NABC Chapter 255 Speaking out
Chapter 255 Speaking out
"What?" Ji Anni heard the sound of the atomic bomb exploding in her mind again. She pulled Shui Furong over and asked in a low voice, "Could it be... Could it be that you really...?"
That's not right. Even if Shui Furong and the emperor really had a passionate night last night, it's impossible for two men to give birth to a child, right?
Is it because the reproductive method of this era is rather special and cannot be judged by common sense?
Ji Anni still remembers that in the chapter about the Kingdom of Women in Journey to the West, Tang Seng and others who drank the water from the Mother and Child River became pregnant. Perhaps there is something similar in this Tianyou Holy Dynasty.
Just as Ji Anni was struggling, Shui Furong burst into laughter, interrupting her wild thoughts and said, "No, no, the emperor just wanted me to pretend to be pregnant."
"Pretend?" It's easy to say, but it's too difficult to do, right? The palace is different from the outside. It's hard enough to hide your true gender in public. Now you have to pretend to be pregnant. Isn't that deliberately attracting other people's attention?
"Yes." Shui Furong nodded and continued, "What the emperor meant was that he created an opportunity for me to be promoted to a noble concubine and enter the Li Palace, but I also had to help him protect his wife and children. This was just a fair trade in which both sides got what they wanted."
"Is there really no problem?" Ji Anni was a little frightened and asked, "What does it mean to protect your wife and children?"
"Don't you understand this?" Shui Furong raised her voice slightly and looked at Ji Anni as if she were an idiot.
"No..." Ji Anni slowly lowered her head and whispered, "I understand..."
It is precisely because I understand it so clearly that I find it somewhat unbelievable.
The emperor's behavior was nothing more than a repetition of the same old tricks, just as he had treated Concubine Baogui before, and now he was using the same method to treat Shui Furong. He just wanted to create a grassland for the fat white rabbit of Prince Ming to hide.
I still remember that he had asked me casually yesterday: "If there was a second precious concubine in the palace, you would hate me to death, right?"
I thought he was finally apologetic, but I didn't expect the result to be...
He still carries out his "Protect the Little White Rabbit" plan as usual.
The death of Concubine Baogui made him cautious, and now the appearance of Shui Furong has undoubtedly opened up a new situation in front of him.
Letting a man pretend to be pregnant would definitely be much less harmful than what was done to Baoer in the first place. Moreover, Shui Furong was the kind of person who would immediately raise her hands and feet and ask the other party to make her pregnant when she heard that she could enter the Li Palace... So the emperor had no more worries.
Ji Anni still couldn't accept his actions calmly, because he chose to repeat the same mistake without hesitation. However, this time he chose the more sophisticated method of "faking" instead of pretending to be real like Baogui Fei.
Without noticing Ji Anni's sudden depression, Shui Furong recalled last night's experience and said slowly, "I always felt that the emperor also wanted to know the truth of three years ago, so I hit it off with him and we became allies right away."
Ji Anni could understand the emperor's concern about the truth of three years ago, because that incident seemed to be inextricably linked to the suicide of the emperor's biological mother, Concubine Hui. The emperor was constrained by the empress dowager and could not investigate in detail, so he had to entrust Shui Furong to help.
"I think it's still too risky..." Ji Anni always had a bad feeling.
Shui Furong was very optimistic and said, "Even the emperor and I are in the same boat. If the sky falls, the emperor will hold it up. What should I be afraid of?"
"Having said that..." Ji Anni didn't know whether she should say it out loud.
In fact, Long Mohan was not as capable as Shui Furong imagined. Ever since that experience at the execution ground, Ji Anni no longer dared to hold any hope for Long Mohan's imperial power.
I still remember that when she raised the golden medal of immunity from death, the Queen Mother not only didn't take it seriously, but also said that even if the emperor was standing here, she would still order the execution. Therefore, if Shui Furong's fake pregnancy was exposed, the emperor might not be able to save him.
"In short, I have already promised the emperor. All I have to do now is wait five days to be officially named imperial concubine." Before Ji Anni could stop her, Shui Furong expressed her firm determination.
Seeing that she could no longer persuade him, Ji Anni sighed helplessly. At this moment, she suddenly found something strange in Shui Furong's words, so she asked, "Why do we have to wait five days before we can be named a noble concubine?"
She was named imperial concubine the day after she served the emperor.
"That's because it will take five days to confirm that I'm pregnant." Shui Furong said as a matter of course.
Ji Anni's expression is hard to describe in words.
Shui Furong continued, "The Emperor will arrange everything for me at the Imperial Hospital. Five days later, as long as I go to the hospital for a checkup, I will be able to find out that I am pregnant. After I am pregnant, I can become your consort."
"Oh..." Ji Anni sighed again.
Seeing Shui Furong's expectant and excited expression, she didn't know what to say.
Maybe Shui Furong has long lost his sense of manliness and thinks pretending to be a pregnant woman is challenging and fun, so he is eager to try it and is not afraid of getting into trouble after his true identity is revealed.
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At noon that day, when Hua Rong came to deliver meals to Ji Anni and Shui Furong, she also brought the latest news from the Empress Dowager's Palace.
"Your Majesty, I heard that a fox appeared near the Empress Dowager's palace again last night, and almost jumped onto the Empress Dowager's bed. The Empress Dowager was really scared, and today she invited several imperial doctors to have a joint consultation. After a lot of consultations, they all said that the Empress Dowager had a heart disease, and heart disease needs to be treated with heart medicine. The best way to cure this heart disease is to get rid of the fox demon in the palace as soon as possible."
Hua Rong's words were calm, but it was this calm tone that made people feel particularly chilled.
"Did the Queen Mother mention the apology ceremony again?" Ji Anni was more concerned about this. Because if the Queen Mother decided to hold an apology ceremony, Yun Zhen could take the opportunity to return to the palace. Maybe, she could even meet Yun Zhen smoothly.
Hua Rong said something that reassured Ji Anni: "I heard that the Queen Mother has sent someone to the outside of the palace to invite the Imperial Master back to the palace."
"Really?" Ji Annie's spirits perked up after hearing this. Her eyes lit up and she became full of energy, as if a long drought had finally ended and rain had finally come.
"By the way, what about Yanniang?" Shui Furong's voice suddenly popped up. He still remembered Huarong saying yesterday that Yanniang was very opposed to the Queen Mother holding a ceremony of apology in the Demon-Suppressing Temple. Would she compromise so quickly?
When Yan Niang was mentioned, Hua Rong's expression gradually dimmed. She shook her head worriedly and said, "I don't know either."
After all, Hua Rong was not a maid serving the Queen Mother, so she could only ask others about the latest situation in the Queen Mother's Palace. She had no way to find out the detailed information about Yan Niang.
"I don't think Yan Niang will let it go..." Ji Anni recalled the tone and look in Yan Niang's eyes when she warned her not to get close to the Demon-Suppressing Temple, and she could still feel a chill running down her spine.
No matter how powerful Yan Niang's aura is, she is just a palace maid. How can she resist the Queen Mother?
"Your Majesty, what are your plans next?" Hua Rong asked a very strange question, as if she thought Ji Anni would do something surprising at the apology ceremony.
Ji Anni spread her hands and said, "What plans can I have? How can I say no to what the Queen Mother says?"
Although Yanniang had warned her not to get close to the Demon-Suppressing Temple, if even Yanniang could not stop the Queen Mother from holding the apology ceremony, she should be able to forgive herself for having to get close to the Demon-Suppressing Temple, right? Ji Anni comforted herself in this way.
"My Lady, can you tell me what happened in the Demon Temple that night?" Hua Rong finally got to the point. No wonder Hua Rong suspected that Ji Anni would do something at the apology ceremony. It turned out that she was uneasy about what happened in the Demon Temple that night.
Ji Anni didn't know whether to say it or not. Just as she was hesitating, Shui Furong gave her a look, signaling her not to say more. Then, Shui Furong said to Hua Rong, "Xiao Zhao was attacked by the fox demon that night and fell into a coma. I'll tell you what you want to ask."
Hua Rong shook her head and said, "I am just worried about your safety, I don't have anything to ask."
"Huarong, do you have something to say?" Ji Anni always felt that something was wrong with Huarong today.
Hua Rong thought for a moment and said, "My Lady, are you willing to listen to me? Please refuse the Queen Mother no matter what and never go to the Demon Temple."
"Why?" This is blatantly going against the Queen Mother, so we have to ask the reason.
"Do you really have to tell me a reason, Your Majesty? Can't you trust me just once?" Hua Rong still refused to speak frankly.
"Hua Rong, it's not that I don't believe you, but you are simply not sincere. You are so evasive, hesitant, and half-speaking and hiding the other half. How can I dare to believe you?" Ji Anni was a little anxious.
"Your Majesty, I really cannot tell you. If I tell you, the consequences will be disastrous." Hua Rong was forced to breathe rapidly by Ji Anni.
"You really are hiding some secret." Ji Anni glared at her dissatisfiedly.
At this time, Shui Furong suddenly stood up, raised her hands like a good man, and comforted Ji Anni and Hua Rong, saying: "Okay, okay, don't quarrel, I know it's annoying for me to sit here, can't I go out? You can talk slowly if you have anything to say."
Only then did Ji Anni realize why Hua Rong refused to speak frankly.
Perhaps Hua Rong was not deliberately hiding it, but she didn't want Shui Furong, a third party, to hear it.
Last time, when Hua Rong wanted to have a secret talk with Ji Anni, Ji Anni kept Shui Furong, saying that she and Shui Furong were friends and there was nothing she couldn't talk about. After the last experience, Hua Rong would certainly not ask Shui Furong to avoid the conversation again, but chose to avoid talking about the key issues.
Seeing Shui Furong turning around and trying to leave, Ji Anni calmly held him back and said, "Furong, wait a minute, don't go out."
Water lotus can't leave, nor can it stay.
Hua Rong's calm gaze gradually showed a hint of dissatisfaction and annoyance.
Ji Anni didn't care about that, and she spoke directly, "Hua Rong, you did all this just because you didn't want Concubine An to become the queen, and you just wanted to avenge the Xi family. I understand you. If the An family really did a lot of evil, I don't object to you uprooting them. But I hope you know that Concubine Shui Cong is not an outsider. If you guard against her, you are guarding against me."
Shui Furong was deeply moved by these words, her eyes were filled with tears, but at the same time her face turned pale.
Since Ji Anni has revealed all the cards that Hua Rong has in her enmity with the An family, Hua Rong has also become anxious.
"Since Your Majesty insists, I have no choice but to speak frankly..." She took out a small paper bag from her belt and put it on the table with a "pop". "Your Majesty, this is the bag. If Your Majesty decides to attend the apology ceremony, then I must add this bag to the meal that Your Majesty eats before you leave."
"What is this?" Ji Anni stared at the small paper bag. It didn't look like salt or MSG.
As expected, Hua Rong told her calmly, "It's poison, Madam."