Is this truly divine punishment for me? Punishing myself for doing the same thing ten years ago?
Thinking of this, she shuddered. Her time travel was already quite fantastical, and she believed in such things.
Mingyu stopped paying attention to Xiaoli and set up a small Buddhist shrine in her bedroom. From then on, she devoutly worshipped Buddha every day in order to cleanse herself of her sins.
That evening, Shangguan Jin indeed arrived.
"Yu'er, be patient for now. Once this storm has passed, I will take you back."
Mingyu hugged Shangguan Jin's waist and sobbed softly.
"Jin, did we do something wrong? Is this why we're getting our comeuppance?"
Shangguan Jin gave a wry smile. He didn't know either, but weren't Li Ying and Shangguan Ti living well? This wasn't such a big sin, was it?
"Don't be afraid, we won't have any more children. It's better for us to be together than anything else. Ti'er is still here, so let's make it up to him."
Mingyu felt a pang of resentment. Even if it was a child she had raised from childhood, it wasn't her own flesh and blood. She was unwilling to do something that would benefit someone else.
“Jin, let’s have another child. This time I want Brother Le to come and deliver the baby himself. I only trust him.”
Shangguan Jin hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
Xiao Li watched the show silently; it really is true love!
She went to the next room after disappearing into the shadows, put a pill in Shangguan Jin's cup, clapped her hands, and went back to her room.
Since everyone has been relegated to the sidelines and is no longer favored, then let's not favor any of them.
From now on, Shangguan Jin should not even think about favoring anyone else.
The imperial concubine selection, which was held once every five years, was canceled, which puzzled the ministers. Although the emperor favored Consort Yu, he would still visit the harem. Now that Consort Yu had become a lowly concubine, he was even giving up the harem.
The ministers once again offered their advice, which greatly troubled Shangguan Jin. It wasn't that he didn't want to enter the harem, but rather that he had completely lost the ability to favor the women in the harem.
Even medicine was useless. The imperial physicians were all trembling with fear, walking on thin ice, afraid that the young and impotent emperor would kill them all in a fit of rage.
Fortunately, Shangguan Jin still had children over the years, otherwise the throne would have been in jeopardy.
Shangguan Jin asked Le Wuji to treat his illness, but Le Wuji was helpless; he had never encountered such a situation before.
"It doesn't seem like medication, and there were no warning signs at all. This illness came on strangely."
Le Wuji looked at Shangguan Jin suspiciously, "You don't actually have some kind of problem, do you?"
He had heard about the recent rumors, and he found it quite strange. The fetus was perfectly normal, so how could it suddenly become a freak?
Shangguan Jin's face darkened.
"You're the one who's messed up, your whole family is messed up."
Le Wuji didn't care at all. Everyone knew he was an orphan who had no parents since childhood, so where would he have a family?
“There’s something strange about this. I think it’s a huge conspiracy.”
“Li agreed that everything was normal, it couldn’t possibly have been her doing it. If it was her, ten years ago…”
Le Wuji turned his head curiously.
"What happened ten years ago? Ten years ago..."
His eyes widened. Could it be...?
"Are you really sick? You've given birth to two freaks in a row, maybe there really is something wrong with you."
Shangguan Jin offered a rebuttal this time, saying he genuinely didn't know what the problem was.
“What can we do now? You don’t have many sons, and you haven’t had a single one in the last ten years.”
At this point, Yue Wuji seemed to be deep in thought, perhaps his goddess wasn't as pure and innocent as she appeared.
If they were truly pure and innocent, how could this harem be so clean? Not a single boy has been born in the last ten years.
Only one princess survived; all the other princes died young.
Shangguan Jin's illness was incurable, and he no longer had any interest in the harem. He turned his attention to his two remaining sons.
The eldest son, Shangguan Xi, was born to Consort Lan. He had been healthy for the past few years, but in recent years he has been frequently ill with both serious and minor ailments, so Consort Lan sent him out of the palace.
She established her own residence outside the palace at a young age and is already 15 years old this year.
The second son is Shangguan Ti, who has also suffered from minor misfortunes and illnesses over the years. But at least he has grown up.
Consort Lan comes from a prominent family. If Shangguan Xi were to ascend the throne, the family business might be controlled by the maternal relatives, which would be inappropriate.
Only Shangguan Ti was someone I grew up by my side, someone I knew well, and someone I could easily control.
Most importantly, as the son of Consort Yu, and now that he has been made Crown Prince, will his mother still live in the Cold Palace?
Shangguan Jin then began to dote on Shangguan Ti, having the imperial tutor teach him the ways of a ruler, and even keeping him by his side, wholeheartedly guiding him.
Everyone understood the emperor's meaning, and soon, Shangguan Ti was made crown prince and moved to the Eastern Palace.
Mingyu was also brought back to the inner palace. Of course, she could no longer live in Weiyang Palace, so she moved back to her former Yuheng Palace and was promoted to the rank of Consort.
Shangguan Ti did not forget Xiao Li. He often secretly visited her, bringing her delicious food and everyday items.
These things were all saved from his own allowance. He was still young and had no ability to leave the palace on his own, nor could he buy them.
Xiao Li appreciated his kindness; it was a sentiment that no one could match.
He studied very hard. Xiao Li gave him a brain-enhancing pill, which made his mind clearer, improved his memory and learning ability, and made him learn everything quickly and able to apply what he learned to other situations.
The imperial tutor praised him for his intelligence, and Shangguan Jin felt comforted, knowing that he had not ruined his ancestors' legacy and had left behind a capable successor.
Mingyu was furious in the palace. Why was Consort Li's son allowed to sit on the throne as the crown prince?
Even now, because he has become the crown prince and she has moved back to the inner palace, Shangguan Jin rarely comes anymore. What difference is there between this and being out of favor?
She messaged Le Wuji, asking him to come see her.
"Brother Le, do you think Shangguan is being unreasonable? He hasn't come to see me for ten days."
Mingyu pouted, looking unhappy.
Le Wuji pushed away her hand that was tugging at his sleeve. "Your Highness, there is a difference between men and women. It would be best if we kept our distance."
He's been thinking a lot lately and has discovered problems he hadn't noticed before.
For example, Mingyu would often tug at his sleeve and act coquettishly, and she would also cling to Shangguan Jin's arm and giggle sweetly.
She would complain to herself about how unreasonable Shangguan Jin was, and then after Shangguan Jin coaxed her, the two would reconcile.
I felt like a fool, acting as a mediator between them, always holding on to one side, but never able to reach the other side.
"Brother Le, what's wrong? Weren't we doing just fine before?"
Mingyu was a little hurt. Brother Le said he would always be good to her, but now he was keeping her at arm's length.
"I just feel that such intimacy is not good. Not only will Shangguan misunderstand, but my future wife will also misunderstand."
Mingyu was furious when she heard this. The thought of Le Wuji getting married and having children made her feel extremely wronged.
“Brother Le, you’ve changed. You weren’t like this before.”
"So what am I like?"
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