At that time, she had naively wished for a man who could devote his whole being to her. Unfortunately, her marriage life turned out nothing like what she wanted.
Although Wu Sheng had treated her fairly well in the first few years of their marriage, their relationship, despite how blissful it had been, eventually failed to stand the passage of time.
Because of her inability to produce children, Wu Sheng gradually lost patience with her. He then fell in love with his concubine and made up an excuse to divorce her and send her away.
She had seen a physician and found that she was not at all infertile, which meant that it was Wu Sheng’s own problem.
If the Heavens were willing to grant her another chance, she would definitely seize it and climb her way to the top so that no one could ever hurt her again.
Li Tong’er was still lost in thought when they arrived at the palace.
The carriage rolled to a halt outside the palace gates.
She got out after her family, just in time to see the Grand Duke Family’s carriage appear.
With bulging eyes, she watched as the palace guards allowed the Grand Duke Family’s carriage to pass through the gates.
The sight of the Grand Duke Family’s carriage driving straight into the palace prompted a series of envious exclamations from the crowd around her.
A number of people were whispering too, but all their remarks were, without exception, centered around the Grand Duke Family’s success in raising such an excellent daughter.
Li Tong’er gripped the handkerchief in her hands silently, feeling a little scornful. Was there not a saying that went, “immense prosperity forebodes the beginning of decline”?
Lu Liangwei may be favored now, but who could guarantee that that favor would last forever?
Inside the palace.
The Grand Duke Family’s carriage headed straight for Grand Phoenix Palace.
The weather was lovely that day, and the Dowager Duchess and Aunt Lan had made the journey too.
After getting down from her carriage, Ling Lihua turned around and helped the two elderly women down.
Lu Liangwei, who had already received the news of their arrival, came out to greet them with Zhu Yu and Chu Jiu.
After exchanging a few greetings, they moved indoors together.
The Dowager Duchess studied Lu Liangwei’s belly for a moment before saying, “It’s only been a while, but your belly seems to have grown much bigger.”
Lu Liangwei was aware that her bump was much larger than the average person’s, but she was not worried at all.
“It might get even bigger soon.” Her expression was relaxed.
The Dowager Duchess sighed inwardly.
Despite her concern, she did not voice it out and changed the subject instead. “Why did you suddenly decide to invite the court officials and their families to a banquet?”
Previously on Weiwei’s birthday, she had heard from her that they would not be celebrating the Emperor’s birthday extravagantly either.
“The peach blossoms in the Western Gardens are blooming really beautifully, so I thought of inviting everyone to admire them together. The more people, the more fun, right?” Lu Liangwei came up with an excuse to throw her off.
However, the Dowager Duchess was no ordinary person, and she also understood her granddaughter well. She knew that the girl was not fond of showing off, so she must be hiding something from her.
Nevertheless, she stopped herself from inquiring further and only warned, “There’ll be a huge crowd later. Be careful, all right?” She then instructed Zhu Yu and Chu Jiu to follow Lu Liangwei closely and pay attention to their surroundings once they arrived at the Western Gardens later.
Both of them respectfully responded in understanding.
Now that the Empress was seven months pregnant, it was important that they be on their toes.
Both of them were highly alert and determined to guard the Empress closely when they arrived at the Western Gardens later.
Their conversation continued for a while before Long Yang finally came over with Lu Hetian.
Grand Phoenix Palace was some distance away from the Western Gardens. If it were any other day, Lu Liangwei would have chosen to go there on foot so she could have a nice little stroll.
However, this day was different, and she would not return from the Western Gardens particularly soon either—she would have to socialize with all those guests, after all—so she obeyed Long Yang and rode in the Emperor’s carriage with him.
The others got into their respective carriages as well.
The fleet of carriages arrived at the Western Gardens in procession.
Crowds of people thronged the place. Many court officials and their families had shown up and gathered in the Western Gardens to admire the peach blossoms.