Chapter 196 Sitting on the Mountain and Watching the Tigers Fight

"Then this is going to be quite a show." Shen Qingci's lips curled up slightly.

"Hmm." As soon as Chu Jichen finished speaking, a few clear bird calls came from outside, short and rhythmic, clearly some kind of code.

Chu Jichen's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he still raised his voice and said, "Come in."

As soon as he finished speaking, a dark figure silently slipped in through the window and landed steadily; it was Yuanbao.

Upon seeing that both of them were awake and properly dressed, he chuckled twice, scratched his head, and said, "I noticed that the lights were still on in the room, so I guessed that Your Highness and Your Highness had not yet gone to sleep. Just then, some extremely urgent news came from the palace, and I thought I must report it to Your Highness immediately."

Chu Jichen's slightly furrowed brows relaxed, and his voice regained its usual calmness: "What is it?"

Yuanbao quickly composed himself and bowed, reporting, "Your Highness, it concerns Consort Shu. Our people in the palace have sent word that Consort Shu has discovered she is pregnant, but she did not announce it immediately, nor did she report it to His Majesty. Instead, she cautiously sent a message back to the Liu residence."

"The Liu family received the news and seemed to have discussed it. They probably felt that Consort Shu's pregnancy was very beneficial to them, so they had Consort Shu send someone to report to Emperor Yongming."

Yuanbao lowered his voice even further: "When Emperor Yongming received the news, he immediately set off for the Cold Palace that very night. But who knew..."

"When Consort Shu saw Emperor Yongming, she thought that His Majesty had come to take her away and restore her rank because of her pregnancy, so she immediately went to greet him with great joy."

Yuanbao's tone carried a hint of anticipation, "But unexpectedly, as soon as Emperor Yongming saw her, without saying a word, he slapped her across the face, angrily calling her a slut, and demanding to know whose bastard child was in her belly!"

"Consort Shu was stunned at the time," Yuanbao imitated the scene, looking bewildered. "She hurriedly knelt down to argue that she was in the palace and could not possibly have come into contact with any outside men, and the child in her belly could only be His Majesty's."

"But Emperor Yongming sneered and angrily rebuked her for pretending, saying that the child in her belly could never be his!" Yuanbao paused and continued, "His Majesty also asked Consort Shu who had ordered her to do this. Was it Liu Wenyuan? He said that Liu Wenyuan would stop at nothing to ensure that his own bloodline would sit on the throne!"

"Consort Shu looked completely bewildered, having no idea what had happened. She just kept crying and saying that the child in her belly was really His Majesty's."

"Emperor Yongming, however, directly tore off the pretense and said..."

Yuanbao paused abruptly after reporting this, remaining silent for a moment before cautiously glancing at Chu Jichen's expression.

Chu Jichen noticed his gaze and raised an eyebrow slightly: "What are you looking at?"

Yuanbao stuck out his tongue and gave an awkward smile: "It's nothing, I just wanted to see how Your Highness was feeling and think about what to say next... whether I could say it or not."

Chu Jichen chuckled and waved his hand dismissively: "Speak."

Yuanbao then cleared his throat and continued, "Emperor Yongming said that the Regent Prince has been controlling the court for years and is afraid that if he doesn't return power to him after the birth of a prince, it will cause dissatisfaction among the officials. So... he has been secretly giving him contraceptives."

"He also said that he was fully aware of the matter, but because Your Excellency held immense power at the time, he didn't want you to suspect him, so he never resisted. Even now, the medicine is still delivered to his palace on time every day. He even had his men check it this afternoon; it was indeed a contraceptive decoction, and a decoction with an increased dosage!"

"Emperor Yongming said that he has had quite a few concubines in his harem over the years, and in order to seduce the Regent, he has always acted absurdly, yet none of his concubines have conceived, which is why. Under such circumstances, how could Consort Shu possibly be pregnant with his child?"

After listening, Shen Qingci couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, turn to look at Chu Jichen, her eyes full of inquiry.

Chu Jichen, however, appeared completely innocent, shrugging his shoulders and speaking with a voice filled with the helplessness of being wronged: "This is truly a huge injustice. Those medicines were clearly obtained by Emperor Yongming himself, and he drank them willingly. What does it have to do with me? This is truly a frame-up."

After thinking about it carefully, Shen Qingci understood.

She said softly, "It must be that Emperor Yongming was worried that if he told the truth, the Liu family would find out. He has always been wary of the Liu family and did not want Consort Shu to be pregnant."

"At present, it is still unclear whether Liu Wenyuan is alive or dead, but the Liu family's influence in the court still exists."

"In this uncertain situation, Emperor Yongming could use Consort Shu's pregnancy to break ties with the Liu family. However, he absolutely could not reveal that he had previously distrusted the Liu family and had even secretly given Consort Shu contraceptives to prevent her from getting pregnant, for fear of angering Liu Wenyuan and making him act desperately."

"Therefore, he could only push all the blame onto Your Highness."

After listening to their conversation, Yuanbao nodded, agreeing with Shen Qingci's analysis.

He coughed lightly before continuing, "After Emperor Yongming finished speaking, he summoned the Prime Minister's wife to the palace that very night. Presumably, he wanted to have a proper confrontation with her."

Chu Jichen's lips slowly curved into a cold smile.

“Excellent.” His voice was deep, with a hint of barely perceptible pleasure. “Let them make a scene. The bigger the scene, the more uncontrollable it will be.”

He slowly turned the jade thumb ring on his thumb, leaning lazily against the back of his wheelchair, as if discussing a game of chess that had nothing to do with him: "Now, all we need to do is sit back and watch the tigers fight, and then, just as they are about to calm down, we can just throw out a trigger."

His gaze shifted to the deep night outside the window, a chilling glint flashing in his eyes: "They'd better completely tear off their mask and fight each other to the death."

After saying that, Chu Jichen casually waved his hand at Yuanbao, signaling him to step back.

Yuanbao bowed and accepted the order. In a flash, he disappeared silently from the study.

Shen Qingci was still thinking about this matter. Emperor Yongming insisted that the child in Consort Shu's womb was not his, and it would probably not be easy for Consort Shu to prove her innocence under the current circumstances.

Next, we'll see what the Prime Minister's residence plans to do.

But she had a vague feeling that neither the seemingly muddle-headed but actually suspicious Emperor Yongming nor the shrewd and calculating Liu Wenyuan were so easily manipulated.

She had a feeling that things wouldn't go as smoothly as they had planned.

As Shen Qingci was lost in thought, a warm, large hand suddenly covered her hand that was resting on the table.

She looked up and met Chu Jichen's deep eyes.

“It’s getting late,” he said, maneuvering his wheelchair and gently taking her hand, his voice filled with an irresistible tenderness. “Go to sleep early.”

Nothing was said that night.

The next morning, Shen Qingci slowly woke up in the faint morning light.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she heard faint sounds of Chu Jichen talking to someone coming from the study outside.

Shen Qingci hadn't paid any attention and was about to get up when she suddenly heard a voice from outside that didn't belong to Chu Jichen, containing a very familiar word: "...Shen family..."