Chapter 78 "I am the father of this child..."

A cool breeze hit him in the face as the newcomer grabbed Lu Chun'an by the neck and slammed him against the doorframe. The moment his back slammed against the doorframe, a sharp pain, like bones cracking, shot through him, causing his eyes to bulge, veins to pop out on his neck, and making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

In the increasingly thin air, he could clearly see the cold expression on the emperor's face.

The emperor wore a jade crown and a wide belt, exuding a fierce aura.

The five fingers gripping his neck, adorned with a jade thumb ring, felt icy cold, like a sword hanging over his throat. Fear crept into Lu Chun'an's heart, his teeth chattering and chattering.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty..." The last breath was being drawn from her throat, and she couldn't utter a single syllable.

That was the hand of an emperor, capable of drawing a bow with a draw weight of several stones and hunting a fierce leopard. The eldest son of the Lu family was also a strong adult man, yet he was easily subdued and unable to move.

During this agonizingly long period of time, he heard the emperor's slow, cold words: "Detain these two men."

The emperor withdrew his hand, strode past Lu Chun'an, who was curled up on the ground, and continued walking forward without stopping.

After the emperor entered, everyone in the hall knelt silently on the ground, and no one dared to raise their head.

"Your Majesty, the Empress is still undergoing treatment, and the blood has not yet cleared from her body; it is not advisable to enter..."

A suppressed sob came from the inner hall, and Xiao Zhuo's gaze fell on the palace servants blocking his way.

"Get out of the way," he commanded coldly.

The palace servants dared not stop them.

The moment the palace doors opened, the Empress's sobs grew clearer, mingled with heavy breathing.

The emperor paused for a moment, then strode inside, only to be met by a palace maid carrying a copper basin as she came out.

He glanced at the bright red blood inside, then looked up—

Two female physicians surrounded the Empress's tent, and behind them, inside the tent, lay an extremely weak figure.

The Empress's black hair was disheveled, her gaze was unfocused, one hand hung limply by the bedside, and her eyes were fixed on the tent.

Hearing footsteps, she turned her empty eyes and stared blankly at Xiao Zhuo, before tears welled up in her eyes.

"Your Majesty..." she sobbed, unable to speak.

"Your Majesty, our child is gone..."

Tears welled up in her eyes and fell one by one onto Xiao Zhuo's chest as she cried uncontrollably.

Xiao Zhuo sat down beside the couch and supported her.

The female physician Qingheng stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, please accept my condolences. The young prince could not be saved, and the Empress's fetus has died. There is nothing that can be done."

The young empress, grieving the loss of her heir, wept bitterly, causing even Zhong Changjun, who was standing nearby, to tremble with sorrow.

Xiao Zhuo put one arm around her shoulder and gently patted her back with the other, his voice soothing and gentle, "It's alright, I'm here."

He raised his head, his gaze turning icy, and said, "Explain yourself."

Qingheng's voice choked with sobs: "Her Majesty's miscarriage was not caused by one thing. In the afternoon, the Empress Dowager sent someone to bring her a bowl of osmanthus soup. The soup itself was harmless, having a warming effect on the stomach, but Her Majesty has always been vigorous in terms of qi and blood. After drinking it, her internal heat worsened. Coincidentally, at that time, Lord Lu and Lord Lu spoke disrespectfully in front of Her Majesty, which made Her Majesty furious, causing her to experience severe abdominal pain, ultimately leading to the loss of the fetus..."

It took several attempts before Qingheng finally managed to say the whole sentence.

Yuan Chaolu raised her head and saw that after hearing these words, the emperor's lips were tightly pursed, his face was cold and sullen, and the hand gripping his clothes tightened.

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have interfered in the affairs of the inner palace and had a conflict with Lord Lu. I also shouldn't have met with my elder brother."

Her shoulders trembled, her sobs muffled and broken, "I knew this baby was still far along and there were signs of an unstable pregnancy, I should have been careful... and yet I was so willful..."

"Don't worry, I will handle this matter myself."

Yuan Chaolu looked up with tearful eyes and grasped his hand, "Your Majesty, please do not judge my brother's crime yet. I wish to decide it myself."

Xiao Zhuo lowered his head and said softly, "I know the Empress is grateful for the Lu family's kindness in raising her. But after all, what about our child?"

Yuan Chaolu nodded. "Yes, Lu Changli was disrespectful to me, and I miscarried in a fit of anger. But elder brother..."

Xiao Zhuo saw tears streaming down her eyelashes, her face streaked with tears, looking pitiful. He gently brushed her cheek with the pad of his other finger. "Don't worry, I will definitely give you justice. Harming a royal heir is a crime punishable by death."

Yuan Chaolu said, "My elder brother did save my life, so I beg Your Majesty to show mercy this time. I am not the kind of person who will always tolerate things. After this matter, I will sever all ties with the Lu family and never have anything to do with them again. Consider this as repaying them for their lives. If they commit serious crimes again, there is no need to be lenient with them in the future."

Xiao Zhuo stared at her intently: "You want this?"

Yuan Chaolu nodded and put his arm around his shoulder. "Your Majesty, please grant me this request, for the sake of my child."

Yuan Chaolu pulled his hand over and placed it on her lower abdomen. "Qingheng came to check my pulse this morning, and I could still clearly feel his presence, but now he's gone."

After a long silence, Xiao Zhuo said, "I understand."

Yuan Chaolu was about to express her gratitude when she saw his desolate gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, and his eyes closed as if suppressing some unspeakable emotion. After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice, "I understand your pain... I am also his father."

The pain welling up in his eyes made her heart skip a beat.

"I am heartbroken by this."

**

Xiao Zhuo helped Yuan Chaolu lie down, tucked her in, and stayed by her side until she closed her eyes before getting up.

Inside the bed curtains, Yuan Chaolu, who should have been sleeping peacefully, slowly opened her eyes and looked at the man's back.

Only after the palace doors closed did Qingheng and Qiyu approach.

Yuan Chaolu nodded to them, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips. The pregnancy was fake, and the miscarriage was naturally fake too. She had summoned Qingheng this morning precisely for this afternoon's performance.

Qingheng said, "Because Your Majesty kept this a secret, I haven't been able to sleep well these past few days. Now that His Majesty doesn't suspect anything, it seems that this matter has almost passed peacefully."

She pressed her cheek against the soft pillow, letting it absorb the tears from the corners of her eyes, and whispered, "Yes."

Her decision to fake a pregnancy wasn't just to hide her true parentage; from that moment on, she had already decided who she would ultimately be responsible for the miscarriage.

The Lu family is a major hidden danger.

Later, Lu Chun'an dared to use her background to blackmail her, which proved that Yuan Chaolu was not wrong.

Today, she asked the emperor to spare the Lu family's lives temporarily in her own name, not out of pity, but because she couldn't push them to the brink of destruction yet. Those driven to desperation will resort to desperate measures.

For the Lu family, the crime of harming the imperial heir alone was enough to make them feel suffocated...

The rain outside the window was so loud that Yuan Chaolu couldn't hear the emperor and Lu Chun'an talking at all.

"Your Majesty, please have mercy!" Lu Chun'an knelt before the steps, kowtowing repeatedly. The autumn rain was icy cold, and he could barely bear it.

Someone came out of the hall and stood on the jade steps.

The king, dressed in black robes and a tall crown, was tall, noble, and elegant.

Lu Chun'an opened his mouth, but his gaze was overwhelmed by those powerful eyes.

"I already know what you've done."

The icy rainwater seeped into Lu Chun'an's clothes from the back of his neck, like cold, venomous snakes crawling along his skin.

"The Empress is magnanimous and advised me to spare your life."

Lu Chun'an came to his senses and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress!"

If he had known earlier that the Empress was pregnant, he certainly wouldn't have used the past to blackmail her.

During this period of time, he spent time with this emperor in the court, witnessing the majesty of the Son of Heaven and becoming accustomed to the cold and indifferent side of the monarch. He assumed that the emperor was as indifferent to the empress as he was to his ministers. However, from the moment the emperor arrived in the rain with great momentum, ready to question him, he realized that he had completely underestimated the empress's position in the emperor's heart.

The person above said gently, "That was the Empress's intention, not mine."

Lu Chun'an's body stiffened.

Xiao Zhuo glanced at Lu Changli, who was also kneeling to one side, and said, "Dismiss Young Master Lu from his post, imprison him, and punish him with caning according to the law. Lu Changli awaits further instructions."

**

The rain continued. Dampness seeped in through the cracks in the windows. The palace servants of Changqiu Palace quietly lit incense, and the warm smoke slowly spread throughout the hall, dispelling the dampness inch by inch.

Yuan Chaolu was nestled in warm bedding. In her dream, she felt a warm breath coming from beside her. She couldn't help but move closer to the source of warmth and slowly opened her eyes.

Inside the tent, it was pitch black. Her husband lay beside her, his eyes gleaming with an alarming light, watching her intently from very close range for an unknown amount of time.

Yuan Chaolu's heart skipped a beat. "You're back?" she asked.

He raised his fingertips and tucked a stray hair behind Yuan Chaolu's ear. "This is also the first time I'm going to be a father."

Yuan Chaolu was stunned.

Xiao Zhuo shifted his body, pulling her tightly into his embrace, burying his face in her chest, his voice low and deep: "Whenever I think of this child in the future, will I still act as if nothing happened? I have already written the edict for his birth, granting him fiefdoms and exempting the people of Luozhou from taxes for a year, hoping that he will win the hearts of the people while still in his mother's womb... I had the Ministry of Personnel draft these edicts long ago, will they ever see the light of day again?"

A tear fell from his eye and dripped onto the back of Yuan Chaolu's hand, and her heart felt as if it had been branded.

Yuan Chaolu was captivated by his words, her heart filled with tenderness, and soon an indescribable feeling welled up inside her, and she subconsciously wanted to avoid those eyes.

But he stared at her without moving an inch.

"How could that be?" She wrapped her arms around him and looked at him. "Then Your Majesty and I... can we have another one?"

Xiao Zhuo's eyes flickered slightly.

His hands clasped behind her back, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

“Lu Changli is outwardly compliant but inwardly disrespectful to my Empress, so naturally he cannot be allowed to live.”

"I despise deception the most, especially when someone makes the same mistake again and again without remorse."

He looked at Yuan Chaolu with a gentle smile.

Yuan Chaolu hummed in agreement, and she and the emperor embraced quietly in this space.

Was there a hidden meaning behind the emperor's words?

The thought flashed through her mind, and she suddenly looked up to see the man still smiling at her.

Then, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and said, "Sleep now, I'm with you."

**

As news of the Empress's miscarriage spread throughout the court and beyond, the imprisonment of the Minister of Revenue and the eldest son of the Lu family caused a great stir, and naturally, some astute individuals sensed the connection between the two events.

On this day, the emperor did not attend court, and the same was true the next day and the day after... He only accompanied and cared for the empress.

Heavy rain swept through Luoyang for several days.

Deep within the layers of curtains in Penglai Palace, a graceful figure slowly emerged, supported by palace attendants.

Empress Dowager Lu was in poor health. Since the incident involving Miss Lu, she had been worried and depressed all day long. She had become thinner and thinner rapidly. The recent imprisonment of the Minister of Revenue had added new worries to the Empress Dowager, causing her to become even more haggard.

When the Empress Dowager's imperial carriage arrived at Changqiu Palace, the Emperor and Empress were in the inner hall, nestled behind a table. The Empress was wearing a loose outer robe, and the Emperor was feeding her medicine spoonful by spoonful.

Empress Dowager Lu entered the hall, her gaze sweeping over the two people inside, her brows furrowing slightly.

Xiao Zhuo put down the medicine bowl. "Why has Mother come?"

Empress Dowager Lu said, "The Empress's miscarriage was caused by the bowl of osmanthus soup that I sent her, so naturally I had to come and see."

"Your Majesty, regarding Changli's dismissal and imprisonment..."

Xiao Zhuo said, "I have spoken to the Empress Dowager about this matter repeatedly. Lu Changli harmed the imperial heir, and it was my child who was injured. Naturally, his crime is unforgivable."

Empress Dowager Lu slowly raised her eyes, "I am also heartbroken at the loss of my grandson, and I have sent someone to reprimand Changli."

"But I received some news today that I never expected—"

Her gaze was sharp as she looked at Yuan Chaolu.

Yuan Chaolu realized in an instant that Empress Dowager Lu was probably coming for her today.

"If I were to say that the Empress beside the Emperor has never been pregnant, that would be different."