Chapter 48: The Empress Is Pregnant (6)
Translator: Sissy That Walk
Dumbfounded, the smile on Qi Sheng’s face froze. After a long while, he replied in a cold voice, “The spicy!”

I was also struck dumb and felt disappointed.

However, seeing that upset look on Qi Sheng’s face, I decided that I should console him a bit, “Judging the gender of an unborn baby based on the mother’s food preference is purely nonsense. When my mother was carrying me, she was particularly into spicy food. People said I must be a girl. Now look what happened? I am…” I suddenly realized something and made a sudden turn in my tone, “no doubt a girl indeed!”

Qi Sheng’s face remained emotionless, not knowing where I was heading with that remark, “So, what are you getting at? Is it a nonsense or not?”

Having placed myself between a rock and a hard place, I asked tentatively, “What do you think?”

Immediately I saw the vein on Qi Sheng’s forehead beating.

I gave it a thought and said, “Your…”

Lv Li thrusted a plate of fruits into my arms, and kept persuading me, “Your Majesty, have a taste, you have been longing for this, right?”

I turned to look at her, “Lv Li, I…”

Lv Li quickly shoveled a handful of dried fruit into my mouth and smiled, “I know You Majesty loves sour food.”

At first, I could feel the sourness seething on my tongue, and then the saliva began filling up my mouth. Soon afterwards, the sourness had spread to my cheek as I puckered up my lips and exclaimed, “What on earth is this? Why is it so sour?!”

“It’s dried Plum. Your favorite,” replied Lv Li, all the while winking at me.

It took me a while to realize her intention. It was because Qi Sheng was sitting opposite me.

Qi Sheng got up and walked up to me, stretching two fingers to pick up one dried plum for observation. He then asked with a solemn face, “Does it really taste that good?”

With one hand holding up one side of my cheek, I winced, “Yeah… really good!”

Qi Sheng cast a glance at my belly and then back to my face, and he smiled.

As if being considerate, I added, “How about you send some for Jiang shi?”

The smile on Qi Sheng’s face froze and he simply replied with a snort, “That’s very kind of you, but no.”

With that, he simply turned around and left.

I was rendered speechless and asked Lv Li with one of my fingers pointing at the entrance of the palace, “Eh? I have never known a man as fickle as he is.”

Lv Li, however, was apparently still in shock and it took her a while to come back to herself. She turned around and pleaded to me with both her hands clasping together, “Your Majesty, His Majesty was fuming with rage all because of your reply. I beg of you. Stop doing that!”

I sneered and threw away the fruit plate in my arms to the table, “Stop messing around, better find a way to help me get rid of this fake meat in my belly. I don’t want a fake belly by the time I am supposed to be showing!”

Hearing that, Lv Li fell silent for a while and replied, “Your Majesty, my hands are tied. We would have to consult Madame Zhang.”

I nodded, “Well, consult her at once. Time is ticking out.”

I only wanted her to ask Madame Zhang. Little did I know that Lv Li went so far as to invite Madame Zhang over here in the palace two days after.

I didn’t see this coming, but it was all I could do to meet her now that she was already here.

After I dismissed the nearby maids, Madame Zhang opened her mouth, “Girl, earlier, after seeing what you did, I really thought you’ve grown up. Guess I am wrong about you after all. You are more stupid than you let on!”

I was very much surprised by her words, but I must admit that the way she went about making those sarcastic remarks was quite humorous.

After the not-so-pleasant opening remarks, Madame Zhang let out a long sigh and said, “Do you really think you can be on good terms with that Jiang shi? If she were to give birth to a prince, the next thing she would do will be to remove you from your current position as the Empress.”

Pondering over her words, I decided that there was something that I simply couldn’t share with everyone. However, one couldn’t very well hide things from the revered figure of the Zhang clan forever. So, I stared at the eyes of Madame Zhang and said, “Grandmother, if Jiang shi could really give me a son, then it matters not at all whether I am the Empress or not.”

Madame Zhang was obviously surprised by my reply as she twitched her near non-existent eyebrows.

I gritted my teeth and bluntly explained, “Grandmother, our powerful clan has been the target of various enemies already. Withme being the Empress, the emperor always keeps on guard against usurpation. Our clan is at the risk of being rooted out. However, if our family were to become the maternal relatives of the new emperor, then…”

After much deliberation, Madame Zhang raise her head up and asked, “Girl, are you really over the earthly love and romance?”

Reluctantly, I nodded in agreement. Ever since I got pushed down here, I have lost the control over my life.

Madame Zhang continued, “What about Chu wang?”

I replied in a low voice, “We’ve agreed to join hands in assisting the new Emperor. Therefore, no matter how hard Qi Sheng tries to flatter me or make promises, father should just ignore him. A war with Chu wang would only benefit Qi Sheng. All we need to do is wait.

Madame Zhang hesitated for a while before nodding in agreement.

Upon seeing her approval, I felt a huge relief.

After seeing her off, I felt this strong sense of happiness and had been living in a state of bliss for quite a few days, all the while waiting for Lv Li to arrange an appropriate date to relieve me of the burden of pretending to be pregnant.

But before Lv Li could set things up, something unexpected came up over at the Youlan Hall.

As if being chased by some hooligans, Lv Li scurried into the palace, looking scared.

Back then, I was in the middle of enjoying my delicious snack. Seeing her barging in like that, I pointed my finger at her and scolded, “Manners, where are your manners?”

But those words seemingly had fallen at deaf ears as Lv Li strode up to my side with just a few steps and whispered to my ear, “Your Majesty, bad news! The Empress Dowager knew about the affair at the Youlan Hall and she is infuriated. Now she has sent the old maids over with the medicine!”

I was struck dumb by this and it took me a while to ask, “Is Jiang shi sick again?”

Feeling deeply worried about the situation, Lv Li yelled out, “Not that kind of the medicine! For the abortion!”

I sprang up to my feet as soon as I heard the word “abortion”. “Should have told me earlier.”

I immediately dragged Lv Li with me and headed out in big strides.

Lv Li followed closely and called out from behind, “Your Majesty! Manners!”

I started walking as fast as I could and the big strides now turned into running. My hope of becoming the Empress Dowager was at jeopardy. Who cared about the stupid manners?!

By the time we reached the Youlan Hall, the deed had already been done.

The hall was empty. The old maids sent by the Empress Dowager seemed to have left the hall, leaving Jiang shi alone, sitting quietly in front of a chess board.

I swept a glance at an emptied bowl next to the chess board and anxiously asked, “Did you drink that?”

Jiang shi simply held up her head and stared at me without a word.

I was still gasping after all the running and plopped myself down in front of the chess board, “Why didn’t you hold out for a bit longer? Qi Sheng would have come to help you!”

Upon hearing that, Jiang shi smiled, “If I hadn’t drunk that thing, you would have been disappointed.”

I was not comfortable with her tone and simply sat there relaxing myself.

Jiang shi kept playing the chess and added, “You don’t have to run all this way here. It doesn’t matter whether I drink that thing or not.”

I was befuddled by her words and turned around to stare at her.

Jiang shi crooked up her lips and developed a sneer on her face. She kept looking at me and replied slowly, “Because I was never pregnant. It is all a part of the Emperor’s plan.” She then picked up a piece and placed it on the board, making a loud noise. She then continued with a smile on her face, “It’s just a move to agitate your clan.”

I stared at her in disbelief, “Our clan? Isn’t it your clan too? How could you be so ungrateful and bite the hand that feeds you for years?

Those words brought a stiffness to her otherwise gleeful face.

I smirked and stood up with a wave of my sleeve. I took a few steps and halted in front of her, “And there I was, feeling pity for your bleak life and wanting to help you live with the one you love. Now it seems my sympathy is totally unwarranted.”

As soon as I got out of the Youlan hall, Lv Li caught up to me and asked while panting, “You Majesty. How come you could run so fast? What now? Have you got there in time?”

Feeling a vague pain right under my ribs, I yelled out, “In time my ass! That Jiang shi was never pregnant. We are played by Qi Sheng!”

Lv Li was apparently shocked by my sudden outburst and it took her a while to follow up with a reply, “You Majesty… I have never seen you swear before!”

I was rendered speechless by her lack of focus and all I wanted to do at that moment was to hold her head and shook some wisdom into her. She was missing the point!

However, I was in no mood to deal with her stupidity and simply walked past her. No sooner had I stepped out the palace than I bumped into Qi Sheng. Caught off guard, I walked directly into his arms. Luckily, Qi Sheng was quick in dodging me and with a stretch of his arm he held me up.

I felt relieved, but Qi Sheng was looking worried. He asked, “Are you alright?”

Truth be told, I was rather impressed by his mastery performance. How could he have acted so natural when he knew full well that I was not pregnant? Nonetheless, I didn’t dwell on it and simply replied, “I am alright. Your Majesty should check on Jiang shi. She is obvious in shock and even began talking nonsense.”

Qi Sheng frowned at my words, but I didn’t want to continue this conversation and simply pushed him away and left.

After we got back to our place, Lv Li looked at me with a worrying face, “Your Majesty, what to do?”

I thought for a while and replied, “Don’t they want it to be just the two of them? Well, I shall have them surrounded by people. Let’s have a royal pageant and choose some more beauties for Qi Sheng. I don’t believe Qi Sheng can really resist the temptation of all those pretty women.”

Lv Li was struck dumb by my sudden proclamation and asked with a confused face, “Your Majesty, what’s got into you? You can’t hold a royal pageant. Only the Emperor can.”