"You, you, you!" The Prime Minister's eyes widened as he looked up at his son. "Is it the one I'm thinking of? Is it the...Empress?"

The prime minister spoke the last two words very softly, even though most of his colleagues had already left, and only he and his son remained. He still couldn't help but lower his voice.

"Um."

"Do you even know what you're saying! Absurd!" The Prime Minister felt that this was the most shocking thing he had ever heard in his life.

Moreover, this was done by his son, whom he considered to be extremely law-abiding.

The most absurd thing he had ever heard was that an emperor had turned his subject's wife into his empress.

Good heavens, his own son wants to make the Empress his subject's wife? How dare he do such a thing? And what was he thinking? He actually... he actually!

No, he couldn't let the more he thought about it, the more outrageous it seemed.

"I know." These three simple words were enough to express Shu Qingmu's determination.

"I don't understand, what happened? Didn't you want to assist His Majesty before?" Didn't your son previously intend to hand over all the power in his hands to the other party? Even if he originally just wanted to see how far His Majesty could go.

Shu Qingmu thought of her beloved and couldn't help but smile.

The prime minister was stunned for a moment. It was the first time he had seen his son's genuine smile. Perhaps he really wanted to do it, so even though he knew it was an outrageous thing and how unconventional it was, he still made the decision.

So the Prime Minister finally sighed and said, "Think it over. Just know that no matter what decision you make, I will always be your father. I will definitely help you as long as you ask."

"Thank you, Father." Shu Qingmu said, then added, "But I think perhaps we don't need to do anything."

…

Three months later, Ye Zhaobai found himself constantly constrained, his power gradually being stripped away, and he was just a step away from becoming a puppet emperor.

No! He absolutely cannot become a puppet emperor.

Ye Zhaobai suddenly understood why his father had insisted that he marry Wan Ge. It turned out that when he gradually gained power, it wasn't just Shu Qingmu who was assisting him, but also the Ji family paving the way for him.

"Your Majesty has been pregnant for more than four months now, why is your pregnancy still not showing?" A palace maid carrying pastries passed by in the Imperial Garden.

Ye Zhaobai stood not far away. He knew very well that Wan Ge was not pregnant at all. He had originally planned to have her put on a fake belly when the time was right. But now he no longer had that intention.

Now he goes in and out of Jiaoyun Palace every day, but in reality he spends his days watching how Shu Qingmu and his wife play music in harmony.

They didn't do anything sexual to each other; they just talked about music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and romance in front of him every day.

Shu Qingmu, that beast, would kiss Wan Ge every now and then, but he could do nothing but watch, and leave each day filled with anger.

The concubines, who were sitting in the Imperial Garden admiring the flowers, heard what the palace maid said and started chatting with their sisters: "What the palace maid said is true. We serve tea to our sister every day, and we haven't seen anything unusual about her body. Could it be that she's not pregnant?"

"Don't talk nonsense. It's all been diagnosed by the imperial physicians. How could something like this be wrong?"

Another person replied, "That's hard to say. When my sister first got pregnant, she fell and hurt herself while saving that cripple. There were no signs of anything unusual. It's really not certain that she was pregnant."