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"Don't you want to?"
Lou Yu, clad in a bright yellow dragon robe, elegantly turned around and settled into the dragon throne. His gaze was piercing as he glanced at the kneeling shadow guard reporting to him. "Did he really say that? Not a hint of hesitation?"
The shadow guard respectfully lowered his head and replied with certainty, "Indeed, he did not. Your Majesty, perhaps we should remove the mark from Consort Ming. This medicine has a time limit; if Consort Ming discovers next month that she has missed her Rain Dew Period, she will surely realize something is amiss."
Lou Yu gently stroked the teacup with his fingers, his eyes deep and unfathomable, lost in thought. He himself could not understand why he had chosen Ming Xiting.
Clearly, he could have resolved his predicament by simply picking any Kun Ze, yet at the critical moment, his gaze fell solely on Ming Xiting; no one else caught his interest. The mere thought of another person being beneath him made his heart race inexplicably.
However, what surprised him the most was that he had not mistaken Ming Xiting for Ye Chen. Despite still harboring feelings for Ye Chen, during his time with Ming Xiting, he had never once confused the two, allowing things to proceed smoothly.
Could it be that he had developed feelings for this Kun Ze that he himself was unaware of?
To confirm his suspicions, Lou Yu began visiting the Warm Fragrance Pavilion frequently, and this time he did not just stop by briefly; he stayed overnight.
Ming Xiting knelt on the ground and waited for the palace servants behind him to leave. Without waiting for Lou Yu to tell him to rise, he stood up on his own and walked in front of Lou Yu, whispering, "What are you doing here? Aren't we…"
"What do you mean 'aren't we'? You are my Consort Ming. It is only natural for me to stay in your Warm Fragrance Pavilion," Lou Yu said as he pulled him into an embrace, tightly holding onto his slender waist.
Ming Xiting struggled a couple of times but couldn't break free. With a puzzled frown, he looked at Lou Yu and questioned, "Your Majesty, you were the one who said you wouldn't engage in anything inappropriate with me. Let's consider what happened a few days ago as an accident; I won't hold it against you. But now you're fully aware of what you're doing. Have you forgotten Ye Chen? Isn't he your beloved? Why come looking for me? I just had an abortion and I'm not feeling well enough to serve you."
In reality, the medicine that the shadow guard had personally given to Ming Xiting was a fake drug instructed by Lou Yu. It would only expel stagnant blood from Ming Xiting's body and was not an abortion pill. Therefore, Ming Xiting assumed that after experiencing abdominal pain that day, the child was gone and even reflected on the pool of blood for quite some time.
Ming Xiting raised an eyebrow as he looked at Lou Yu's clingy demeanor now, which reminded him of their first encounter when Lou Yu had violently thrown him onto a high building to intimidate him with the cold wind.
"But... isn't this inappropriate, Your Majesty?" Ming Xiting said while wrapping his arms around Lou Yu's neck, his tone playful yet elusive.
Lou Yu gently caressed his red lips, the corners of his eyes slowly lifting. His dark eyes shifted as he said, "Don't worry, you're not feeling well, so I won't do anything to you. Now that Changyu Princess's tail has been revealed, we just need to hold on for another two months. Once I've gathered all her evidence of wrongdoing, I can bring her to justice."
Indeed, without complete evidence, directly denouncing his cousin who had fought alongside him for the throne would surely lead to Lou Yu being criticized by the world. To avoid angering those rigid-minded individuals, he could only patiently wait for the right moment—an opportunity to catch Lou Yan and her faction all at once.
Ming Xiting nodded gloomily. How much longer would he have to wait to leave this place?
Fortunately, Lou Yu did not make him wait long.
Recently, Lou Yan seemed to have sensed something was amiss and pushed her husband out into the open.
The former Cangzhou Governor, now Prince Consort Zhou Changyuan, was found out for privately bribing and trading official positions. The entire imperial city was shaken by the news. Zhou Changyuan was publicly thrown into prison in front of the Bureaucrats. As for Lou Yan, she quickly distanced herself from him and unilaterally divorced Zhou Changyuan.
After a long time, the dark prison welcomed new inmates at its lowest level.
The new emperor vigorously reformed the previous dynasty's corruption and established the Imperial Examination System. The primary goal for entering the court as an official was to prevent noble families from once again controlling the lives of common people. Naturally, the trading of official positions angered the emperor greatly.
Lou Yan did not plead for Zhou Changyuan but instead came to the prison under the cover of night, intending to see him one last time.
It was an act of humiliation, not out of old feelings.
Stepping into the prison, a damp and dark atmosphere enveloped her.
In the lowest cell, Zhou Changyuan was battered and bruised, looking utterly disheveled. His face was swollen like a pig's head; his once handsome features were now twisted together. His nose was bruised, his lips cracked with dried blood at the corners. His clothes were tattered, covered in marks from whippings—crisscrossing lines of blood made it hard to look at him.
Hearing footsteps, Zhou Changyuan weakly shook his head and slowly raised his head. From below, his dazed gaze gradually focused on a figure in a palace robe of delicate pink; the exquisite patterns were a mark of royalty.
"What's wrong? Come to see my joke?" Zhou Changyuan smirked, his voice hoarse and laced with mockery.
Lou Yan looked down at him from her elevated position, pausing for a moment before she chuckled lightly. "Zhou Changyuan, I bet you never thought this day would come. Back when you framed me, forcing me to be marked by you and become the laughingstock of Cangzhou, I was compelled to marry you. Now, with my royal brother on the throne, I stand as the Eldest Princess, one person beneath me and thousands above you. You are merely the consort of my Chang Yu, no longer that tyrant who used to beat me in the inner chambers. I wonder how it feels for the consort to experience such a disparity!"
As she spoke, Lou Yan took a handkerchief and harshly wiped away the dirt from his chin. Then she grasped his jaw, observing his disheveled appearance. The corners of her lipstick-like lips curled slightly as she coldly remarked, "I suppose you've never tasted this kind of bitterness before. Honestly, I've always wanted to see you beneath my feet, tormented. Although you won't live much longer for me to enjoy it fully, why should I bother quarreling with a dead man?"
Suddenly, Zhou Changyuan burst into laughter, his mirth echoing eerily in the silent dungeon.
Lou Yan's expression hardened instantly as she tightened her grip on his jaw and demanded angrily, "What are you laughing at?"
Zhou Changyuan ignored her and continued to laugh. After a long while, when he had laughed enough, he slowly spoke with sarcasm. "Do you really think your emperor brother is still that little boy who climbed trees to fetch kites for you? He is now a lofty emperor. You are not even siblings by blood; you're merely his cousin. Do you genuinely expect him not to blame you when everything comes to light?"
Lou Yan released her grip and repeatedly wiped her fingers and the spaces between them with the handkerchief. Even without any dirt, she rubbed back and forth as if she had just touched something unbearably filthy.
"There's no need for you to worry, Zhou Cishi. I have many things to do. As for you, why don't you go down and apologize to those Kun Ze whom you once tormented?"
After saying her final words, Lou Yan ignored Zhou Changyuan's mocking laughter and stepped over the threshold without looking back, just as she had resolutely crossed over the fire pit years ago when forced to marry Zhou Changyuan.
Orphaned at a young age, she had vowed since then that she would not spare anyone who had harmed her, including… her daughter, Zhou Ling'er.
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