Empress Liu rolled her eyes at Emperor Tai'an and said irritably.

"Look at you, you old rogue, do you still look like a proper emperor?"

"You didn't come here to arrest me for having an affair with Eunuch De."

"Then Your Majesty, why don't you find something on Eunuch De that you could have an affair with?"

Grandpa De stepped forward with a smile and said respectfully.

"Your Majesty, this old servant already took off his pants that day to verify his identity."

"I am afraid I am powerless to do anything about illicit affairs."

Emperor Tai'an blushed as he was made to look at the back-and-forth between Empress Liu and Eunuch De.

【Hehe…】Shi Yu, watching from the side, couldn’t help but laugh.

[Gua66, do you think Emperor Tai'an is somewhat afraid of his wife?]

Gua66: [Emperor Tai'an was afraid of his wife when he was young.]

This isn't the first time he's been afraid of his wife.

Shi Yu: [It seems that Empress Liu is quite clever and capable.]

Gua66: [In chaotic times, a frail woman can support a large family.]

Without some skill, how could one dare to wander far from home?

Shi Yu: [Hmm, Gua66, you're right.]

Rumors say that Emperor Tai'an and Empress Liu are at odds, but they seem to have a good relationship to me.

Gua66, [In human terms, this is called marital intimacy.]

Emperor Tai'an/Empress Liu: What a wonderful marital relationship they have!

The couple looked at each other, feeling inexplicably embarrassed and blushing.

After glancing at the silver notes, in an attempt to ease the tension between the couple, Eunuch De reached out and picked up all the silver notes on the table, presenting them to Emperor Tai'an.

"Your Majesty, the Empress has long said that the national treasury is currently empty, and Your Majesty is not wealthy either."

"This is the Empress's income from the mine over the past few months. She said she would give it all to Your Majesty."

Emperor Tai'an was stunned; he truly hadn't expected that Empress Liu would give him the money she had earned.

An inexplicable feeling of being moved spread through my heart like wild grass.

For so many years, he had never felt such warm care from Empress Liu.

"Empress, I truly misunderstood you." Emperor Tai'an looked genuinely remorseful.

Empress Liu rolled her eyes at him.

"What kind of person are you? Do you think I don't know?"

"A wife who gives money is a good wife, and a wife who doesn't give money is a wicked woman, right?"

"How could that be?" Emperor Tai'an's face stiffened, and he hurriedly reached out to grab Empress Su's hand in a fawning manner.

"Your Majesty, the woman I have wronged the most in my life is you."

"Don't worry, no matter how much trouble the women in the harem cause, the throne will definitely belong to our son."

Empress Liu glanced at Emperor Tai'an twice more.

She hesitated.

She didn't know whether she should tell Emperor Tai'an that their eldest son was infertile.

Just as Empress Liu was hesitating, Shi Yu, the little darling, started talking.

The Crown Prince is probably not up to the task.

Emperor Tai'an raised an eyebrow: Why is his eldest son not good enough?

That's his eldest son.

Although I'm a bit slow-witted, as long as I live well and don't make any major mistakes, I should be fine.

Gua66, [Indeed, this won't work.]

Shi Yu, [If he were to inherit the throne, the Great Gan Kingdom would likely be without a successor.]

Emperor Tai'an: What are you talking about? I don't quite understand.

Shi Yu, [Has it been so long, and Empress Liu still hasn't told the Emperor about the Crown Prince's infertility?]

According to my search results, there isn't one yet.

However, Empress Su and Prince Jin have recently been investigating the Crown Prince's affairs.

[It is believed that the Crown Prince's infertility will soon be made public.]

Emperor Tai'an involuntarily turned his head toward Empress Liu: Infertility?

How come he didn't know about this?

Empress Liu awkwardly twitched the corner of her mouth.

"Your Majesty, there is something I wish to tell you."

Emperor Tai'an: "What is it?"

Empress Liu considered for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Your Majesty, as you know, when I was a woman living among the common people, I struggled to raise several children and endured countless hardships."

Emperor Tai'an nodded. He did know about this matter and had always felt deeply guilty about it.

"That winter, the weather was particularly cold, and my children and I had no money and no food."

“Our eldest son would go out to find food in the dead of winter so that we could have enough to eat. He accidentally fell into the icy lake and developed a chronic illness.”

"The root cause?"

Emperor Tai'an already had a bad feeling.

It's likely that the root of his illness is related to his eldest son's infertility.

Sure enough, Empress Liu then said, "The cold weather has damaged his health, and from now on our eldest son will be unable to have children."

"Alas, it is I who have wronged you and your children," Emperor Tai'an said with remorse.

In order to become emperor and establish his authority, he burned down his father-in-law's house.

Later, it was his fault that they were left to wander outside.

Thinking this, Emperor Tai'an raised his hand and grasped Empress Liu's hand.

"Your Majesty, it is I who have wronged you and your children."

"Since the Crown Prince is infertile, why not give him one of the children from the third prince's family?"

"Anyway, they're all from our Li family, so it doesn't matter who's the emperor."

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, our eldest son doesn't seem to be fit to be emperor."

Shi Yu, who was listening to the gossip, couldn't help but feel surprised.

Empress Liu really did have a very clear understanding of her own son.

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