Lu Anyuan moved closer, and Xu Yixing could feel the warmth coming from his body through the fabric of his clothes.
"Of course, I can't tell others, but I must tell you this wish, otherwise I'm afraid it won't come true."
"Then tell me what you mean."
"Do you remember what Mr. Yao said before? He said we couldn't have children within three years. Now that time has passed, do you think you should ask him to come and check your pulse again to see when we can have a little prince?"
The following words were spoken in a low voice, almost close to Xu Yixing's ear. It was not his fault. They had been married for more than three years, and there were many rumors in the palace. Even if he could ignore them, the Queen Mother, his father, his aunt, and even the Queen would ask questions intentionally or unintentionally. If there were no more children, they would probably plan to force someone into his own house.
"Well... then let him come and take a look." Xu Yixing had been living a relatively happy life for the past three years. Although he had experienced many setbacks along the way, he had managed to stay out of trouble. Most importantly, Lu Anyuan had remained firmly on the throne, while the other princes hadn't achieved anything significant. Therefore, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would most likely become the crown prince.
Our "Crown Prince" is already 23 years old and has no children. Not to mention the Emperor, even the Empress Dowager cannot allow the Emperor to appoint someone who may not have an heir as the Crown Prince.
Whether the royal bloodline is cut off or not is one thing, but if the lack of an heir causes the younger generations to fight for the throne and shake the country, the person would be a great sinner.
Xu Yixing watched as Lu Anyuan took on most of the pressure for him and refused to accept the women sent by various forces. It would be a lie to say he wasn't moved.
Loving him and having a child is nothing.
"Really?" Lu Anyuan's smile was so deep that it reached his eyes. He hugged Xu Yixing and gave him a big kiss. It was great. He had finally waited for this day! "If the aunt and the queen mother knew about this, she would definitely be very happy."
"Speaking of which, the Empress Dowager has improved in recent years. I went to the palace during the Mid-Autumn Festival and saw that she was no longer confused at all. She is really getting younger and younger."
"The Imperial Grandmother was always in good health. She probably avoided my father in the early years. There's been no rift between them in recent years, so she's naturally recovered."
"Oh..." Xu Yixing did not forget that the Queen Mother might have pretended to be crazy at that time. Now, has she really reconciled with the Emperor?
"Did Yiwen take the exam this time?"
"I did, but he wrote to me saying not to have too high expectations. Haha, he's been taking the exam for three years and still hasn't passed. He's really very patient." Xu Yiwen failed the exam many times. In fact, this is not uncommon. It is not easy to become a juren. Some people cannot pass it in their entire life, and that's the end of it.
Lu Anyuan stroked Yixing's hair and said half-jokingly, "Why should he study so hard? It's something that only requires one sentence, but you just won't say anything."
"Yi Wen himself didn't want to, otherwise he could have gotten a position thanks to my father. Let him be. But I really admire him for actually living in the academy. Of course, I admire my father even more for holding back and not rushing over to beat him to death."
"Hahahahahahaha!" Lu Anyuan had long been accustomed to his father-in-law's family, which were all strange people.
Lu Anyuan never thought that the past three years had been unusually uneventful. He even gradually established the image of a benevolent minister under Yixing's advice - this was not the image of an emperor, even if he wanted to deceive himself that Yixing was doing it to give him a good reputation.
But shouldn't a good reputation be earned by offering suggestions and admonishing the emperor when he is upset? Why should we spend real money to buy it?
Lu Anyuan wasn't a fool; he could sense from everything Yixing did that he probably didn't want to be the crown prince. But as for the reason, he had tried to hint at it many times, but to no avail.
So Lu Anyuan spread his forces far away, at least not letting them appear blatantly in the palace, and tried to create a feeling that he really wanted to hide but had to be entangled in official business. Maybe if she stayed away from the atmosphere of the court, she would be able to live more comfortably?
After returning to the mansion, Lu Anyuan was summoned away by the palace's strong men before he could get off the car. Xu Yixing smiled at him and said, "I'll wait for you," and then went back to his room.
"Ying Wu, is there any movement from my father?" Xu Yixing skillfully summoned the shadow guards. She had been more relaxed in recent years, so she took turns giving vacations to the shadow guards around her. Ying Wu had just returned from vacation two or three months ago.
"Yes, from the messengers we've been tracking, it seems General Xu's contact with the Northern Border Army has only increased in recent years. He even sent his trusted aide, Xu Qian, to visit the military camp three months ago."
"I already knew this before. I'm asking about the new developments. Wait, weren't you on vacation three months ago? How did you know that Xu Qian went to the northern border?" Xu Yixing turned around domineeringly and sat down on the chair, questioning Ying Wu.
"I was on vacation, so I took the opportunity to go on a long trip with him."
"Uh," Xu Yixing pressed his hands to his forehead. The whole point of this vacation was to keep you from worrying about these things. Now it's a waste of time. "Isn't this what you all do on vacation?"
“Some people are and some people aren’t.”
"I really don't understand you guys..."
"Master, there's no need to 'understand' us. The Shadow Guards naturally have their own ways of doing things. What I want to say is that after Xu Qian returned from the Northern Territory, the Tianyuan Silver Bank branch in the Northern Territory received a large sum of money. It was remitted through many channels and people, but without exception, it all ended up in the military camp."
"You're not going to tell me that it was my father who bribed the army, are you?" Xu Yixing didn't doubt her father's ambition, but she was very suspicious of the source of the money. She had known her father's sources of income very well over the years, and while it was more than enough to maintain the Xu family's expenses, it was unlikely that it could be turned into a "large sum of money."
After all, he is not Lu Anyuan. Qibei does have silver mines and iron mines, so it is more accurate to say that he is buying soldiers.
"But we haven't found the specific source. The northern border is so remote that not many people come here in a year. This happened right after Xu Qian left. I just think it's a coincidence."
"Dad is getting more and more outrageous!"
Xu Yixing had no reservations about speaking to Ying Wu, so she spoke freely. Dad had become the prince's father-in-law in recent years, but instead of severing ties with the military, he had actually made them even closer. She had also heard that some people in remote states were using Dad's name to befriend local officials and even wealthy businessmen. She wondered if Dad knew about this.
However, the emperor seemed to have hardly heard of this news. It was not known whether the ministers did not report it in order to please their families and Lu Anyuan, or whether the emperor knew about it but did not care.
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