According to medical reasoning, this is not advisable. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't go in. If I encountered something unpleasant, it would be embarrassing. So I stayed outside the door.
Inside the palace, Ye Lingfeng held Hai Ling in his arms, his eyes burning with intense passion as he stared at her. Hai Ling couldn't help but swallow, then nervously asked, "What...what do you want to do?"
Ye Lingfeng was taken aback, then laughed. He really had no idea what was going on in this girl's head.
"What do you say we should do? This is our bridal chamber for the night, so naturally we should do what we should do."
Ye Lingfeng's already stunningly beautiful face, coupled with the charm he deliberately exuded, was simply irresistible. Hai Ling unconsciously stuck out her tongue and licked her lips. Her little pink tongue flashed for a moment before retracting, but it made Ye Lingfeng's mind explode. He had been teasing her on purpose, but now he was aroused by her unintentional little action and couldn't help but lean down and kiss her cherry lips.
Just as sweet as she had imagined, after a short while, they were both panting and let go of each other.
It was their first time together, so they didn't even take a breath while kissing, and their faces turned red from holding their breath.
Hai Ling watched as Ye Lingfeng leaned closer again, seemingly addicted to kissing her. Her mind raced with wild imaginings: what should they do next? Should they do *that*? The more she thought about it, the more nervous she became, and suddenly her mind exploded with ideas.
"Wait a minute, you've memorized the six major regulations, but can you find the differences in that picture?"
A glint flashed in Ye Lingfeng's eyes, and he understood immediately. It turned out that the girl's six rules and the search for differences in the images were all because she was uneasy, so she came up with these strange tricks to buy time.
"You've already recited it. How about I recite it for you?"
He spoke softly and gently, his breath sweet as orchids, and whispered in her ear, reciting the six major rules without missing a single one. Then he took out the painting, circling the different parts. Hailing thought to herself, "Who says the ancients were stupid? Some of them are no less capable than modern people."
Lost in thought, Hai Lingfeng reached out and carried her to the bed. Hai Ling cried out anxiously, "What are you doing?"
What do you think?
Ye Lingfeng tried his best to suppress his laughter, carefully placed Hailing on the bed, and leaned his tall body closer to her.
Hai Ling immediately reacted instinctively and said, "My head is so dizzy."
Then she stretched out her legs, closed her eyes, and fainted. In fact, because of the tension, her hands were still unconsciously clenched tightly, which had already given away the fact that she had not fainted at all.
However, Ye Lingfeng did not expose her. Instead, he carefully reached out and pulled a brocade quilt to cover her, then got into bed himself, lay down beside Hailing, embraced her, and began to talk to himself.
"I don't know what this little girl is thinking all day long. I just covered her with a blanket and she fainted from fright. Am I that scary?"
These words reached Hailing's ears word for word, and Hailing was terrified. The other person hadn't even thought of doing anything, yet she had fainted from fright.
Ye Lingfeng leaned down and kissed her cheek, then closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Last night, Ling'er was poisoned by dragon's tongue. Even if he was burning with desire, he couldn't ignore her health. So, from the beginning, he didn't plan to have their wedding night tonight. He would wait until she instinctively accepted him and her body recovered before having their wedding night.
Before dawn the next day, Ye Lingfeng got up, tiptoed behind the screen, and was escorted to the morning court by his personal eunuch.
When Hai Ling woke up, there was no one beside her. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Ye Lingfeng. She realized that being an emperor was so hard. Even in modern times, people have marriage leave, but it's a pity that emperors don't have this benefit.
Thinking of Ye Lingfeng reminded her of her embarrassing moment last night. He had only wanted to cover her with a blanket, but she had mistaken it for something else. How shameful! Hai Ling felt ashamed at the thought and pulled the thin blanket over her head. In fact, if she thought about it a little more, she would know that nothing could possibly happen. She had been poisoned the night before and was still very weak. Ye Lingfeng cared about her so much that he would not want her when she was in such a weak state.
Outside the screen, Shi Mei was on guard. Hearing a noise inside the room, she led two or three palace maids on night watch into the room. When they saw that their mistress had covered her face tightly with the quilt, they thought she was asleep. However, the rustling movements indicated that she was not asleep at all. Not only was she not asleep, but she seemed to be sulking. What was wrong with her so early in the morning?
"Master, you're awake?"
Hailin pulled the blanket over her head, revealing a small, bright red face that had been covered up, and then she smiled awkwardly.
"Mei'er, just woke up, hehe."
He chuckled to himself, feeling that everyone looked at him differently and that everyone was being ambiguous. He couldn't help but open his mouth to explain, "Actually, last night..."
Shi Mei knew exactly what she was trying to say. Seeing her mistress in such good spirits today, she knew they had only slept together last night and hadn't consummated their marriage yet. It seemed the Emperor truly cherished her, putting her first in everything. This made Shi Mei happy. The Emperor used to be cold and ruthless, but now he was full of tenderness and affection. It was all because of her mistress that he was so gentle. So, looking at the couple before her, Shi Mei felt she just wanted to stay by their side and watch them live happily ever after, loving each other for the rest of their lives. That would make her happy.
"Your Majesty, I know you are not feeling well. His Majesty naturally cares for you. I will now help you get up and have some breakfast. Later, we will go to Cixi Palace to pay our respects to the Empress Dowager."
Hearing Shi Mei's words, Hai Ling finally calmed down a bit. She was usually very open about everything, but she felt awkward about this kind of thing. Perhaps all women feel a little uneasy about their first time; she wasn't the only one who felt this way.
A little later, Shi Mei led people to help Hai Ling get up, and then brought in the meal so that the mistress could have breakfast.
After a flurry of activity, it was getting late. Hailing got up and led the palace maids from Qingqian Palace to Cining Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager.
The thought of meeting her mother-in-law made Hailing somewhat nervous. Since ancient times, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has been the most difficult. Even in modern times, which are so open-minded, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is still difficult to manage. How much more so in ancient times? In ancient times, the mother-in-law had a lot of power over the daughter-in-law. Although she thought the Empress Dowager was kind, she was not her mother-in-law. Now that she had truly become her mother-in-law, she wondered if her attitude would change.
The sedan chair swayed and rocked its way toward Cixi Palace, with Shimei, Shilan, and Fuyue following on either side. They dared not be careless in the slightest; they would not allow anything bad to happen to the Empress.
Cixi Palace was quite far from Qingqian Palace. There were no concubines in the palace, so the journey was very quiet. Apart from some palace maids and eunuchs leisurely wandering around, there were no other proper masters to be seen. As soon as the Empress's sedan chair passed by, the eunuchs and palace maids all knelt down and kowtowed in panic. Only after the sedan chair had passed did they dare to stand up and whisper among themselves, saying, "This is the most noble woman in the Northern Lu Kingdom. She is truly enviable." Their eyes lingered on her for a long time.
Hai Ling sat in the sedan chair. Although she didn't lift the curtain to look, her sixth sense told her that the palace was in disarray. There was no order, and no servants to serve their masters. They had nothing to do but wander around. If there were three thousand beauties in the harem, they would not only be busy serving their masters, but also seeking their own benefits, and also busy devising strategies for their masters. In short, everyone would have something to do. But now there was nothing to do. This couldn't go on for long. Thinking about it, she had an idea.
Since the palace doesn't need so many people, why not show some kindness and release some older palace maids to get married, and let the elderly eunuchs go back to their hometowns to retire?
She would mention this to the Empress Dowager when she paid her respects later. Although Ye Lingfeng had said that her power was equal to his, she didn't want to upset her mother-in-law, the Empress Dowager, once she entered the palace. After all, one was Ye Lingfeng's mother, and the other was her; both were people he cared about.
They need to coexist peacefully for Ye Lingfeng to be happy.
The sedan chair had arrived at the gate of Cixi Palace. Eunuchs and palace maids were waiting at the gate. As soon as they saw the sedan chair coming, they rushed over and knelt down, saying, "Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress."
There are no other concubines in the palace besides the Empress, so anyone with eyes can tell at a glance that this must be the Empress's sedan chair. Who would dare to be disrespectful? The Emperor has said that the Empress's power is equal to his. Not to mention the palace maids and eunuchs, even if the ministers in the court break the law, the Empress can deal with them as well.
"Get up."
Hai Ling's cool voice carried an air of authority, exuding the sternness of someone in a high position. The eunuchs and maids thanked her and rose. A leading eunuch approached and respectfully said, "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has decreed that Her Majesty the Empress is here. This servant has led Her Majesty the Empress in. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is having breakfast."
"Let's go."
At Hai Ling's command, several eunuchs from Cixi Palace led the way, and the group headed towards the main hall of Cixi Palace. Before they even entered, they could hear laughter and chatter coming from inside. It was probably the nanny who served the Empress Dowager, speaking cheerfully.
"Your Majesty, you can rest assured now. The Emperor has taken his wife, and soon the Empress will give you a little grandson. You will be content with that."
"I'll be waiting."