The Job Of An Imperial Concubine

110

Come night, after Zhuang Laoyan and Feng Jin finished their evening meal, they went to bed. Since she was currently pregnant, he did not have thoughts of doing anything else. That said, wrapped in night's cold blankets, he found lying next to a woman who allowed him to sleep peacefully a comfortable affair.

In the middle of the night, when he was about to fall asleep, halfway between wakefulness and the land of dreams, Feng Jin suddenly heard Zhuang Laoyan cry out softly. He opened his eyes. Heard her draw in a breath. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Did this concubine wake your honored self up?" Zhuang Laoyan sucked in another breath. "My leg is cramping up a little. It'll be fine in a moment, so Your Majesty should go back to sleep."

At those words, Feng Jin sat up. Reached out to hold her little calf. When he detected an abnormal protrusion and depression, he massaged it lightly. "Try to endure it. After it's massaged for a while, it will feel better." The little leg felt smooth and tender. But he did not have any amorous intentions. As he looked at her expression, one of desperately attempting to suppress the pain, he said in a gentle voice, "This child is too naughty. This shows that he is intelligent."

"What does a child like him know?" blurted Zhuang Laoyan. He was merely deficient in calcium. Since the other party didn't know what that was, she was tactful and did not mention it.

Seeing Zhuang Laoyan perk up after their child was mentioned, Feng Jin smiled in a helpless manner. He put down her little leg, which no longer hurt. Lay down and pulled her into his arms. "It seems that in the future, We cannot say anything bad about him. Otherwise you would definitely come up with a pile of reasons refuting it."

"That-that's not it. You're this child's father. It's the so-called 'strict father and warm mother.' You're in charge of being strict with our child, and this concubine is in charge of treating our child gently."

"Would our child fear Us in the future?" said Feng Jin, recalling the empress dowager all of a sudden. She had always been strict with him, as though the most important thing to her was for him to become the crown prince and ascend the throne.

They had long since lost the emotions and bond shared by a mother and her son. His imperial mother wanted to protect the Ye family, whereas he wanted to be an emperor who could make his own decisions. As such, they always had conflicting views.

With a mother like Zhuang Laoyan, who protected her child, their child was more fortunate than he had been.

"That won't happen. If you treat someone with sincerity, they would notice it unless they are a fool." She yawned. "This concubine trusts that we'll teach our child properly."

"Sleep." Feng Jin patted her back. Her use of the word "our" comforted him.

Early the next morning, Feng Jin hurried to attend morning court. However, he did not mention the Su family at all. The court officials were smart enough not to bring up this topic, a case which had long since been settled. Even though news of Noble Consort Shu's suicide attempt had spread, the officials wouldn't be so foolish to mention this either.

The past few years, the emperor had grown ever more imposing. It was to the point that they dared not anger him. All they could do was perform their duties in a well-behaved manner and not provoke the emperor's rage.

Court concluded. When Feng Jin had just arrived at Qianzheng Palace, the empress arrived as well. He shifted his gaze to the empress who donned a gown with phoenix patterns. "Why have you come, Empress?"

She looked at the emperor who wore a calm expression. At that moment, she wondered when he had stopped calling her "Caifu" and switched to calling her "Empress." She forced her expression to normalcy. "Your Majesty, Noble Consort Shu has awoken. However, she doesn't appear too well."