In recent days, Wanwan had not noticed his exhaustion. Unexpectedly, Liu Fuyin, whom he had secretly met a few times, had noticed it and even took all the blame upon herself for his sake.
The intimacy between them had been forced upon her by him from the start—how could he blame her!
For a moment, the Crown Prince felt a warmth in his heart, and his voice softened slightly. “Why speak of death? Now that you are with child, you should rest well. What does the matter between me and the Crown Princess have to do with you, a Liangdi?”
Chen Wanjun clearly did not expect Liu Fuyin to pull such a move. As a woman herself, how could she not see that this Liu woman was deliberately feigning weakness? She could not help but sneer, “You, a mere concubine, truly think too highly of yourself! How dare you meddle in matters between His Highness and me? Do you think that just because you are pregnant, you can overshadow me, the Crown Princess?”
“Wanwan!” the Crown Prince rebuked angrily, but it was clear that with Liu Fuyin present, some words were inconvenient to say.
Liu Fuyin immediately understood his meaning. “Since Your Highness has already caught the snake, it would be inappropriate for me to stay any longer, lest Sister misunderstand further.”
Suppressing his anger, the Crown Prince stopped her. “Enough. It is late, and you have just suffered a threatened miscarriage. It is not suitable for you to move. Rest here for now. I will give you an explanation for this matter.”
“Wanwan, I will go to your place.”
Chen Wanjun, proud and unyielding, had never suffered the pains of love and would not easily admit fault. Her words were sharp and barbed, so that night, the two of them failed to resolve their issues. Upon returning to Guanju Hall, they even had a fierce argument.
During this time, the Crown Prince’s men had also investigated the matter of the snake. It was done by someone from the Crown Princess’s courtyard—a fact the Crown Prince did not doubt. Previously, she had thrown hot water at someone in front of the servants; naturally, releasing a snake was also driven by jealousy and resentment.
“Chen Wanjun, have I spoiled you too much, making you forget your status?” The Crown Prince could no longer contain his temper and lashed out angrily.
“Your Highness, I was severely wounded saving you back then. How could you blame me now for the sake of a mere concubine?” Almost instantly, tears welled up in Chen Wanjun’s eyes.
Hearing the first part of her words, the Crown Prince felt a pang of guilt. But thinking of how he had nearly lost his child, his attitude hardened again. “Was it you who ordered the snake to be released in Huilan Garden?”
“If Your Highness thinks so, your servant has no way to defend herself.” A flicker of panic flashed in Chen Wanjun’s heart, but facing a husband who had strayed, she quickly steeled herself.
After much turmoil, the Crown Prince rubbed his temples wearily. “Wanwan, as the principal wife, the child of a concubine is also your child. When Liu Fuyin gives birth after ten months of pregnancy, this child will also call you mother. Do you realize that if you had succeeded today, we would have lost a child?”
As a man, the Crown Prince considered all children in his household his own. In his heart, his only wife was the Crown Princess, so naturally, all the children of the women were theirs as well.
If Liu Fuyin heard this, she would have called him a scoundrel outright, let alone Chen Wanjun, who was the principal wife. “Our child? Your Highness truly knows how to jest. How can the child of a vile woman who seduced my husband be considered my child?”
“Wanwan, how have you become like this? Speaking so crudely with words like ‘that wretch’ and being so jealous—if I were to become Emperor, wouldn’t you even be unable to tolerate concubines’ children?” Such behavior would be criticized in any household; no proper lady should act this way. The Crown Prince couldn’t help but scrutinize Chen Wanjun with a probing gaze. To put it bluntly, he felt she was somewhat unfit to be the Crown Princess.
Chen Wanjun finally realized what she had said and quickly knelt down. “Your Highness, this servant misspoke in the heat of the moment. Please forgive me!”
In all their years of marriage, Chen Wanjun had hardly ever knelt before him. This time, she kowtowed earnestly.
“Mother…”
The little princess, only three years old, suddenly emerged from the side chamber, followed by a group of nannies kneeling in a row. “We are guilty, Your Highness! The princess said she couldn’t sleep and wanted to come out to see. We truly couldn’t stop her!”
At first, only Chen Wanjun was crying, but when the little princess saw her, she began to cry as well. Mother and daughter clung to each other, weeping together.
Seeing his wife humbly admitting her mistake softened the Crown Prince’s heart. When had such a radiant woman ever shown such vulnerability before? Moreover, his beloved daughter, whom he had doted on for years, was also crying. He couldn’t help but sigh.
Forget it. After all, Liu Fuyin was unharmed. He couldn’t let such a trivial matter cause a rift between him and Wanwan. In the end, he had wronged Wanwan first.
The Crown Prince crouched down as well. “Alright, stop crying, Wanwan. I was just momentarily blinded by anger. I don’t truly blame you.”
“Yuan Yuan, come here and let Father hold you.”
Li Jingyuan toddled over, her face also streaked with tears. “Father, Mother, please don’t argue anymore.”
“Alright.” Facing his only daughter, the Crown Prince’s heart melted. He gently patted her head twice.
The news of Liu Fuyin’s pregnancy spread to Fengxi Palace early the next morning. The Empress was overjoyed. “Excellent! I knew this Liu woman was capable, but I never expected her to be so promising!”
For a time, rewards flowed like water to her Huilan Garden. Not only the Empress but also His Majesty sent many gifts.
No matter how much His Majesty doted on the Sixth Prince, the Sixth Prince was still young. He had to consider the future of this child. Taking advantage of the joyous occasion in the Crown Prince’s household, he invited the Crown Prince to stay for a meal after the court assembly. Father and son sat together after a long time, both momentarily lost in thought.
The two stared at each other in silence until finally, the Emperor spoke first. “Your household still lacks enough people.”
“Mother said she is already helping this servant select more.”
“I think the daughter of the Minister of Personnel is suitable.”
“This servant will follow Father’s wishes.”
Looking at his legitimate son before him, the Emperor’s thoughts drifted far away. When the Empress had just given birth to him, he had been very happy, and there had been a few years of warmth between father and son.
But later…
No need to mention it. It no longer mattered.
Hearing this, the Crown Prince was shocked. His father had always suppressed him and had never concerned himself with the vacancies in his household, fearing he might collude with officials. Could it be that now… he had come to his senses?
In truth, it wasn’t exactly coming to his senses. Over the years, the Emperor had consumed many elixirs in pursuit of immortality, and his health had completely deteriorated. Every time he fell ill, he felt a twinge of regret—regret for how he had treated the Empress and for being so wary of his own legitimate son.
Yet after taking medicine and feeling somewhat better, he would grow anxious again, always convinced he was about to die and that the Crown Prince would seize his position, which made him increasingly distant toward him.
As for the Sixth Prince, aside from benefiting from his mother’s status, he was also young and knew how to act endearingly, posing no threat to him, so naturally he doted on him more.
Only in the quiet of the night would he sometimes feel regret, but regret was one thing—he couldn’t bring himself to admit it openly. It was only under the influence of this regret that he spoke these words now.
Such was the nature of royalty, where father and son were often strangers.
The Crown Prince, looking at his father’s frail and sickly appearance, felt a pang of sorrow. “How has Your Majesty’s health been lately?”