Chapter 460 Persuasion
Seeing this, Meng Lingge sighed softly, "Most importantly, you have to think about the child. When the child grows up, he will eventually find out something about what's going on in the Prince Zhong's backyard. How will you explain it to the child then? Only when Prince Zhong becomes the emperor will this matter no longer need to be hidden, and naturally, there will be no need to explain it."
When the topic of the child came up, Su Leyan, who had been struggling with her feelings, paused in her hand gesture towards her belly. Her eyes narrowed sharply, and she looked up at Meng Lingge with a firm expression.
"Okay, I'll take care of it."
For the sake of her two children, she couldn't let the Prince Zhong's mansion continue to have shady dealings, especially since she was already nearing her breaking point.
Su Leyan knew Meng Lingge and Wen Zhiming quite well, and knew that the two were true to their word. Since they had decided to leave, even if she and Wen Kehao disagreed, they would find other ways to leave.
If the throne doesn't belong to them, it will belong to someone else.
When someone else takes over, they will certainly not be as polite to her and Wen Kehao as they were to Wen Zhiming and Meng Lingge.
By then, her situation will only become more difficult.
Rather than waiting for the truth to come out and for the child to suffer the shame, it's better to listen to Meng Lingge, go all out in advance, put ourselves in a do-or-die situation, and pave a new and bright future for Wen Kehao, for ourselves, and for the child.
Su Leyan stood up and gave Meng Lingge a farewell bow.
"The Queen awaits my good news."
Meng Lingge stepped forward, hugged her, and personally escorted her to the door.
Su Leyan hurriedly left Fengyi Palace, her mind filled with only one thought: how to persuade Wen Kehao.
She is not one to make promises lightly; once she agrees to something, no matter how difficult it may be, she will do everything in her power to fulfill it.
That's why I went alone into the deep mountains to find the antidote for Wen Kehao.
He promised Wen Zhiming that he would take responsibility for Wen Kehao for the rest of his life.
Now that I have agreed to Meng Lingge's request and will act according to her plan, this is even more true.
When Su Leyan rushed back to the Prince Zhong's mansion, Wen Kehao was pacing anxiously back and forth in the front hall.
In the past three years, with Su Leyan taking care of his backyard, and the Gu King poison in his body being relieved every day, the red lines and veins on his face have faded a bit, and he no longer looks as frightening as before.
He was actually quite content with his current life. His elder brother was there to support him in the court, and Su Leyan was there to manage things at home. He had both wealth and honor, and no need for worries or toil.
He had a beautiful woman by his side, and a harem of beauties in his harem. One gave him solace, and the other cured the remaining poison in his body.
Apart from occasionally feeling guilty towards Su Leyan, he had no other worries.
He really wanted to live like this for the rest of his life.
So when he heard that he was to be stationed in the northern frontier, he panicked. He wasn't afraid of the hardship and danger of serving his elder brother, but he didn't want to lose his current peaceful life, and he didn't want his secret to be known.
He knew it was difficult to refuse, but deep down he still hoped that Su Leyan could persuade Meng Lingge.
Wen Kehao was deep in thought when he looked up and saw Su Leyan enter the courtyard. He quickly went to greet her.
"My lady, what did the Empress say?"
Su Leyan looked at him and sighed.
"The Empress said that only a prince can be stationed in the northern border. Why don't you wait until it's late at night and run away with the girls from the inner quarters? The Emperor and Empress are merciful and should not punish me and Shao Chen. As long as you hide well, you should be fine."
She understands Wen Kehao. She has protected Wen Kehao too well over the years. Unless absolutely necessary, Wen Kehao will not be willing to reveal the secret to the public, let alone agree to accept Wen Zhiming's abdication.
Therefore, the best way to persuade Wen Kehao is to retreat in order to advance.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Wen Kehao shook his head decisively upon hearing this, "I would never abandon you and the child, let alone anyone else. Besides, my brother has been incredibly kind to me. Now he has asked me to do something, and I have run away. How will my brother think of me? How will the people of the world think of me?"
He is content with the status quo, but he is not a cold-blooded or heartless person.
If he were to abandon Su Leyan now, flee for a mission, and leave behind this mess for Su Leyan to clean up, how would that be any different from the actions of an animal?
Su Leyan was not surprised at all by Wen Kehao's reply.
She slowly sat down and said calmly, "Then you must agree to go to the northern frontier to guard it. The girls and I will go with you. If this secret is discovered on the way, we will wait for the officials to impeach us and for the emperor to deal with us. Or you can go alone and cause trouble on the way, and then wait for the verdict."
As Wen Kehao listened to Su Leyan's earnest analysis and suggestions, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, as each of her ideas seemed more and more unreliable than the last.
“How did things come to this? At worst, I will go to my brother and apologize, tell him everything, and let him do as he pleases. I will protect you and your child no matter what.”
Su Leyan nodded, "What you said is the last method, and it's also the method that the Emperor and Empress want you to choose."
She briefly explained that Meng Lingge and Wen Zhiming were preparing to leave the palace and abdicate the throne to them.
Upon hearing this, Wen Kehao took two steps back, shocked, and said, "My brother abdicated in my stead? How can this be? Is it because my brother had no choice but to make this decision to relieve my predicament? This is utterly shameful, I cannot accept it, absolutely not..."
"The Emperor and Empress left because they had no heir and were tired of being pressured by the court officials to have children and to select concubines. It was also because many people with ulterior motives thought that the Empress was preventing them from presenting beauties to the Emperor, so they targeted the Empress and the Eldest Princess. Sometimes I really envy the Empress. The Emperor was even willing to give up the throne so that she wouldn't be wronged."
Su Leyan paused slightly at this point, then smiled wryly.
“I knew you wouldn’t agree. You didn’t want to reveal the secret to the world, nor did you want to accept the Emperor’s abdication. The Emperor and Empress are of one mind; even the smallest thing the Empress does is a huge deal in his eyes. But for me, you don’t even have this much courage. You can’t see the troubles in the household, my predicament. These past few years, I thought that even if I couldn’t be your only woman, I would at least be the most important person in your heart. In the end, it was all just self-deception…”
She looked at Wen Kehao, her eyes still filled with affection.
"But it's okay, I won't blame you even if you don't want to. I will always face this with you. Even if we can't get through this, whether we end up in the ends of the earth or go to the underworld together, Haochen, the child in your womb, and I will be with you..."
Wen Kehao was shocked by the news that his elder brother wanted to abdicate in his favor. When he heard Su Leyan's words and saw the tears welling up in Su Leyan's eyes, his heart ached.
He frantically wiped away Su Leyan's tears, muttering, "Don't talk nonsense. It's not that I don't want to, it's just..."
He hesitated several times, then finally closed his eyes and uttered a soft sentence.
"Is it really because of the Empress that my imperial brother needs to abdicate in my favor?"
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