Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

Chapter 162 The Fallback Position

Translator: Tracycbj

Yuxing Wei knew about Noble Lady Xiao’s pregnancy. After all, they had been planning this since they returned to the palace. Even though the Emperor and the Empress got along well,  formerbut the Emperor often slept in his own hall, which made it convenient not only for the Emperor and the Empress, but also for other people.

Therefore, after that one-night-stand, the mother and son had been counting the days and waited for the result. Seeing that the first period after the night didn’t come, the two of them were overjoyed. At that time, Yuxing Wei happened to get a job which could earn him some fame. The two of them thought that Yuxing Wei was just getting extremely lucky.

After accepting the royal decree, Noble Lady Xiao fell into a trance. Yesterday, they had calculated the time before they went to Imperial Hospital to see a doctor. When the Emperor knew that Noble Lady Xiao might be pregnant, he was delighted and ordered the doctors of Imperial Hospital to go see her. In fact, the Emperor also intended to take this chance and re-open the imperial harem.

To their surprise, Du Chuxuan spoiled the fun. Noble Lady Xiao knew that the Crown Princess kept summoning doctors due to her bad health. However, this time she heard on the grapevine that the Crown Princess shunned people because she might be pregnant.

Because of the various reasons, Noble Lady Xiao didn’t want the Emperor to have a grandson given birth by the Crown Princess. Once the baby was born, it would be impossible to take the Crown Prince down. Therefore, she pretended she didn’t know about this. As the saying goes, ‘He who does not know is not to blame.’

However, she could never predict that Yuxing Tianrui would not act as she expected. Didn’t others say that the Crown Prince disliked his Crown Princess? Didn’t they say that they haven’t made out together for a long time? Why did he suddenly make a scene like this for a woman he didn’t care about?

The eunuch that delivered the decree noticed that Noble Lady Xiao was displeased, and thinking of the reminder of Eunuch Desheng, he took two steps forward. “Your Highness, don’t worry too much. There is only the Empress and you in the palace. As long as you can make a contribution to the Emperor, the Emperor will not forget you.”

Of course, there was no need to voice out how to contribute. Yuxing Wei was far away from him and couldn’t hear these words. He could only see his mother looked better after the eunuch said those words to her. He let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that things still could be improved.

After the eunuch left, the two of them dismissed all the servants from the room. “Don’t worry, my son. I understand what the eunuch says. As long as the baby is safe, everything will be fine.”

“Did the eunuch say when I can enter the court?” Yuxing Wei was smart. There were only three princes in the palace now, and one had decided not to get involved in politics, so only Yuxing Tianrui and him were left. Yuxing Tianrui was dominating the court, so it was difficult for Yuxing Wei to compete with him.

Noble Lady Xiao was embarrassed, as she had forgotten about this important matter. “That eunuch didn’t mention it. Shall I send someone to ask your Father?”

A trace of irritation flashed across Yuxing Wei’s eyes. His mother hadn’t got much up top, but he still needed her to help deal with the Emperor and the Empress.

“In that case, don’t act recklessly. Since Father knows that you are innocent, he might have a sense of guilt, which is our best weapon.” As he spoke, Yuxing Wei took a glance at Noble Lady Xiao’s belly and continued, “Mother, you just need to rest well.”

Yuxing Wei had always been a rock of Noble Lady Xiao, who felt relieved at his words. She said, “Alright, I’ll listen to you. When the baby grows bigger, I’ll think of a way to promote our positions again.”

Half a month flew by. The East Palace had been quiet, possibly because Yuxing Tianrui had been doing things in a rigorous way.

“Your Highness, the beauty pageant will be held tomorrow, and the Empress sent an invitation, asking you to go take a look and help the Crown Prince choose his concubines if you feel well.” Luo Yun handed over the invitation with a frown, as this was not good news.

Du Chuxuan took a glance at it. These days Dongxiang and the others had been checking the accounts all day and night, so the servants could only take turns to serve him, which in a way gave his servants some resting time.

He reached out and took the invitation. “What are you afraid of? Since this is something we can’t change, why don’t we go and see what they are up to?”

During this period of time, he had seen the portraits of the beauty candidates sent by the Imperial Gallery. There were quite a few pretty and delicate girls, including those from distinctive families. Somehow, Du Chuxuan thought of Zhao Zheng, who had already married into Turk.

If that woman had got this opportunity, she would have risked her life to enter the East Palace. With the help of the Zhao Family behind her, she was sure to stir up troubles in the East Palace.

This time, the Zhao Family had sent over many young ladies, who were either pretty, decent or famous, regardless of their status in the family. When Du Chuxuan saw that, he laughed, thinking that Elder Zhao, the head of the Zhao Family, was going all out.

“Your Highness, are you going to dress up for the pageant tomorrow?”  In Luo Yun’s opinion, Du Chuxuan should dress up and tell those ambitious girls that East Palace was not a place that they could easily enter.

Looking at the clothes that Luo Yun had prepared in her hands, Du Chuxuan’s mouth twitched helplessly, “It’s too red. I’m afraid that even the Empress would not dress up like this. Wouldn’t I steal the thunder if I wear it tomorrow?”

“Your Highness, this is the Crown-” Luo Yun got interrupted by a voice behind her.

“The red is good.” Yuxing Tianrui stood at the door and looked at Du Chuxuan with glinting eyes. “You looked gorgeous in the red clothes on the wedding day.” He was whispering softly, but Luo Yun and Du Chuxuan heard it clearly.