Nestled in the Fourteenth Prince's arms, Zhu Wanqing felt a surge of secret joy, but feigned sorrow as she comforted him, saying, "Your Highness, I am not one to fear death, nor do I feel wronged. However, the child I bear is now Your Highness's only heir, and I have no choice but to protect him… You are his father, and naturally, I do not wish for his life to be one of constant hardship…" Zhu Wanqing raised her head and said softly, "Your Highness is a chosen one of heaven, destined to be emperor. If it weren't for that dog of an emperor's persecution, you would have already ascended the throne…"
The Fourteenth Prince fell into deep thought, recalling all the previous events, which only deepened his suspicions. Why had the late Emperor passed away so suddenly, leaving only his fourth brother by his side? Why had his mother suddenly fallen ill and died, yet the four brothers refused to let him see her one last time? And this massacre of the Prince's mansion, leaving no survivors—could it really be as Zhu Wanqing said, that the throne originally belonged to him?
"I don't want Your Highness to be in danger again, but we have no other choice. Since the Emperor can wipe out the Prince's Mansion, it's only a matter of time before he hunts us down. If Your Highness doesn't make a decision soon, I'm worried... I'm worried that this child will also leave Your Highness..." Zhu Wanqing cried uncontrollably as she spoke.
The Fourteenth Prince put his arm around Zhu Wanqing's shoulder, pulled her into his embrace, and said indignantly, "Don't worry, I will definitely protect you and your child! Since we can't avoid it, we might as well confront it head-on. I'll leave the island right now and go settle accounts with this dog emperor who murdered his mother and brother and harmed his prince..."
Zhu Wanqing desperately pulled back the excited Fourteenth Prince, suppressing her inner elation, and comforted him, "Your Highness, please don't get excited. Even if we are going back, we need to plan carefully before we act..."
The Fourteenth Prince slammed his fist on the table in anger, gritting his teeth as he said, "I was so foolish! I shouldn't have given up so easily. If we had attacked the palace directly, we wouldn't be in this state today." Overwhelmed with grief and self-reproach, the Fourteenth Prince cried out, "Mother, my two sons wouldn't have died in vain..."
Seeing that the Fourteenth Prince had changed from his usual dejected state, Zhu Wanqing knew that her plan had worked. She breathed a sigh of relief, gently patted his back, and said, "Your Highness, it's not too late. As long as Your Highness still has confidence, my White Lotus Sect will do everything in its power to assist Your Highness in ascending the throne..."
The Fourteenth Prince looked at Zhu Wanqing gratefully and said, "Only you, and only you, have always remained loyal to me..."
Zhu Wanqing blushed slightly, and said with a shy, bitter smile, "Your Highness is my husband and my support. How could I leave you? Besides, we are now pregnant. Even for the sake of the child, Your Highness must pull yourself together..."
The Fourteenth Prince nodded firmly and then said, "You will contact my Eighth and Ninth Brothers now..."
Zhu Wanqing was taken aback: "Eighth Prince and Ninth Prince?"
The Fourteenth Prince said, “Eighth Brother and Ninth Brother have always been dissatisfied with the Emperor. Although they reluctantly admit it, they are resentful. The Emperor has never truly trusted them, which is why he has always assigned them to sinecure positions and never given them important responsibilities. Now that we want to return to the capital, we must contact the people in the capital, and these two are the best candidates…”
Zhu Wanqing looked at the Fourteenth Prince with delight. She had thought he was living in a daze, but it turned out he had seen everything clearly all along. She exclaimed excitedly, "Your Highness, I am so happy to see you like this..."
The Fourteenth Prince glanced at Zhu Wanqing's belly, his deep voice seemingly directed only at himself: "I will no longer run away; what is destined to happen will happen..."
Outside the island
Within just a few days, the Thirteenth Prince and the Seventeenth Prince secretly assembled three thousand sailors in Songjiang Prefecture, ready to act. They were just waiting for the plan to be implemented, to find a way to infiltrate the island from the inside and launch a coordinated attack to encircle and annihilate it.
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