In order to eat, I signed a contract with the system

The arrival of the newcomers really made the harem lively for a while. The most favored ones among them were Ning Da Ying and Guaerjia Changzai. In just half a month, they were promoted to Ning Changzai and Qi Changzai.

But before Guarjia Wenyuan could be proud for long, Zhen Huan retched when she paid her respects, and then found out that she was two months pregnant. When the Queen learned the news, there was a moment of surprise on her face, but fortunately she reacted quickly and was not discovered by Zhen Huan.

When the Emperor learned that Zhen Huan was pregnant, he was so happy that he immediately issued an order to promote Zhen Huan to Wanpin, leaving no chance for the Queen to stop him.

After paying respects, Jianqiu in Jingren Palace was apologizing to the Queen with a guilty look on his face.

"My servant has not done a good job, please punish me, madam."

"Punishment?"

"Now that she's pregnant, what's the point of punishing you?"

"The most important thing is to find out the reason for the failure. I had already prepared those things in Chengqian Palace, so why was Concubine Wan still pregnant?"

Although Nian Shilan's "cooperation" caused the Queen to miscalculate and Zhen Huan really moved into Chengqian Palace, the Queen's methods were not that simple. After confirming Zhen Huan's residence, she buried a lot of musk in Chengqian Palace according to the old rules.

The reason why Shen Meizhuang had not gotten pregnant for so long after entering the palace was also because she lived in Chengqian Palace. It stands to reason that Zhen Huan had lived in Chengqian Palace for so long, and her body should have been injured like Shen Meizhuang, so why was she still able to get pregnant?

"Don't worry, your majesty. Women take ten months to give birth, and Concubine Wan is only two months pregnant. We have plenty of time."

When Jianqiu saw that the Queen was angry, she hurried forward and promised that she would never let Wanpin give birth to a child successfully. The Queen was still worried about this. It was not that she did not trust Jianqiu's ability, but she always suspected that Zhen Huan was able to get pregnant because she discovered the musk in Chengqian Palace. If this was true, Zhen Huan might have begun to doubt herself.

"Alright, I'll leave the baby in Wanpin's belly to you. I remember there's a blessing quilt in the storeroom that promises hundreds of children and thousands of grandchildren. When you pay your respects tomorrow, remember to take it out and give it to Wanpin on my behalf."

"Yes, I understand."

The master and servant had a perfect understanding and understood each other with just a word or a glance. The next day, Queen An specially took out the quilt made of precious material and with even more precious meaning and gave it to Zhen Huan in front of everyone. Zhen Huan felt quite proud amid the envious or jealous eyes of everyone.

"How could I have such a good quilt?"

Even though she really liked the blessed quilt bestowed by the Queen, Zhen Huan still remembered to be humble on the surface. She had already attracted the attention of people in the palace because of her promotion. If she acted too arrogantly now, it would very likely arouse the jealousy of others.

"As a consort, it is my duty to help the emperor have children. Since Concubine Wan is pregnant with the emperor's heir, I will naturally give her more rewards."

"The same goes for you. No matter who you are, if you can give birth to many children for the emperor like Wanpin, I will reward you as much as I did to Wanpin."

The Queen deliberately took out this reward in front of everyone. On the one hand, it was to prevent Zhen Huan from suspecting that there was something wrong with the quilt. On the other hand, it was to arouse the jealousy of others. If someone could help her solve Zhen Huan's pregnancy in advance, the Queen would surely be more satisfied.

Since Nian Shilan was promoted from a noble concubine to an imperial concubine, she began to hide in the harem like Concubine Duan in her previous life, rarely appearing in front of people. The queen also didn't want to see Nian Shilan sitting next to her in an imperial concubine's outfit of similar color as hers and being greeted by people in the harem, so she took a tacit attitude towards Nian Shilan's refusal to leave the Yikun Palace and come to pay respects.

After the Emperor conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort on Nian Shilan, he realized the inappropriateness of his move after being "admonished" several times by the Empress Dowager. However, as the Son of Heaven, he could not go back on his word. Seeing that Nian Shilan, for the sake of her own face, was sensible enough not to show up and steal the Empress' limelight, he felt both satisfied and regretful.

He was satisfied with Nian Shilan's understanding, but regretted that he could not openly appear in front of everyone holding Nian Shilan's hand. But fortunately, whenever he missed Nian Shilan, he could go to Yikun Palace to see her by himself.

Everyone subconsciously forgot the fact that the power of the palace was not in the hands of the queen, but in the hands of the imperial concubine Nian Shilan. Nian Shilan hid in the harem, practicing silently and quietly eroding the remaining power in the palace.

In the third year of Yongzheng's reign, there was a severe drought in the north and it had not rained for more than half a month. Hostile forces such as Prince Dun began to spread rumors that the emperor had obtained the throne illegitimately and that heaven was punishing him. The anxious emperor had to follow the suggestion of the Imperial Observatory and leave the palace with the empress to go to the Temple of Heaven to pray for rain. For this purpose, the emperor specially went to the Yiku Palace to ask Nian Shilan to preside over the affairs of the six palaces.

"Everything in the palace is managed by the Imperial Concubine. You should respect her in everything. Shilan is arrogant and strong-willed. As long as you are obedient, Shilan will definitely not make things difficult for you."

The Emperor was worried about the baby in Zhen Huan's belly, so he went to Chengqian Palace to warn Zhen Huan before leaving the palace. Nian Shilan disdained to target the concubines in the harem, but she would not show mercy to those who disrespected her.

Although the Emperor felt that Zhen Huan was smart enough not to offend Nian Shilan like Rou Da Ying did, he still gave Zhen Huan a warning just in case.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Zhen Huan was not only not touched by the emperor's concern for her, but also felt depressed.

"I am only a concubine, how could I be disrespectful to the Imperial Concubine? Your Majesty is overthinking."

I am just a concubine. Does the emperor think that I will go to trouble the Imperial Noble Consort? The most important person in the emperor's heart is the Imperial Noble Consort. It is obviously me who is pregnant. He is not worried about what the Imperial Noble Consort will do to me. Instead, he warns me not to disrespect the Imperial Noble Consort by taking advantage of my pregnancy?

Zhen Huan was stuck in a dead end, thinking that the emperor's gentleness and consideration for her during this period was just superficial. So the more the emperor warned Zhen Huan, the more dissatisfied Zhen Huan became with Nian Shilan. This dissatisfaction gradually manifested itself after the emperor left.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Wan hasn't arrived yet."

In Yikun Palace, everyone gathered to pay their respects to the Imperial Concubine. This was not requested by Nian Shilan, but was proposed by the Emperor in front of everyone before he left.

Even though Nian Shilan herself did not want to accept everyone's greetings, the women in the harem were afraid that the emperor would be dissatisfied after his return, so they begged to come to the Yikun Palace to pay their respects.

However, the time for greeting had come, but Zhen Huan had not yet arrived. Nian Shilan was already impatient and signaled everyone to start without waiting for Zhen Huan.

"I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine."

"I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine."

Everyone in the harem paid their respects to Nian Shilan one after another according to their rank. Just when it was the turn of the last row of newly arrived concubines to pay their respects and Nian Shilan was about to announce the disbandment, Zhen Huan suddenly arrived.

"I am late, please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

Zhen Huan held her belly and walked forward alone as she walked past the crowd. She said words of apology but her actions were quite perfunctory. She just bent her legs casually and stood up without waiting for Nian Shilan's signal.

"I have been quite sleepy since I became pregnant. I woke up at noon today. I did not mean to be late. I hope the Royal Concubine will understand."