IACF [QT] Chapter 78.1

At the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, Su Yi’s belly gradually became obvious.

It seemed that King Rui had not truly realized until now that his princess was pregnant with their baby.

In the past, when he held Su Yi in his arms, his hands would mostly be placed on her waist and back, stroking her up and down.

Recently, he often began to touch Su Yi’s belly in a daze.

The Empress Dowager’s birthday was just around the corner, and as it was not a full birthday and the Empress Dowager did not like extravagance, no grand celebration was held. Only members of the royal family appeared at the palace banquet.

The Empress Dowager sat at the top and center, with the Emperor on her left, and below them were the kings, princes, and their wives, as well as several princesses and their husbands. The Empress was on the Empress Dowager’s right, and below her sat the concubines from the harem, as well as some young princes and princesses.

King Rui and Su Yi sat in the front. Among their peers, they were only below King An and Princess An. Following closely behind them were the Second Prince and his princess.

He is only the Emperor’s nephew, but he ranks before all the princes. This is enough to show how much the Empress Dowager and the Emperor value him.

As for others, at least on the surface, they do not seem to be dissatisfied with this.

Last year, King Rui attended the banquet alone, but this year, he brought his princess with him, who was pregnant with the future little master of the palace.

The Empress Dowager was happier watching this scene than receiving any gift.

The late King Rui was the youngest son of the Empress Dowager. There is nothing more heartbreaking than the old sending off the young. The current King Rui looks and acts like his father.

The Empress Dowager feels sorry for him because he has no father or mother, so most of her love is given to this grandson, and she also loves Su Yi as well.

Soon after the banquet started, she had already rewarded Princess Rui with two dishes and frequently asked her about her appetite and whether she could eat.

No one else had ever received such treatment.

Regardless of whether they were jealous or not, no one really showed any sign of envy.

Only one princess, about fourteen or fifteen years old, pouted and complained coquettishly: “Royal Grandmother has given all her heart to the princess-in-law, and you don’t give even a little to your granddaughter.”

The Empress Dowager pointed at her and said with a smile: “Little monkey, when you get married next year and bring your husband back to the palace to celebrate my birthday, let alone two dishes, the Royal Grandmother will give you a whole table of dishes.”

Everyone in the palace suddenly burst into laughter. The princess blushed and stamped her feet in shame.

The Empress covered her mouth with her hands, still smiling as she spoke: “According to the imperial physician, Princess Rui’s pregnancy is safe. I see that the Princess has a rosy complexion and is full of vitality. I think there is nothing wrong with her diet. You can rest assured, Mother.”

“As long as it’s safe.” Said the Empress Dowager.

As the Empress took action, the Second Prince’s mother said with a teasing tone: “If there is anything wrong, I’m afraid that before we find out, King Rui has already been more anxious than the Empress Dowager. Just look.”

Everyone looked over where she pointed and saw King Rui pick up a small piece of tribute melon with a silver stick and pass it to the Princess’s mouth. Judging from his skillful movements, he must have done it more than once or twice.

No one paid attention to them before, so he fed it to her and Su Yi just opened her mouth and ate. But now with so many people paying attention to her, she felt that as a princess after all, it would be better for her to be reserved, so she refused to open her mouth and shook her head.

King Rui handed it to her twice, but seeing that she didn’t take it, he had to take it back. He looked around at everyone expressionlessly, put it into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it.

“You, you…” Seeing this scene, the Empress Dowager pointed at him, shook her head, and laughed.

The others followed suit.

Su Yi lowered her head shyly.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall was harmonious and joyful.

On the right side, Concubine Li sat among the concubines, watching all this with cold eyes.

Not long ago, she was the most favored concubine in the harem. Even the Empress had to politely call her ‘sister’. But in just a few months, the favors she had in the past seemed to have become a joke.

His Majesty has not stayed in her palace for several months. You should know that in the past, even if there were new people entering the palace, His Majesty would be greedy for novelty and favor them for a while, but he would still go to her a few days a month.

After more than ten years in the palace, Concubine Li has always been an evergreen in the harem. Even if the new people stole the limelight for a while, no one could shake her position as a favorite concubine despite the coming and going of new favorites over the years.

According to the previous trend, everyone thought that she would always be favored, including Concubine Li herself.

No one expected that the Emperor’s coldness would come back so ruthlessly and abruptly.

Concubine Li couldn’t figure it out. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t figure it out. She had only verbally embarrassed Princess Rui a few times.

How could His Majesty have the heart to treat her like this?

Was all the affection they had for so many years fake?

In the beginning, when he didn’t come, Concubine Li was holding back her heart and didn’t allow herself to bow her head.

No matter if she was throwing things in her palace or taking her anger out on the people who served her, she still held her head high outside, not giving people the opportunity to ridicule her.

Later, as grievances and resentment accumulated, she began to curse Princess Rui and even thought about using a method to get rid of the piece of meat in her belly so that she could vent her anger.

 

 

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