Fierce Consort

Chapter 124

Luo Huai Yuan sighed and meticulously told Yan Yan.

It turned out that someone called Attendant Li had given birth to the fifth prince Luo Jing in secret back then.

This matter involved the struggles between Empress Xiao and Senior Concubine Xu.

When Senior Concubine Xu entered the palace initially, she revealed an outstanding strength and was promoted from the lowest level of attendant to an imperial concubine. Towards this sort of threat, Empress Xiao naturally wouldn't let her continue developing.

One was the mistress of the six palaces and the other was a concubine favored by the emperor. They were evenly matched as they fought.

As the saying goes, the fish in the pool suffer calamity when the city gates burn. The other concubines in the palace were all fish that suffered calamity.

Empress Xiao appeared magnanimous on the surface but her methods were sinister and vicious.
The concubines couldn't tell on the surface initially, but over time none of them remained fools. Emperor Xi had never had many children ever since he married as the crown prince all the way until he ascended the throne.

Before Senior Concubine Xu gave birth to the second prince, she had been pregnant another time. However, she had miscarried due to the empress's moves. Ever since then, Senior Concubine Xu's personality changed drastically, and started struggling fiercely with the empress.

The rear palace's situation started tensing up. Those with some means all started choosing sides. The empress held the dominant position and naturally had many people she could use. However, Senior Concubine Xu was extremely favored by Emperor Xi so she also had some backing. The rear palace gradually split into two sides, but there was a small group of people who weren't wanted by either side.
Attendant Li was one of those people.

Due to a coincidental encounter, Attendant Li was graced and got pregnant.

At that time, the rear palace's situation was extremely tense.

Emperor Xi had just ascended the throne not too long ago and wasn't sitting stably. There were two vassal princes of the previous dynasty who hopped around in the capital colluding with officials. In the rear, there was the empress dowager causing mischief. The rear palace was in turmoil and there were always concubines who miscarried for no reason or had their babies die after a difficult birth. Over several years, apart from Senior Concubine Xu and the empress, no one had successfully given birth.

Attendant Li was timid and always afraid of being harmed by others. Miscarriage was one thing, but she was afraid she would lose her life as well. After thinking it over, she ended up making a preposterous decision. She decided to hide her pregnancy and find the right opportunity to announce it later.

Anyone else wouldn't have been able to do so. However, Attendant Li lived in a remote location. Because she was timid, she didn't like interacting with others and didn't have many friends in the palace. She was also a lowly attendant who barely saw the emperor once a year. Within the large rear palace, she wasn't even worth as much as one of the more reputable servants.

The fifth prince was born under such circumstances. Attendant Li naturally suffered quite a bit during this time.

In theory, after the child was born the matter could be made public. But Senior Concubine Xu and the empress's struggle had reached a new boiling point at that time. Senior Concubine Xu had once again miscarried after giving birth to the second prince. The empress's newly born third prince also died prematurely when he was two. Attendant Li became even less willing to say anything.

This concealment lasted for almost six years.

During these years, the rear palace started stabilizing. The empress dowager passed away and Emperor Xi also dealt with all the matters of the previous dynasty. It would be a bit out of line if the rear palace continued to be chaotic after this celebration of peace. Empress Xiao and Senior Concubine Xu also understood neither could do anything about the other and gradually became harmonious on the surface despite disagreeing in their hearts.