Likes You Too

"Two?" Jiang Xin asked, puzzled at first. Realization dawned on him at once, and he looked at Emperor Jing'an and said firmly, "Your Majesty, judging by Her Highness's pulse, there is only one." As for whether the child was a prince, he would need another two months before he could be more certain.

At Jiang Xin's words, Emperor Jing'an actually sighed with a hint of regret.

He truly was short of sons. Even if they were twins, he was confident he could make proper arrangements for both sons.

But why was there only one?

Hearing no response from Emperor Jing'an, Jiang Xin anxiously raised his eyes for a furtive glance. When he saw a hint of regret on the emperor's face, inspiration struck, and he continued, "Her Highness is in excellent health. Surely she will be able to conceive more dragon offspring in the future."

Jiang Xin would not have dared say that about any other consort in the harem, but Hua Meng truly was the healthiest consort he had ever seen.

Most importantly, Emperor Jing'an's pulse had also been steadily improving of late.

Hua Meng was completely reassured now. There was only one child in her belly, but even if it was a princess, it would still be Emperor Jing'an's first child.

Besides, she had the Spirit Spring. Having another child would be no trouble at all.

What was more, her mother and her brothers and sisters had all had more sons than daughters.

Once it was confirmed that Hua Meng was carrying only one child, she did not linger at Phoenix Approaches Palace. After all, Emperor Jing'an still had memorials to review.

After leaving Phoenix Approaches Palace, Hua Meng went straight back to Sparrow Plume Palace without stopping.

By the time she returned to Sparrow Plume Palace, Consort Wan had already arrived with Commandery Princess Shouning.

As soon as Hua Meng appeared, Commandery Princess Shouning, who had been sitting obediently in Consort Wan's lap, slowly climbed down to pay her respects.

Seeing how well-behaved Commandery Princess Shouning was, Hua Meng happily hurried forward and crouched down to stop her. Taking her slightly cool little hands, she said, "Consort Jing knows Shou Ning is a good child. You don't need to pay your respects; just let Consort Jing give you a hug." As she spoke, Hua Meng raised her arms and wrapped them around Commandery Princess Shouning's small, thin body.

Ever since Commandery Princess Shouning had entered the palace at the end of last month, Hua Meng had felt particular pity for the child, whose parents had both died young.

She was already three, yet she was no sturdier than Hua Meng's two-year-old nephew.

When Hua Meng saw that she was still nursing, she had taken the initiative to suggest that Consort Wan start feeding her soft foods a child could eat.

As it turned out, for a child who was nearly three, breast milk alone did not provide enough nourishment.

After eating rice, flour, eggs, and vegetables for the past ten-odd days, Commandery Princess Shouning had shown a noticeable improvement in both her complexion and her physique.

Not only had Commandery Princess Shouning been born prematurely, but her mother had also been beset by worry while carrying her. During the first month after her birth, her wet nurse had to drink medicine before feeding her.

Later, when she was a little older, she drank the medicine herself. She truly had been taking medicine as if it were food.

Hua Meng knew little about other things, but she had many nieces and nephews, as well as the Spirit Spring. After diluting one drop of the Spirit Spring in a large bowl of water, she would seize an opportunity every few days to add a drop of it to Commandery Princess Shouning's food.

Although Commandery Princess Shouning could not always finish the food, Hua Meng believed that if she kept it up long enough, there would be results.

Commandery Princess Shouning was also very fond of Hua Meng. Though she was still shy when Hua Meng hugged her, just as she had been on the previous occasions, she was bolder than before. Raising her short little arms to wrap them around Hua Meng's neck, she said, "Shou Ning likes Consort Jing."

"Consort Jing likes you too."

Almost the moment Hua Meng finished speaking, Consort Wan's jealous voice came from beside them. "Oh my, you two have come to like each other, but no one likes me anymore."

As soon as Consort Wan finished speaking, Commandery Princess Shouning eagerly raised her head from Hua Meng's embrace and looked at her. "That's not true. Shou Ning likes Mother Consort too."

Commandery Princess Shouning was too young to know, but Hua Meng knew that Consort Wan had said it on purpose.

Consort Wan had indeed done it on purpose, because she knew that whether the child in Hua Meng's belly was a boy or a girl, Hua Meng would be the foremost woman in the harem.

As for the other women, none of them had been seen to conceive a child in all these years. Whether they could give birth was another matter, but Hua Meng's child would be the first, regardless.

As Shou Ning's adoptive mother, she was naturally happy that Hua Meng liked her.

"So Shou Ning likes Mother Consort too? Mother Consort is so happy." As she spoke, Consort Wan beckoned to Shou Ning. Once Shou Ning had returned to her side, she pointed at Hua Meng and said, "Your Consort Jing has a little brother in her belly, so you mustn't stay in her arms too long. Mother Consort will hold you." With that, Consort Wan reached out and gathered Shou Ning into her arms.

Shou Ning obediently nodded at Consort Wan, then looked at Hua Meng and said, "Consort Jing, don't hold Shou Ning anymore." After saying that, she seemed to hesitate. She made an effort to swallow her saliva before continuing, "You can hold me after little brother is born."

Hua Meng had nieces and nephews and had seen plenty of them when they were little. Although she liked how sweet and adorable Shou Ning was, she did not think her daughter was the best in the world the way her adoptive mother, Consort Wan, did.

Hearing Shou Ning's words, Hua Meng nodded and smiled, while Consort Wan was so charmed by her daughter that she kept hugging her and calling her "sweetheart."

Consort Ying arrived a little later, because she had waited for Chengying to finish making the milk cakes that both Hua Meng and Shou Ning liked.

Consort Wan had not asked Hua Meng why she was absent from Sparrow Plume Palace when she arrived, but after Consort Ying came and Yi Yue took Shou Ning aside to eat some snacks, Hua Meng still brought up the rumors outside the palace.

Hearing Hua Meng's words, Consort Wan and Consort Ying exchanged a glance and said in unison, "I'm afraid there's more to this."

Hua Meng nodded to them and said, "His Majesty said I needn't concern myself with it, but I think someone in the palace may already be spreading the rumors."

She need not concern herself with matters outside the palace, but within it, she had every right to take charge.

Consort Wan and Consort Ying both understood what Hua Meng meant and nodded to her. Consort Wan was the first to speak. "You don't need to worry about this. I'll send people to investigate."

After all, Consort Wan was in charge alongside Consort Qi, so she was the most suitable person to handle it.

After Consort Wan finished, Consort Ying spoke up. "Don't worry or dwell on it. Since His Majesty said that, everything will naturally be fine."

"Thank you both for your concern, sisters. I'm not really worried about the rumors. I'm just a little curious who started them."

Hua Meng thought the Elder Princess was the most likely culprit. There was no evidence of it, but some things did not require evidence.

Consort Wan and Consort Ying had also thought of the Elder Princess, but neither said so. They merely discussed making a thorough investigation of the palace, as well as the matter of the Ghost Festival.

The Ghost Festival, commonly called the "festival of ghosts" among the people, fell on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month each year.

In the palace, Emperor Jing'an had to pay respects to his ancestors on that day. He had no sons yet; if he did, he would take them with him to pay respects to their ancestors.

Besides that, Emperor Jing'an would share a meal with the consorts of the harem.

To avoid suspicion and also as a gesture of goodwill, Consort Qi had taken the initiative, when the authority over palace affairs was divided, to propose assigning the Imperial Kitchen, palace banquets, and other food-related palace affairs to Consort Wan, who was close to Hua Meng.

After they finished discussing the Ghost Festival, Hua Meng recalled that Emperor Jing'an had mentioned at Phoenix Approaches Palace that she should visit the Empress Dowager, so she brought it up in passing.

To her surprise, the moment she mentioned it, Consort Wan and Consort Ying exchanged a glance.

Seeing their reaction, Hua Meng, who had only brought it up casually, immediately looked at them and asked, "Could there be something about this that I don't know?"

Consort Ying said nothing and merely looked at Consort Wan.

Consort Wan was indeed closer to Hua Meng than Consort Ying was, so there was nothing amiss about her being the one to speak of it.

"You know that the Empress Dowager has only one younger sister still alive." Consort Wan waited until Hua Meng nodded before continuing, "It wasn't that her maternal family had only that one younger sister. When the Empress Dowager was nine, a band of mounted bandits came to their village during the Ghost Festival that year and killed everyone there. Only she and her younger sister, who hid with her in a haystack, survived. That's why the Ghost Festival is also the most painful day of every year for the Empress Dowager."

Because of Nanny Ming's arrival, Hua Meng knew a little about the Empress Dowager's background.

But until now, Hua Meng had known only that the Empress Dowager came from among the common people and had entered the palace as a selected maiden through the lesser selection. Later, the Late Emperor had drunkenly pulled her into his dragon bed, and while the novelty had yet to wear off, she was fortunate enough to conceive Emperor Jing'an, flying up to a branch and becoming a phoenix.

She had not expected the Empress Dowager to have such a sorrowful past.

"Every Ghost Festival, Lady Lin enters the palace to spend half a day with the Empress Dowager, and the two of them pay respects to their entire clan."

"The entire clan?"

"Yes. Almost everyone in the Empress Dowager's village belonged to her clan."

By this point, Hua Meng was so shocked that she did not know what to say. Her entire clan had been killed in a single day, and on a day like that at that. How could the Empress Dowager not grieve?

That year, how had the nine-year-old Empress Dowager survived with her three-year-old sister and gathered the bodies of everyone in her clan?