Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

The Crown Prince clapped his hands and spread them wide: “Isn’t that simple? My father has always had a very straightforward mindset—he believes the more descendants, the better. Before he became emperor, he even adopted a large number of foster sons and went around boasting that he had a hundred sons. In reality, his biological children numbered fewer than ten. Back then, he would often lament to me about how unfortunate it was that Zhang Meiren’s child with her former husband wasn’t a boy. If it were, they could have gone to war together as father and son, which would have given him more confidence in fights.”

“I even remember he once had this crazy idea: he would take concubines, and his retainers would secretly visit his harem to impregnate them. This way, he could produce as many sons as possible in the shortest time and expand the family. For this goal, not a single one of his concubines was shorter than seven feet tall. The only reason this plan didn’t succeed was because he hadn’t anticipated how extraordinarily gifted he was. He conquered the world in just thirteen years, leaving no time to implement it. After becoming emperor, such things were no longer feasible.”

Prime Minister Dou’s pupils shook in shock.

The Six Ministers’ pupils shook in shock.

No wonder they’d always felt that the emperor gave them strange looks back during the wars—especially the generals. No wonder the emperor would occasionally sleep foot-to-foot with them and inquire after their health… particularly their height!

All the officials collectively wore expressions of utter despair.

Why did they have to know these things? Crown Prince, couldn’t you just keep these stories to yourself?

The Crown Prince cast them a sidelong glance and shook his head: “Why are you all so conservative?” After shaking his head, he let out a long sigh, clearly frustrated by their outdated ways.

“So, from beginning to end, my father despised the Crown Grandson and Consort Qin for cuckolding him. He was never angry about the issue of muddling the bloodline. Do you understand?”

In any case, even if this matter hadn’t been exposed, Consort Qin’s child would have had no chance of inheriting the throne.

As a simple farmer, my father was overjoyed at having more sons to work the fields. Let alone the fact that this son carried his own blood.

The Six Ministers nodded in a daze.

Understood.

But we didn’t want to understand.

The Crown Prince looked at the dumbfounded expressions of the high-ranking officials and suddenly felt a rush of satisfaction greater than ever before. It turned out that watching others lose their composure was an unparalleled joy!

The Crown Prince smiled with restrained glee: “So, there’s nothing about the matter between Consort Qin and the Crown Grandson that can shock me anymore…”

[Wait! Consort Qin wanted to terminate the pregnancy because of the Empress!]

“What—”

The Crown Prince’s pupils contracted, and the next second, he covered his mouth.

… Ouch, bit my tongue.

But he still couldn’t suppress his disbelief.

What did you say?!

Consort Qin wanted to terminate the pregnancy for whom?!

[For the Empress, to prevent her from being criticized!!!]

[Wow! For over a month now, the Empress has been visiting her daily and showing her care.]

[Wow!!! Consort Qin even told the Empress that she was just the daughter of a farmer. The Crown Grandson, so noble and handsome, had confessed his love for her. She felt both overwhelmed and grateful, thinking it was a miracle that someone so lowly could be cherished by someone so lofty. She said she was willing to die for him to repay that love.] ᚱÅNǑʙЕS̈

[Then! She said she’d realized that the Crown Grandson’s feelings weren’t true love. It was the Empress who truly loved her.]

Clatter—

Prime Minister Dou dropped the imperial tablet he was holding.

What does she mean by saying the Empress truly loves her?!

Could it be that Consort Qin has feelings for the Empress…

[Caring for her as a person, not as the Emperor’s concubine, the Crown Grandson’s mistress, or the mother of the Emperor’s great-grandson.]

Prime Minister Dou: “…”

He exhaled deeply and used his robe sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Xu Yanmiao, could you stop pausing in your speech like that! A missing word here and there could scare people to death. At seventy-seven years old, I can’t take this kind of shock anymore.

“Phew—”

Several officials took deep breaths.

That scared us too!

We didn’t even dare to breathe a moment ago!

[Rumors were spreading that she was unchaste, and although the Empress had suppressed them quickly, a few whispers still reached her ears. Originally, she had thought to live on for the sake of the child in her womb. But she didn’t want to tarnish the Empress’s reputation, the Empress who had protected her, and cause people to call her naive or incompetent for sheltering a ‘fallen woman.’]

[So, when no one was paying attention, she threw herself down the stairs. The blood pooled into a long trail. How tragic. Ji Sui’s actions were truly vile—if he hadn’t gone to the Emperor with his lecture on “Lessons for Women,” none of this would have happened…]

[It’s so tragic that even eating melons doesn’t feel enjoyable anymore…]

[Sigh. Thank goodness she doesn’t know what the Crown Grandson said to Ji Sui in prison. If she did, she might just jump into a lake after being saved by the Imperial Physician.]

What did the Crown Grandson say in prison?

Although they knew they shouldn’t be listening, curiosity got the better of them… The officials, just recovering from the Consort Qin and Empress revelation, couldn’t help but want to dig their own graves again.

One by one, they leaned forward, their curiosity piqued, ears perking up.

[Oh, oh, oh! Just as it was mentioned, his uncle slapped him across the face—a dramatic reversal of the emotional reunion when the uncle welcomed his nephew out of prison. The Crown Grandson was left dumbfounded, clutching his face in disbelief. Hahaha!]

[But it’s no wonder—this Crown Grandson has the nerve to say anything…]

[Tsk, tsk… ‘I don’t want to leave. Ah Zeng is dead; I don’t want to live anymore!’ Not wanting to live, yet he didn’t starve himself or anything before, huh?]

[And ‘If I had known, I would have taken Ah Zeng and rebelled against this court, abandoning my status as the Crown Grandson. We could have fled to Dali and lived as a pair of immortal lovers, envying neither gods nor kings!’]

Wha… what?!

The officials widened their eyes in disbelief and exchanged glances. Was this supposed to be an expression of love? It sounded more like a death wish for the other party!

Clatter—

The Prime Minister Dou, who had just picked up his fallen imperial tablet, slipped and dropped it again. This time, he bent over, frozen mid-motion, completely stunned. Old age had made him mishear things. He thought he heard something about… rebelling against the court? That must have been a mistake… right?

Prime Minister Dou clenched his fists, knuckles cracking.

How could his younger sister have a grandson like this? They should have drowned him in a washbasin when he was three days old. At the end of the hall, the Commander of the Imperial Guards felt his scalp tingle, his face turning pale.

—They had just returned because the Emperor wanted to bring the Crown Prince along. And upon their return, they overheard…

“Rebel against the court? Quit being the Crown Grandson?” The Emperor repeated the words, laughing in rage. “Fine. I’d like to see if he truly has the guts for that.”

I think I will stick to the crown grandson from now on.

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