"Father, do you want to eliminate the threat of the aristocratic families in one fell swoop?" In the imperial study, Ye Jingchen spoke before the emperor could, interrupting his spellcasting.

"You have a way?" the emperor asked with a half-smile.

"There is a way, but—"

"What are your conditions?" the emperor asked.

"Father, could you please stop pressuring me to get married? Marriage is all about fate. When the time is right, I will naturally get married," Ye Jingchen said.

"No!" the emperor refused without hesitation.

"Father, the Great Abyss is now free from external troubles. If we can also resolve the internal problems, wouldn't a peaceful and prosperous world be just around the corner? Wouldn't it be a great honor for you to meet the Ancestors after your death?" Ye Jingchen envisioned an incredibly bright future for the emperor.

"If you don't marry, you won't have any offspring, and you won't even be able to hold onto your position as crown prince. In the end, brothers will fight each other for the throne. What future will Dayuan have then?" the emperor asked with a cold smile.

"Even if I have no children, I am confident that I can keep my brothers and sisters in check. In a few years, you will have many grandchildren. At that time, you can choose the most intelligent child from among them to be the grandson of the emperor. Wouldn't that prevent fratricide?" Ye Jingchen asked with a smile.

"Absurd!" the emperor roared, slamming his fist on the table. "What do you take the throne for? Is it something anyone can sit on whenever they want?!"

"Aren't they all your bloodline? What difference does it make who sits on the throne? As long as the people can live and work in peace, isn't that enough?" Ye Jingchen said calmly.

"You unfilial son! Do you know what you're saying?!" The emperor was so angry that he picked up the memorial on his desk and threw it at Ye Jingchen's head.

"Actually, it's because I'm incompetent!" Ye Jingchen shouted as he dodged the memorial.

Upon hearing this, the emperor froze in his action of slamming down the memorial. He looked at Ye Jingchen in disbelief, "What did you say? Say it again?"

I said I can't!

"Inhumane!"

"I can't have children!"

Ye Jingchen said it more than once, as if afraid the emperor hadn't heard him clearly, he said it three times.

The emperor heard it all too clearly this time, and he couldn't deceive himself anymore.

“Zhang Shunde—” he shouted.

Eunuch Zhang pushed open the door and entered, looking extremely nervous and apprehensive.

"Summon the imperial physician! And bring the old Imperial Physician Zhang from the Eastern Palace!" the emperor commanded.

"Father, please take it easy. Heaven is fair. It gave me a distinguished family background, loving parents, and respectful siblings. It's normal to receive some interest in return!" Ye Jingchen earnestly advised.

"Shut up!" the emperor shouted angrily, pointing at Ye Jingchen.

"If I find out that you are lying to me, I will punish you severely this time!"

"This concerns a man's dignity. Who would lie about something like this?" Ye Jingchen muttered to himself.

The day after he returned to the Eastern Palace, he took a dose of medicine prescribed by Mr. Li, and then asked Physician Zhang to take his pulse.

After taking his pulse, the old doctor's face looked very grim.

When he asked the old doctor if there was anything wrong with his health, the old doctor actually said there was nothing wrong. Then, on the third day, Fangfei brought him a bowl of medicinal food before bed, saying that it was specially prepared for him by Physician Zhang to strengthen his body.

After he drank the medicinal soup, his body burned for half the night, but one part of him showed no reaction at all.

On the fourth day, Imperial Physician Zhang came to take his pulse again, his hands trembling slightly. After taking his pulse, the old physician solemnly dismissed all the palace servants and told Ye Jingchen the 'bad news'.

Ye Jingchen used all his acting skills to keep himself from laughing, instead revealing an expression of grief, indignation, and disbelief.

Afterwards, Ye Jingchen asked Physician Zhang to keep his condition a secret and not let anyone else know about it.

Given Imperial Physician Zhang's age, he should have retired long ago. However, for the past ten years or so, he has been staying in the Eastern Palace, where he is well taken care of and there are not many complicated matters. The key is that the Eastern Palace is generous and can get him any medicinal materials he wants. He is quite happy there and has never thought about retiring.

He watched the Crown Prince grow up and still had some affection for him, and couldn't bear to see him lose his position as Crown Prince because of his physical defect.

Therefore, when he was summoned to the Imperial Study to examine the Crown Prince's pulse, he risked the crime of deceiving the emperor and the greatest taboo for a doctor by telling a lie for the first time in his life.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince is in good health and has no problems whatsoever!"

"Crown Prince, what do you have to say now?" The emperor breathed a sigh of relief, but was also furious as he questioned him.

Ye Jingchen felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.

He never expected the old doctor to go to such lengths for him.

When he was a child, every time he pretended to be sick, the old imperial physician would bluntly expose him and report him to the emperor. He was an extremely upright person.

"Imperial Physician Zhang, the Emperor already knows about this," Ye Jingchen reminded him.

Imperial Physician Zhang: ......

He was momentarily unsure what expression to make.

Didn't His Highness the Crown Prince say yesterday that he would keep the secret for him? But only half a day later, he revealed it himself?

This also ruined his reputation as a man with one foot in the grave, earning him the crime of deceiving the emperor!

"Your Highness, you are unethical!" Physician Zhang said, filled with grief and indignation.

They even cheated an old man like him!

"But Father Emperor is my father, not someone else," Ye Jingchen said innocently.

"Your Majesty, His Highness is indeed in good health, but he is unable to have sexual relations!" the old imperial physician said to the emperor with great emotion.

The emperor found it absurd and staggered.

"Imperial Physician Li, come and examine the Crown Prince!" the Emperor said to another imperial physician, who is now the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.

Physician Li was also quite frightened by Physician Zhang's words "incapable of sexual intercourse." Upon hearing this, he walked over tremblingly to take the Crown Prince's pulse.

Now that he knows such secrets of the royal family, will he still be able to leave the Imperial Study alive today?

If His Highness the Crown Prince's pulse is normal, that would be good!

He harbored such expectations, but the expression on his face grew increasingly desperate. When he withdrew his hand, it trembled uncontrollably, and his whole body shook.

Seeing his appearance, the emperor's heart sank to the bottom, but still clinging to a last glimmer of hope, he asked, "How is the Crown Prince's health?"

Physician Li dared not utter the words "impotent," for he feared death. Therefore, he said, "Physician Zhang's pulse diagnosis is accurate!"

The emperor's hopes were utterly dashed. "Guards, drag these two quacks out!"

"Father!" Ye Jingchen interrupted the emperor before he could finish speaking.

"Father, doctors are innocent. They were just telling the truth and did nothing wrong!" Ye Jingchen quickly said.

The emperor's mind was like a volcano erupting; he was completely devoid of reason. He had carefully nurtured his perfect heir for over a decade, but fate had played such a cruel joke on him!

"Imperial Physician Li, you should know what you can and cannot say, right? This concerns your entire family, so I hope you will behave yourself!" Ye Jingchen warned the terrified Imperial Physician Li, issuing a warning that would affect his entire family.