Seeing his brother compromise, the Second Prince quickly pressed the issue, "So, between me and my cousin, who do you choose?"

"Cousin." The fifth prince is also a stubborn and honest man.

"You're so determined to choose your cousin, but you're not the only one who has a brother! How do you know you'll be ranked ahead of Zhou Zhiyi, Zhou Zhiquan, and me?"

The second prince just likes to tease his younger brother.

"I don't know if I can beat my eldest cousin and second cousin, but I'm definitely ahead of you, second brother." The fifth prince looked smugly at his second brother who was trying to sow discord.

The second prince rolled his eyes speechlessly, thinking that his younger brother was indeed the most annoying thing.

"Do you still want me to apply medicine?" The fifth prince felt that he was having a hard time, and his second brother was becoming more and more difficult to deal with.

"Yes, let's go! Come to my place." The second prince really needed someone to apply medicine. The new injuries he suffered today must not be seen by others. After all, she was his cousin, so he had to protect her a little.

For the next few days, the second prince stayed in his own courtyard, recuperating from his injuries.

Fortunately, the Emperor had been very busy recently and hadn't thought about the Second Prince for a while. The concubines who had come with him on the Spring Hunt were either frightened or had injured their children, so they had no time to pry into other people's affairs.

The second prince was able to recuperate in his courtyard in a low-key manner.

By the time the emperor remembered the second prince's summons, his new and old wounds had almost healed.

The Second Prince bowed and sat down before casually asking, "Father, are you summoning me?"

The emperor has always been kind to the second prince, so the second prince gets along with the emperor more casually, just like an ordinary father and son.

"If I hadn't summoned you, why didn't you come to see me? I heard that you've been staying in the yard recently and haven't gone anywhere. Were you scared by this?"

The Emperor truly cared about his son. This legitimate son was easygoing with him, not afraid of him, and always pleased him. He was genuinely worried that this might frighten his son into a cowardice.

The Second Prince waved his hand. "No, that's not the case. I just saw that Father was so busy, so I wanted to be quiet for a few days and not cause any more trouble for him! Otherwise, Father would be busy with the affairs of the court, and he would have to clean up the mess for me. I would be very distressed."

When the emperor heard his second son say this, his mood instantly improved a lot, "Our Chen'er is still well behaved."

The Second Prince nodded hastily, agreeing without any hesitation. Seeing him like this, the Emperor was even happier.

The second prince can be considered as someone who can barely feel the emperor's pulse, but the second prince never crosses the line. He neither shows excessive intelligence nor makes any excessive demands.

Just be a good son who relies on his father in front of the emperor.

"I summoned you this time to ask you, how is Miss Duan's injury?" Since the emperor asked this, it meant that he had found out that the Duan family had nothing to do with this incident. Miss Duan saved the Second Prince, so she should be rewarded.

"Alas, although she is awake, the doctor said that Miss Duan lost too much blood this time, which damaged her health. She will be weak and sickly in the future, and it will affect her fertility.

After all, it was me who harmed her. I wanted Miss Duan to be my principal wife."

Although the Second Prince liked Miss Xie, he still had his share of responsibilities. He just felt a little guilty for not being able to give his beloved the position of principal wife.

He did not hide his loss and guilt in front of the emperor.

"Have you made up your mind?" The emperor was satisfied with his son's decision, but he still wanted to ask again, as he was afraid that there would be jokes later.

"Well, Miss Duan's health deteriorated while trying to save me. If she doesn't become my principal wife, I'm worried that her health won't be able to hold up. If that happens, I'll be repaying kindness with enmity! And I might have to let Miss Xie down."

The emperor was originally quite apprehensive about this matter, as the wife's family was from the left prime minister, and the concubine's family was from the Marquis of Xuanping. But when the emperor saw his son's tangled expression, he instantly understood.

When these two families meet, one is the one who saved their life, and the other is their true love. They might be fighting among themselves so fiercely that they have no time to help the second brother.

The emperor never looked down on the women in the harem. They all came for the royal wealth and none of them would be willing to be inferior to others.

The emperor was thinking about this and decided to send a good imperial physician to take good care of Miss Duan. The longer she lives, the longer she can be controlled.

"Just make up your mind. When you return, I will issue an imperial decree to grant you a marriage. You still have a vacant concubine position. Do you want to choose all at once?"

When the emperor said this, he was thinking of the queen's niece Zhou Qiongyue.

Originally, he didn't want the queen's niece to enter the second prince's backyard, but this time she was able to prevent disaster. Although he didn't know whether it was a coincidence, the emperor still wanted to put her into the royal family first.

"Ah? Who does the emperor like?" The second prince pretended to be surprised, but he was thinking frantically about which noble ladies came with him this time.

He knows his father well, and since he said so, there must be a candidate.

"How's Yue girl?"

Although the emperor said this with a smile, the second prince still heard the unyielding tone in his words.

Perhaps other princes would not dare to refuse, but the Second Prince was different. He said bluntly: "If my cousin doesn't agree, I'm afraid I'll be beaten to death."

"You are joking. It is such an honor to be able to join the royal family." The emperor did not believe the second son's words at all. Marquis Cheng'en and his son were still sensible. He had issued an imperial decree, so how dare they disobey it, let alone beat the prince.

"Alas, I really haven't. Father, you still remember the last time my cousin fell into the water! It was me who told my cousin that I always treated her like my own sister and told her not to be so self-indulgent.

Later, my second cousin saw us talking in a secluded place, and she got so excited that she fell into the water."

The Second Prince finished speaking and looked at the Emperor eagerly. His eyes seemed to say, "How can I accept my cousin as my concubine?"

The emperor really didn't know about this, and he didn't think the second son would dare to lie to him. "Hey, why are you telling this to Yue girl?"

The emperor's question was purely out of curiosity.

The second prince was conflicted for a while at this moment, thinking that Xin'er was so sensible, and she shouldn't mind if he used her to save her cousin.

And if my cousin really becomes a concubine, Xin'er won't have an easy time either, considering her fearless temper. I can be considered as helping Xin'er!

The Second Prince comforted himself and said, pretending to be embarrassed:

"That's because I like Miss Xie and want to show my attitude to her! Women are very averse to talking about childhood sweethearts.

At that time, I was also worried that my cousin would like me, a handsome and intelligent one, so I wanted to make it clear."

The emperor's impression of Xie Zixin plummeted to the bottom. It was obvious that Xie Zixin was using her son's feelings to eliminate potential competitors. It would be strange if the emperor was happy.