The most dissolute couple in the capital

Inside the palace, the charcoal fire burned brightly, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.

However, Li Han, the second prince kneeling in the hall, felt as if he were in an ice cave in the dead of winter.

The emperor sat upright behind his desk, most of his body hidden in the interplay of light and shadow, making it impossible to discern his emotions.

"explain."

Li Han pressed his forehead firmly against the cold gold brick, his mind racing. He had rehearsed every possible explanation in his mind countless times before finally stammering:

"Your Majesty, I... I drank some wine today, and my head is still foggy. I went to the warm pavilion to clear my head. I never expected my cousin to suddenly appear. I was so startled that I lost my composure... I really don't know why..."

"Have you had some wine?"

The Emperor's voice remained calm. "The imperial wine served at today's banquet was personally selected by the Imperial Kitchen. How could the wine I bestowed be so potent? Enough to make you not even recognize your own cousin in broad daylight, pushing her straight into an ice cave?"

A cold sweat instantly broke out on Li Han's back.

He quickly adjusted his words, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. It is true that I have a low alcohol tolerance. My cousin pounced on me, and in my drunken state... it was purely an accident..."

"A mistake." The emperor's voice was devoid of emotion.

The hall was so quiet that one could hear the faint crackling of wood popping in the charcoal fire.

"I have ordered the news to be kept under wraps, and all palace servants who know about this matter are to be silenced." The Emperor stood up, walked to Li Han with his hands behind his back, and looked down at his son kneeling on the ground. "The young lady from the Lu family has been rescued and is resting in a side hall. The imperial physician has examined her; she was frightened and swallowed some water, but fortunately the pool was not deep, and her life is not in danger."

Li Han felt a slight sense of relief and quickly kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Father! Your son knows he was wrong!"

"What did you do wrong?"

The emperor's voice suddenly turned cold, and the mask of gentleness finally cracked.

He turned around, his gaze as sharp as a bone-chilling knife.

"Do you think I don't know what you're up to?"

Li Han froze.

"You resent your mother's powerful clan and want to use this banquet to curry favor with the Wang family of Taiyuan, hoping to force a marriage into a fait accompli; your mother, unwilling to part with the Lu family as her backer, insists on inserting her own niece into your scheme to steal her away. You two, mother and son, one setting a trap, the other falling into it, have turned my imperial garden into your stage for a power struggle?"

"Father!" Li Han looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with fear and panic. "Your subject had no such intention, your subject only—"

That's enough.

The Emperor looked down at him: "You rejected the list of princesses drafted by the Ministry of Rites, deeming their families too low-ranking. I ask you, why go to such lengths to marry a daughter of a noble family? Is it to find a virtuous wife for yourself, or... to recruit soldiers for your own cause?"

Li Han clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, but dared not utter a single word.

Because no matter how you answer this question, it will be wrong.

If you say it's the former—then why do you insist on a daughter from a noble family?

To say it's the latter is to admit to forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices.

However, in this suffocating silence, a faint glimmer of hope rose in Li Han's violently beating heart.

He boldly pondered in his heart: since his father was so insightful, even seeing through his mother's scheme to force a daughter of the Lu family onto him, he must also have noticed the rift between him and his maternal clan. Now, the rumors about the Wang family's daughter and him were already rampant in Chang'an. If he wanted to quell this storm and appease all sides, wouldn't the best imperial tactic be to go with the flow and bestow a marriage upon the Wang family?

Although he lost his temper today by throwing his cousin into the icy water, from another perspective, this can be seen as him showing his father that he is determined not to be controlled by his maternal relatives! His father has always been wary of powerful families growing too strong, so perhaps... perhaps this is exactly what his father wants!

The emperor stood before his desk, taking in the fleeting glimmer of hope in Li Han's eyes.

He chuckled softly.

"Since you have wronged Miss Lu, then you should apologize in person."

A buzzing sound went through Li Han's mind.

"Father...Father Emperor?"

"The eldest daughter of the Lu family is well-educated and of noble birth. Your mother went to great lengths to bring her to your side, and yet you publicly humiliated her. The daughter of the prestigious Lu family of Fanyang has fallen into disgrace in the palace. Someone must take responsibility for this." The emperor returned to his desk and sat down, picking up his vermilion brush. "Tomorrow I will issue an edict to bestow a marriage upon the Second Prince, Li Han, to the eldest daughter of the Lu family of Fanyang."

"No!"

Li Han blurted it out almost immediately, then realized her lapse in composure and quickly bent down again, her forehead hitting the ground hard.

"Father, please reconsider! Your son... Your son and my cousin Lu are very close relatives, but... but marriage is a serious matter, how can it be decided because of a momentary lapse..."

"A momentary lapse?" The emperor put down his pen, his eyes finally revealing genuine anger. "You pushed someone into the water at my palace banquet, causing the Lu family to lose face, and the royal family to become a laughingstock! If I don't give you an explanation, tomorrow the disciples and former officials of the Fanyang Lu family will be knocking down the threshold of the Taiji Hall, accusing me of failing to educate my son! You've gotten yourself into this mess, and you expect me to clean it up for you?!"

"But Father, what about the Wang family..."

"No buts." The emperor's voice turned utterly cold and hard. "This is an imperial edict, not a matter for discussion. Step down."

Li Han knelt on the spot, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

He wanted to say: Father, this is not fair! Marrying a woman from the Lu family is like tying himself to one tree. Not only will the Lu family have a falling out with him because of the drowning incident, but other noble families will also regard him as a joke and have no chance of recruiting him again.

He wanted to say: You clearly know that I need the Wang family's help to gain a foothold in the court!

But he finally shut his mouth in despair.

Because only at this moment did he truly see the emperor who was high above and unfathomable.

The emperor was not a benevolent father kept in the dark, but a hunter who had been observing from the sidelines.

"Your subject... obeys the decree."

Li Han's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible. He kowtowed three times, then rose and left the hall.

As the palace doors slowly closed behind him, his clenched fists turned white at the knuckles, his nails digging deep into his palms and drawing blood.