touching him?
Sigh.
This damned charm of his.
Sheng Jinyan’s mood inexplicably became wonderful, and his chin lifted involuntarily.
He inwardly thought this damned charm drove these women wild for him.
“Fine, I’ll go along with you.”
With that, he went to the desk and began writing, even humming a few off-key tunes.
“This damned charm of mine~”
“Everyone in the world loves me~”
Shi Zhenxiang…
She felt she still didn’t understand Sheng Jinyan well enough.
This guy—he seemed very narcissistic, didn’t he?
And was he really that happy that she swore not to touch him?
Could it be that he also thought her skills were poor?
So as soon as he heard he didn’t have to sleep with her, he was happy enough to hum?
Shi Zhenxiang was frustrated.
She hadn’t expected men to demand that women have good skills too.
They didn’t have to bear children, so shouldn’t it be up to them to practice their technique?
Damn it.
Shi Zhenxiang went to bed fuming.
The next day, before dawn, Sheng Jinyan went to hold the morning court session.
Lately, heavy rainstorms seemed to be frequent in the south, with a latent threat of flooding.
Local officials had submitted reports in advance, asking for Sheng Jinyan’s opinion.
After all, if a real flood came, a local official couldn’t control it alone and would need support from the imperial court.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Jinyan sent people to inspect in person.
If the rain seemed dangerous, they were to immediately evacuate the local villagers.
Also, dig channels to divert the water.
It just so happened that the north was suffering from drought and lacked water.
Hearing about these successive natural disasters, Sheng Jinyan frowned deeply.
Now that the border passes were finally at peace, natural disasters had arrived.
He always felt that being this emperor was quite tiring.
At least the former emperor had enjoyed nearly twenty years of comfort, but when it came to him, the war had stopped halfway, but the national treasury was also empty.
The common people earned little, so naturally taxes couldn’t be collected; the imperial court had no money, so the palace had to tighten its belt.
It had been no easy task to encourage officials to open shops and pay taxes, and to encourage farmers to cultivate more grain, and the economy had started to improve—only for floods and droughts to arrive.
Sheng Jinyan quietly let out a sniff.
But he still forced composure. “Send a rider with all haste to inspect the flood situation, and take more people along.”
“Plan the route and dig channels as early as possible, lest mountain torrents submerge the villages.”
“Yes.”
An official accepted the order and left.
Then the Imperial Observatory also came to report, saying that the celestial phenomena were unusual, hinting at a forthcoming calamity.
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