Meng Tinghui was stunned into silence and sank back into her seat.

How could she have imagined that Shen Zhishu, the Transport Commissioner of an entire route and a personal official of the Emperor from a noble family of officials, would have married so hastily? Most likely, even the Shen household in the capital was still unaware!

Shortly after, Yan Fuzhi came from the rear courtyard of the prefect’s office to the main hall. Her steps showed some laziness as she entered, but her clothing and appearance remained impeccably elegant.

Meng Tinghui watched her enter, her gaze fixed directly on the slightly protruding small belly beneath Yan Fuzhi’s wide, long skirt, leaving her completely dumbfounded.

Ying Gua, sitting nearby, remained calm and composed, looking at her and saying, “Since you are with child, there’s no need for a formal ceremony.”

Yan Fuzhi walked to Shen Zhishu’s side. Though she did not kneel, she still performed a graceful formal greeting, saying, “This commoner thanks Your Majesty for bestowing official rank on the Yan family descendants. The Imperial Army soldiers have shed blood in battle—what the Yan family has contributed in money and provisions cannot compare to those who gave their flesh and blood. Your Majesty’s favor is excessive, truly making this commoner fearful.” After speaking, she turned to look at Meng Tinghui, her eyes calm and gentle, and with a smile said, “Greetings to the Empress.”

Ying Gua glanced at Shen Zhishu, then said to her, “To be frank, when I previously granted official ranks to the Yan family, it was simply so that Yan Zhi would no longer need to feel constrained or troubled.”

She lowered her eyes. “Thank you for Your Majesty’s grace.”

Earlier, Shen Zhishu had submitted a memorial to the court requesting recognition of the Yan family’s contributions in providing grain and rewarding the army. The central government ministers had also proposed rewards for the Yan family to set an example. The Emperor had thus granted official ranks to the Yan family descendants. Her two younger brothers had both been recommended to the Imperial Academy, and her father had received an honorary eighth-rank position. As a result, though her status could not compare to Shen Zhishu’s background as the descendant of generals and ministers, the gap was not overly large.

Meng Tinghui could no longer contain herself. She stood up and walked over to examine her closely. “Your condition is different from before. Please sit down before we continue.”

Yan Fuzhi turned to stare at her, suddenly bursting into tears and saying angrily, “When you came to Qingzhou to see me that day, did you intend to bid me a final farewell? I’m truly foolish, repeatedly deceived by you so miserably!”

Meng Tinghui knew her temperament well—she would cry or laugh without regard for others or the occasion. But fearing that her dramatic emotional swings might affect the pregnancy, she softly coaxed, “I promise never to deceive you again.”

She remained angry. “Stop trying to soothe me with these empty words. I know that in your heart, there’s no one but him. What am I in your eyes?”

Shen Zhishu stepped forward and gently encircled her waist, his eyes warm as he smiled lightly and said, “You’re still in the presence of the Emperor, yet you keep saying ‘you’ and ‘him.’ Are you trying to get me demoted and fined?” Then, addressing the Emperor, he said, “My household lacks discipline. We’ve made Your Majesty laugh at us.”

“It’s no matter,” Ying Gua said, his gaze calm and his face expressionless. “You are indeed perfectly matched.”

Meng Tinghui blushed at her words, then returned to sit beside him. She glanced at him, and seeing his expression unchanged, pressed her lips together in a smile.

Although Yan Fuzhi was being embraced by Shen Zhishu, she remained unsatisfied and wanted to say more. However, seeing Ying Gua gently take Meng Tinghui’s hand and grasp it in his palm, her expression subtly changed. She closed her lips, sighed slightly in her heart, and turned to Shen Zhishu, saying, “I suddenly feel some pain in my belly.”

Shen Zhishu immediately became anxious. After hastily apologizing to the imperial couple, he supported Yan Fuzhi back to the rear courtyard.

She was somewhat stunned, her gaze following Yan Fuzhi’s slightly unsteady gait. After a long while, she withdrew her eyes and turned to look at him.

He said, “Seeing the two of them like this, are you satisfied?”

She felt slightly embarrassed. “What does it have to do with me? But Yan Fuzhi becoming pregnant so quickly truly makes me envious.”

He gently squeezed her hand. “No need to envy.” He turned his head to look down at her. “Given the feelings between us, heaven would not leave you without sons or daughters.”

On the day they left Qingzhou, news arrived from the north that Di Nian had led his troops to decisively defeat Jizhou, the capital of Northern Jian. The Northern Jian Emperor, Xiang Deqian, had hastily gathered palace treasures and fled north across the river with his civil and military officials. This red-flagged victory report immediately stirred up emotions among the military and civilians in the northern territories. Combined with the Emperor and Empress rewarding the troops and civil officials at the border, frontline morale increased dramatically. With the Northern Jian capital fallen and their emperor fleeing north, their army was utterly demoralized. The day when the Great Peace army would sweep through Northern Jian’s major cities and fortresses and capture Xiang Deqian and his subordinates seemed imminent.

As the imperial procession proceeded eastward to reward the various armies, she remained by his side day and night.

At more than ten major border fortresses, the military knew of the deep affection between the Emperor and Empress, while the state and prefectural civil officials had personally witnessed how they respected and cherished each other. Soon, rumors spread among the common people in the northern territories. The people no longer believed that the Emperor had established Meng Tinghui as Empress merely out of concern for the people’s suffering from warfare and under pressure from the rebel forces.

When the imperial visit reached Zizhou in the Linhuai Route, another report arrived from the two government offices in the capital, urging the Emperor and Empress to return to the capital as soon as possible.

Following Di Nian’s great victory report reaching the capital, the court increasingly believed that Northern Jian’s momentum had waned. They frequently sent memorials to the northern front, requesting the Emperor to consider his responsibility for the imperial succession and return to the capital early with the Empress.

Unable to disregard the wishes of the two government offices, and with the rewarding of troops nearly complete, he immediately mobilized eight thousand troops and formally began the return journey to the capital with her.

The return journey to the capital was smooth, but she remained concerned about political affairs and people’s livelihoods in the northern territories. Thinking about the war-ravaged people and whether they could receive proper settlement from the government, she couldn’t put her mind at ease. Every few days, she would ask him for reports from northern officials to review.

They entered the capital at year’s end. The city was covered in silver snow, with households decorated to celebrate the new year. Because of the northern victories, the entire capital was immersed in a harmonious atmosphere.

The earlier matters of establishing her as Empress and granting her territories had naturally caused considerable controversy at court, but much time had passed since then. Additionally, all the northern rebel forces had surrendered and joined with the Great Peace Imperial Army to attack Northern Jian, leading to the current victorious situation. The Emperor’s prestige in the military had reached unprecedented heights, and important border officials widely approved of his establishing her as Empress and granting her territories. Even if the two government offices in the capital harbored objections, they could no longer change anything.

However, the hasty ceremony establishing her as Empress in the military camp was not acceptable to the Ministry of Rites in the capital. Shen Zhili had early on submitted a memorial proposing that the ceremony establishing her as Empress be properly conducted in the palace, so that the Empress’s position as the mother figure of the empire could be properly established.

This memorial is precisely aligned with his wishes.

She had originally been unwilling to conduct such elaborate ceremonies while the war was not yet settled, but she truly could not go against court protocol and his wishes, so she reluctantly agreed.

As the new year approached, Shen Zhili, with her efficient personality, discussed with the other officials in the Ministry of Rites and drafted a memorial to submit, requesting that the grand ceremony to establish the Empress be held during the New Year’s Court Assembly.

With time so pressing, Meng Tinghui suddenly felt nervous, thinking there were far too many things to be done and that she could never complete them all.

The palace had initially intended to make Yangshou Palace the Imperial Consort’s sleeping quarters, but this proposal was rejected by Ying Gua. He ordered Xihua Palace to be slightly refurbished to serve as her Imperial Consort’s residence.

This matter again greatly shocked the court.

Xihua Palace had formerly been the Emperor Emeritus’s sleeping quarters. Now the Emperor had allocated it for the Empress’s exclusive use. What was his intention—did it need to be explained by others? Even those who had previously questioned the reasons behind establishing her as Empress and granting her territories now fully understood.

Just five days before the ceremony, the ceremonial robes were finally completed by the Imperial Wardrobe and presented. Due to the time constraints, Shen Zhili represented the Ministry of Rites to enter the palace to help Meng Tinghui try on the clothes and explain the ceremony, checking whether anything needed to be adjusted before the grand ceremony—changes could still be made at this point.

In the palace, silver snow was ankle-deep, but inside Xihua Palace, warmth permeated the heart. Several incense burners in the corners of the hall emitted a faint fragrance that refreshed the spirit.

Meng Tinghui allowed the palace maids to dress her layer by layer in the complex ceremonial robes. She raised her eyebrows and smiled at Shen Zhili, saying, “Even when I was a palace official before, I never wore such heavy clothing.”

Shen Zhili looked at her, then at her reflection in the mirror, and instructed the palace maids, “This part must be tightened more to look better. On the day of the ceremony, don’t forget what I’ve said today. Otherwise, if there’s the slightest error in serving the Empress, you will be punished.”

The palace maids repeatedly acknowledged her instructions and, according to her directions, unfastened and retied the clothing sashes.

For decades, the nation had not conducted a ceremony to establish an Empress, let alone prepared the empress’s clothing and accessories. These young palace maids had never experienced such an occasion and were all flustered, fearing they might make mistakes in the Ministry of Rites’ important affairs.

After much effort, Shen Zhili finally showed a trace of satisfaction. She turned to look at Meng Tinghui, only to find that she had fallen asleep on the low couch. She pressed her lips together and patted Meng Tinghui’s hand lightly, softly saying, “Empress, Empress.”

Meng Tinghui slowly awakened, her eyes misty with sleep. It took her quite a while to remember what she was doing. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she looked at Shen Zhili and said, “The way you call me sounds quite jealous.”

Shen Zhili stepped forward to arrange her skirt, measuring its length up and down, and said, “Seeing Your Majesties together day and night, while I must pine for my husband thousands of li away—how could I not be jealous?”

Meng Tinghui took her hand and said softly, “Last night, the two government offices received another victory report. The day when Xiang Deqian will be captured alive is not far off. General Di will return soon. By then, he will surely be ennobled and appointed as a general, and your glory will not be lacking.”

“I do not covet such glory,” Shen Zhili said, lowering her eyes with a smile on her lips. “As long as he returns safely, that’s enough.” As she spoke, she raised her eyes to carefully examine Meng Tinghui’s complexion, saying, “Why is the Empress so tired today? You’ve only been awake for a short while, yet you’re already drowsy.”

Meng Tinghui frowned. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. These past few days, I have constantly felt like sleeping. My head feels foggy and heavy, as if I can’t remember things clearly.”

Shen Zhili’s eyes suddenly brightened. She moved closer and whispered, “Would you like me to summon an Imperial Physician to check your pulse? Perhaps it’s…”

She was slightly stunned, then said, “After so many days in the north without any sign, how could I possibly become pregnant just after returning to the capital? It’s surely impossible.”

Shen Zhili smiled and directly turned to call a palace maid. “Go to the Imperial Medical Academy and summon someone to Xihua Palace. Say that the Empress is slightly unwell, but it’s nothing serious. There’s no need to report to the Emperor for every little thing.”