The smile in Jiang Ting's eyes froze.
The joy of becoming a father for the first time seemed to come to an abrupt end.
His usefulness has been exhausted.
Wasn't that what he said back then—to give Jiang Tian a child, so that her child could be a free person in the world and help her fulfill her friend's last wish?
Now that all of this has come to fruition, it feels as if a huge rock is pressing on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.
He looked at Jiang Tian, remaining silent for a long time.
Jiang Tian seemed to know that he was calming down and did not disturb him.
Silence remained between the two of them; the warmth they had shared over the days had vanished without a trace.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Ting tried his best to speak in a calm tone: "I'm afraid... it's not possible yet."
Jiang Tian looked up at him, her eyes filled with doubt.
Jiang Ting's expression remained unchanged: "Perhaps you are unaware, but royal children must be registered in order to enjoy the royal family's blessings. Children not born in the palace are not worthy of being called princes or grandsons of the emperor. If I leave immediately, the child's identity will remain unknown, and he may become a person whose father is unknown."
“...I think you need to come back to the capital with me. After the child is born, the relevant palace staff need to make a record of it.”
"After he is born safely, I will give him a title and let him grow up among the common people. In that way, he will be the rightful son of the emperor, and no one will disobey my decree because of his unclear identity."
Jiang Ting's words carried a sense of difficulty.
"...You don't need to worry that I will force you to keep your child. The imperial token has already been given to you, and the imperial edict has long been stamped with the jade seal. These are all valid. As soon as the child is born, I will consult the Imperial Advisor for divination. At that time, he will be able to leave the capital legitimately. You can let him live wherever you want. He will still be free. But the premise is that he must be born in the palace."
This decree was issued by the late emperor.
To be honest, it actually involves some of the emperor's romantic affairs.
The late emperor was a romantic man; his heart could belong to different women.
Whenever he traveled to the south of the Yangtze River or went to escape the summer heat, he would always have sex with many women.
Some of those women became pregnant with his children and would naturally be brought into the palace.
There were also some women whose status was too low. Once the emperor lost interest in them, he abandoned them. They had no chance to enter the palace. When they became pregnant, they informed the late emperor, who was not pleased but angry.
He was displeased to see that he had allowed such a woman to conceive his child, and would immediately prescribe medicine to induce an abortion.
Never underestimate a man's ruthlessness.
The late emperor had a large harem, but he never lacked children.
It was no easy feat for Jiang Ting to stand out among so many princes and princesses.
But there are always some village women who are exceptions; they cannot take abortion pills.
The late emperor met them under the guise of traveling incognito, had a one-night stand with them, and then left, ruining those women's lives. He even considered it a romantic affair.
Perhaps in a month or two, he would forget what those women looked like, let alone search for them.
When he realized he had left behind too many romantic entanglements and saw that he already had so many children, he suddenly made up his mind and issued this decree.
In this imperial edict, he specifically stated that only children born in the palace could be recognized by the royal family.
If, by some chance, his identity is not properly concealed and the village women belatedly discover it, and they come looking for him with the children they gave birth to in the countryside, then he will not acknowledge them.
In the eyes of the late emperor, he was doing this to maintain the royal bloodline.
This decree was tacitly approved by the officials.
The young ladies of their family are all in the palace; each additional prince would mean receiving a larger share of their fiefdom.
This decree was entirely beneficial and has continued to this day.
After Jiang Ting finished speaking, the atmosphere visibly froze.
He hadn't mentioned this before because he hadn't expected Jiang Tian to kick him out so quickly.
He thought he could take care of her for a while.
But now that they've both reached this point, neither of them can pretend to be stupid anymore.
Jiang Ting had no choice but to tell the truth.
Jiang Tian sat there, motionless.
She had her head down, seemingly lost in thought.
Jiang Ting was somewhat anxious, fearing that Jiang Tian might think he was plotting against her.
To be fair, he was indeed scheming against her—if he hadn't, the two of them wouldn't have even a sliver of hope, let alone the added connection of having a child.
No one knew the sheer joy he felt when he learned that Jiang Tian was pregnant.
However, the late emperor's decree was not within his calculations.
"Don't worry, if you really enter the palace, I will absolutely not allow anyone to plot against you. As for the child, I will make sure he is born safely."
Seeing that she remained silent, Jiang Ting had no choice but to continue to reassure her.
He had known since childhood that the imperial harem was a place where filth and corruption were rampant.
His father's harem was incredibly large, filled with countless concubines scheming and plotting their way through life. He had witnessed much bloodshed and loss of life.
Didn't the emperor know that the concubines in the harem were scheming like that?
Jiang Ting had the same question back then.
Once he ascended the throne, this question completely disappeared.
As emperor, he had immense control over the harem; nothing could escape his notice.
After all, he was the master of the whole world, and how could the harem possibly deceive him?
Perhaps the Emperor chose not to interfere back then because he intended to maintain a balance of power.
He only considered himself a human being; in his eyes, all the concubines were servants.
Jiang Ting realized that his father was using a kind of animal-taming method to make the women in the harem fight each other, and then get rid of the concubines he considered an eyesore.
The people he considered an eyesore were naturally the ministers from the previous dynasty whom he disliked.
He watched helplessly as these concubines used every trick in the book, one scheme after another, even sacrificing their own lives, to bring down the concubines they hated—this was exactly what his father, the emperor, needed.
His father was shrewd and always achieved his goals.
The emperor would not care about the lives or deaths of those women or the survival of their children.
He has too many choices.
He could possess the most beautiful women in the world, so how important could those concubines be in his eyes? They were nothing more than a means to balance the relationships in the court.
It was precisely because he had a clearer understanding of the imperial court and the inner palace that Jiang Ting dared to bring Jiang Tian into the palace.
After he finished speaking, he realized that Jiang Tian still showed no intention of talking to him.
He felt a sense of inexplicable loss and depression.
What else could those two do?
He needs to give their children a legitimate identity.
"If I really enter the palace, wouldn't I become one of your concubines? After all, once a woman enters the palace, she is automatically considered the emperor's woman."
Jiang Tian finally spoke, and her words hit the nail on the head.
Jiang Ting felt a heavy weight lift from his heart.
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