Palace Intrigue?: I Make the Emperor Cry by Rewinding Time!-Chapter 162 - 136

During the New Year, the palace was full of joy and happiness.

Even the palace maids and eunuchs were willing to spend money on extra dishes in the kitchen during this time, with a simple "It’s New Year’s" to justify their indulgence.

But only Yun Jiao couldn’t tolerate any sweet, sour, spicy, or oily food; whatever she ate made her nauseous.

She refused to believe in such misfortune.

"Lady, better stick to something light!"

Xue Ya advised.

Yun Jiao waved her hand: "No worries, just order according to my wishes. If I eat and feel like throwing up, you can enjoy it instead. Besides, if I don’t eat, my mother can eat for me! My mother certainly can’t eat vegetarian food alone with me."

She ordered crystal pig tendons, braised prawns, dry-fried beef, sweet and sour pork, and fish maw with ham, finishing with a pot of fish skin chicken broth soup.

Yun Jiao tried a bite of pig tendons: "Delicious... ugh... delicious..."

Xue Ya silently took the dish away.

She bit into a large prawn: "So fresh! Ugh!"

Lady Yun took the braised prawns away.

In the end, Yun Jiao looked at the empty table and only managed to eat a bowl of millet porridge and some boiled chicken breast devoid of skin and boiled again. It barely provided nutrition, but the latter she truly didn’t like: "If the chicken knew it was made like this, it wouldn’t rest in peace even six feet under! Besides, today is the fourth day of the cycle!"

On what would be a Thursday Madness centuries later, she found herself eating boiled chicken breast today.

Yun Jiao felt a surge of sadness.

Since entering the palace and using read-back, she always ate whatever she liked and never suffered such grievances!

"When I was carrying you, I didn’t vomit so much, at most I craved sweet soup eggs."

Lady Yun felt sympathy and puzzlement.

Nanny Ye thought for a moment: "There’s a saying that when pregnant, a person’s taste may change with the child; what you especially love during pregnancy might not be liked once the child is born."

Yun Jiao found it hard to believe.

Whose normal person likes eating boiled chicken breast with no oil or flavor?

Is the fetus cutting down fat and building muscle from the embryo?

Hearing that Concubine Xi was vomiting badly, Xie Zhixing went straight to Xianfu Palace after court.

He hadn’t eaten yet, and when he saw the leftover porridge and boiled meat, he was not picky and finished it up.

"Is there any nutrition in eating these?"

"I can’t eat the nutritious stuff, though I wish to eat braised pork elbow," Yun Jiao gazed at him pitifully: "Everything I can eat is bland."

Xie Zhixing casually said: "Bland? During my time in the Imperial Study, I loved eating these dishes. The light taste didn’t distract me with cravings, nor did it affect listening to the tutor’s lectures."

Yun Jiao: ...

Everyone in the room involuntarily turned their gaze.

The culprit was actually the Emperor!

So, it was you, boy, who lived without desires as a child!

Upon hearing this, Nanny Ye immediately changed her expression and said with a smile: "Turns out she takes after the Emperor, which shows a sign of great fortune."

"Great fortune? What great fortune, there’s no great fortune at all."

Starving and disoriented, Yun Jiao was in a daze.

Xie Zhixing misinterpreted "great fortune" in her context as referring to the royal blessing calligraphy. Every year, the Emperor would write a limited and randomly numbered "Fortune" character on special paper, which was a great honor to receive: "Rest assured, you won’t be lacking. I’ve bestowed it upon your father too."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Jiao covered his mouth with her hand.

The next second, she vomited right in front of him.

# (Censored) Rainbow Fountain #

Everyone was terrified, fearing that Concubine Xi’s vomit might offend the Emperor’s sight, which would be a grave breach of protocol.

But Xie Zhixing casually handed her an empty bowl from the table, letting her vomit freely, while Xue Ya brought hot water. He helped her rinse her mouth, wiped her face with a damp cloth, and then helped her drink some warm honey water to ease the discomfort.

With her face wiped by the warm cloth, Yun Jiao wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

She thought of reading back, to tell the Emperor she was going to vomit so everyone could avoid it, but then his reassuring words came from above: "If it feels uncomfortable, don’t hold it in. Do you usually vomit like this in the palace? Then don’t force yourself to eat rich food. Just eat whatever you can."

Her grip on his arm tightened.

If his words had shown any hint of disdain, she wouldn’t hesitate to read back.

But the Emperor gave her a sense that—

Vomiting in front of him wasn’t a big deal, she hadn’t done anything wrong; on the contrary, he sympathized deeply with her.

"Emperor, I want to eat rich food myself, but I can’t," Yun Jiao, teary-eyed, said: "Every time I eat, I want to vomit, so I can only manage plain vegetables and porridge."

Concern flooded Nanny Ye’s face: "Lady, you should be eating for two, but you can’t even eat enough for yourself. Your health might not hold up."

Her implication was that if Concubine Xi continued like this, she might not give birth to a healthy and strong prince.

Xie Zhixing’s brow furrowed briefly with annoyance, but he restrained himself—Nanny Ye was sent by the Empress Dowager to care for Concubine Xi, representing the Empress Dowager’s will. It was natural for the Empress Dowager to prioritize the emperor’s child. If it had been someone else saying such things, he would have asked them to be replaced already.

Nevertheless, he said, "Concubine Xi’s health is the most important. Don’t force yourself to eat if you can’t. There are delicious ways to prepare bland food. Have the kitchen make it according to light flavors, try a bite if it smells okay to you; if not, take it away." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Ying Lu received the order and left.

During the wait, Xie Zhixing tried to comfort her with kind words: "Pregnancy is difficult, but after you’ve given birth and finished your confinement, I will take you out of the palace for fun. Haven’t you frequently mentioned the snacks of the common folk? If you want to go taste them yourself, I’ll take you. If not, I’ll have the kitchen’s chef learn the most authentic way to make them."

Yun Jiao still pouted without replying.

Xie Zhixing noticed she liked being patted on the head, and after smoothing the back of her head for a while, she finally stammered, "I regret it."

His heart skipped a beat, but he controlled his breath to not startle her: "What do you regret?"

"I originally thought the Eldest Prince and Princess Ruyi were cute, and I wanted to have a cute baby too. Plus, if I got pregnant, I wouldn’t have to turn in assignments to Concubine Wei, but I didn’t expect being pregnant to be such an uncomfortable thing."

What made the palace maids and eunuchs nervous, relieved the Emperor.

At least she didn’t regret being with him.

"Moreover, what if after giving birth to this child, I get pregnant again? Emperor, you have to be honest with me, do you have an Abortion Soup?"

"...Abortion Soup?"

Xie Zhixing was utterly unfamiliar with the term.

"It’s a bowl of soup you drink after making love that prevents pregnancy."

"The palace doesn’t have anything so sinister."

"Even the Empress doesn’t have it?"

Nanny Ye’s eyebrows twitched.

Concubine Xi’s way of testing the waters was indeed straightforward and direct!

"No, but she probably has many kinds of Fetus-positioning Medicine."

Yun Jiao exhaled deeply, "I’m just afraid that after you promise to take me out of the palace once the confinement is over, if I quickly get pregnant again, how am I supposed to have fun?"

Qianlong favored Consort Ling, the frequency of his visits to her chambers was unparalleled in the harem.

The result was seven pregnancies in ten years, and she reported to Yama Hall by age forty.

Yun Jiao thought each time she would save the progress, and if there was a hint of pregnancy, she would restore the prior state.

But given the Emperor’s current attention to her, she felt her life was at a standstill.

"I thought you were nervous about something else, but it turns out you’re scared of getting pregnant again soon," Xie Zhixing’s tightly furrowed brows relaxed, "That’s easy to solve, don’t worry."

Yun Jiao looked at him with hope, "Could it be there’s Abortion Soup?"

Xie Zhixing had the palace maids, eunuchs, and nannies leave the room and then spoke to her sincerely.

"Medicine must be taken with caution, why drink such soup or medicine without cause? As long as there’s no intercourse, there won’t be any pregnancy. You’re not just here for that, if you don’t like it, don’t do it. If you later want another child, then do it," he paused, "But if, after a few years, there’s still no healthy prince, I might not be able to remain celibate for you. Actually, I don’t mind adopting a child from my second brother, but since I do have sons, in the eyes of the court officials and tradition, Jing’er is the last choice. Yet his constitution is fragile; I cannot hand Yan Chi to a Crown Prince who might succumb to a chill. Do you understand?"

Hearing the Emperor’s words, not only was he not addicted to carnal pleasures, but he even seemed a bit detached.

Xie Zhixing was not trying to move her, but it was indeed what he thought.

As an Emperor, there are many things beyond his control, for which he must be responsible to the world.

Yun Jiao: "Emperor."

"Hmm."

But if she was moved by this, it would be an unexpected delight.

Only to hear Yun Jiao softly say, "By saying this, aren’t you hurting your little brother’s feelings!"

Xie Zhixing asked her which little brother: "I am closest with my second brother; my relationships with others are so-so, and their hearts are already cold, so how could they be hurt?"

"Emperor, I mean this little brother."

"..."

Xie Zhixing grasped her hand: "I understand, stop being playful."

He gritted his teeth, his ears turning red.

Yun Jiao obediently sat properly.

The kitchen soon sent a constant stream of dishes, each one with the grease skimmed off, striving to be delicately flavored yet delicious.

She took just one bite of each dish, keeping the ones she could eat and removing those she couldn’t.

"Emperor, I don’t want to waste food, so I want to reward the palace attendants of Xianfu Palace with it. Otherwise, wasting food just weighs on my conscience."

Xie Zhixing nodded, agreeing to her request.

So, Yun Jiao spent the whole afternoon tasting dishes, which ended up filling the entire staff of Xianfu Palace to the brim.

With enough variety, there was always one or two that she could eat.

While she was tasting the dishes, Xie Zhixing was not idle; he was contemplating a win-win solution.

Eventually, when the menu for this period was finalized, he said, "I have an idea: Jing’er’s fragile health is an ailment from the womb. So, when he’s a bit older, I’ll find him a healthy Princess Consort and select an outstanding child from his descendants to be made the Imperial Grandson."

The more he thought about it, the more he felt this was a good solution.

If one were to think ideally, of course, it would be Yun Jiao bearing a son, who would then become the Crown Prince. But love hasn’t completely blinded him; he is fully aware that Yun Jiao isn’t very wise, and lacking cleverness is a significant drawback for an Emperor. Jing’er’s children would be different; by having more children, he would be able to select a clever one and bring them to the imperial palace for his personal guidance.

After saying this, Xie Zhixing elegantly rose: "Later, I’ll go to Qixiang Palace to see Princess Consort Jing."