Bai Luochen fell into deep doubt.

Seeing Bai Luochen's anxious expression, clearly eager to have a child, the old doctor sighed, patted Bai Luochen's shoulder, and said earnestly, "Your wife is healthy, so her inability to conceive may not be her problem. Would you like me to take your pulse and examine you?"

Bai Luochen's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "I'm perfectly fine!"

"Young man, don't be afraid to seek medical help when you're sick!"

Bai Luochen "..."

Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhou Yu tried to run away, but Bai Luochen blocked her way in three quick steps.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Yu dodged to the side, but Bai Luochen reached out to stop her: "Zhou Yu, there's nothing wrong with my body, you can prove that, right?"

Zhou Yu gave him a look that left him speechless: "You self-righteous fellow, I told you long ago that your skills are terrible and that you shouldn't come to me, but you still insisted on arguing. The doctor said that taking a pulse is nothing to be embarrassed about..."

"What did you say?" Bai Luochen's face suddenly darkened, and a hint of anger emerged.

"I didn't... I didn't say anything!" Zhou Yu kept backing away, but Bai Luochen approached step by step, and suddenly hoisted Zhou Yu onto his shoulder and walked away.

"Bai Luochen, put me down!" Zhou Yu kept patting Bai Luochen's shoulder. The doctor behind them frowned at the sight and finally shook his head and sighed helplessly: "Young man, you are afraid to seek medical treatment. He will come to me again in the future."

After taking advantage of Zhou Yu, Bai Luochen became ruthless and ordered the Bai family to put pressure on Master Liu, demanding that Zhou Yu marry into the family tonight, otherwise Master Liu's business in the capital would be hindered.

Master Liu was eager for Zhou Yu to marry into the Bai family. That very night, he tearfully pleaded with Zhou Yu that his family business was in trouble and needed a large sum of money to turn things around. He said the Bai family could provide the money, on the condition that Zhou Yu had to marry into the family.

Zhou Yu had no choice but to grit her teeth and agree.

Now that the Zhou family has fallen on hard times, the Zhou family has been taking care of all their needs, including food, drink, shelter, and transportation. Now that the Zhou family's business is in trouble, as his granddaughter, she should help him through this difficult time.

What's even more infuriating is Bai Luochen. She had shamelessly gone to his house to propose marriage, but he actually said she wasn't even worthy of being a concubine.

Now they're so eager to marry her as their legal wife, Zhou Yu feels so nauseous.

When it came time to ask for the bride price, Master Liu made an exorbitant demand, which angered the Bai family patriarch to the point of turning hostile on the spot, but Bai Luochen held him down.

Master Liu sat in the hall, his proud beard almost reaching the sky. The Bai family thought they could threaten him? Not so easy.

If he hadn't wanted to marry his granddaughter off to Bai Luochen, would he have been so easily manipulated by him?

Now they're demanding more dowry to make them bleed, just to get revenge for being rejected back then.

Bai Luochen pulled the Bai family patriarch aside and whispered, "Uncle, think about it. Master Liu has no sons, only this granddaughter. After giving her the betrothal gifts, he will bring her to our Bai family as part of his dowry. No matter how you look at it, we won't lose out."

The head of the Bai family nodded and gave a thumbs-up in praise: "My nephew is right!"

And so, Zhou Yu and Bai Luochen's wedding date was set. Because both families were in a hurry, the wedding was scheduled for three days later.

Although it was rushed, both families were wealthy and powerful, and Zhou Yu's dowry was a magnificent procession stretching for miles, encircling most of the capital.

For a moment, everyone envied them. Similarly, Zhou Wan from the Crown Prince's residence was green with jealousy.

Why is Zhou Yu so lucky? Both are illegitimate daughters, yet she can be the principal wife, with a dowry of three coals and six betrothal gifts, an eight-bearer sedan chair, and a ten-mile-long red bridal procession.

Zhou Wan lay down on the bed in anger, while Qingci requested to see Bai Luochen several times but was refused each time.

...

A month later, rumors spread throughout the capital that the Crown Prince was not born to the Empress, but was an illegitimate child born from an affair between a palace maid and a guard.

The empress was pitiful; the child she gave birth to disappeared and was replaced with an illegitimate child.

The rumors spread like wildfire in the capital, enraging the Emperor of Chu. He ordered the Court of Judicial Review to thoroughly investigate the source of the rumors. The Court of Judicial Review acted swiftly, and within a few days, they discovered the brothels in the capital.

It turns out that this rumor was spread by a prostitute in a brothel whose face was disfigured. This prostitute was Bai Lian'er, who had committed adultery with Chu Luoxun in the palace.

The King of Chu was furious and had Bai Lian'er's tongue ripped out, then exiled her to the border.

A thorn remained in her heart; she wanted to perform a blood test to verify whether the Crown Prince was her biological son. However, she remembered that she had just done the test with Prince Cheng not long ago. If she were to do it again now, it would not only damage the father-son relationship but also harm the reputation of the royal family.

The Emperor of Chu was even more convinced that Bai Lian'er harbored malicious intentions and intended to destroy the Crown Prince. Out of remorse, he lifted the Crown Prince's confinement.

Suddenly, the winds of change in the capital shifted dramatically, and everyone was filled with fear and trepidation.

Unable to fathom His Majesty's intentions, the ministers who had previously defected trembled with fear upon seeing the Crown Prince reappear in court, as if walking on thin ice.

They were terrified that the Crown Prince would use this as leverage to retaliate.

Prince Cheng had always looked down on opportunists, and it was good that the Crown Prince had been released from confinement, as this would make it much easier to take action.

...

Time flies, and winter is here in the blink of an eye.

Gu Nanjiao's belly was so big that she could not walk normally, and her legs were severely swollen.

Lu Yanzhao began to reduce his workload and personally took care of Gu Nanjiao's food, clothing, and daily necessities in every detail.

He would massage her legs every night, but while he was massaging, his hands would always wander upwards inappropriately, which made Gu Nanjiao so angry that she slapped him away.

"I'm about to give birth, and you're still touching me like that?"

"oh!"

"If you feel unwell, go take a cold shower. Don't put on this pitiful look in front of me."

"oh!"

Lu Yanzhao, his face dark, was about to take a cold shower to cool down when Gu Nanjiao called out to him, "By the way, don't forget to tell me the fairy tales I wrote when you get back."

Now she's so lazy she doesn't even want to read books anymore, and every day she tortures Lu Yanzhao by having him tell her fairy tales. Of course, these fairy tales were ones she had written for prenatal education.

Lu's mother stopped going to Meiwuzhai and started raising a flock of chickens at home, saying that she would make soup for Gu Nanjiao when she was in confinement after childbirth.

Hearing that Zhou Yu was also pregnant, Bai Luochen took care of her carefully every day, as if she were a precious baby.

Zhou Yu's temper grew even worse, and she reverted to her arrogant and domineering demeanor as the young lady of the Zhou family. However, after three months, her aura gradually weakened, and she lowered her head and slept in front of Bai Luochen, appearing like a delicate and frail beauty.

I heard that Huang Qingqing and Bai Su have finally gotten married. The two of them spend all their time in the shop, all lovey-dovey. After Bai Luochen got married, she followed Bai Su and even said quite generously that if Bai Su got married, she would buy him a big house as a wedding gift.

Good news kept coming one after another, but bad news came from the palace: the emperor was seriously ill.

The news came so suddenly that both Gu Nanjiao and Lu Yanzhao were taken aback.

His Majesty has always been in good health, so how could he suddenly fall ill?

Because Gu Nanjiao was about to give birth, it was not advisable for her to enter the palace, so Lu Yanzhao hurriedly entered the palace.

Inside the emperor's bedchamber, palace servants and imperial physicians knelt on the ground. Chu Luoxun and Prince Cheng waited outside the door with grim faces. The concubines knelt outside the main hall, clutching handkerchiefs to cover their eyes. The more timid ones even cried.

The Empress Dowager rushed over and loudly reprimanded the concubines kneeling outside the palace: "The Emperor is not dead yet, and you are all wailing here. Go back to the palace and stay there."

The concubines all fell silent, except for one who, unafraid of death, shouted loudly: "I want to see His Majesty! Please, I beg you, let me see His Majesty!"