Chapter 704: Chapter 703: 703: It's Not That I Don't Want to, It's That I Can't

Jiang Ning looked up, and it was Princess Zhenming – the recently conferred Concubine Ya.

Here in the Empress’s presence, although everyone was chatting and laughing, it was all done with the concubines sitting on either side of them. There was no loud noise or people wandering around.

Under everyone’s gaze, Concubine Ya walked straight over to Jiang Ning from the opposite side, her melancholy eyes carrying a hint of a smile.

Jiang Ning took out all the crab yellow melon seeds from her purse, grabbed a handful, and handed them to her with a smile. “Crab yellow melon seeds, easy to eat. Here, you try.”

Concubine Ya took them and began eating them while standing, looking very composed.

If such an unruly behavior came from anyone else, it would undoubtedly provoke the Empress’s displeasure and the disdain of the other concubines.

But she was a princess of the Silla Kingdom, a newcomer to the palace who had just been summoned to the Emperor’s bed. At a time when the Emperor was still thinking about her, even the Empress would not dare to provoke her easily.

So, Concubine Ya continued to eat while standing.

It was not proper for Jin Man to sit in front of her, so she stood up and whispered, “Princess… No, Your Highness Concubine Ya, please sit down.”

From the Silla Kingdom’s point of view, she was a noblewoman, and Concubine Ya was a princess. Here, she was a consort of the Crown Prince, and Concubine Ya was the Emperor’s concubine.

No matter how one looked at it, she was ranked lower.

Concubine Ya was not polite either. She nodded and sat down next to Jiang Ning.

This behavior was somewhat willful.

However, her status was such that no one would argue with her for it.

Everyone could see that the newly-arrived Concubine Ya was very close to and depended on the Princess Consort.

In this harem, some dared not provoke the Princess Consort and were tamed by her, while others actively sought her protection.

The Empress sat at the topmost position, watching this scene, and suddenly realized that in the harem, the Princess Consort seemed to be more valued and held a higher status than her, the Empress.

This feeling was not pleasant at all.

With the Emperor still alive and well, the Princess Consort had already assumed the role of the Number One Lady in the harem. Once the Emperor was gone, would she still have a place in this harem?

Would the Princess Consort not bully her to death?

It was uncertain whether the Empress could even remain in the harem in the future.

Thinking of this, the Empress felt dispirited and no longer had the energy to deal with the situation.

She said with a smile, “I’ve been so busy these past two days that I’m exhausted. You all should go back too.”

All the concubines stood up hurriedly.

The Empress continued, “Princess Consort, there’s one more thing I need to discuss with you. In a few days, the selected ladies will gradually enter the palace. I’m too drained to attend to some matters. You’ll have to put in more effort.”

Jiang Ning thought to herself, why should the Emperor’s selecting concubines be her responsibility instead of the Empress’s?

What a strange idea.

However, she couldn’t refuse in front of all the concubines and agreed with a smile.

The Empress waved her hand, dismissing them all.

Jiang Ning led the three children back to the East Palace, only to find that Li Hongyuan was there too.

He was sitting in the room eating glutinous rice balls.

“Come and eat with me,” Li Hongyuan glanced at Jiang Ning, “I have something to talk to you about.”

“Oh.”

Jiang Ning sat down opposite him.

Li Hongyuan scooped up a glutinous rice ball, blew on it, and fed it to her, casually saying, “You didn’t have an appetite this morning when you took the medicine, and you’ve been sitting with the Empress for half a day. You must be hungry now.”

Jiang Ning looked at him, “So you specifically brought me some glutinous rice balls to eat?”

Li Hongyuan said, “Just don’t take the medicine anymore.”

Jiang Ning didn’t say anything.

“Are you really so unwilling to have a child with me?”

“It’s not that I’m unwilling to have one with you, it’s that I don’t want to have one with anyone,” Jiang Ning said slowly while eating the rice balls. “I’ll tell you the truth for the sake of these glutinous rice balls. It’s not that I’m not willing to have a child, but that I can’t have one.”