Half a year later, Li Rui got pregnant.
Ten months later, Li Rui gave birth to a boy, and the Third Prince was born.
Then, Li Rui got pregnant again and gave birth to the Eighth Princess.
Li Rui's successive pregnancies angered the Emperor, and he alienated Li Rui.
But Li Rui didn't love the Emperor, so she didn't care about the Emperor's estrangement. Instead, she had more time to fight for a better future for her children.
Li Rui started to scheme like the other concubines.
But unlike the other concubines, Li Rui had the support of the Empress Dowager and the Minister of Revenue. Li Rui soon became the only existence in the Emperor's harem.
She was even conferred the title of Imperial Concubine under the Empress Dowager's recommendation.
Three years later, the Empress died of "illness".
As the Imperial Concubine, Li Rui naturally became the next Empress.
Under the coercion of the Empress Dowager and the previous dynasty, Li Rui became the Empress.
Not long after Li Rui officially became the Empress, Brother Su proposed a reform.
Gu Yuan began to withdraw from the court, cultivate his mind, and quietly wait for the birth of his children.
Li Rui enjoyed the pleasure of the Emperor's harem's concubines kneeling to greet her every day, but her heart was as barren as a desert.
Li Rui didn't even know what she wanted.
Li Rui didn't like the Emperor.
Even though she gave birth to a son and a daughter for him, she still didn't love him.
She didn't even love her children. Because in her heart, she gave birth to the children for the sake of fighting for power. She didn't really want them to be born.
In her view, the children were just tools for her to fight for power. Their birth meant that her power was consolidated. She didn't really want to give birth to the two children. She really liked her children.
Even now, Li Rui still wanted Gu Yuan.
But it was different from before.
In the past, Li Rui liked Gu Yuan, but now she yearned for Gu Yuan.
Or rather, she yearned for the life she could have had if the person she married was Gu Yuan.
That was probably the life he truly wanted to live.
Li Rui became the Empress, so she naturally had the power to summon all the women.
Unexpectedly, the first person Li Rui summoned was Jiujiu.
When Li Rui saw Jiujiu again, her face was filled with disbelief.
Eight years had passed, and Jiujiu was still pregnant with a child. However, other than the slight bulge in her belly, she was no different from a teenage girl. In fact, her appearance was much more delicate than before, especially between her eyebrows, which were filled with gentleness and happiness.
Her cheeks were rosy, and it was obvious that it was the kind of blush that rose from happiness. No matter how much rouge she used, it was impossible to make such a beautiful rosy.
Even though she was now the Empress and had unparalleled authority, she still couldn't help but feel jealous when she saw the faint blush on Qingcheng's face.
He was really jealous.
If the person who married Gu Yuan back then was her and not Jiujiu, then the person who was doted on by Gu Yuan would be her.
She didn't need to fight for a man with a group of women like those women. She didn't even need to give birth to a child that she didn't love in order to consolidate her power.
Even if she didn't like this child, she didn't want to have a child.
Li Rui couldn't suppress the jealousy in her heart, and her delicate golden armor was crushed by her fingers.
Li Rui said, "This consort hated you the most when she was outside the palace. Now that so many years have passed, you're still as detestable as ever."
She was so detestable in every way.
Jiujiu smiled generously and rubbed her belly. "Your Highness, you're wrong. It's not that you hate this consort, it's just that Your Highness can't compare to this consort in every way. That's why you're angry."
Jiujiu's words were like a sharp knife that cut open Li Rui's healed scars, revealing the tender flesh that was riddled with scars.
She said the reason why Li Rui hated her.
It wasn't because Li Rui hated her, but because Li Rui couldn't compare to her in every way. That was why Li Rui hated her so much.
Li Rui's years of brainwashing had been exposed by Jiujiu, and Li Rui's face turned green and purple.
Li Rui bit her lip and looked at Jiujiu, but couldn't say a word for a long time.
It was clearly Li Rui who had summoned Jiujiu into the palace, but in the end, Li Rui was the one who was embarrassed.
Li Rui wanted to do something to Jiujiu.
However, Jiujiu was very shrewd. After entering the palace, she hadn't touched a single bite of food or drink. It was easy to tamper with the spices, but Jiujiu was Gu Yuan's wife. Even though the emperor had distanced himself from Gu Yuan, Gu Yuan had been an official in court for decades. Even though he had retired, his connections couldn't be cleaned up overnight.
Li Rui didn't have full confidence, so she didn't dare to make a move against Jiujiu.
Her son hadn't been crowned the Crown Prince yet. A few days ago, she had summoned his father and other officials to force the emperor to abdicate so that he could crown the Crown Prince as soon as possible.
Although her son wasn't the eldest son, she was now the empress, so her son was the legitimate son.
It was perfectly justifiable for the legitimate son to be crowned the Crown Prince.
At the critical moment of letting his child become the Crown Prince, it would not be fun if he was targeted by Gu Yuan because he made a move on Jiujiu.
Although Li Rui was angry, she still had a sense of propriety.
Li Rui thought about it and decided to wait until after her son ascended the throne before settling the score with Jiujiu.
However, Li Rui never thought about whether her son could ascend the throne.
After Jiujiu returned from the palace, she immediately changed out of all her clothes. After taking a bath, she felt alive again and started to eat.
She was now pregnant, so she got hungry quickly. Since entering the palace in the morning, she hadn't eaten or drunk anything. Her chest was already pressed against her back.
Jiujiu finished an entire table of dishes in one go before she felt alive again.
After eating and drinking to her heart's content, Jiujiu let out a satisfied burp. Gu Yuan walked in.
Seeing that his wife was refreshed and didn't look like she was being bullied, Gu Yuan strode over. "I heard from Gu 'an that you were summoned to the palace by the empress. Why did she summon you?"
Jiujiu followed Gu Yuan's hand and lay down on the lounge chair. As she rubbed her slightly bloated belly from eating too much, she said, "After she became the empress, she wanted to show off to me that she was better off than me. In the end, she found out that even though I was pregnant, my complexion was much better than hers. I didn't think much of it, but she was furious."
Thinking of Li Rui's flustered and exasperated expression, Jiujiu couldn't help but curve her lips and reveal a gloating smile.
Seeing that his wife didn't look like she was being bullied, Gu Yuan couldn't help but curve his lips.
"It's good that you're fine. Oh right, General Bai just sent someone to deliver an invitation."
Bai Ze had already been in the capital for half a month. Other than attending court, he had been in seclusion. Gu Yuan had originally thought that he wanted to discuss matters of state with him, but he did not expect that the person he wanted to see on the card was actually his wife.
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