Chapter 76, Husband
When the Crown Prince returned to his bedchamber, Yun Kui was sitting on the couch fiddling with her nightgown.
Distracted by his identity as the biological father, he was absent-minded all day, resulting in several bloody holes in his fingers.
If she hadn't known how difficult his life had been all these years, she would never have forgiven a man who abandoned his wife and daughter. She would rather pretend he didn't exist than see him again, since she had never relied on him all these years.
But now, she was also a little uncertain.
He didn't know his mother was pregnant with him, and he was forced by circumstances to not come to her in time. If he had known, would he have gone through all the proper formalities to marry his mother? Would he have truly loved her?
Now that he knows she still exists, will he feel guilty and want to acknowledge her as his daughter?
Or perhaps, seeing that she is doing well in the Eastern Palace and even has a chance to become an empress, he rushed over to claim kinship in order to gain promotion and a higher rank?
If it's the latter, she still won't acknowledge this father.
The feelings between her and His Highness were precious. She had no family background to support her, nor did she have the talent of a lady from a prominent family. The only thing she could offer was the ability to relieve his headaches. Most importantly, she had a pure affection for him in her heart.
If she had a despicable father, she would rather not acknowledge this father in name only than let him climb over her to rise in rank and ruin the pure bond between her and His Highness.
The Crown Prince stood outside the palace, listening quietly to her heartfelt words, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips.
He wanted to hear more of her thoughts about him when he suddenly heard a soft cry of pain from inside. His brows furrowed, and he rushed into the hall. Seeing her holding an embroidery basket, he hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
Yun Kui put her finger in her mouth and sucked on it, then whispered, "It's nothing, I just pricked my finger with a needle."
The prince walked up to her in a few steps, picked up her injured finger, and examined it closely. He then discovered that there were several holes poked in her slender finger.
He frowned, his fingertips gently stroking those spots, then coldly glanced at the snow-white nightgown in her hand, "If you're not good at needlework, don't bother making this. I'm ordering you this nightgown."
Yun Kui muttered in a low voice, "Your Highness is not short of sleeping clothes. As long as you give the word, all the girls in the capital are willing to make sleeping clothes for Your Highness. I'll just have to line up."
The crown prince chuckled and pinched her cheek: "Where did you learn these words?"
Yun Kui held the needle and thread in her hands, clumsily threading them in and out.
The prince took some wound medicine from the table, and Yun Kui watched as he knelt before her, frowning as he applied the medicine to her wounds.
She was a little unaccustomed to seeing him adopt such a humble posture and tried to pull her hand back, but he held it tightly.
She pursed her lips, looked at the almost healed needle mark on her finger, and said awkwardly, "Has Your Highness never seen such a small wound before?"
The prince said, "I have met you."
He looked up at her meaningfully, his gaze slowly moving down to the softness of her chest.
Yun Kui's face flushed red instantly: "..."
"I'm just bringing up the very thing I don't want to talk about! There are his teeth marks here every day; teeth marks are considered minor injuries, aren't they..."
After the medicine was applied, the Crown Prince remained silent for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly: "When are we going to finish making these nightgowns?"
Yun Kui said, "My skills are not very good. I need to figure it out. It will take at least ten days to half a month."
The Crown Prince said, "Let's not do it today."
He tossed the embroidery basket aside, picked her up, and carried her horizontally. Yun Kui, startled, quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. "Your Highness, please...please let me rest a bit. I'm still feeling the effects..."
The Crown Prince said, "Don't I give you seven days off every month?"
Yun Kui: "...Isn't that because of the Gui water?"
The Crown Prince said in a serious tone, "The shop's prized possession says that these few days are the time you want it most."
Yun Kui's cheeks flushed red, and her voice weakened: "Well, not everyone is like this, is they?"
She didn't know how to refute him before he had already pinned her to the bed.
The prince slipped his hand under her skirt and caressed her for a moment, feeling a warm current flowing through his fingertips. He chuckled softly and deliberately used his fingertip to gently pinch her lips. "It seems the books were right; you do indeed have this constitution."
Before she could struggle any further, a barrage of kisses landed undeniably on her cheeks and neck.
She soon realized that things had indeed been unusual these past few days. However, she had become numb from his advances and her first reaction was to resist. But when his hot body pressed down on her and their skin touched, she couldn't help but go limp and subconsciously yield to him.
But the man was awful; he deliberately chose a moment when she was in a limbo to ask her some inexplicable questions.
"What have you called me before? Tell me what you've called me."
Yun Kui was lifted up by him, her mind still foggy, and she didn't understand what he meant. "Call...Your Highness?"
Crown Prince: "Anything else?"
What else had she called him? Her memory pieced together haphazardly, and a sudden thought struck her: "Big...Big Boss?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she was struck hard. Yun Kui bit her lip tightly, but she couldn't suppress the sound that escaped from her throat.
She was on the verge of tears, and hurriedly reached out to push him away, "Don't panic, let me think about it carefully... That is, the ancestor?"
This was clearly not the answer he wanted. This time, the pressure was almost at its deepest point, and tears instantly streamed down her face. "I didn't shout anything else..."
The crown prince still refused to give up, saying, "I'll think about it some more."
Yun Kui was driven almost mad by his torment. She clutched the blankets, trying her best to endure it, while searching her mind for past memories. Finally, she opened her mouth uncertainly: "Crown Prince, Crown Prince Brother?"
Her soft, delicate voice was like a gentle feather softly caressing my heart.
He leaned down and kissed her lips, his voice slightly hoarse: "You can call me that in bed from now on, but it's still not right."
Praise those who deserve praise, and punish those who deserve punishment.
Yun Kui clenched her fingers tightly, her whole body trembling, "Xiao..."
She had already made half of the mouth shape for the word "gui" (贵), but she forced it back. It seemed that this person couldn't stand that title the most, and even felt that calling him by his full name would be better.
She suppressed her trembling and spoke softly, "Xiao...Qi'an?"
The man's breathing deepened, and a fierce fire burned within his dark phoenix eyes, as if it could incinerate a person.
You may call me by my name as you please, but that's not what I need right now.
Yun Kui was completely bewildered by the wave after wave of impact.
The crown prince then reminded her, "How did I address you when we were outside?"
Yun Kui finally remembered the word "Madam" he had said on Chang Le Street in Pingzhou, and her tear-stained eyelashes trembled slightly.
"What he wants to hear is... my husband?"
Suddenly, she recalled that night when she confided in him, revealing her true feelings, and she did indeed say something like that—
“If Your Highness were merely a minor official or a common laborer, you could call me ‘Madam’ outside, and I would gladly call you ‘Husband’.”
Distracted, the man thrust violently again. Yun Kui gritted her teeth and came back to her senses. "Your Highness wants to hear this?"
The crown prince stared at her with a deep, dark look in his eyes.
Yun Kui turned her head away, trying to avoid his gaze, but he forcefully pulled her back, forcing her to look him in the eye.
She kept her eyes lowered and bit her lip, saying, "I dare not... Your Highness, please don't force me."
The crown prince asked in a deep voice, "Why wouldn't you dare?"
Yun Kui didn't know how to answer, and after a long silence she said, "Your Highness is the Crown Prince, how can he be the husband of an ordinary woman? In the future, he will inevitably have three palaces and six courtyards, how can I monopolize Your Highness?"
The Crown Prince frowned: "When did I ever say I wanted three palaces and six courtyards?"
Yun Kui dared not even think about it. "Your Highness is the only son. If you don't fill the harem and continue the lineage, the ministers will not give up."
The prince cleared his throat, his voice hoarse: "Don't you want to have a child for me?"
"Thinking about it is one thing, but there has to be a way to produce results. You've been working hard every day, and there's still no sign of life..."
Yun Kui glanced at him sheepishly, knowing he had heard her.
The crown prince gritted his teeth inwardly, "You mean, I haven't done enough?"
Yun Kui assured her that she had no such intention and immediately said, "Having children also depends on fate. Look at the heir of the Marquis of Ningde, and me, my parents... But there are also people who, no matter how much they try, it's all in vain. I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about some people..."
Before she could finish speaking, she was forcefully flipped over. She sobbed and clutched the blanket, filled with regret.
The crown prince's eyes were dark, and his heart was also filled with frustration. In the end, he tried some of the methods from the store's prized possessions.
She was being pressed against his tongue, and she cried with tears streaming down her face, her whole body trembling. She had never imagined that he would be willing to treat her like this.
"Your Highness, please don't force me! I would rather die than submit..."
"I give in so easily, sob sob..."
"It's just calling him 'husband'... It's the same as calling him in my heart, as long as you hear it..."
The prince raised his head, his thin lips still bearing her scent, yet he refused to let go easily.
"What's the point of just saying it in your heart? Is this how you treat me?"
Yun Kui trembled violently, unable to bear his repeated licking and sucking. In the end, she almost tore the brocade beneath her, crying out, "Your Highness, my husband..."
Crown Prince: "I don't want the first two words."
Yun Kui bit her lip tightly, her voice trembling with sobs, barely audible: "Husband..."
The Crown Prince sighed deeply, stood up, rubbed her cheeks, and stuffed a handkerchief into her hand. "Be good, wipe my face."
Yun Kui's face flushed red. Suppressing her embarrassment, she carefully wiped the water from his face, her heart filled with mixed emotions. "Your Highness is bullying me..."
The Crown Prince chuckled: "Is asking you to call me husband considered bullying?"
Yun Kui said angrily, "You're using torture to extract a confession from me."
The crown prince wiped the water stains from his lips. "I would never treat a prisoner like that."
Yun Kui turned her face away, still protesting softly, "You really can't shout, it's outrageous."
The prince said, "I am the way of this world."
Yun Kui: "..."
The crown prince gripped the back of her neck, saying, "Remember this title; I will need to hear it again from now on."
Yun Kui could only obediently nod and say, "Oh."
He tormented her all night, and she finally fell asleep lying on his chest muscles.
late at night.
A ghostly black shadow sneaked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Emperor Chunming leaned back on the dragon throne and closed his eyes to rest.
The political turmoil of the past year has left him exhausted. The power he had painstakingly built up crumbled like a edifice, and his trusted ministers who were given important positions also ran into trouble one after another. Now, nearing forty, he feels physically and mentally drained. Even the two stunning beauties he summoned tonight left him powerless.
Lu Qi entered the hall silently and knelt before Emperor Chunming: "Your Majesty, everything has been taken care of."
Emperor Chunming slowly clenched his fists, his face turning fierce: "Can those incense poisons really drive the Crown Prince mad and out of control, causing him to explode and die?"
Lu Qi nodded: "The poison is mixed into the Buddha bathing perfume without leaving a trace. Even the high monks of Prajna Temple cannot detect any clues. However, it is fatal to the Crown Prince's headache. I am 90% certain that as long as the Crown Prince is at the Dharma assembly, his headache will flare up. He will offend the gods and Buddhas in front of the court officials and the imperial family, lose control and kill people. Even if he does not die from madness, the Embroidered Uniform Guard can use the excuse of exorcising demons and restoring the purity of Buddhism to kill the Crown Prince on the spot."
Emperor Chunming said in a deep voice, "I will trust you one more time. This matter must not be allowed to go wrong again!"
Lu Qi immediately clasped his hands in acceptance.
The eighth day of the fourth lunar month is Buddha's Birthday.
The Crown Prince instructed the kitchen to prepare a bowl of longevity noodles for her. After watching her finish eating, he said, "Today you will accompany me to the Prajna Temple."
Just as Yun Kui was about to ask a question, she heard him say, "He will also be going with the imperial entourage."
Yun Kui tensed up instantly, "You mean..."
Father?
Is she going to see him today?
The crown prince stood up and took her slightly cold hand in his: "Let's go."
The Buddha's Birthday Festival is the most important Buddhist event of the year. Today, the emperor, empress, members of the imperial family, and important officials of the court all go to Prajna Temple to bathe the Buddha and pray for blessings.
A black lacquered sandalwood carriage stopped outside Donghua Gate, led by four fine horses. Countless guards with swords stood in neat rows, and the entire procession was grand and imposing. As it moved along, the heavy rolling of the wheels and the friction of armor and weapons seemed to crush one's ears.
Yun Kui felt uneasy, and her palms were sweating.
As the carriage entered the Imperial Street, the sounds of commotion gradually filled the air. Only then did Yun Kui dare to boldly lift a corner of the carriage curtain and peek out.
A gentle April breeze caressed her face, and she let out a deep breath, finally easing some of the tension in her heart.
The crown prince took out a rosewood brocade box from a hidden compartment and handed it to her. "A birthday gift, would you like to open it and take a look?"
Yun Kui came to her senses. "Your Highness also prepared a birthday gift for me?"
She carefully unlocked the box, expecting it to contain gifts like gold or silver jewelry, but instead found a thick stack of... property deeds?!
The prince glanced at her and said casually, "The dozens of shops you saw just now are all here."
According to what he knew, Sheng Yu bought a lot of cosmetics and jewelry from this street as a birthday gift for her.
So he simply bought all the shops at a high price and gave them all to her.
Yun Kui stared in disbelief, too shocked to speak.
The Crown Prince said calmly, "Haven't you always blamed me for taking away your house deed in Pingzhou Prefecture? Is this enough to compensate you?"
Yun Kui's vision went black for a moment, and she suddenly felt a little dizzy.
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