The Enchanting Imperial Concubine (Book 2)

Chapter 222 - Deeply Hidden

After dealing with the Chen family, Ning Chen kept waiting for the Empress Dowager to stir up trouble.

He never expected that the Empress Dowager was completely oblivious to external matters, choosing instead to enjoy her old age without addressing the situation.

However, the palace's informants reported that the Empress Dowager often sent Fu Momo to Ruyi Pavilion to check on the second prince, giving meticulous instructions to the servants to take good care of him.

Whether this was a true change of heart or simply her putting up a facade was hard to tell for the time being.

Time quickly passed, and it was nearing mid-August. In a few days, the Mid-Autumn Festival would arrive.

From the looks of it, this year would again be celebrated in Lingxi Garden.

During this period, Ning Chen mostly stayed in Jiaotang Garden, occasionally visiting Xia Meiren's place, while Yi Xiuyuan had been pushed slightly to the back. Fang Xiuyuan also received a visit or two.

Cui Baolin, who had been somewhat lively for a while, had now basically fallen out of favor and dared not offend Ye Yun anymore.

She even occasionally tried to ingratiate herself.

However, Ye Yun looked down on her and completely ignored her, which only made Cui Baolin even more frustrated.

But with Cui Shi's low rank, others also chose to disregard her; no one cared if she got angry.

On the other hand, the Empress was busy preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This time, Ning Chen intended to hold a national banquet, allowing ministers of the third rank and above to bring their families to Lingxi Garden to celebrate the festival together.

Naturally, since the ministers were coming, they would first go to the palace to fetch the Empress Dowager and the other noble ladies.

They would simply stay in Lingxi Garden for a while and return after the Double Ninth Festival.

However, before the carriages for fetching people had returned to the palace, a piece of good news arrived from the palace.

"The Empress Dowager has sent word that Su Jieyu has been found to be nearly three months pregnant! I checked the records, and it was indeed around the time of Su Jieyu's promotion in May. How fortunate for Su Jieyu! I congratulate Your Majesty; another imperial heir is on the way."

In Wutong Hall, the Empress smiled as she shared the news.

She had come to Lingxi Garden, where the concubines naturally paid their respects. Today happened to be a day for such visits, and yesterday Ning Chen had discussed the Mid-Autumn national banquet with the Empress, also staying overnight in Wutong Hall.

Thus, everyone was gathered today to hear the news at once.

"Su Jieyu really kept this well hidden, managing to conceal it for a full three months before revealing it. By my calculations, when Qichen visited the garden in June, she must have already been pregnant for a month. No wonder she said she felt unwell and didn't want to come; was she secretly nurturing the baby? I wonder who she was afraid would harm her."

Shu Fei coldly snorted, brazenly mocking her a few times.

"It's quite normal for Su Jieyu to feel unwell during her first pregnancy. She herself said her monthly cycles were irregular, and it wasn't until two months later that she realized something was off. Only then did she find out she was pregnant. Shu Fei has given birth before, so she should understand the difficulties involved and be more sympathetic, instead of making such sour remarks."