Chapter 16 Heartbreaking: What if they turn back and want a divorce?
Qi Jingxuan said "Oh" and obediently knelt down on the ground.
After he knelt properly, Consort Shu said with a stern face, "Tell me everything that happened today! You said the Marquis of Cheng'an's mansion was framed, but who framed you and Miss Shen? What exactly happened?"
Qi Jingxuan wanted to lie again, but he had accidentally let it slip earlier, and now he couldn't think of a suitable excuse.
He cautiously raised his head, glanced at the Emperor and Consort Shu, and finally had to tell the truth, adding at the end, "But I truly love Miss Shen, which is why I thought of going with the flow to marry her. This way, I can both thwart that villain's scheme and be with the one I love—a win-win situation, isn't it wonderful!"
The emperor, who was listening nearby, was about to have his head explode. When he saw him still talking nonsense, he angrily picked up the medicine bowl on the table and smashed it over his head.
"Fine, fine, fine, my foot! If you've been framed, why don't you come to the palace and explain yourself clearly? Why do you have to admit to something so vague? If you didn't do it, do you think I would let you be wrongly accused?"
“Even if you like Miss Shen, you can wait until this matter is over before seriously discussing marriage with the Shen family. Since this happened between you and Miss Shen, as long as you clarify the matter and prove that it was not your intention, the Shen family may not necessarily be unwilling to marry their daughter to you.”
"Now look what's happened. Your chaotic actions have foiled the mastermind's plan, but what about your reputation?"
The medicine bowl smashed at Qi Jingxuan's feet, but did not fall directly on him. Only a little medicine spilled out and splashed onto his clothes.
Qi Jingxuan turned to the side and muttered to himself, "My reputation wasn't that great to begin with, so it doesn't really matter whether this happened or not."
The emperor roared, "You are my son! You don't care about your reputation, and neither do I!"
The emperor felt a headache coming on at the thought of facing impeachments from officials the next day.
The father is to blame for not teaching his son properly. Qi Jingxuan took the blame for the crime of humiliating the daughter of a court official on a whim, and as the father, he also had to be scolded.
This wasn't what angered him the most. What angered him the most was that Qi Jingxuan gave one set of stories when he was in the Imperial Study, and now he was giving a completely different set of stories, with the two statements being diametrically opposed.
Consort Shu already resented his distrust of Qi Jingxuan, and now that distrust has been confirmed, he has no way to defend himself.
Thinking of this, the emperor couldn't help but glance at Consort Shu out of the corner of his eye, feeling rather depressed.
If we're talking about faults, he certainly made one, but if Qi Jingxuan hadn't been constantly causing trouble and spouting nonsense all the time, would he have been so easily fooled?
Besides, even if someone else did it, they would try to deny it, but he's rushing to take the blame. Who would have thought that?
Oh no, Consort Shu thought of that.
The emperor grew increasingly frustrated, hating Qi Jingxuan for being unreliable and causing him to anger his mother. He feared he wouldn't see Consort Shu's kind expression for a long time.
Consort Shu glanced at the Emperor, and only continued speaking to Qi Jingxuan after he had fallen silent: "You mean that you first met Miss Chen at the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence today, and after sobering up from your drunken stupor, you fell head over heels in love with her at first sight, and were willing to tarnish your reputation to marry her?"
Qi Jingxuan opened his mouth as if to say "yes," but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that the words were not right.
Even if it was love at first sight, it's hard to believe that someone would immediately declare their determination to marry the girl after just one glance, especially when they're being framed. People will likely just assume he and Shen Yan had a prior relationship, which is why he went along with those statements.
Qi Jingxuan didn't want to shift the blame onto Shen Yan, so he emphasized again, "Mother, this matter really has nothing to do with Miss Shen. We've never met her before. She's an honest and upright girl who has never done anything out of line. Please don't blame her."
The emperor wanted to spit on him: "You just said you fell in love with her at first sight because you had met her before, but now you're saying this is the first time you've met her. Which one do you want us to believe?"
"Furthermore, if you and Miss Shen have truly never met, how can you be so certain that she is an honest and law-abiding person?"
The emperor didn't suspect anything about Shen Yan, but he couldn't stand seeing his son so disappointing. Moreover, his words and actions in defending Shen Yan didn't seem like those of someone who had never met before.
Qi Jingxuan was speechless. This was indeed the first time he had met Shen Yan in this life, but he had met her in previous lives.
He stammered for a long time, not knowing how else to explain for Shen Yan, and could only say: "Father and Mother, if you do this, won't you be playing right into that villain's scheme? He wants everyone to doubt me and Miss Shen, and then use some foul language to force Miss Shen to her death, so that I will never be able to explain myself."
Consort Shu watched him silently, listening to his rebuttal of the Emperor. Her eyes welled with tears without her realizing it. After he finished speaking, she said in a hoarse voice, "So, you... felt that Father and Mother couldn't protect you, which is why you did this?"
She didn't think her son would actually do such a thing for a woman he had just met, so after ruling out that reason... there was only one left.
Ah Xuan felt that even if he went to the palace to find them, it would be useless. So, in order to protect himself, he chose to admit his guilt first, using this method of hurting the enemy a thousand while hurting himself eight hundred to break the deadlock.
This pained her even more than Qi Jingxuan doing this because he fell in love with Shen Yan at first sight.
Her Ah Xuan is such a sensible child, and he made it clear early on that he had no interest in the throne, so why... why do some people just refuse to let him go?
Consort Shu felt as if a hot iron had been drawn into her throat, and she was unable to speak for a long time, with tears welling up in her eyes.
Seeing this, Qi Jingxuan quickly crawled forward on his knees and said, "Mother, don't cry. It's not that I think you can't protect me. I... I just think... I think it will take time to investigate this matter, but the longer it drags on, the more unforeseen things will happen. The longer it drags on, the less safe Miss Shen will be, so I came up with this idea in a moment of desperation."
"You and Father have been so good to me. I believe that given enough time, you will definitely be able to get justice for me and find out who is behind this!"
When the emperor saw Consort Shu's tears, he panicked and hurriedly reached out to wipe them away, but Consort Shu coldly avoided his gaze.
Upon seeing the coldness in her eyes, the emperor was slightly taken aback. After a moment, he silently withdrew his hand, lowered his head again, and remained silent.
Consort Shu tilted her head slightly, forcing back the tears in her eyes, before looking at Qi Jingxuan again and saying in as calm a voice as possible, "You just came back from the Shen family."
Qi Jingxuan nodded: "Yes."
As she spoke, she pushed the eggs in her hand forward, deliberately putting on a smile to make her happy: "Mother, look, Miss Shen even had someone boil eggs for me."
Before he could finish speaking, the emperor snatched one of the eggs from his hand, cracked it on the kang table, peeled it off in a few quick movements, and stuffed it into his mouth.
He was halfway through stuffing the egg when he remembered Consort Shu standing beside him. He paused, handed her the peeled egg, and when Consort Shu didn't take it, he ate it in silence.
Qi Jingxuan had only one egg left in his hand. He handed it to Consort Shu in a flattering manner and asked, "Mother, would you like some? I'll peel it for you."
Consort Shu shook her head, smiled, and patted his head. Her voice was no longer cold as before: "If your mother doesn't want to eat it, you can keep it for yourself."
Then he asked, "Did you see Miss Shen at the Shen family? What did she say? Is she willing to marry into the Prince of Jin's mansion to help you break this deadlock?"
Mentioning Shen Yan, Qi Jingxuan couldn't help but smile, his eyes crinkling into a smile, unlike before when he was just trying to make people happy.
“She’s just as smart as you. She immediately realized something was wrong today. After calling me over, she tried to get information out of me. When she saw that my answers were nonsensical, she knew there must be something wrong with what happened today.”
Consort Shu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "You mean... she also believes that you didn't do what happened today?"
She believed in Qi Jingxuan so firmly because he was her son; she knew him, and therefore trusted him.
But this was the first time Miss Shen had met Ah Xuan, and under those circumstances, how could she easily believe his words?
Qi Jingxuan sat at her feet and repeated what Shen Yan had told him. After listening, Consort Shu nodded slowly, and the gloom in her eyes disappeared completely.
"She's a clever and quick-witted girl."
As he spoke, he turned to look at the emperor beside him, his eyes conveying a very clear meaning.
A girl who was meeting your son for the first time was able to calm down and think carefully about whether something was wrong, but you, as her father, couldn't see anything at all.
The emperor gave an awkward smile, then secretly glared at Qi Jingxuan.
If that brat hadn't made up those lies, would he have missed such an obvious flaw?
Consort Shu withdrew her gaze and asked Qi Jingxuan, "What did Lord Shen say about whether he is willing to marry his daughter to you?"
When Shenming Mountain was mentioned, the smile in Qi Jingxuan's eyes faded, leaving only dejection: "Lord Shen is unwilling, and he is also unwilling even if I offer to marry into his family."
"Nonsense!"
Consort Shu glared at Qi Jingxuan and said, "You're always coming up with terrible ideas. With your status, who would dare let you marry into their family?"
"That's what Lord Shen said too."
Qi Jingxuan puffed out his cheeks and said, then shook Consort Shu's arm, "Mother, you always have so many ideas, please help me think of a way to marry Miss Shen!"
Consort Shu lowered her eyes and looked at him for a moment, then asked in a deep voice, "Do you really want to marry someone you can spend your whole life with?"
"real!"
Qi Jingxuan nodded vigorously.
"Although this idea was just something I came up with on the spur of the moment, I truly want to marry Miss Shen! To be with her for life!"
Consort Shu scrutinized him for a few moments, and seeing that his expression was serious and not feigned, she said, "If you are simply marrying Miss Chen to break the deadlock, I can think of a way for you, and I imagine it shouldn't be difficult. But if you want to spend the rest of your life with her... then I'm afraid it won't be easy."
"Why"
Qi Jingxuan looked up, puzzled: "What's the difference? Whether it's to break the deadlock or because I genuinely want to marry Miss Shen, once we're married, we'll be together for life. How could we possibly separate?"
Consort Shu smiled and tapped his forehead: "Who said that getting married means you can stay together forever? What if he wants a divorce later?"
"Although there is no precedent for divorce in our royal family, if Lord Shen is only willing to have you and Miss Shen enter into a fake marriage to break the deadlock, and then divorce after the matter is investigated, would you agree or not?"
"I've heard that Lord Shen has been married for many years and only has Miss Shen as his daughter. He has always doted on her, so I don't think he would neglect her just because Madam Shen is pregnant now. If he really wants to break the deadlock and get you two married, he will probably make this condition."
"If you don't agree, you might find it difficult to marry Miss Chen; if you do agree... it's not easy to go back on your word later, is it?"
Qi Jingxuan opened his mouth wide, unable to close it for a long time.
He never expected this to happen. Coming to his senses, he immediately sat up straight and said to Consort Shu, "No! We can't divorce! I will never separate from Miss Shen!"
He was truly terrified of death and didn't want to take any more risks. What if they divorced in the future, and something happened to Shen Yan? Would he die along with her then?
Qi Jingxuan felt pain all over his body just thinking about it, as if his body was covered with bloody holes.
Seeing him shaking his head repeatedly, looking as if he was about to lose Miss Shen, Consort Shu couldn't help but smile: "Don't worry, I'll find some time to hold a flower appreciation banquet in the palace and invite Miss Shen to come as well."
"When the time comes, Mother will take a good look at this Miss Shen. If she is indeed a good person, Mother will help you think of another way."
Hearing that she was willing to help him find a solution, Qi Jingxuan felt a little relieved and said, "Miss Chen is really kind. Mother, you'll know once you meet her."
He then took advantage of the situation and pulled her arm again: "Why don't you hold a banquet tomorrow? Have the Imperial Household Department draft the invitations now, and I will personally go to the Shen family to deliver the message."
Consort Shu glanced at him and said reproachfully, "What time is it? Is it appropriate to send out invitations now? We should wait a few days."
Hearing that it would take a few more days, Qi Jingxuan's eyebrows drooped again: "What if something happens to Miss Shen in these few days? As long as I am not married to Miss Shen, I will not be able to personally protect her. I am really worried about her."
The emperor had choked on the egg, and now his chest felt tight, making it difficult for him to speak. He dared not call for a palace maid to serve tea, and could only let out a soft groan through his nose, thinking to himself: "The Shen family already has one imperial physician and five palace maids guarding them, isn't that enough? Do you really have to move in yourself too?"
Fortunately, Consort Shu did not indulge Qi Jingxuan's temper. She comforted him for a few words and then let him leave the palace first.
The emperor wanted to stay a while, have a cup of tea, but Consort Shu ordered the palace maids to escort him and Prince Jin out together. He had no choice but to leave as well.
Upon returning to his palace, the emperor, before even entering the room, said to Fu Shun in a hoarse voice, "Tea!"
Fu Shun assumed he wanted to investigate the events at the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence that day, and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, who would you like to have investigate?"
The emperor glared at him, clutching his chest, and repeated, "Tea!"
Fu Shun took a moment to realize that he wanted tea, so he quickly walked to the table, picked up a cup of tea, and handed it to him.
The emperor took the cup and gulped it down in one go, finally getting rid of the piece of egg that was blocking his chest, and then let out a long sigh of relief.
A note from the author:
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