Turning to go out, she still couldn’t help pressing a hand over her chest.

She’d finally made it through two peaceful months, and just as it seemed she’d be completely safe, nothing could be allowed to go wrong now.

A young maid from Yangxin Palace brought the dirty laundry to the Laundry Bureau. The bureau’s supervisor took the clothes with a smile, casually flipping through them. “Her Ladyship Consort De’s clothes have been so clean lately.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” The young maid said. “My lady basically never leaves Yangxin Palace, so there’s nowhere for her to get dirty.”

Ordinary dirt was one thing, but for a woman, there were always going to be a few stained garments each month—yet the clothes sent from Yangxin Palace hadn’t shown any blood in over two months now.

Though puzzled, the supervisor didn’t press the matter, and sent the maid off with a smile before turning around to gossip with others. “I’m telling you, could that one in Yangxin Palace be pregnant? Always so mysterious, hasn’t even shown her face since being made Consort—look how lively it’s gotten in the palace, yet it hardly involves her at all.”

The maids washing clothes paused, exchanging looks with one another. “Surely not? If she were pregnant, would she really keep it quiet? Her Highness the Empress Dowager already said beforehand that whoever bears a child will become Empress—if Her Ladyship Consort De truly were pregnant, why would she hide it from anyone?”

That made sense too. The supervisor nodded and left, but the group of young maids kept speculating all the same.

Since people from every palace came to the Laundry Bureau to fetch their clothes, word naturally spread that Her Ladyship Consort De was suspected of being pregnant.

Once this rumor spread, it caused quite a stir—Consort Shu could no longer sit still, and immediately set off for Yangxin Palace.

Ordinary consorts, Hua Chun could put on the airs of Consort De and refuse to see. But Consort Shu was of equal rank to her and held real power—whether she wanted to see her or not, she had to.

So Hua Chun could only greet her with a smile. “What brings you here, Consort Shu?”

Consort Shu wore a beaming smile, and upon seeing her, offered a bow of equal courtesy first. “It’s been a while since I came to pay my respects—I happened to be passing by today, so I thought I’d come see elder sister. I heard your health hasn’t been well—are you fully recovered now?”

“Thank you for your concern.” Hua Chun said. “It’s nothing serious, just that I’ve had a bit too much tonic medicine and put on some weight.”

Raising her eyes to look her over from head to toe, Consort Shu said with a complicated expression, “You certainly have put on some weight, yet your looks haven’t diminished in the least—if anything, you’ve become even more lovely. What kind of tonic has elder sister been taking, I wonder?”

Just as Hua Chun was about to answer, Qing Niao beside her spoke up first. “The imperial physician said my lady’s constitution is weak, so she’s been eating steamed quail and the like, along with a bit of goji berries and saffron.”

“Oh?” Consort Shu raised an eyebrow, glancing at her. “Saffron must be used with caution—if she happens to be with child, accidentally consuming it wouldn’t be good at all.”

Hua Chun laughed lightly. “How long has it even been since I last attended His Majesty’s bedchamber? How could I possibly be pregnant?”

“It seems elder sister does wish to conceive—why not let the imperial physician take a closer look?” Consort Shu waved her hand, and an imperial physician stepped forward from behind her. “It just so happens that Imperial Physician Li is accompanying me today. Since he’s here already, why not let him check your pulse?”

Qing Niao’s face went pale, and she shook her head at once. “My lady dislikes having her pulse taken more than anything—Consort Shu needn’t insist so strongly.”

Hua Chun had no idea when she’d come to dislike having her pulse taken, but she knew Qing Niao wouldn’t do anything to harm her, so she naturally played along, furrowing her brow. “Forgive me, Consort Shu, but I truly do dislike having my pulse checked.”

“The Empress Dowager arranged long ago for every palace to have an imperial physician regularly check for wellness.” Consort Shu smiled. “Since you’ve stayed so secluded, sister, I’d naturally overlooked it as well. But it’s fine now—Imperial Physician Li was only assigned to my palace, but adding one more, elder sister, won’t be any trouble.”

As she spoke, the servants behind her actually looked as though they meant to step forward and hold Hua Chun down directly.

“How dare you!” Qing Niao shouted angrily. “Have you all lost your minds? Her Ladyship Consort De has already said she doesn’t want this—are you still going to force it?”

“Oh?” Consort Shu’s face darkened. “Are you scolding me?”

“This servant wouldn’t dare!” Qing Niao gritted her teeth. “This servant is only addressing these attendants.”

“Their intentions are my intentions—addressing them is the same as addressing me, is it not?” Consort Shu sneered coldly. “Is this how elder sister Consort De trains her servants?”

Well, well—this little girl really did have two faces. Just moments ago she’d been smiling so gently, and now, in the blink of an eye, her true colors had shown. Hua Chun shook her head, reaching out to shield Qing Niao behind her, saying nothing—yet her gaze remained firm as she looked back at her, plainly conveying an attitude of “yes, that’s how I trained her, so what are you going to do about it.”

When it came to sheer bravado, she really had learned well from Yuwen Jie.

Consort Shu froze, perhaps not expecting Hua Chun to be so domineering, and her expression turned even uglier. “Such airs Her Ladyship Consort De puts on.”

Hua Chun looked utterly innocent. “I’m just sitting here, having said nothing and done nothing—how exactly do you see such airs in that?”

“You…” Casting aside all pretense of courtesy, Consort Shu’s brows knit sharply. “Even though my lady already holds the position of Consort De, surely you can still see how things stand in this palace? To put it bluntly, what you say right now may not even carry as much weight as Noble Concubine Wu’s words—so why exactly do you put on such a high and mighty air, keeping everyone at arm’s length?”

Hua Chun shrugged. “You suddenly bring an imperial physician to my door demanding to check my pulse, and I refuse, and that’s considered putting on airs and keeping people at a distance? Then how about tomorrow I bring an imperial physician to your palace and do the exact same thing to you—how would that sound?”

Startled for a moment, Consort Shu frowned. “I meant well.”

“No one ever means ill—I too would only mean well for you.” Hua Chun said. “But no law of the state requires anyone to accept another person’s good intentions. Everyone has things they dislike—why must you insist so?”

Talked in circles, Consort Shu couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, thinking that this actually made a fair amount of sense…

No, wait—she’d come here specifically to check whether Consort De was pregnant. What did anything else have to do with it?!

Steeling herself, Consort Shu resumed a stern expression and looked at her. “As the one temporarily overseeing the harem, I have the right to be concerned about the health of every consort. No matter how unwilling you are today, you will still have your pulse checked.”

Qing Niao grew anxious, shooting Rui’er a pointed look, hoping for some telepathic understanding that would send her rushing off to fetch the Emperor to save the day.

However, Rui’er had never actually known that the Emperor still favored Hua Chun. Seeing Qing Niao’s pleading look, she was thoroughly confused, and simply walked toward the door without knowing exactly who she should go find.

But just as she reached the doorway, she was stopped by Consort Shu’s people.

“It’s getting late.” Consort Shu said, frowning. “You’d best let the imperial physician check your pulse quickly, so I can go back and rest sooner too.”

Hua Chun rose, glancing once at Rui’er being blocked at the door, and once more at the servants behind Consort Shu, restless and ready to act. She said, somewhat displeased, “Is this what you’d call throwing your weight around to bully others?”

“If you insist on putting it that way, then so be it.” Waving her hand, Consort Shu’s gaze turned cold. “This harem has always been a place where only those with power and influence get to speak. Your rank may be high, but without favor, you’ll just have to listen to me. If you’re unhappy about it, go complain to the Emperor or the Empress Dowager.”

She had an official, respectable justification after all—it was for the sake of Consort De’s health, so how could there possibly be anything wrong with that?

Hua Chun sneered coldly, her temper flaring up as well. “What you say makes sense—in this harem, only those with power and influence get to speak. My palace has few people and can’t protect much of anything. If you want the physician to check my pulse, then go ahead.”

“My lady!” Qing Niao lunged forward to shield her, but a burly eunuch beside Consort Shu kicked her square in the stomach, sending her staggering back several steps, her face turning ashen.

“You dare hit people now?” Eyes flaring wide, seeing Qing Niao’s pained expression, Hua Chun’s anger surged, and she glared fiercely at the eunuch. “You get the hell over here!”

The eunuch froze, perhaps not expecting Consort De to react so strongly. He glanced at Consort Shu, then stood with his head raised behind his own mistress, unmoving, wearing the look of a dog relying on its master’s power.

Hua Chun was normally quite easygoing—no matter what was done to her, it didn’t much matter. But once someone touched Qing Niao, every protective instinct in her body kicked in at once. All reason abandoned her, and she grabbed the stool beside her and hurled it straight at the eunuch.

“My lady!” Qing Niao, both furious and anxious, terrified she’d get hurt, clutched her stomach and hurried back to her side. Watching the stool get batted away by the eunuch, she gritted her teeth. “Consort Shu, don’t blame this servant for not warning you—if you keep making trouble like this, you may end up biting off more than you can chew!”

“Oh my, how terrifying.” Consort Shu, too, had let her temper run away with her, her face full of mockery. “We’ll see who ends up biting off more than they can chew. How dare you throw a stool at me! Little Fangzi, you’ve done well protecting me—there will be a reward waiting for you when we get back!”

“Thank you, my lady!” The eunuch grinned, shot Hua Chun a glance, and bowed respectfully to Consort Shu.