"Go back to your studies and don't disturb your mother's rest," Zhao Cong said, urging him to leave.
"Father is still here reading memorials, how can that not be considered disturbing Mother?" Feng'er hadn't even exchanged a few words with Lin Qingwan before she was unwilling to leave.
Zhao Cong said matter-of-factly, "This is my house."
Lin Qingwan originally wanted to coax the child, but based on her previous experience, she wisely kept quiet.
Feng'er pouted, gave a curtsy, turned and took two steps, then turned back...
Zhao Cong's eyelids lifted.
After pondering for a while, Feng'er said pitifully, "Is Father going to have a baby with Mother?"
Zhao Cong's hand trembled as he read the memorial.
Lin Qingwan suddenly felt a bitter taste of medicine rise in her throat, and coughed twice in response.
"Who told you that?" Zhao Cong should have been angry, but he only appeared serious, and his voice showed no sign of coldness.
When Feng'er saw that neither of them denied it, her eyes lit up. "Father has been back for many days. The book says that after a couple who love each other get married, they sleep for a few days, and the woman will feel unwell and see a doctor. Then the family will have a new baby the following year."
Lin Qingwan buried her head in the blanket.
Although the noise was faint, Zhao Cong heard it.
He frowned. "In the book?"
Feng'er nodded.
Zhao Cong gritted his teeth, "Storybooks?"
"Shen Xu, lock this person who wrote the storybook in the Dali Temple dungeon and never let him out for the rest of his life!"
What kind of nonsense are you showing kids?!
Feng'er got anxious. "Why is Daddy angry? What does this have to do with the storybook? I just want to ask if I'll have any younger siblings to play with next year?"
Zhao Cong pinched the bridge of his nose. "Go back and study."
He gritted his teeth and said, "Wen Zhengjingshu!"
The little guy went out dejectedly. Zhao Cong knew that Lin Qingwan was still awake, and said softly, "I told you long ago that reading too many storybooks would cause trouble."
Lin Qingwan, who was also an accomplice, said in a low voice, "It's my fault."
"It has nothing to do with you."
"This kid is a good-for-nothing."
Zhao Cong had a headache.
Lin Qingwan wanted to say a few words of comfort to him, but guessing that the medicine was taking effect, she fell asleep without realizing it as she was thinking about it.
Even breathing sounds came from behind the gauze curtain, and Zhao Cong's heart gradually calmed down.
From his angle, he could only see the slightly raised blanket, but he stared at it for a long time, his mind blank. When he realized he had been spacing out, he felt much lighter.
Worried that the guards coming and going would disturb her rest, Zhao Cong went to work in the outer room.
The Imperial Guards, steeling themselves, reported again, "Your Highness, we've tried everything, but Cui'er won't utter a single word. We've interrogated all the palace maids and eunuchs who were close to her, but we haven't gotten any information out of them."
Zhao Cong was surprised that a maid was so stubborn. "She didn't utter a single word?"
The Imperial Guardsmen were sweating profusely. "They told us everything about how the concubine framed the Lady, but they didn't admit to a single thing about her relationship with the Xiongnu."
Zhao Cong sneered, "He is indeed a scheming person."
Framing Lin Qingwan was at most an act of anger on behalf of her master, but colluding with Helian Zhu was a different story, as Cui'er was most likely a Xiongnu.
You can't kill someone if you can't get anything out of them.
Hiss, Zhao Cong rarely encountered such a dilemma.
"Cough cough."
Hearing a noise inside, Zhao Cong put down what he was holding and ran into the inner room without saying a word.
The Imperial Guards exchanged bewildered glances. Even when fighting the Xiongnu, they had never seen the Crown Prince in such a hurry.
As expected, the Crown Prince's affection for Lady Wan was even deeper than the rumors suggested.
Of course, to put it nicely, it's deep affection; to put it bluntly, it's seductive charm that bewitches the ruler.
Lin Qingwan hadn't expected Zhao Cong to appear before her so quickly. She lifted the gauze curtain, and her sleepy eyes were reflected in Zhao Cong's dark, piercing gaze. His breath caught in his throat. "Are you...uncomfortable?"
Lin Qingwan's face was a little pale, but not bloodless. She had sweated after sleeping and her body was damp, as if she had just taken a bath.
Zhao Cong's eyes darkened slightly.
She said, "No. It was because I heard that Cui'er refused to confess that I came up with a plan that the Crown Prince might be willing to try."
Zhao Cong entered the gauze tent and poured her a cup of hot tea on a small table beside it. "What method?"
When Lin Qingwan accepted the teacup, their fingers touched, and neither of them flinched.
“Cui’er is Consort Su’s person. If Consort Su can speak up, I’m not afraid that she will deny it.”
Zhao Cong frowned. Consort Su was indeed crying and begging to see him every day. With Helian Zhu's matter still unresolved, he had no mind to deal with anything else.
Lin Qingwan's method... is feasible.
But he seemed to anticipate what Su Yun would say and what expression she would have, and thus his expression turned displeased.
Lin Qingwan guessed what he was thinking. "Regardless of the past, Consort Su has kept spies by her side for ten years, which has more or less leaked information about the Crown Prince."
"This would be a good opportunity for the Crown Prince to make amends, and it would be a way for him to do justice to General Su."
Zhao Cong's eyes flickered. "Have some tea to soothe your throat first."
"I had the kitchen prepare some congee and side dishes for dinner. I'll accompany you after we finish eating."
Lin Qingwan smiled and said, "Okay."
However, just as the meal was being prepared, news arrived that King Jing had died.
Several ministers from the Ministry of Rites knelt in the courtyard, waiting for the Crown Prince to speak. Prince Jing was the descendant of a criminal, and although His Majesty protected him, His Majesty's life was in danger. The Crown Prince was now in charge of Da Ning.
Without a second thought, Zhao Cong said, "The Ning clan colluded with foreign powers to harm Great Ning. Although Zhao Yan was not the mastermind, he cannot escape the crime of aiding and abetting evil. Strip him of his royal title and bury him as a member of the royal family by a concubine. It's that simple."
Several ministers were uneasy, and the Vice Minister of Rites said directly, "If His Majesty asks..."
Zhao Cong stepped forward and said coldly, "Do as I say, and I will go see the Emperor."
That night, for two days before and after, the emperor's sorrowful cries echoed from the Warm Heart Pavilion, but no one dared to approach.
Zhao Cong returned to the East Palace late at night, probably because he was tired, and his steps were very heavy.
I only realized the lights were on when I got to the porch.
A glimmer of light appeared in his tired eyes. He pushed open the door and, sure enough, saw Lin Qingwan sitting under the lamp.
She held a teacup to her lips in one hand and flipped through a storybook in the other. Her long hair was lazily tied up halfway with a hairpin, and the lamplight made her porcelain-white skin shine like a precious treasure.
Zhao Cong's Adam's apple bobbed twice, as if an invisible rope had pulled his heart, which had fallen into an abyss, back up.
"You..." he began in a hoarse voice.
Before Lin Qingwan could react, she suddenly realized what was happening and, ignoring the tea spilled on the back of her hand, hurriedly hid the storybook.
Zhao Cong's expressionless face was amused by her, leaving his exhaustion and sadness outside the door.
"The Crown Prince is back." Lin Qingwan had nowhere to hide her storybook, and said helplessly, "Please don't confiscate mine, okay?"
Zhao Cong chuckled softly.
Lin Qingwan was stunned. When the Crown Prince smiled, his eyes and brows were lively and he looked young.
Zhao Cong wiped the tea stains off the back of her hand with a handkerchief. "Is it that pretty? Luckily, the tea wasn't too hot."
No one ever cared about this, not even Lin Qingwan herself, but His Highness the Crown Prince was worried about whether she had been burned.
Zhao Cong felt uncomfortable under her gaze. "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Are you waiting for me?
I almost blurted out those four words.
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