Chapter 35 Consort Liu
The next morning, Su Wenzhen looked at Ye Wanning sleeping soundly beside him and stroked her head with a pang of heartache. She must have remembered something sad from the past last night, because she started crying as she talked. No matter how much he tried to coax or act cute, it was no use. In the end, she cried herself to sleep.
He lowered his head and kissed the forehead of the woman beside him. Her eyes were still swollen; he wondered if they would hurt when she woke up. Yesterday's unhappiness and sadness had vanished because of her. Su Wenzhen smiled. With such a wonderful woman, his life was complete. As he thought this, the woman beside him showed signs of waking up.
"Hmm..." Ye Wanning hummed softly, opening her eyes with some difficulty. She seemed to have cried too much last night, and her eyes felt like they couldn't open properly. She squinted and happened to see Su Wenzhen staring at her, and was taken aback. "Wenzhen?"
"Wife..." Su Wenzhen immediately composed himself, looked at Ye Wanning, and smiled foolishly, "Wife is awake?"
"Hmm..." Ye Wanning yawned, then looked at Su Wenzhen with some suspicion, "Why did you get up so early?"
Su Wenzhen pouted in dissatisfaction, "The bed here is uncomfortable, I don't like it. My wife, when are we going back?"
Ye Wanning was taken aback, looking at Su Wenzhen with some difficulty. She really didn't know how to answer this question. "Wenzhen..."
"Haha!" Su Wenzhen suddenly burst into laughter. He pointed at Ye Wanning and clapped his hands excitedly. "My wife, I fooled you! Haha!"
Hearing this, Ye Wanning rolled her eyes helplessly. She reached out and flicked Su Wenzhen's forehead, making him yell in pain. "I told you not to be disobedient! You're following others and teasing your wife first thing in the morning!" With that, Ye Wanning stood up and pretended to be angry, saying, "I can't control you now. I'm moving to another bedroom tonight so you won't tease me first thing in the morning!"
Hearing this, Su Wenzhen became anxious and immediately got up and ran to Ye Wanning, hugging her tightly. "Wife, don't go! You said yesterday that you would stay with me forever!"
"Really?" Ye Wanning raised an eyebrow.
"Yes!" Su Wenzhen pouted and said coquettishly, "You even said you would stay by my side forever and never leave me!"
Ye Wanning chuckled, "I don't remember."
"Ah! How can you!" Su Wenzhen frowned, about to say something, when there was a knock on the door.
Ye Wanning was taken aback, turned her head to look at Su Wenzhen, and said softly, "Wenzhen, let go first."
"I won't let go." Su Wenzhen frowned, giving off an air of "If you don't say what I want you to say, you won't get anything done."
Ye Wanning shook her head with amusement, "Alright! I'll stay with you for life!"
"You said it!" Su Wenzhen grinned and let go of her hand. "My wife, you can't lie to me!"
"Alright, alright!" Ye Wanning smiled, then called out loudly towards the door, "What is it?"
“Your Highness and Your Highness.” It was Qiu Shan’s voice. “Consort Liu has sent word that she wants Your Highness and Your Highness to come over.”
Ye Wanning was taken aback. Consort Liu? She turned to look at Su Wenzhen, Wenzhen's birth mother? After thinking for a moment, she replied, "Okay, I understand. You may leave."
After washing up, Ye Wanning really couldn't understand why Consort Liu had summoned them at this time. She looked at Su Wenzhen and asked softly, "Wenzhen, do you miss your mother?"
"Huh?" Su Wenzhen played with the brocade pouch in his hand, as if he didn't understand what Ye Wanning was asking. "What mother?"
Ye Wanning looked at Su Wenzhen with some surprise. Everyone said that Su Wenzhen was favored because of his mother, Consort Liu, but now he seemed uninterested in her. She looked at Su Wenzhen suspiciously. After all, Consort Liu was Su Wenzhen's birth mother; surely nothing would go wrong! She reached out and snatched the brocade pouch from Su Wenzhen's hand. "Stop playing around! Let's go, Wenzhen, let's go see your mother!"
After leaving the bedchamber, they followed Qiu Shan for a while and soon arrived at the gate of another palace. Qiu Shan stopped and said, "Your Highness, we've arrived."
Ye Wanning looked up and saw the words "Huilan Palace." She nodded, "Let's go in."
Qiu Shan remained silent, only saying, "Your Highness, please go inside. I will wait for you here."
Ye Wanning was taken aback, and looked at Qiu Shan, "Aren't you going in?"
"Your Highness doesn't know." Qiu Shan cautiously looked around and then whispered, "This Consort Liu is naturally aloof and doesn't like outsiders, so unless someone has been informed, no outsiders are allowed to enter Huilan Palace." As she spoke, she gently nudged Ye Wan Ning, "Your Highness, please go in quickly, don't keep Consort Liu waiting. I'll wait for you outside."
"Okay." Ye Wanning nodded, but she was a little confused. Strange, what was going on? Was Consort Liu a woman with a naturally aloof personality? She frowned, suddenly feeling as if something was missing, and something was not right.
Upon entering the main hall, Ye Wanning saw a graceful and elegant woman sitting in front of the hall. She was a beautiful woman with fair skin and delicate features, showing no signs of aging. She looked like an eighteen-year-old girl. Ye Wanning stepped forward and bowed, "Greetings, Mother Consort."
"Rise." Consort Liu's tone was indifferent, revealing no emotion. She looked at Ye Wanning, then at Su Wenzhen, "You are Ning'er, aren't you?"
"Yes." Ye Wanning nodded, her brows furrowing slightly. She felt that Consort Liu was a bit strange. Just as she was thinking this, she heard a sneer coming from Consort Liu's direction. Ye Wanning looked at her with some confusion.
"Your Ye family is truly laughable." Consort Liu looked at Ye Wanning with a strange expression. "Elder sister married the Crown Prince, while younger sister married Prince Jin, without even caring that he's a fool. What is the reason for all this?"
Ye Wanning was taken aback, somewhat shocked. This Consort Liu… dared to say anything! She lowered her head, half-closing her eyes, and explained, “Mother, I…”
"Oh, no need to explain." Consort Liu waved her hand, saying with some lack of interest, "I called you here just to see if you were missing an arm or a leg and that's why you married this fool. Now that I've seen you, you're quite a lovely person." As she spoke, she yawned, "This is no fun. I've never believed in those illusory things. I'm a little tired. You may all leave now."
Ye Wanning was stunned. She looked at Consort Liu and was speechless. She turned to look at Su Wenzhen, who hadn't said a word from beginning to end, and couldn't help but feel annoyed. Was this really Su Wenzhen's biological mother?
Seeing that His Highness and his companion remained motionless, Consort Liu grew increasingly annoyed and hissed, "Why are you still standing here! Seeing you, you idiot, is just annoying! Jadeite, see them out!"
"yes!"
From the moment she entered Huilan Palace to the moment she was thrown out, only a few minutes had passed. Ye Wanning couldn't help but curse her bad luck inwardly.
Seeing that Ye Wanning and the others came out so quickly, Qiu Shan couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Your Highness, Your Highness, what's going on...?"
"It's nothing," Ye Wanning said irritably. "I forgot to burn incense before I left." With that, she took Su Wenzhen's hand. "Come on, let's go back!"
Qiu Shan watched Ye Wan Ning's angry back and was a little confused, but she couldn't ask about her master's affairs, so she could only follow behind Ye Wan Ning and the others and leave together.
They hadn't gone far when they ran into Su Wenyan. Su Wenyan looked at Ye Wanning, then glanced behind her, and asked with some confusion, "Did you go to Huilan Palace?"
"Hmm." Ye Wanning nodded, seemingly still somewhat angry. "Making things difficult for yourself so early in the morning."
Su Wenyan smiled and said to Qiu Shan, "Keep an eye on the Prince." Then he looked at Ye Wanning and said, "Sister-in-law, come with me."
"Huh?" Ye Wanning was taken aback. Although she was a little confused, she still followed Su Wenyan away.
The two walked a short distance until they were sure that Su Wenzhen and the others could not hear their conversation, then Su Wenyan stopped.
Ye Wanning looked at Su Wenzhen and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Is there something you can't say in front of Wenzhen?"
Su Wenyan sighed, and after a long while, he said, "Actually, Consort Liu was originally engaged, but the Emperor fell in love with her at first sight and took her away. Later, her fiancé died because of this."
Hearing this, Ye Wanning was startled and looked at Su Wenyan with some surprise, "You mean..."
"It's said that Consort Liu even attempted suicide because of this... but she was rescued and it was discovered that she was pregnant with my second son." Su Wenyan frowned. "Since then, Consort Liu has never had any suicidal thoughts, but she has always harbored resentment towards my father. She once said, 'The sins of the father must be paid by the son...'"
Upon hearing this, Ye Wanning's heart trembled.
“Everyone says that the Second Prince is favored because of his birth mother.” Su Wenyan looked at Su Wenzhen not far away. “But they don’t know that this is only a small part of the story.”
"Then what is the main reason?" Ye Wanning looked at Su Wenyan, an answer already on the tip of her tongue, but she simply couldn't believe it.
Su Wenyan glanced at Ye Wanning, "Your Majesty's sister-in-law has probably already guessed, and it's just like what you thought..."
Consort Liu harbored resentment towards the Emperor for his forceful taking of her son, and placed all her hatred on the newborn Su Wenzhen. The Emperor's favor stemmed partly from his affection for his beloved concubine, but primarily, it was a form of compensation for the harm his poor son had suffered...
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