Seeing that her plan had been exposed, the Empress Dowager gently touched her abdomen, her face deathly pale, and asked Yuan Yuan, "What do you want to do?"
"What does the Empress Dowager think I would want to do?" Yuan Yuan asked in return.
The Empress Dowager was somewhat flustered, but she still forced herself to remain calm and said, "Yuan Yuan, don't forget, I once saved you in the palace..."
"I've long since repaid the debts from back then," Yuan Yuan said coldly.
The emotional appeal isn't working anymore?
The Empress Dowager gritted her teeth, propped herself up to sit up in bed, and said with tears in her eyes, "I know that this child should not be kept, whether from the perspective of the royal family or the Great Qi."
But... I can't bear to!
I've been in the palace for decades, spending my days facing the tall, cold palace walls, facing someone who doesn't like me, and whom I don't like either...
I am a woman, but I have never had a child or been a mother in my life!
It was so hard, I finally had my own child...
"You mustn't touch the child in my womb!"
Yuan Yuan frowned upon hearing this.
He looked coldly at the Empress Dowager: "The Empress Dowager is getting old, and I'm afraid she no longer knows what she's doing?"
"I know what I'm doing!" the Empress Dowager retorted.
"Since you knew that, why did you choose this time?" Jiang Xian couldn't help but ask, "If you wanted to give birth, why didn't you give birth sooner?"
He's so angry!
If the child is born earlier, he can turn a blind eye and pretend that it is the late emperor's posthumous child.
But what about now?
It has been almost two years since the late emperor passed away!
The Empress Dowager suddenly became pregnant; this is licentious court corruption!
The emperor's eyes turned red with anger.
The Empress Dowager knew she was in the wrong and could not refute it.
She murmured, "No matter what, I must give birth to this child..."
"He's gone mad!" Jiang Xian shouted angrily.
It's unclear whether he's gone mad, or the Empress Dowager has gone mad.
The Empress Dowager of the country was pregnant with the child of a mere guard!
Moreover, she was already 46 years old (by Chinese reckoning)!
This is insane!
On a sweltering day, Jiang Xian was brimming with anger.
A hint of anxiety and rage flashed in his eyes: "A-Yuan, this child cannot be kept!"
Yuan Yuan looked up at him: "Is there anything else?"
what else?
Jiang Xian slapped his thigh: "That guard!"
“Hmm.” Yuan Yuan nodded indifferently.
Jiang Xian continued, "Deal with that Imperial Guard, make sure it's done cleanly, and don't let the scandal escalate."
He spoke in just two sentences, and it sounded quite convincing.
After listening, Yuan Yuan raised an eyebrow: "You're starting to look more and more like an emperor."
"Really?" Jiang Xian asked with a hint of delight.
Yuan Yuan's lips curved into a smile.
The Empress Dowager, left standing to the side: "?"
Beside the bed, the imperial physician knelt on the ground, trembling, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible...
With red eyes, the Empress Dowager angrily got out of bed.
She was weak and had to use both hands and feet, looking rather disheveled.
Barefoot on the cold floor, the Empress Dowager, her face deathly pale, roared, "You are not allowed to touch my people!"
"Oh……"
Yuan Yuan gave a cold laugh.
He looked coldly at the Empress Dowager: "The day you became Empress Dowager, I warned you. Don't have any improper thoughts or do anything you shouldn't do."
Now, it is you who has breached the contract.
If you had conceived this child a year earlier, I would have spared his life.
But now, it's too late to keep them.
Otherwise, Jiang Xian's throne might not be secure...
He hasn't finished avenging all his grudges yet!
"Yuan Yuan..." The Empress Dowager panicked.
Yuan Yuan stopped looking at the Empress Dowager and spoke instead: "Shadow."
Chi Ying emerged from the shadows.
His face was covered with a layer of flowing black mist.
After Yuan Yuan killed the Minister of War, in order to facilitate her actions, Chi Ying took the initiative to suggest using a drug and then activating her internal energy to cover her face.
What was also concealed was not only his appearance, but also his surname...
Despite it being summer, the Empress Dowager felt a chill run down her spine and her scalp tingle when she saw the dark aura on Ying's face.
The Empress Dowager pointed at Ying: "You, you..."
Yuan Yuan curled his lips and said coldly, "He is my bodyguard."
Secret Guard?
Aren't secret guards just something that exists in stories and rumors?
Unexpectedly, Yuan Yuan... was actually able to train secret guards?
The Empress Dowager's heart sank.
Yuan Yuan continued, "Therefore, in the future, the Empress Dowager should be more obedient. Otherwise, the Great Qi Kingdom will be the same no matter which Empress Dowager is replaced."
The Empress Dowager was so angry that she couldn't speak.
Yuan Yuan glanced at Ying and said, "Bring that guard here."
The shadow nodded and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The speed was so fast that the Empress Dowager and Jiang Xian had not yet reacted.
The bedchamber was deathly silent.
Occasionally, the sound of cold sweat dripping from the imperial physician's body onto the floor could be heard.
Soon, Ying led a soldier in his thirties into the Empress Dowager's bedroom.
Despite being called an imperial guard, he was rather fair-skinned, with his face meticulously groomed, not a single stubble visible.
He wasn't very tall, but he was sturdy.
He had thick eyebrows and striking features, and also possessed a pair of captivating, almond-shaped eyes.
At this moment, a strand of his hair was disheveled, sticking to his forehead and cheeks, adding a touch of dashing pitifulness.
He lay prostrate on the ground, and upon seeing the Empress Dowager, he asked, "Empress Dowager, are you alright?"
The Empress Dowager's eyes reddened even more upon seeing him.
Ignoring the presence of Yuan Yuan and Jiang Xian, the Empress Dowager rushed over and cupped Yin Yuan's face in her hands: "How could you be so foolish?"
Didn't I tell you to run away? Why were you so stupid as to wait for someone to catch you?
"I won't run away." Yin Yuan shook his head, his voice trembling slightly: "Empress Dowager, how can I abandon you and the child?"
"Smack!"
The crisp sound of a slap echoed loudly throughout the bedchamber.
The Empress Dowager cried, "I've given you enough money for your journey, so just run away! I am the Empress Dowager, how could I not protect the child?"
What are you doing back here? What are you doing back here?
Foolish! Absolutely foolish!
Yin Yuan was stunned by the beating.
He covered his face and looked at Yuan Yuan and Jiang Xian beside him.
Yuan Yuan coldly glared at him.
Jiang Xian looked disgusted.
Disregarding social hierarchy, Yin Yuan knelt on the ground, crawled a few steps, and kowtowed forcefully, pleading, "Your Majesty, I beg you, grant my wish with the Empress Dowager!"
"Give me your blessing?" Yuan Yuan said coldly, "It's not impossible for me to give you your blessing."
Yin Yuan looked at him gratefully.
Yuan Yuan looked down at the people kneeling on the ground and said, "If you three want to be together, then find a way to leave the palace cleanly."
Nothing belonging to the royal family can be taken away.
Your descendants may only live as commoners, and are forbidden from participating in the imperial examinations, joining the army, or entering the capital.
Upon hearing this, Yin Yuan opened his mouth, then subconsciously looked at the Empress Dowager.
Without a second thought, the Empress Dowager readily replied, "I am willing!"
Yin Yuan gritted his teeth: "I... am willing too."
Yuan Yuan scoffed, "It seems Guard Yin is rather unwilling?"
"No!" Yin Yuan shook his head.
He was just worried that the Empress Dowager and the children would suffer if he were to cause them hardship...
Yuan Yuan glanced at the two of them, his expression complicated.
He said coldly, "If the Empress Dowager of a country were to disappear, the news could cause trouble if it got out."
If you want to leave, then leave as a dead man.
dead?
The Empress Dowager was taken aback: "Fake death?"
Yuan Yuan glanced at the Empress Dowager's belly: "What? Does the Empress Dowager intend to openly leave the palace through the main gate while pregnant?"
Empress Dowager: "..."
She gritted her teeth and said, "No! If I fake my death, what will happen to the child in my womb?"
Yuan Yuan said coldly, "I will give the Empress Dowager a day to think it over. Once you have thought it over, then let me know your choice."
After speaking, he looked at Jiang Xian, whose face was full of indignation and disgust: "Aren't you leaving?"
"Let's go, let's go!" Jiang Xian quickly followed.
The young emperor thought to himself: What bad luck!
Before leaving, Yuan Yuan took the imperial physician with him.
He casually instructed Ying, "Lock this imperial physician up. Don't let him go home for a while."
"Mm." Ying nodded.
The sleeping quarters of Huining Palace were quiet.
Yin Yuan's back was completely soaked with cold sweat.
With tears in his eyes, he hugged the Empress Dowager, saying, "What should we do?"
Seeing Yin Yuan's red eyes from crying, the Empress Dowager felt extremely distressed.
After much thought, she placed her hand on her abdomen and said to Yin Yuan, "I don't want to leave the palace! I don't want to suffer with the child..."
Now, the only option is to kill Yuan Yuan!
"Kill the Ninth Prince?" Yin Yuan's eyes widened suddenly.
The Empress Dowager's eyes hardened: "He must die!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com