Chapter 259: Hurry Up and Make a Baby

【Is this woman here to be funny?】

【Xiao Luzi watched the whole thing from the side, and now she's putting on an act?】

【Stupid woman, even if she dies she won't know—Xiao Luzi is the Dog Emperor's eyes. What Xiao Luzi sees, the Emperor sees.】

【Hahaha, does our Tangtang's style of doing things change depending on whether Xiao Luzi is around or not?】

Chu Yunzheng stepped into the hall and immediately saw Liu Guiren collapsed on the ground, crying pitifully with a face streaked with tears.

And Wan Tang standing off to the side with a look of "shock" on her face. His brows instantly furrowed tightly.

"What's this all about now?" His voice carried clear displeasure.

Xiao Luzi seemed to just snap out of it. With a "thud," he knelt to the ground and pointed excitedly at Liu Guiren.

His voice had gone shrill: "Your Majesty, please see clearly, Liu Guiren is slandering our Lady with false accusations."

"Our Lady saw she was frightened after returning from the Cold Palace and kindly summoned a physician to treat and stabilize her pregnancy, worried that she or the imperial fetus might suffer the slightest mishap."

"But Liu Guiren, far from being grateful, instead falsely accuses our Lady like this."

Liu Guiren just lay prostrate on the ground, crying even more miserably and pitifully.

She sobbed intermittently: "Your Majesty, save me! Your Subject truly is pregnant. Virtuous Consort is jealous of me and wants to harm my child."

"I beg Your Majesty to do right by me and my unborn child..." Her whole body trembled, making her seem utterly humble and helpless.

Chu Yunzheng's face instantly turned ashen.

Seeing this, Xiao Luzi kowtowed like a pestle pounding garlic, his voice choked with tears.

"Your Majesty, it's nothing like what Liu Guiren says."

"Our Lady had only good intentions, thinking that Liu Guiren's status is different now and she needs careful care."

"Our Lady specifically instructed Nubi, saying that Liu Guiren is young and has just been through a fright, so we must get the best physician and the best miscarriage-preventing medicine."

"Our Lady herself only has a Princess. She doesn't know how much she hopes all the sisters in the Imperial harem can bear children for Your Majesty. How could she harbor malicious intent?"

He raised his tearful eyes and shot a meaningful glance at Liu Guiren: "But Liu Guiren, as soon as she heard about summoning a physician, she made every excuse to refuse. And now she puts on this act..."

"Nubi ventures to guess—could it be that she thinks our Lady only has a Princess and is no threat in the future, while if she herself can give birth to a Prince, she can rise through her child and won't have to put our Lady in her eyes?"

"That's why she struck first, trying to use this to suppress our Lady!"

Wan Tang listened from the side, inwardly startled. Only today did she truly witness Xiao Luzi's skill at embellishing the truth.

No wonder every time Xiao Luzi delivered a message before, Chu Yunzheng's reaction was always so "perfectly" intense.

Truly... wonderful.

Wan Tang sneered inwardly, but on her face, she quickly put on an expression of hurt and helplessness at being misunderstood.

She gently tugged at Xiao Luzi and said softly to Chu Yunzheng: "Your Majesty, calm your anger. Don't listen to Xiao Luzi's nonsense."

She sighed and said in a high-sounding manner: "Sister Liu is young. Suddenly being pregnant, she's bound to be anxious."

"In this Imperial harem, people's hearts are hard to fathom. She must have heard some rumors and felt uneasy, which is why she overreacted like this."

"She just wants to protect the child in her womb. Your Subject does not blame her."

After hearing Liu Guiren's defense, Chu Yunzheng's face darkened until it almost dripped with gloom.

He violently shook off Liu Guiren's hand as she tried to grab his robe, the force so great that she staggered and fell to the side.

"You dog! I think you've lost your mind and don't know what's good for you!"

He roared harshly, his eyes full of disgust. "Virtuous Consort thinks of everything for you, yet you dare to bite the hand that feeds you and slander her!"

Liu Guiren was hurt by the fall, both frightened and terrified, and cried out: "Your Majesty, no!"

"Please listen to Your Subject's explanation. Virtuous Consort really was trying to threaten me. She..."

"Shut up!" Chu Yunzheng didn't want to hear any of her explanations. "Slap her own mouth until she learns to control her tongue!"

Liu Guiren was utterly stunned, staring in disbelief at the cold, heartless emperor before her.

She had thought that with her pregnancy, she could at least win a shred of pity, but instead, she received such a humiliating punishment.

Seeing the icy look in Chu Yunzheng's eyes, she gritted her teeth, tears of humiliation in her eyes, raised her hand, and slapped her own cheek hard.

"Slap!"

"Slap!"

The crisp sound of slaps rang out one after another in the silent hall, accompanied by her suppressed sobs, making it especially jarring.

Wan Tang stood to the side, quietly and coldly watching Liu Guiren slap herself again and again, watching the anger and unwillingness in her eyes gradually replaced by fear and despair.

At this moment, Liu Guiren finally understood completely: in this hall, the one who could decide her fate was not the Emperor, but Virtuous Consort.

Through tear-filled eyes, she looked at Wan Tang, and with every slap that fell, she choked out an admission of guilt:

"Virtuous Consort... Your Subject knows her wrong..."

"Your Subject should not have slandered you..."

"I beg Your Consort for mercy..."

Until Liu Guiren's cheeks were swollen red and a trace of blood even seeped from the corner of her mouth.

Only then did Wan Tang, as if she could no longer bear to watch, let out a soft sigh.

She stepped forward and said gently to Chu Yunzheng: "Your Majesty, Sister Liu must have been so frightened that she started talking nonsense."

"She already knows her wrong. For the sake of the possible Imperial Heir, let it go."

Chu Yunzheng looked at Wan Tang, and his gaze instantly softened.

"Since Tangtang pleads for her, then let it be."

He shot a disgusted glance at Liu Guiren, who was limp on the floor, and said coldly, "Make this dog get out of here. I don't want to see her again!"

"Your Majesty, calm your anger," Wan Tang replied obediently, but then added at the right moment, "However, Sister Liu just mentioned her pregnancy. Whether true or false, it still needs to be confirmed."

"Why not still summon a physician to take a look? If there really is an Imperial Heir, we can arrange for someone to care for her early, to avoid any further mishaps."

Hearing this, a flicker of concern passed through Chu Yunzheng's eyes.

He patted Wan Tang's hand, his tone full of absolute trust: "Never mind, these trivial matters, with you here, I feel at ease."

"I'll leave it to you to handle."

Those words, like a final heavy hammer, struck Liu Guiren's heart mercilessly.

She stared at Chu Yunzheng with a face full of shock, unable to believe it.

She knew the Emperor favored the Virtuous Consort, but had never imagined that this favor had reached such a degree.

Even the Imperial Heir, he can so casually entrust the Virtuous Consort with full authority.

Isn't this plainly that opposing the Virtuous Consort is opposing him?

Boundless terror, like icy water, engulfed her.

Liu Guiren knelt, daring not a single ounce of luck, enduring the sharp pain on her face and the dread in her heart.

She bowed her head heavily toward Chu Yunzheng and Wan Tang, voice trembling: "Thank you, Emperor, Lady, for your grace."

"I… I take my leave."

Waiting for Liu Guiren's figure to disappear.

Chu Yunzheng's anger on his face had long vanished; he reached out and pulled Wan Tang into his arms.

His fingertips toyed with a strand of her black hair, tone bearing unmasked expectation and possessiveness: "Tangtang, now I only hope you will bear me a Prince."

"Our Prince will surely be clever and bright, just like you."

Wan Tang nestled against his chest, lifted her face, showing a gentle yet slightly playful smile.

Her eyes flickered with charm: "Then… Emperor, you must work hard more and more."

Chu Yunzheng let out a low laugh, his chest trembling, and bowed his head to kiss the top of her hair.

His voice hoarse a bit: "Since you say so, my beloved, shall I begin to 'work hard' now?"

Having said that, without waiting for Wan Tang's reply, he swung her sideways into his arms and headed toward the inner hall.

Silken curtains fell, shrouding the room's spring light.

The young attendant had long slipped out of the hall silently, gently closing the door, separating inside from outside.

From the moment Chu Yunzheng entered Jingren Palace to his intimacy with Wan Tang, no one ever mentioned Xiao Mingshu's name, nor did anyone care about her fate.

She vanished silently deep within the palace.

In the ruined halls of the Cold Palace, Xiao Mingshu's corpse hung alone beneath a beam, unattended, making the scene even more desolate.

Xiao Yurou tightly covered her mouth and nose with a silk handkerchief embroidered with delicate orchids, standing far away, unwilling to approach.

The Empress Dowager stood expressionless at the hall entrance, her cloudy old eyes scanning the already rigid body, her face showing no ripple, only deep cold indifference.

A palace attendant whispered to her, reporting the subsequent events in Jingren Palace.

"The Emperor did not inquire about Consort Jing, and went straight to the Virtuous Consort…"

"I heard… I heard that the doors were closed at this moment, hoping the Virtuous Consort will bear a Prince." The attendant's voice grew lower, his head bowed deeply.

The Empress Dowager's mouth curled into a cold arc, with sarcasm and fury: "Fine, how splendid!"

"A life, even his former Empress, and he didn't ask a single question, turning his head to plunge into that woman's gentle realm."

The attendant trembled in fear, daring not to continue.

The Empress Dowager inhaled deeply, suppressing the surging anger, her gaze becoming as sharp as a hawk: "It seems I have still underestimated that woman."

"Her threat is greater than I imagined."

She paused, tone resolute, "The matter of the Empress position must be settled quickly; it cannot be delayed further."

"If at this critical moment she were to bear the dragon seed first, that would be a truly serious internal threat!"

Her gaze snapped toward the bowed Xiao Yurou standing nearby, with ruthless disappointment and rebuke: "All these years my family and I have cultivated you, and you still cannot surpass even a baseless Wan Tang."

"Truly utterly disappointing!"

Xiao Yurou's complexion turned pale and green from the scolding, her fingernails digging deep into her palm.

The sharp pain came, yet she could only bite her lower lip hard, swallowing all humiliation and resentment.

A scout dressed in inconspicuous palace attendant attire hurried in, whispering a few words into the Empress Dowager's ear.

The Empress Dowager's originally gloomy complexion twitched slightly, a glint flashing in her eyes.

She looked at the scout, confirming: "Found it? Is it conclusive?"

The scout nodded heavily, lowering his voice: "Absolutely certain."

"Nubi reports that not only has he uncovered some extremely secret clues about the Virtuous Consort's entry into the palace, but also found a key eyewitness!"

He said, waving his hand toward the back.

Two dark figures escorted a gray‑haired, tattered, trembling old maid, roughly shoving her before the Empress Dowager.

The old maid fell to the ground, terrified, lifting her head to reveal a weathered, wrinkled face.

The scout, tone tinged with pride: "Empress Dowager, this person is the old servant who attended Wang Jingyi back then."

"She has been imprisoned in the residence by Xu Yanchuan all along."

"If it weren't for Xu Yanchuan's campaign this time, there would have been no way to find her."