That night.
In the inner palace of the Goryeo capital, King Chen Lingwu of the Tang Dynasty had already fallen asleep in his mother's arms. Su Wan'er carefully placed her son on the bed and tenderly covered him with a blanket.
Then, she tiptoed up from the bed and draped a mink cloak over her shoulders.
It sounds like Su Wan'er, the former empress dowager, should be in her late twenties or early thirties.
In reality, Su Wan'er was just past the prime of her youth (twenty-four or twenty-five years old).
Su Wan'er, who was naturally beautiful, had developed a unique air of elegance and nobility after the passage of time. This stunning beauty was so captivating that she took the initiative to throw herself into his arms. Not only was Chen Longxiang, who was in the prime of his life, unable to resist her, but most men would also be unable to resist her!
The rapid development of their relationship was all because the destitute former Empress Dowager Su Wan'er wanted to find a powerful backer for herself and her son Zhao Lingwu in the new dynasty.
In order to secure his position as the King of Goryeo under the Tang Dynasty, he did not hesitate to submit to Chen Longxiang.
However, as she got to know him better, Su Wan'er realized that her dependence on Chen Longxiang had evolved from simply wanting to find someone to rely on in the Tang Dynasty court for herself and her child.
Later, it turned into her emotional dependence on Chen Longxiang, the kind of dependence where she truly wanted to spend her life with him.
Although Su Wan'er knew very well that her relationship with Chen Longxiang could never be recognized or blessed by the world;
However, humans are emotional beings. When faced with the desire to spend their lives together, they cannot think rationally. They only want to cherish every day and night they spend together.
In particular, this feeling of dependence became even stronger after Su Wan'er learned that she was pregnant with her and Chen Longxiang's child.
She completely forgot the warning Chen Huai'an, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the elder brother of Chen Longxiang, gave her when he let her and her orphan mother go at the Daxin naval camp.
Su Wan'er even had the idea of having Chen Longxiang, when he returned to the capital to meet the emperor next time, to ask the emperor to issue an edict to recall all the officials stationed on the Goguryeo Peninsula, including Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Han; Wang Jian, the Duke of Qin; and Qi Jiguang, the Duke of Dingguo, to the Central Plains Dynasty.
Only Prince Chen Longxiang remained in Goryeo until the day when Chen Lingwu, the newly appointed King of Goryeo, assumed personal rule.
In that case, she could truly live openly and honestly with Chen Longxiang in the Goryeo palace, instead of hiding and sneaking around like they do now.
Besides, his eldest son, Lingwu, was extremely fond of Chen Longxiang, his "fake father."
Presumably, once the child in his belly is born, Lingwu will also love his younger brother and sister very much, right?
Recently, this thought has been growing stronger in Su Wan'er's mind.
In her view, the current emperor Chen Huai'an only has one younger brother, Chen Longxiang, and according to Chen Longxiang's account, his elder brother Chen Huai'an has doted on him since childhood.
Therefore, Su Wan'er had every reason to believe that if Chen Longxiang made a request to have the Emperor issue an edict to recall the three dukes from the Goguryeo Peninsula back to the Central Plains, it should not be a difficult matter.
It seems that the imperial eunuch has arrived in the Goryeo capital in the past few days. It is said that he issued an edict ordering the "one king and three dukes" of the Goguryeo Peninsula to return to the capital to report on their duties before the Lunar New Year's Eve.
Su Wan'er keenly sensed that this was a good opportunity to speak with the Emperor;
She was planning in her heart that when Chen Longxiang returned tonight, she would have him take advantage of this opportunity to return to the capital and propose to the Emperor on New Year's Eve that the three dukes be transferred back to the Central Plains.
Even if the Emperor did not agree on the spot, Chen Longxiang could ask his mother, Empress Dowager Xu Ruoyun, afterward. With Empress Dowager Xu Ruoyun's endorsement, the matter would probably be settled.
Thinking of this, Su Wan'er's delicate, foxy face immediately lit up with a smile.
As she gently touched her growing belly, she said to the child inside her, "My child, don't worry, your mother will definitely find a way to get your father to obtain the Emperor's consent."
"After you are born, the three of us can live happily together, and no one can separate us, the four of us, hehe!"
It was late at night.
Su Wan'er, deep in the palace, was growing anxious as Chen Longxiang's return remained elusive.
She asked her personal maid in the outer hall, "Willow Leaf, what time is it now?"
Without hesitation, the palace maid replied, "Your Majesty, it's past midnight!"
Um?
Inside the inner palace, Su Wan'er frowned slightly, thinking to herself that this shouldn't be the case. Usually at this time, the young prince should have already returned to be with her and the child.
What's going on today?
With anxious and conflicted feelings, Su Wan'er continued to pace back and forth in the inner hall, waiting for the return of Prince Chen Longxiang.
Finally, at midnight, Chen Longxiang returned.
The palace maid Liu Ye'er, who was in charge of the outer hall, tactfully withdrew from the hall and thoughtfully closed the door behind her.
Su Wan'er hurriedly went to greet her with a smile in her eyes. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say hello, she smelled a strong smell of alcohol in her nostrils.
Su Wan'er subconsciously raised her hand to cover her nose, looked at Chen Longxiang in confusion, and asked, "Your Highness, you, you've been drinking?"
Um!
Chen Longxiang nodded, forced a smile, and replied, "Today, the Duke of Han hosted a banquet for the generals of the three armies, and I also had a little to drink."
oh!
Su Wan'er nodded and said, "Then I'll have Liu Ye'er fetch some hot water to help His Highness bathe and change!"
Then, Su Wan'er, heavily pregnant, instructed the palace maid Liu Ye'er, who was waiting outside the hall, to prepare hot water for Chen Longxiang to bathe and change.
Seeing Su Wan'er, despite being heavily pregnant, still busy herself for him, Chen Longxiang suddenly felt a pang of sadness, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
That's right, Chen Longxiang told a lie.
In fact, he did not host a banquet for the generals of the three armies with Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Han, tonight. He did not even have dinner with Chen Qingzhi. Instead, he has been drinking alone in a tavern outside the capital city until now.
Today, what Korean official Chen Qingzhi said to him dealt a devastating blow to Chen Longxiang's already immature mind.
Before this, he thought that his affair with the former Empress Dowager Su Wan'er was a perfect cover-up and that no one knew about it.
In fact, Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Han, Wang Jian, the Duke of Qin, Qi Jiguang, the Duke of Dingguo, and even the generals of the Tang army stationed on the Goguryeo Peninsula all knew it perfectly well.
However, none of them exposed him; they were all turning a blind eye and playing along with his act!
Only I am still acting like a clown, pretending to be serious every day.
What tormented Chen Longxiang even more was that after revealing the truth, Chen Qingzhi, the Duke of Han, had given him an ultimatum: before returning to the capital on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, he had to deal with the child in the womb of the former Empress Dowager Su Wan'er.
Chen Qingzhi's words were quite blunt; the implication was that Chen Longxiang should abort Su Wan'er's child, thus ending his first child.
This demand was unacceptable even to Chen Longxiang, who had killed countless people on the battlefield and whose heart was as firm as a rock.
Su Wan'er is carrying Chen Longxiang's child!
The thought of killing his own unborn child was something Chen Longxiang simply couldn't bring himself to do; he simply couldn't bring himself to do it.
However, Korean official Chen Qingzhi also explained the pros and cons to him.
If the child in the womb of the former Empress Dowager Su Wan'er is not removed and he does not sever his relationship with Su Wan'er, once this matter is exposed, it will completely cause the current emperor Chen Huai'an to lose face and cause the Tang Dynasty to be in turmoil again.
On one side are his beloved and his unborn child;
On the other side was his elder brother, whom he had respected since childhood, and the face of the Tang Dynasty's royal family;
They're both my flesh and blood!
Whatever choice he made, the young Prince Chen Longxiang of Jin found it difficult to decide.
He's been drinking away his sorrows at a tavern outside the capital, and he still hasn't come up with a solution that satisfies both sides.
Why is life so difficult?
At this moment, the young Prince Jin is facing a challenge he has never faced before in his life.
Standing at the crossroads of life, what choice should Chen Longxiang make?
"Your Highness, it's time to bathe and wash up!"
At this moment, Su Wan'er's voice came from the outer hall. She had already instructed the palace maids and eunuchs to prepare bath water for Chen Longxiang, and planned to personally serve Chen Longxiang his washing up later.
Furthermore, Su Wan'er had already planned to use the opportunity of serving Chen Longxiang while he washed up to reveal to him the matter she had been plotting for a long time.
Meanwhile, Chen Longxiang, who had a lot of unspoken worries, began to take a bath and wash up at Su Wan'er's call.
Su Wan'er dismissed the surrounding palace maids and eunuchs and personally took a towel to help Chen Longxiang bathe.
While washing up, she said, "Your Highness, today I had the imperial physician examine my pulse. Next spring, Your Highness will become a father!"
"The imperial physician said that judging from my pulse, the child in my belly is a little prince!"
Whoosh!
Upon hearing this, Chen Longxiang suddenly froze, as if something had stabbed him hard in the softest part of his heart.
hehe!
Chen Longxiang said with a smile, "My son is wonderful! I love my son the most, haha!"
Su Wan'er continued, "Your Highness, I have heard that the Emperor has issued an edict ordering Your Highness and the three Dukes to return to the capital to report before New Year's Eve?"
Um!
Chen Longxiang nodded and said, "That's true."
At this moment, Su Wan'er suddenly stopped what she was doing, walked around to Chen Longxiang, looked at him with a smile, and tentatively said, "Your Highness, I have a favor to ask, and I hope Your Highness will grant it."
Um?
Chen Longxiang raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is it?"
Su Wan'er said timidly, "I wish, I wish that after the little prince is born, we can live openly and honestly with his father;"
"Therefore, I was thinking that Your Highness might take this opportunity of returning to the capital to report on your duties to request the Emperor to allow you to be solely responsible for the military and political affairs of the Goguryeo Peninsula next year."
"Have the Emperor issue a decree to recall Duke Chen Qingzhi of Han, Duke Wang Jian of Qin, and Duke Qi Jiguang of Dingguo back to the capital."
As she spoke, Su Wan'er looked into Chen Longxiang's eyes with a pitiful expression and continued, "If Your Majesty can agree, then the three of us can live happily together in the future!"
"Your Highness, please, for the sake of the unborn prince in my womb, plead with the Emperor just this once, for the sake of our family of three?"
Buzz—
After hearing Su Wan'er's words, Chen Longxiang's head, which had been groggy from drinking, suddenly went blank with a buzz.
The expression on that face, which still retained some childishness, suddenly turned gloomy and solemn.
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