Episode 100 Ending 1

  Her face felt like her whole body had sunk heavily into the snow, and her belly was pulled by an external force, aching with life: "Bi, Bier."

  Bi'er rushed over, still somewhat frightened, and grabbed Cui'er's wrist: "Your Highness, Your Highness, are you alright?"

  "Bie er, I'm afraid it's time to give birth." Yan'er forced out a few words, the due date was already near, and this severe fall would surely bring on labor. The familiar pain in her abdomen slowly began to spread throughout her body.

  Her face pointed at her skirt: "Bi'er, quickly... take a look."

  Bi'er lifted her thick quilt according to Yan's instructions, and the faint red amniotic fluid had already melted the snow under Yan's body.

  "Mother, the water has broken." Bi'er cried with a sad face, after all, she was also a young girl and had not experienced the passage of womanhood. Although she had heard about these things, she had never really seen them before.

  "Go, find the emperor." Yan'er struggled to support Bi'er as she stood up straight, fortunately it was just the water breaking and not yet the most painful moment, she moved forward with difficulty, her belly protruding.

  "Come quickly, Xiao Lan!" Bi'er cried out in alarm in the courtyard, soon summoning several maids.

  "Hurry, the empress is about to give birth. Little Lan, you take a few people in to take care of the empress, I'll go invite the emperor." Bi'er finished speaking and pressed down hard on her wrist, then turned around and disappeared into the snow with a whoosh.

  It's just as well that the Emperor's schedule is fixed, at this time he would only be reviewing memorials in his study. Bi'er rushed to the imperial study, without waiting for an announcement, she knelt outside: "Your Majesty, Concubine Yan..."

  Guan Canghai heard that Yan'er had already fainted from pain, and was shouting at the door for the midwife and doctor inside to come out, saying that no matter what they had to ensure the safety of both mother and child.

  Her face was pregnant with resentment this time, and she had been moving very little. The child did not come as smoothly as Zi Zhan's, and she was occasionally heard screaming in pain under the strong needle of Taiyi to keep her awake.

  The entire Tianxiang Palace became unexpectedly busy due to Yan'er's pregnancy and the Emperor's sudden arrival. Many servants did not know that their master was already pregnant, no wonder the Emperor gave a death order, now thinking about it perhaps it was to protect the master.

  The child was born in the late afternoon, but it exhausted everyone, and she herself was so exhausted that after a glance at the child, she fainted.

  "Congratulations to Your Majesty, Concubine Gui has given birth to a baby boy." The midwife reported with a smile.

  "Boy?" Emperor Xian looked at the imperial bedchamber with excitement, overjoyed in his heart: "Consort Yan has given birth to a child with merit, I will choose a day to heavily reward her! Now take good care of them." Emperor Xian's joy was heartfelt.

  When Qian'er woke up again, she looked at the child born with a prince label and thought to herself that she was so lucky. Others had tried but failed to have a son, yet hers came out just like that.

  It's also because of this child that Guan Canghai always sends people to deliver many gifts. Since the child is not yet a month old, Guan Canghai cannot come in to see her for herself. She has no idea how to face this man anymore. Originally hoping to be forever forgotten, who knew that this little prince would pull her back into reality once again.

  "Your Highness, look at how handsome the little prince is." Bi'er gazed at the crown prince who was fast asleep on the small bed, and sincerely felt happy for Yan'er.

  Indeed, this child inherited his father's and mother's looks, so pretty that everyone couldn't help but want to hold him and give him a kiss: "Bi'er, don't bother with him, where has the Emperor been sleeping lately?"

  "As for the Empress's words, since she gave birth to the Crown Prince, the Emperor has not been known to have favored any of the other consorts in his chambers at night." Bi'er was surprised that the Empress still cared about the Emperor, and wondered if she was going to regain favor. As long as the Empress made a move, she believed no one in the harem could rival her for the Emperor's affections, not even Consort Chang Le.

  Her face no longer asked anything, somewhat tired and turned back to sleep. She didn't know what reason she came to ask about Guan Canghai either, maybe just out of curiosity.

  In the blink of an eye, the crown prince was already a month old. Guan Canghai was extremely fond of this child, and indeed, he had inherited his parents' excellent genes. His small face was very likable. Guan Canghai really kept his word, and on the day of the child's full moon, he issued an edict that three days later, Yan Er would be appointed as the empress. The position of empress had been vacant for so long, and the women in the harem were anxious to death. However, the emperor had decreed that whoever gave birth to the crown prince would become the mistress of the Weiyang Palace. Who knew that after everyone's efforts, Li Bansheng easily got her hands on it?

  Yesterday was also not peaceful, after all, Li Banshan is a person with no backing, who wouldn't fight for their own family? But what's amazing about Li Banshan is that she gave birth to a crown prince, whereas the Emperor only has one daughter, Princess Jingyue, born to Xia Huan'er. Although Consort Chang Le is currently pregnant, no one will support her - firstly, she's a woman from a foreign tribe who was presented as tribute, and her status is naturally low; secondly, this crown prince has already been born and will surely grow up strong and healthy unless something unexpected happens. What can Consort Chang Le do even if she has incredible abilities? After all, the flesh in her own belly is only a few months old.

  In the midst of discontented voices in the harem and the imperial court, Yan'er was still pushed onto the throne by Guan Canghai and her own son Yi Ju.

  Looking at that golden phoenix seal, Yan's face really felt unexpected. In the harem, it was still about looking at women's bellies. If this belly was promising, they would get whatever they wanted. If not, they could only accept their fate.

  Guan Canghai still had a cold and indifferent attitude towards himself, but when facing Li Hou, he firmly supported himself. Yan Er couldn't say why, and still faced Guan Canghai calmly.

  In the blink of an eye, these Cold War-like days have passed for three years. In these three years, there have been some small changes in the harem. Consort Chang Le has given birth to another princess for the Emperor, and since then, Crown Prince Mu Bo Ya has become the treasure that Guan Cang Hai values more than anything else. Although many of the concubines are anxious, their bellies show no signs of movement.

  Watching the true love of Emperor Xian for this child, from the moment the child learned to walk, he took his son with him every day to do many things that emperors need to learn. This pampering also made Yan'er's position as stable as Mount Tai. In the harem, no one dared to have any excessive thoughts about Yan'er. After all, no one expected that after Yan'er became the Empress, she would manage the harem in an orderly manner, with every detail of each palace and pavilion accounted for without a single discrepancy. Whether others liked it or not, Yan'er had achieved it.

  Her face occasionally remembered Zihan, thinking of Mu Bai, and promised to bring Zihan to see her in five years. In the blink of an eye, five years had passed, and she never saw Zihan again. Every time she looked at Boya being held in Guanhai's arms enjoying fatherly love, Yan'er thought of Zihan in her heart, and secretly shed countless tears for Zihan. She understood that for Zihan, apart from the pain of a mother and child being separated, what remained was probably more of the girlhood infatuation and love for Pan Yueyang.

  Considering Pan Yueyang and Ou Ruolan's child should not be young anymore, she has always been destined to be with Yueyang, for Yueyang's sake, she exchanged everything for what she has today. Putting aside her status as the queen, what else does she have left? A nominal husband like Guan Canghai who is distant from her in heart and soul?

  "Mother, mother." The tender voice of a child brought Yan'er's thoughts back, and the steady footsteps of Boya, dressed in light yellow clothes, reflected in the sunlight, he was so innocent.

  "Where did Boya go to play today?" Yan'er picked up her son, three-year-old Boya, and found it a bit of a strain to hold him in her still slender arms.

  "The emperor taught the child to play chess, and the empress said that an old friend of yours has arrived." Bo Ya looked at Yan excitedly. In his small world view, this old friend meant very good things, but in the adult world, it might be the beginning of another dispute.

  "Old friend?" Yan's heart suddenly skipped a beat, Guan Canghai wouldn't mention this out of the blue, could it be that Mu Bai had brought Zi Zhan along? Or was there something going on with Yue Yang?

  "Yes, Mother Empress, Father Emperor said so. The Crown Prince will take you to ask Father Emperor." Bo Ya said and was about to pull up Yan Er's hand to go out.

  "No, Empress Dowager won't go, Bao Ya, why don't you chat with the Empress Dowager for a bit? You're always stuck to your father's side, not giving the Empress Dowager a chance to dote on you." Yan'er pinched Bao Ya's adorable nose.

  "It's not possible, Mother Empress. I've been wanting to learn martial arts for a long time now. Today, I finally got Father Emperor's approval and will be starting my training with him every afternoon from now on. So, Mother Empress, I really can't accompany you in conversation anymore." Bo Ya said, looking somewhat sorrowful as he leaned against Yan'er's leg.

  "That's good, Boya will seriously learn martial arts, and Mother won't blame Boya." Yan'er stroked her son's soft hair, the radiance of motherly love making her even more beautiful.

  After seeing off Bo Ya, Yan'er habitually returned to the rattan chair in the courtyard. This was something she had ordered last summer, and also had a thick rattan canopy erected, blocking out the scorching sun. Under this canopy, it was cool and refreshing, and one could see patches of green everywhere. Sipping on tribute-grade tea leaves, every day Yan'er would come here alone to sit for a while.

  "...Zi Zhan..." Not long after Bo Ya left, Yan'er fell into her own thoughts again. Every time she thought of Bo Ya, she yearned to see his poor son even more. As soon as she thought of Zi Zhan, she muttered to herself and called out again.

  She hastily wiped away her sorrowful expression, and no one knew better than she what was most taboo in the imperial harem.

  Baili Mowei and a small skull lay on the glazed tile of the imperial palace, Baili Mowei's complex eyes looked at the woman below: "Zizhan, this is your mother."

  "Zi Zhan understood." Zi Zhan's cold voice was like the deepest ice block in an icy valley, so cold that it made people dare not approach him. On the face of this five-year-old child, one couldn't find any characteristics that matched his age, but instead, there was a sense of stability.

  "Don't you want to take a good look at her?" Baili Murong had lost the vigor and spirit of his youth over the past few years.

  "Think about it some more." Zi Zhan's tone was as calm as if he were teasing.