Ziwei has been feeling depressed these past few days.

When he told others that he and Shui Xinyuan were playmates who grew up together, and had a chance to become a couple, everyone had a strange look on their face.

Some showed sympathetic expressions like the two forbidden soldiers, some turned pale and ran away, some laughed, and some even showed extremely displeased expressions... No one had the reaction Ziwei expected.

Ziwei was looking forward to others saying to him, "What a pity" or "It's amazing that you have the opportunity to marry a woman like the Queen."

Unexpectedly, everyone said the same thing to him as Yifu, either telling him not to mention it again, or telling him to be careful not to let His Majesty know about it.

...what a disappointment...

Why doesn’t anyone get what they want?

The washerwoman even burst into laughter and choked him: "How brave you are to dare to compete with His Majesty."

...Who said we should compete?

Besides, he has never seen what the emperor looks like.

I heard from the washerwoman that His Majesty looks very serious, but he is very tall and handsome. However, what that kind of woman says cannot be trusted.

...I'm not short either. When I go out, many women come to show their courtesy...

Moreover, the washerwoman also asserted: "The emperor loves the queen very much. The queen will definitely be much happier marrying the emperor than marrying you."

It's just like a dog looking down on others. How do you know this kind of thing without actually getting married and trying it out?

Shui Xinyuan, like herself, was born in a peasant family. Although her bloodline is relatively good... But being the queen of a country is too high, isn't it? Is Shui Xinyuan really happy living in a place like this?

However, even if Shui Xinyuan doesn't like her, she probably won't dare to refuse. After all, the person he wants to marry is...

"Hello!"

Ziwei stopped pulling weeds and thought about his thoughts. He suddenly heard a rough voice and was startled. Before turning around, he sat down on the ground.

"It hurts, it hurts...what, what are you doing..."

"Are you the gardener who lives in the same hometown as the Queen?"

"Well……"

He sat on the ground and looked up, and found a man with sharp eyes looking down at him.

He was not wearing the large armor that soldiers wore on the battlefield, but the same light helmet as the imperial guards in the palace, but the color and shape of the armor were different from the imperial guards in the palace.

"Answer quickly! Are you a gardener from the same hometown as the Queen?"

"Ah, ah ah."

Ziwei was frightened by the other party's intimidating attitude. He forgot to stand up and nodded hurriedly.

The man in armor raised his chin and motioned for Ziwei to stand up.

The scar on the man's mouth made him feel even scarier...

"Follow me...my master is looking for you."

"Find me?"

"Stop being wordy and come with me."

If you resist, you may be beaten severely.

Ziwei was very scared, but even if he wanted to ask for help, the courtyard of Longquan Palace, where few people usually came, was empty, and Yifu had just left because of something.

Ziwei could only follow behind the armored man with trembling legs.

At the same moment, Shui Xinyuan didn't know that Ziwei was spreading rumors that he had proposed to her. She was in the reception room of Chunying Palace, dealing with visitors with an awkward smile.

Today's visitors are the wife of Han Shizhong and the wife of Zhou Shangshu... These two ministers have young daughters at home.

"...Yes, yes! Lord Yue's wife is too! She gave birth successfully the day before yesterday."

"Have you given birth to a son or a daughter?"

"Son, her husband is very happy."

...Maybe Zhuyan and Yaoer will feel more relaxed when they come...

The two ladies ignored Shui Xinyuan and no longer had the strength to agree, so they kept chattering to themselves.

Although the days are longer now, the sky is getting darker.

The two ladies did not actively invite Shui Xinyuan to participate in the conversation. They did not need to come to Chunying Palace and could just chat at their own homes. In fact, their real purpose was to tell Shui Xinyuan what he said.

Although they were talking about happy events, if they were told deliberately to Shui Xinyuan, it would become a sarcasm.

Lu Fusu appointed Shui Xinyuan as his queen and abolished the harem. Currently, Shui Xinyuan is the emperor's only wife. Although a year has passed, those princes, nobles and high-ranking officials who want to use their daughters to become imperial concubines still feel that

The queen is in the way.

Although the direct motive of the Xishenguan Rebellion was the fight for the throne, there were also people among the masterminds who originally wanted their daughters to become the imperial concubines.

After the rebellion, the princes and nobles restrained themselves for a while, but recently they have gradually shown hostility in front of Shui Xinyuan... The reason is that the ladies who married at the same time as Shui Xinyuan all became pregnant one after another and gave birth to children.

Although there are still some people who want to restore the harem, most officials gave up the idea of ​​letting their daughters or sisters marry into the harem after the emperor announced that the queen was his only wife, and let them marry separately.

Therefore, there are almost very few single girls of school age in the capital now.

One year has passed... good news has spread from the newlyweds' homes, but not only has no prince or princess been born in the palace, there is not even news of pregnancy.

Therefore, those meddlesome princes, nobles and ladies came to Chunying Palace one after another to tell Shui Xinyuan about the happy events in their families, thereby hinting to her that if she was still unable to get pregnant, she should open the harem as soon as possible.

"And, do you know? Mr. Xu's wife may also..."

"Really? Didn't she just get married in the spring? It's so gratifying..."

Shui Xinyuan noticed that they were looking at her from time to time when they were talking, but she looked at the tea cup in her hand and tried not to meet their eyes.

She didn't want to see their proud expressions.

...In this matter, there is no way to complain to Qing'er...

Qing'er is currently pregnant. Shui Xinyuan doesn't want her to worry about him. He only hopes that she will give birth to the child smoothly.

Although Shui Xinyuan was miserable, the maids stood in a row behind her and glared at the two ladies, which made Shui Xinyuan feel a little comforted...

Having said that, the two ladies who continued chatting under the cold eyes of more than a dozen maids were even more remarkable.

Just when Shui Xinyuan felt like he was about to faint, there was a knock on the door and an older maid walked in.

"Excuse me, His Majesty will return to the palace soon. Madams, please come back!"

"Oh, it's already so late?"

"Ah, why do you sit there for so long..."

The tone of the two ladies did not sound like they were apologizing, but rather as if they were scolding the maid for interrupting their conversation, but Shui Xinyuan only wanted them to leave as soon as possible.

After saying goodbye politely, Han Shizhong’s wife turned around at the door and said:

"Oh, look at my memory...I have forgotten to mention important things."

"……What's up?"

Shui Xinyuan hurriedly put away his sigh and straightened his body.

"Next time we all go to a banquet together, I hope the Queen can also attend..."

"Everyone...means...?"

"There are only seven or eight people."

Shui Xinyuan wanted to ask not about the number of people, but who was participating. She guessed that they were all wives of princes and nobles.

"Yes, yes, I will go too. The Queen occasionally goes outside the palace to relax."

No, attending such an occasion will never distract you.

For Shui Xinyuan, it was enough to have lunch with the palace maids in the cafeteria of the temple, or have snacks in the courtyard with Qing'er and the other maids.

"Thank you two ladies for your kindness, but it's very troublesome for me to leave the palace..."

"Oh! It doesn't matter, my queen must come to participate."

"That's right! ...Moreover, Concubine Chen often dines out with us."

Concubine Chen is the late emperor's concubine, but she is not Lu Fusu's mother, but Lu Wuxian's biological mother.

"We will take care of the procedures for leaving the palace, so the Queen doesn't have to worry."

"We will notify you of the date and location in a few days, hehehe..."

...This seems to have been an established matter, and Shui Xinyuan has no choice at all...

The two ladies left with smiles on their faces, which was heart-wrenching to watch.

"The Queen..."

Shui Xinyuan turned around and found that all the maids were looking at him with frowns.

"Your expressions..."

"I'm sorry, because I've always had this expression just now and I can't take it back..."
To be continued...