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

Yong'an wished he could tear Shen Huai'an's flesh and blood to pieces and drink his blood.

"Brother Crown Prince..."

Her memories flooded back, a torrent of tears and laughter escaping her lips as she murmured the name she'd called Shen Huai'an since childhood. Her eyes, red with heart-wrenching pain, cried out, "Lin Wantang, tell me, who's lying to me?"

With trembling hands, Yong'an reached out and picked up the scattered letters from the ground. Clutching them in her hands, she questioned Lin Wantang, "Was it the Crown Prince or Wujiu? Hahaha... They're all lying to me, all using me!"

Lin Wantang remained silent, unable to respond. She held Yong'an's cold hand tightly with tenderness and said only, "Don't think about it anymore. Let these things pass."

Are these letters real or fake?

Currently, it all seems true, but many things cannot withstand close scrutiny. If Wei Wujiu really wanted to sow discord between Yong'an and Shen Huai'an and use Yong'an as a weapon, then forging and imitating handwriting is not impossible.

So Lin Wantang couldn't say anything for a moment, but in that instant, she suddenly realized that Princess Yong'an didn't seem as bad as others thought.

Yong'an can distinguish between good and evil, discern right from wrong, and fathom the intentions of everyone who approaches her.

As expected, the royal family cannot raise utterly useless individuals.

Yong'an broke down in a fit of hysterical crying and laughing, but didn't say anything more. After a long time, she seemed to finally calm down a little, but her complexion was extremely poor.

"It's alright now..."

Yong'an moved her aching and numb body and slowly got up. She was completely disoriented, and her voice was terribly hoarse: "I want to be alone for a while... I'll go tell Wei Wujiu and ask him to send two people to take me back to the palace."

Lin Wantang was also somewhat exhausted after accompanying her for so long. She nodded slightly and stood up: "Alright, Princess, please wait a moment."

Once outside the room, Wei Wujiu had already arranged a group of people for the princess. After Lin Wantang bought some food from the restaurant and coaxed Yong'an to eat some, and after she was properly dressed and made up, he sent her to the sedan chair.

Meanwhile, in the heavily guarded Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The emperor sat on his dragon throne behind his desk, looking at the mountain of memorials piled up, his face showing annoyance: "What have the Grand Council been doing lately? Why are they sending up so many memorials every day?"

The Grand Council was temporarily overseen by four senior ministers, with Shen Huai'an participating in government affairs and Wei Wujiu having been appointed by the emperor long ago. Although he was not officially acting as regent, his actual role was similar.

The emperor had long been uninterested in state affairs and was no longer accustomed to reviewing memorials until late at night. Moreover, his health could not withstand such exhaustion. Therefore, the Grand Council reviewed the memorials first, picking out the urgent, unmanageable, or taboo ones before presenting them to the emperor.

However, ever since Wei Wujiu was dismissed and suspended from his post, the Grand Council has been like a pillar without a backbone, with more and more memorials being submitted every day. This made the emperor suspicious, and he couldn't help but wonder whether Shen Huai'an had any real talent or ability.

You must understand, Shen Huai'an is the current Crown Prince, second only to the Emperor. Was the establishment of the Grand Council a place where the Emperor entrusted important responsibilities to his senior officials and Wei Wujiu? No, it was a place where the Emperor trained the Crown Prince.

But what about Shen Huai'an? He did absolutely nothing, failed to win over the veteran officials, and even created chaos in the Grand Council while Wei Wujiu was away!

"Oh, Your Majesty, these memorials..."

Hua Twenty-Three, taking small, quick steps, had just bowed and offered tea when the Emperor slammed his hand on the table, interrupting her: "Hua Twenty-Three, stop trying to cover for them! Where is Shen Huai'an?"

"He didn't come to pay his respects today either! Summon him! I want to see if he's become more and more unscrupulous just from sitting on the throne for so long!"

Hua Ershisan opened his mouth, then chuckled sheepishly and hurriedly patted the emperor's back to calm him down: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Taking care of your health is the most important thing. Otherwise, how can the golden elixir that Daoist Qingchenzi refined for Your Majesty prolong your life?"

The emperor still didn't look pleased, taking a couple of sips of tea to calm himself down: "The Daoist priest instructed me to take one golden pill every three months. I feel that this period is a bit too long?"

"No, that's not true. The Taoist priest extracted the golden elixir based on His Majesty's physical condition. Your Majesty, this servant thinks it's best to just listen to Taoist priest Qingchenzi."

The emperor thought for a moment, then didn't bring it up again, and asked, "Where is the abbot? Why didn't he come to chant scriptures today?"

The abbot of Huguo Temple was highly regarded by the emperor and was allowed to enter the palace without being summoned. However, since the abbot was mute, he brought with him a ten-year-old dark-skinned boy, who was also his disciple, to speak and recite scriptures on his behalf.

But the child was a Kunlun slave, and could never escape his slave status for the rest of his life. Whenever the emperor thought of this, he felt displeased.

Hua Niansan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, today the abbot led his disciples to Chengqian Palace to pray and chant sutras for the two newly pregnant ladies and the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, hoping for blessings and prosperity. The Empress also sent someone to the Emperor early this morning to ask if Your Majesty could spare some time to go there. With the Emperor's dragon aura blessing you, the Buddhist teachings will surely be even more effective."

The emperor cared deeply about having offspring, and the thought of the recent pregnancies and joys in the palace softened his expression: "Hmm, I'll go take a look later."

"Yes." Hua Niansan responded with a smile, then bowed and took a few steps back, whispering instructions to the palace servants to make preparations.

When Hua Ershisan came over again, the Emperor wanted to help him up and move around a bit, but then he caught a glimpse of the stack of folded paper on the desk and became a little annoyed: "Is Shen Huai'an busy with the Crown Princess's pregnancy lately?"

"Ah, this..." Hua Niansan was a little speechless.

Normally, Hua Niansan would have tried his best to say a few good words for Shen Huai'an. It had nothing to do with anything else, just because Shen Huai'an was the legitimate son of the Empress and the Crown Prince, with a noble status. Even if Hua Niansan wasn't one of his people, he wouldn't dare to offend him.

Besides, the emperor and the crown prince are father and son, and it's not like a mere servant like Hua Ersan could sow discord between them.

But last night, Hua Niansan received a letter written in Wei Wujiu's own hand. Li Jinzhi also explained the whole matter of the Dingxian branch office. Hua Niansan was well aware of the advantages and disadvantages involved.

How could he possibly exonerate Shen Huai'an and help him murder his adopted son?

The emperor waited, but Hua Ershisan didn't reply. His anger flared: "Outrageous! Insolent! Is it any wonder that the Crown Princess is pregnant? Why is the Crown Prince so attentive, neglecting his duties?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Hua Niansan hurriedly kowtowed and knelt down.

The other palace servants also knelt down.

"Your Majesty has misunderstood His Highness the Crown Prince..."

Hua kowtowed three times, his eyes darting thoughtfully as he cautiously spoke: "Your Highness is concerned about His Majesty's health every day, thinking of him constantly. Just yesterday, His Highness the Crown Prince even bumped into me outside the palace and inquired about His Majesty's mood and diet. His filial piety is evident to all. His Majesty has misunderstood..."