Chapter 191 The Heir Apparent of the Earl's Mansion 14
He couldn't understand Ning Yan's wary demeanor, but he respected it. After all, their situation was special, and they couldn't rush things. He believed that given time, Ning Yan would eventually lower his guard.
But now he feels that only in this way can he feel at ease.
"Your Majesty, if we do this, won't the concubines in the harem dislike me even more?"
"Never mind them, they're just decorations. I will protect you and never let them harm you."
"If you want to be an official, I will give you one; if you like money, I will give you money. In short, I will never let you suffer the slightest injustice."
Her identity as a woman disguised as a man was really embarrassing.
She's dead, but she has a whole family behind her; we really can't afford to gamble with that.
"How could that be? How could you have such a thought?"
Xiao Li: "I promise that no matter what happens, I will never harm you in the slightest."
Having received the Emperor's assurance, Ning Yan looked up, leaned closer, and kissed his lips.
Ning Yan's rare initiative stunned Xiao Li, who then became infatuated. After a long while, the two finally separated, and the air in the small world covered by the bed curtains seemed to become scorching hot.
"Zi'an, I still want to..."
No, you don't want to.
He kissed her again before dawn. "Your Majesty, you should go to sleep. You have to attend the ceremony tomorrow."
It was almost dawn, and he only had a little over an hour left before he had to get up, so he really couldn't afford to do anything reckless.
He simply pulled her into his arms, his tone showing no displeasure at being rejected, "Okay, go to sleep."
...
At the Cheng'an Marquis's residence, Ning's father didn't sleep well all night, his heart filled with worry. Even though his daughter often stayed in the palace, his eyelids kept twitching all night.
Fortunately, at Chenshi (7-9 AM), the daughter left the palace and returned home.
"Didn't you sleep well last night? You have dark circles under your eyes."
Ning Yan yawned, "Dad, I'm so sleepy. I'm going back to my room to catch up on sleep. I'll talk to you again when I wake up."
Madam Ning said with heartache, "Alright, alright, go ahead. I'll have someone prepare your favorite dishes so you can eat as soon as you wake up."
The couple breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their daughter return safely. After watching her go back to her own courtyard, Lord Ning said, "Don't worry. I heard from my eldest son-in-law that the Emperor has been in a very good mood lately and hasn't killed anyone indiscriminately for a long time. Besides, Yan'er has been by the Emperor's side for more than three years. As long as she doesn't do anything foolish, the Emperor won't punish her."
Madam Ning chuckled: "Tell me not to worry. Then who was it that tossed and turned and couldn't sleep last night?"
However, she would cherish her own man and, being a first-year student, wouldn't expose his past.
Ning Yan slept until noon, missing out on the dumplings she had for breakfast, but made up for it with lunch. After finishing her meal, she dismissed the servants and then told them her plans, "Father, I plan to have Cuizhu get pregnant."
What? Pregnant?
Lord Ning's eyes widened in surprise!
"What is she carrying? Something's not right..."
Lord Ning kept looking his daughter up and down. He had a bad feeling last night, and he felt that something was going to happen to his daughter. Could it be what he was thinking?
In her panic, Madam Ning grabbed her daughter's wrist. "What...what did you do last night?"
It couldn't be the Emperor. If the Emperor knew that his daughter was disguised as a man, he would definitely punish their family. So, it could only be another man!
Ning Yan took out a soundproof talisman and slapped it down, then said without blushing at all, "I slept with the Emperor, and he thought I was a man."
Lord Ning's teacup, which he had just picked up, clattered onto the table. "Y-you, what did you say? The Emperor... the Emperor has been drugged? No, no, even if he were drugged, he couldn't sleep!"
After saying that, Lord Ning felt a chill run down his spine. What kind of talk was that? If this went on for too long, he would really start treating his daughter like his son.
After speaking, Ning Yan unconsciously glanced at her own unremarkable appearance.
Madam Ning immediately understood. So, her daughter's late development had actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise?!
"But even if you get pregnant, what will you do for the next few months?"
"She'll start showing after three months; the remaining seven months and the Emperor will find out in no time."
"There are two options. First, I can feign illness and resign from my official post when I am three months pregnant, but my grandfather might not agree to this."
The second option is for me to have a fight with the Emperor, then apply for a transfer to a post outside the capital. After the child is born, I can talk to the Emperor nicely and return to the capital.
"What kind of 'exile'? You're just a military officer, are you going to be stationed at the border?"
"You're arguing with the Emperor? Do you really not care about your head?"
Ning Yan: "...Didn't you ever think that as long as I get pregnant with the Emperor's child, I will be invincible?"
The difficulty now is not how to deceive the Emperor, but that my child may not be able to stay in the manor to be raised. That's what you should be thinking about.
Given how reluctant the Emperor was to part with her when she was about to leave the palace that morning, he couldn't possibly have designs on anyone else. That meant he wouldn't have any other offspring. When he discovered that the extra child in her household was his, wouldn't he want to take it?
Lord Ning: ...
Ning Yan dropped a bombshell and returned to her own courtyard. It was the Lunar New Year, and even the Emperor had a holiday. He would only officially resume court on the eighth day of the new year. She could rest at home for seven days. However, there was someone in the palace who was lovesick, and the rewards were being sent to the Earl's residence like a flowing stream.
There were many gossips in the capital, saying that the heir of the Marquis of Cheng'an had bewitched the emperor so that he would not enter the harem, and that the emperor would have no successor. They said that the treacherous official should be executed to prevent the emperor from being misled, and so on. A few days later, all those who had been talking about the emperor and Ning Yan in public were arrested.
It was only then that they remembered that the person they were talking about was a bloodthirsty emperor!
They're finished, they're finished!
In order to survive, these people were brought in for interrogation and said whatever came to mind, quickly revealing the mastermind behind it all.
As a result, several concubines in the palace were either sentenced to death or banished to the cold palace.
Oh, the Empress is the one who was banished to the Cold Palace.
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