When Ye Jingchen stepped down from the palanquin, his face was flushed and he looked very energetic.

He made a huge sacrifice this time to help Xiao Tuan win favor!

The emperor got addicted to pinching his cheeks, until his face turned red!

"Father, you've gone too far!" he accused the emperor with a resentful look in his eyes.

It's incredibly embarrassing to have your cheek pinched by a grown man who's about the same age as you!

It's the same even if you're forced to sit on the emperor's lap!

It seems that being excessively favored by the emperor is not necessarily a good thing!

Looking at Ye Jingchen's flushed cheeks, the emperor felt a rare sense of guilt.

"If you have to blame someone, it's because you're too cute, Chen'er. Your father couldn't help himself and pinched you a few more times," the emperor said seriously.

Ye Jingchen felt that these words sounded somewhat familiar.

Oh, he seemed to have said the same thing when he pinched Ye Jingyu's cheek.

He and the emperor truly are father and son!

He could understand the emperor's behavior; after all, cubs were the cutest creatures in the world, but—

While it's understandable, the emperor can't just treat him like a piece of dough!

Moreover, this kind of thing is very addictive; once you start, you can't control yourself.

Ye Jingchen didn't want his face to suffer any more damage!

There's a saying that goes, "Better to die a fellow Daoist than to die myself."

"My brothers are all cuter than me. If Father really wants to pinch them, go pinch them!" Ye Jingchen tried to shift the blame.

Anyway, he originally intended to guide the emperor step by step to start paying attention to the other princes.

A tree that stands out in the forest will be felled by the wind; he did not want to be that outstanding tree.

Being favored by the emperor is a good thing, but being favored by the emperor without any regard for his feelings can easily make enemies and invite hatred.

The emperor wanted to say that teasing the other princes was no fun as teasing Ye Jingchen, but if he said that, Ye Jingchen would probably get angry with him.

So he just looked at Ye Jingchen and smiled meaningfully.

Although the emperor didn't speak, his smile was enough to make Ye Jingchen wary.

"Father, are you tired? Would you like to go to the East Palace to rest for a while?" He decisively changed the subject, circling around the emperor's earnest inquiry.

The emperor appreciated his concern, but being an emperor was not easy. He had mountains of official business to deal with every day, and he really didn't have much time to enjoy family life.

The emperor didn't enter the Eastern Palace, so Ye Jingchen's plan to continue to mooch a royal meal fell through. However, since all his plans went smoothly today, missing out on a royal meal didn't seem so important.

Although the imperial cuisine was tempting, the food at the Crown Prince's palace was not bad either.

Today I went out, which was physically and mentally taxing, so I was quite exhausted. At lunch, Ye Jingchen couldn't help but eat a few extra bites, and unsurprisingly, he felt a bit full again.

He dismissed all the palace servants from his bedchamber and paced around the hall alone to digest his food and ponder his next plan.

Meeting the Fifth Prince Ye Jinghe in the Imperial Garden today was an unexpected surprise.

An unexpected surprise.

He originally intended to use Ye Jingyu as a breakthrough point, but now it seems that Ye Jinghe might be more suitable.

And Consort De—

Murdering a royal heir, especially the crown prince, is an absolutely heinous crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family.

Of course, Consort De was the birth mother of the Second Prince Ye Jingming, so he naturally wouldn't allow Consort De's entire family to be executed, otherwise he and the Second Prince would become mortal enemies.

Moreover, although there are testimonies from palace servants, these are only witness testimonies, not physical evidence, so it's not so easy to convict Consort De.

So he gave the person to Ji Wushuang, letting Ji Wushuang do whatever she wanted. As long as Ji Wushuang made a scene, the news would reach the emperor.

The Consort De family wielded considerable power in the court, and the emperor could not easily touch her without solid evidence. However, the Crown Prince was the emperor's darling and Achilles' heel. Even without solid evidence, the emperor would not easily let Consort De off the hook if she wanted to harm the Crown Prince.

At this moment, Ye Jingchen sincerely felt that dressing up as a child was quite good, because no one would be wary of a child, and he could secretly make his plans.

Humming a tuneless tune, Ye Jingchen strolled around the bedroom several times in a good mood. When he got tired, he went to bed for a nap.

Ye Jingchen was exhausted after getting up very early, walking so much, climbing so many steps, and using his brain. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The Eastern Palace was peaceful, but the entire imperial city was thrown into turmoil because of Ye Jingchen.

Chengqian Palace.

As soon as the emperor's palanquin arrived at the palace gate, he saw Consort Shu waiting there.

Not only was Consort Shu there, but the palace maid next to her was also holding the Seventh Prince, Ye Jingning.

Consort Shu came to apologize, but she brought with her the seventh prince, who was only one year old.

The emperor stepped down from his palanquin, not even bothering to glance at her.

"Your Majesty, it is all because I have failed to manage my subordinates properly, which has led to the palace servants mistreating Jinghe. Please punish me!" Consort Shu said, bowing gracefully, her posture elegant, like a butterfly fluttering in the air.

Consort Shu, Li Shuyao, was as beautiful as her name suggested; she was quiet, elegant, gentle, and charming.

But these are all the impressions the emperor had of her in the past.

After seeing Ye Jinghe, who looked like a little beggar, in the Imperial Garden today, the Emperor realized that one should not judge a book by its cover.

If Consort Shu had cared even a little about that child, he wouldn't have ended up disheveled, emaciated, and barely clothed, subsisting on flowers.

Although the emperor didn't care much about his other children, he would never allow anyone else to look down on them!

"You can't manage your subordinates properly?" The emperor scoffed, looking down at her and saying lightly, "If you can't even control a few palace servants, then you don't need to be the head of this palace."

Consort Shu's face instantly drained of all color.

The imperial harem was strictly hierarchical, with only concubines and those of the rank of consort able to become the principal consort of a palace. The emperor's words made his meaning all too clear.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!