Forcing me to become a concubine? Remarrying the Ninth Prince, she'll be pregnant all over the

The palace is shrouded in tranquility, and the vermilion courtyard is bathed in the northern breeze.

The water clock had already added hot soup several times, and the incense burner on the desk in the East Palace's sleeping quarters had also been burning for several times; it was already past midnight.

Shen Huai'an leaned against the couch, recovering from his injuries. He looked relaxed and casual, seemingly half-asleep as he rubbed a black chess piece between his fingers, playing chess alone on the low table in front of him.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

As Li Fuhai bowed and entered the hall, he brought in a bit of the frost from outside. Shen Huai'an didn't look up, but smelled the fresh, misty air wafting through his nostrils: "It's snowing again."

"Yes, Your Highness. The sealing ceremony and the ceremony of personally plowing and silkworm rearing will both be held on the same day tomorrow. This is an excellent omen."

Shen Huai'an tossed the black piece in his hand and slowly placed it on a spot on the chessboard. "So what? It has little to do with me now."

"Your Highness, what are you saying? His Majesty was just angry for a moment, and he was also unwell, which is why some people took advantage of the situation and Your Highness was wronged."

"But Your Highness, please don't be anxious. Daoist Qingchenzi will be arriving in the capital very soon. Are you still worried that your comeback is hopeless?"

Shen Huai'an toyed with a white piece with his fingertips, murmured "Qingchenzi" to his lips, and then smiled mysteriously, with a deeper meaning.

"If there's nothing else, you may leave. I'd like to stay a little longer."

Li Fuhai advised him to be careful, but seeing that Shen Huai'an's gloomy and uncertain expression did not ease, he could not delay any longer and had to say, "Your Highness, for some reason, Lin Wantang suddenly came and is right outside the palace."

Shen Huai'an paused in his stroking motion, and in an instant, the white piece at his fingertips fell into the chessboard with a 'thud'.

There's no going back on a move once it's made, but unfortunately, the black pieces made a mistake and won.

He stared silently at the chess game, which he had been playing without any intention, and after a long while, he suddenly smiled.

"What's she up to now? Let her in."

"Here you are."

Li Fuhai bowed and withdrew. A moment later, Lin Wantang entered the hall. Her white fur coat was taken away outside the door. She also smoothed the snow off her shoulders and slowly walked into the inner hall, bowing respectfully.

Watching Lin Wantang bow and greet him with utmost politeness, Shen Huai'an calmly turned to the side, propped himself up on a soft pillow with one hand, lowered his eyes, and remained silent, neither speaking nor telling her to get up.

"Your Highness..."

Lin Wantang hesitated, her cold face suppressing a torrent of anger and hatred. She raised her hand in a gesture of respect without revealing her true feelings, but in doing so, she deliberately touched the knife wound on her left palm, causing blood to soak through the white cloth and drip slowly to the ground.

Seeing this, Shen Huai'an, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke: "Are you injured?"

"It's just a minor injury, Your Highness need not worry about it."

Lin Wantang seemed to be avoiding the topic, playing hard to get. Shen Huai'an smiled and went along with it, saying, "So much blood, and it's just a minor injury? Tell me, was it that guy surnamed Wei who injured you?"

Lin Wantang pursed her lips, bowed, and bent down.

Shen Huai'an's smile deepened. He stood up, his bare, fair feet dangling, and walked gracefully to her. He helped her up and called out familiarly, "Tang'er."

"Coming here so late at night, there must be something you need, right?" Shen Huai'an narrowed his eyes, sizing her up, and gently stroked her cheek with one finger. "My patience is running out. If you don't speak frankly, then this long night will drag on..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the finger that had been teasing her slowly moved down, stroking her neck and tracing her collarbone beneath her clothes...

"I'm going to risk going against the grain and make you serve me in bed."

The voice was slow and deliberate, carrying a morbid melancholy mixed with an elusive obsession.

Lin Wantang clenched her fingers tightly, suppressing the urge to push him away and slap him to death. She held her breath and remained motionless.

She stared intently into Shen Huai'an's deep, cold eyes, seemingly hesitating for a long time before finally speaking, "Then, Your Highness, what are your plans for me?"

These words seemed inexplicable, but in reality, they were tantamount to acknowledging Shen Huai'an's earlier statement about "serving him in bed."

Shen Huai'an smiled and chuckled, cupping her face in his hands as he returned to the room: "You'll be my concubine, then, what else?"

Lin Wantang's anger was immediately apparent, and when she spoke again, she uttered a startling word: "Lin Yuan."

Shen Huai'an was clearly taken aback.

Lin Wantang instantly brushed his hand away and took a step back: "Lin Yuan, I don't know what you're thinking. Why do you insist on humiliating me? Have I done something to wrong you, or do you just want to humiliate me to show off?"

Shen Huai'an ignored her words after that, only listening to her call out "Lin Yuan" twice. His complex and deep eyes gazed at her with a myriad of emotions, and he chuckled silently.

at last……

Two years have passed... no, it's been three years. Ever since she came of age and was betrothed, she has never called him by his courtesy name in private like this again.

Although they were childhood sweethearts and innocent friends, she would be polite to everyone else, but when she turned around, she would stick out her tongue and make faces at him, and call him in her sweet, childlike voice, "Brother Lin Yuan."

"Carry me! Hurry! I want that peach on the tree, the red one at the very top... Brother Lin Yuan is the best, hold me up, or I'll make you regret it..."

The past is like smoke, yet it still burns and tears deep within Shen Huai'an's heart.

He turned around with his hands behind his back, obscuring his face, his voice as cold and deep as ever: "You are fickle, disregard your vows, heartless and treacherous, easily giving yourself to another. Is this how you treat me?"

Lin Wantang didn't want to argue with him, nor did she bother with his nonsense. She simply asked, "Can we go back to how things were before?"

Shen Huai'an turned around in surprise, completely baffled as to what Lin Wantang was up to.

Lin Wantang avoided his probing gaze and walked straight to a round table in the distance. She poured two cups of tea right in his sight and brought them over together. "Let's use tea instead of wine, to turn hostility into friendship, shall we?"

"If my biological mother's affair is exposed, it will be a serious crime that will implicate nine generations of my family. But you should also know that my Lin family may not have made any great contributions to the court, but we are loyal to the emperor and the court and have no disloyalty. My biological mother was confused back then, but it was only because more than a hundred members of my maternal grandfather's family died tragically. But when people die, debts are settled, and these should go into the coffin with her."

"With this leverage over you, I certainly wouldn't dare to be your enemy anymore. Besides, what virtue or ability do I, Lin Wantang, possess? I'm just a weak woman with long hair and short wits. How could I possibly have any ability to shake you?"

With words that appealed to both emotion and reason, Lin Wantang poured a cup of tea into her hand and handed it to Shen Huai'an, her sincere eyes clear and bright. She then added a heart-wrenching sentence: "Lin Yuan, please be forgiving when you can, okay?"

It turns out she came to show weakness and make peace.

She was accidentally injured by Wei Wujiu. She finally realized that the rumors were true. Wei Wujiu was a hypocritical and cunning beast who was two-faced and had no humanity. She only realized the pain after hitting a wall and then remembered how good Shen Huai'an was to her.