At the beginning of March, the imperial concubine Mu was about to give birth. Zhu Gaoxu returned to the harem and stayed in the East First Palace; However, as a rule of thumb, men are not allowed to enter the delivery room, otherwise it is unlucky for pregnant women. He could only listen to movement outside.

The palace of the imperial concubine first summoned many female officials and palace maids, as well as a few midwives. Unexpectedly, from day to midnight, Mu Zhen still did not give birth to a child. Zhu Gaoxu ordered the medical officer of the Tai Hospital to enter the palace overnight and stand by.

Later, the virtuous concubine Pu from the Xian Kingdom came to the Dongyi Palace, and Shangsheng said that the Park family originally wanted her to enter the palace of the Xian King, so they taught medicine since she was a child, and she could help. Zhu Gaoxu then allowed her to enter the delivery room.

He did not sleep all night in the East First Palace, and kept watch until dawn. It wasn't until the next morning that the people in the delivery room finally reported that the imperial concubine had given birth to a prince.

Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He waited a while before entering the delivery room. The palace maid brought the child in her arms, and looked carefully at the child who was crying with her eyes closed, and suddenly had an indescribable sense of closeness.

He turned his head and said the name he had already thought of to Mu Zhen: "His name is Zhan Qi, what does Zhen'er think?" ”

Mu Zhen lay on the bed and nodded weakly.

According to the rules set by Taizu for his descendants, the heirs of Zhan Yan and Zhan Qi must use the name next to the soil. There are so many descendants of the clan that it is not easy to find a suitable name. And this word "Qi" has the meaning of marginal boundaries, which is very much in line with Zhu Gaoxu's mind.

He had some comforting words for Mu Zhen, and sent a eunuch to the Qianguo Mansion to inform the imperial concubine of giving birth to a prince.

…… The imperial concubine gave birth to the prince, which was a major event in the palace, and it spread almost throughout the palace on the same day. In view of the succession to the throne of the two generations of emperors Taizu and Taizong, even the ministers of the court and the central government are also very concerned.

There is a person Guo Yan who is almost forgotten by people, and when she heard the news, she also had mixed feelings. Guo Yan can already guess the pressure of her sister and the entire Guo family. The emperor's concubines were in groups, usually more than one prince, and it was common to have a second son; But it was the prince born to the daughter of the Mu family, which is different.

This means that the people of the Guo family are even more reluctant for Guo Yan to continue to be in the palace and block the queen.

Guo Yan has had a bad time in the past month.

As the queen's sister, she will not lack food and clothing in the palace, and no one dares to embarrass her; When the weather is good, she can still go to the Imperial Garden during the day, and the days are not difficult. Guo Yan had a relatively poor life when she was in her parents' house, so she will not feel that her living is poor with her current brocade clothes and food. The most torturous thing is probably the state of mind.

Worries about the future kept her awake for many nights.

When I was young, I went to live in the Fengyang Imperial City, with no family, no children, no relatives and friends, and no hope, and most of the people living there were old palace maids and eunuchs. Thinking of such a boring and long second half of her life, Guo Yan shuddered.

She will be disturbed by the restlessness in her heart, and the palace maids who serve her. The palace maids were afraid of the queen's status and power, and they didn't dare to confront her face, but they said bad things about Guo Yan behind her back. The people in this courtyard had a bad relationship at one time.

Sometimes she is sad and depressed, thinking of the time when Zhu Gaochi was in power, the very fat prince and emperor, who once disappointed Guo Yan; But now that I think about it, Gao Chi's life was quite good, at least it wouldn't leave Guo Yan completely helpless.

Sometimes her heart is full of anger and anger.

The death of her son Zhan Kai not only made her full of resentment towards Ma Enhui's party and other suspicious people, but also made her resentful of this world! Because Guo Yan gradually understood that the collapse of the Hongxi court was the root of everything. She is just going with the flow in the face of the great wave of the world.

The despair in front of her made her hate her mother's family. Because of her status as a concubine, she remembered the injustice she suffered at home since she was a child; Because she is the wife of the "waste prince", she is now disliked and abandoned by them. In the long cold night, she endured the injustice in her heart.

Guo Yan has nothing to do, and the most important thing now is to think hard and how to change the fate that is gradually doomed.

Her only subtle chance comes from the current emperor Zhu Gaoxu; Before that, when she made that request to her sister, she already understood this truth. Now only Zhu Gaoxu, who is sitting on the throne, is the one who decides everything!

But what to do, she didn't plan properly. From last month to now, Guo Yan has been thinking about this day and night.

Guo Yan thought about it and thought very carefully. She tried her best to ponder Zhu Gaoxu, hoping to find some kind of weakness in him. is like her sister Guo Wei, her weakness is that she has a lingering sense of guilt towards Guo Yan, so she will agree to let Guo Yan face the saint, such a request is unreasonable.

Judging from what Zhu Gaoxu has done, he seems to have a very paranoid desire, that is, the more women he shouldn't touch, the more he wants to touch, the more things he shouldn't do, the more he wants to do. He seemed to be venting something, rebelling against something, causing a seemingly distorted mind. Maybe he was born as the second son of the first emperor and a prince who can fight well, but he faced too much pressure before?

Guo Yan didn't have much contact with Zhu Gaoxu, so she didn't know the reason. She only speculated from the women who were canonized by Zhu Gaoxu. Like Miaojin, Guo Yan also called her aunt before; There are also nuns, courtesans in Qinglou (Fuller), and even Ma Enhui, who may have had an unusual relationship with him. In addition to the wife designated by the father and queen mother, as well as the marriage of the Mu family, how many of Zhu Gaoxu's concubines are normal?

Guo Yan can't help but have a fantasy that her own identity is also very special. If it is really useful, Guo Yan is willing to compromise with the situation in the here and now.

But Guo Yan thought about it more carefully, and felt that it was too late. If it had been a little earlier, it might have been possible to slowly pave this retreat before. But if you do it now, I'm afraid you will only bring shame on yourself!

Because Zhu Gaoxu is very likely to feel that Guo Yan is teasing him for doing immoral things; He will have a bad mood of being despised and devalued. So after thinking about it, Guo Yan felt that this method would backfire.

When she was full of anger, thinking hard about good plans and desperate and helpless, a crazy thought came to her once. If Zhu Gaoxu didn't pity her, she would think of hiding a sharp weapon and attack Zhu Gaoxu when she was facing the saint!

Zhu Gaoxu's body is strong, and Guo Yan's strength is weak, and it is impossible to find a lethal weapon, at most something like a hairpin, and she also knows that it is impossible to succeed...... But I will ask the Guo family to go into the water! Guo Yan has the impulse to retaliate and take revenge on their selfish actions.

However, most of the evil in people's hearts is just thinking.

Guo Yan just had such a thought, and gave up after a while; Fear and weakness instantly ate at her heart.

She felt that women were too weak, and even if they were cornered, they would be intimidated by violence. If she did so, she would surely suffer revenge from the angry Emperor's violent force; Thinking of those cool punishments, Guo Yan shuddered.

After calming down a little, Guo Yan thought of her sister's guilt and her father's more or less kindness. Even if the Guo family treats her unfairly, it is better than those irrelevant people in the world. In this indifferent world, what does it mean to take revenge on those close to you and let those strangers talk about insults......

At this moment, a palace maid hurriedly ran in and said, "Mrs. Guo, the queen is here!" ”

Guo Yan put away her thoughts, walked to the courtyard, and sure enough, she saw that her sister had already walked in. She stepped forward to salute, but she became a little worried. Yesterday, the Mu family gave birth to the prince, and today her sister Guo Wei came; Will my sister break her promise and be unwilling to let Guo Yan face the saint?

Guo Yan welcomed the queen into the living room. The queen asked the eunuchs and palace maids around her to stop and stay outside.

The two sisters sat down separately, and Guo Yan said, "I'll ask someone to serve tea." ”

"No need." Queen's Road.

Guo Yan fell silent, waiting to hear what her sister wanted to say.

The queen really took the initiative to say: "Recently, the saint wants to canonize the Li family as the concubine of the dynasty, and the Shen family as the concubine of the Zhuang family. Before that, the Holy One should come to Kunning Palace to discuss with me; In the past, when the saint accepted Concubine Xian, Concubine Shu and others, it was also like this, and most of them would come back early. If it's the same this time, I'll ask the Holy One to come and walk around the Imperial Garden. At that time, when my sister came to the Imperial Garden, she would be able to meet the saint. ”

Guo Yan hurriedly asked, "What day?" ”

The queen said: "It's hard to say now, when the time comes, I will send the eunuch Yellow Dog over and inform my sister in advance." ”

Guo Yan agreed.

The queen said: "In case the Holy Lord didn't come to Kunning Palace specifically, or he came late." I'll leave this matter at that, and I'll find another opportunity for my sister to see him. ”

Guo Yan listened and nodded.

The queen shushed the cold and asked for warmth, most of which was about lack of use and the like. But Guo Yan felt that these words were just polite words; What she needs most now is not those things outside of her body at all.

But the queen seemed to have nothing to say, otherwise there was nothing to say, and she sat for a while before taking her leave.

Guo Yan remembered the affection between the sisters before they got married, although they would fight for things and quarrel, but they were not as angry as they are now; After getting married, the sisterhood seems to have changed too much, and the things they care about are different. In this world, it seems that even the closest affection can be torn apart.

After the queen left, Guo Yan realized one of the details, the place where the face was holy was the Imperial Garden.

That place in the Imperial Garden is not hidden. The palace is very large, but there are also many people, tens of thousands of people move here, and there are eyes and ears everywhere; The only place that is really hidden is inside the house, not the garden.

Will my sister have noticed Guo Yan's desperate plans? Guo Yan couldn't tell. But she gradually understands that under the gentle and kind surface of her sister, she is not a thoughtless person, and her sister just doesn't seem to be very shrewd.