Chapter 211 Yuan Wei, give me another child
He wanted to slam the table and tell the whole family, "Yuan'er is my child and has nothing to do with your Xiao family! I own the world, I don't need the money to raise a child, I can support him for life!"
However, he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips.
He couldn't let the Xiao family see how much he cared about Yuan'er.
If the Xiao family knew that he couldn't bear to part with Yuan'er, he wouldn't be able to use Yuan'er to threaten Shen Yuanwei and the Xiao family...
Thinking of this, Xie Junlin hid his emotions and looked at the Xiao family indifferently.
"Every one of you wants your Xiao family's child back, so what are you willing to do for him? If I ask you to exchange your life for another, are you willing to agree?"
The Xiao family members looked at each other.
The old general was the first to speak.
"I am willing to give my life in exchange for my grandson's life!"
The old lady also spoke up.
"I am willing to do so! If my old man's life is not enough to appease the emperor's anger, I am willing to exchange my own life for my grandson's! I only ask the emperor to forgive the innocent child!"
Xie Junlin hummed.
He looked at Xiao Lingzhao and Shen Yuanwei, "What about you? Your parents are already old. They would naturally be willing to use their old lives to exchange for a young life. Are you two willing to sacrifice for your children?"
Xiao Lingzhao did not hesitate.
He bowed his head and said, "I am willing! As long as the Second Prince is truly my own flesh and blood, I am willing to use my life and the generations of merit of the Xiao family to exchange for the Second Prince's safety!"
Xie Junlin curled his thin lips slightly.
He said, "Okay! Since you want the Second Prince to be safe so much, then I can agree to it!"
He changed the subject.
"However, I don't want the lives of all of you. I want you to exchange your child for mine. As long as you give me another child, I will immediately return the Second Prince to your Xiao family."
Shen Yuanwei's heart skipped a beat when she heard Xie Junlin's words.
In exchange for another child?
Of course, she was not naive enough to think that Xie Junlin wanted one of her twins in exchange. What Xie Junlin wanted was his own flesh and blood!
This old man, who is almost 41 years old, clearly wanted to use Yuan'er's incident to threaten her into entering the palace and having another child!
Having guessed Xie Junlin's intention, Shen Yuanwei's eyes suddenly turned cold when she looked at Xie Junlin.
brazen!
Despicable and vulgar!
It was agreed at the beginning that only one child would be enough to inherit the kingdom. Now that we have one, we want more. How can a person be so greedy?
Shen Yuanwei immediately kowtowed and refused.
"Your Majesty, I'm sorry I can't do that."
The Xiao family members were not fools either, they also guessed what Xie Junlin meant.
They looked at each other in astonishment.
Who could have thought that the emperor came to the Xiao family today not to blame the Xiao family for the second prince's life experience, but that the emperor was more greedy, sinister and cunning than they imagined!
Xiao Lingzhao also kowtowed and refused.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me, I can't do this."
"Back then, the Emperor said that you had no children and that you needed a child to inherit the throne. You said that the throne you fought so hard for must not fall into the hands of outsiders. You used both soft and hard tactics on me, and even poisoned me with arsenic to deliberately harm my own body to force me to submit. I really had no choice but to reluctantly send my newlywed wife to the palace to be your concubine and bear children for you."
"Now that you have a child, even if you find out that the second prince is not your own flesh and blood, the eldest prince is still yours. Your wish of having a child to inherit the throne has been fulfilled. Why are you still forcing me?"
He looked up at Xie Junlin.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking so frankly—"
"I have already suffered the humiliation of having my wife taken away from me five years ago. Do you really want me to suffer this great humiliation again? I believe I am loyal to you. I have guarded the border and protected the country for many years. Even if I have no merit, I have worked hard. Your Majesty, do you really want to humiliate me again and again?"
Shen Yuanwei glanced sideways at Xiao Lingzhao.
She held Xiao Lingzhao's hand tightly, and their fingers were interlocked, showing Xie Junlin their determination not to separate.
Xie Junlin had long guessed that these two people would not compromise easily.
He gently patted the baby in his arms and looked at the two of them calmly.
"I hope that before you blame me, you will first figure out who is at fault now."
"Today you are the ones who have let me down. You have caused me great shame and humiliation. You gave birth to the Xiao family's child in my home and made me, the emperor, raise your child for four years. Do you know how people in the world will laugh at me and scold me for being blind if this gets out?"
"Oh, you guys are so happy that you suddenly have a son, and you take turns begging me to return the child to you, but have you ever thought about how I will end this, huh?"
"Let me return the child to your Xiao family, and let everyone in the world know that the Second Prince whom I have doted on for four years is not my own flesh and blood. I cannot afford to lose this person—"
"But if the child is not returned, what should I do? Tell me, should I continue to raise him or kill him?"
"You must not want me to kill him, right? You can't bear to see him die, so there is only one way left. I will pretend that nothing has happened and continue to raise your son for you with a smile. This way everyone will be happy—"
"But if you want a great emperor to willingly raise a son for someone else, you have to give me some benefits, right?"
Xie Junlin pointed at Shen Yuanwei.
"I own the world and have everything I need, except a child. I only want one sweet thing, and that is that I want you, Shen Yuanwei, to give me another child."
"As long as you are willing to use another child to exchange for Xie Congyuan's life, I will be willing to help you raise Xie Congyuan from now on."
"I can also promise you that I will never let Xie Congyuan know his life experience in this lifetime. He can be a prince happily and worry-free for the rest of his life. When he grows up, he can even become a prince and have the best fiefdom!"
Xie Junlin changed his posture and glanced at the Xiao family.
"Think about it carefully. Should we let Xie Congyuan die, or let Shen Yuanwei sacrifice another year and give birth to a child for me in exchange for Xie Congyuan's life?"
"Shen Yuanwei is only in her twenties now. She is still young. Even if she wastes a year of her life, it won't matter. She still has a lot of years to live."
"Xie Congyuan is different. If you don't save him, his life will always remain at the age of four."
"You have all seen that child. He is so cute, pretty and lively. He is still so young and he still has decades to live. Do you really want to watch him die and ruin his promising life?"
"He is the flesh and blood of your Xiao family. Didn't you just say that you would protect him even at the cost of your life? Aren't you willing to give up everything for him? Now I don't want you to die, and I don't want you to give up everything. I just want Shen Yuanwei to sacrifice another year to give birth to a child. Isn't this asking too much, huh?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com