novelraw Chapter 673 - 662: The Cuckolded Prince
Chapter 673 - 662: The Cuckolded Prince
It seems that from some unknown point, she subtly harbored the thought that Fifth Sister-in-law didn’t like Fifth Prince as much as everyone believed.
Xia Yixiao then turned her gaze back to Ye Qiu, and let out a heavy sigh, although Fifth Prince had many shortcomings, his heart was devoted to Lin Jingxian, fearing it was misplaced.
Ye Qiu was not actually drunk; he just wanted to see Lin Jingxian unwilling yet having to pretend to be virtuous and compliant.
"Prince, let us return to the mansion," Lin Jingxian said, maintaining her usual tender and considerate demeanor.
"Princess Consort, where have you been?" Ye Qiu groggily lifted his head, his nasal voice very heavy, then shakily stood up, losing his balance and collapsing onto Lin Jingxian.
Lin Jingxian took a deep breath; she hadn’t expected that even though she had moved a step, he still fell towards her.
But others didn’t notice; Xia Yixiao, who had been attentively observing, did notice. Clearly, Fifth Prince was unstable, yet Fifth Sister-in-law deliberately moved her foot away. If it hadn’t been for Fifth Prince tripping, he would have fallen earlier.
"Princess Consort, you are truly kind, I knew you would catch me," Ye Qiu grinned foolishly, looking like an idiot, while Shen Xiu and Ye Kai looked on helplessly at him.
Lin Jingxian suppressed the disgust in her heart, unable to push him away again, she had to endure it for the time being.
Yet Ye Qiu was not yet finished, he sniffed closer and said, "Princess Consort, you smell wonderful!"
Lin Jingxian felt extremely awkward, her lips curling into a stiff smile: "Prince, you are drunk, let us return to the mansion."
Saying this, she signaled with her eyes to Mu Jin and Furong, wanting them to help escort Ye Qiu there. Furong was a bit slow to catch on; although Mu Jin understood, she dared not approach.
After that torment, she had sharply realized who was the one deciding her fate.
Lin Jingxian felt she was nearly angered to death; the good mood from her clandestine meeting with Crown Prince had utterly dissipated.
Eventually, it was Shen Xiu—the one she felt most antagonistic towards—who resolved the situation: "You two, quickly help Fifth Prince to the carriage, be careful, don’t let him fall."
"Yes," the two little eunuchs replied in unison.
Since Crown Princess Consort had made the request, Ye Qiu didn’t want to trouble her little eunuchs, and leaning on their shoulders, he made his way to the carriage, while Little Ye Heng obediently watched him, and Lin Jingxian went to another carriage.
With no one to tease, Ye Qiu was extremely calm, cheerfully playing with Little Ye Heng.
Little Ye Heng giggled: "Father, it tickles!"
The voice of the child reached the carriage behind, reminding Lin Jingxian of her own children, Ming’er and Lingling, who were still young and understood nothing. Yet what if as they grew up, they truly regarded Ye Qiu as their biological father?
She frowned deeply, unable to think of a solution that satisfied all ends, hoping only that the Holy Emperor would abdicate sooner.
However, Ye Qiu wouldn’t act according to her wishes; she and the Crown Prince wanted to be together sooner, yet he preferred for Father Emperor to live longer. Thus, by the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Ye Qiu presented a thousand-year-old ginseng.
Unlike his usual unoriginal gifts of Golden Mountain or Jade Buddha for the Longevity Festival—though valuable, they were also cliché and never truly admired—this time he actually offered a thousand-year-old ginseng, stunning everyone speechless.
This ginseng was about the size of a baby’s arm, had already assumed a human-like shape with very developed roots, and most importantly, it was extremely fresh, topped with ten leaves and a bunch of bright red fruits.
"Summon the Hospital Director of the Imperial Hospital to take a look," Emperor Xingwu joyously commanded, his eyes not leaving the ginseng for a second.
It wasn’t long before not only the head of the Imperial Hospital came, but also several other on-duty Imperial Physicians who, hearing that the Fifth Prince had offered a thousand-year-old ginseng, also wanted to come and see it, among them was Ye Qiu’s old acquaintance, Doctor Hu.
Emperor Xingwu naturally had no objections, so the several Imperial Physicians examined the ginseng with the same caution as they would treat Emperor Xingwu.
"Indeed, it really is a thousand-year-old ginseng!"
"What’s rare is that the quality is extraordinarily good."
"What do you think?" Listening to the bustling discussion of the Imperial Physicians, Emperor Xingwu, who couldn’t wait, asked.
The head of the Imperial Hospital, upon hearing this, couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes and knelt down to report: "Your Majesty, it indeed is a thousand-year-old ginseng, capable of reviving the dead."
"Hahaha... Excellent!" Emperor Xingwu laughed heartily.
"Heaven blesses our Dongchen." The other Ministers, upon hearing this, congratulated Emperor Xingwu one after another.
"Xiao Wu, you did well this time." For the first time, Emperor Xingwu looked at Ye Qiu with such satisfaction, "Tell Father Emperor whatever you desire."
Ye Qiu grinned, seemingly casual, but his eyes were earnest, "This son desires nothing but for Father Emperor to be healthy and to protect me for a lifetime."
Emperor Xingwu scolded him with a laugh: "You are a Prince, a son of mine, who would dare to trouble you?"
"It’s not the same." Ye Qiu looked up to retort, "Father Emperor’s protection is different, just as Heng’er said, my Father is the best."
"Smooth-talker." Though he scolded so, everyone could clearly see the satisfaction in Emperor Xingwu’s eyes.
"This Heng’er you mentioned, is he your eldest son?" he then asked.
"Yes, Heng’er is both clever and well-behaved," Ye Qiu said proudly.
"Oh? Is that so? Did you bring him today? I remember your Princess Consort had twins, a Dragon Phoenix pair, but I haven’t seen the petitions to appoint the Princely Heir and Commandery Princess?"
"Replying to Father Emperor, the reason I didn’t request the titles of Princely Heir and Commandery Princess for Ming’er and Lingling is because they were both premature and have always been in poor health, getting sick every other day. The Princess Consort is so worried she doesn’t even want me, their Father, to look at them much. I thought of the old saying that children with weak bodies, if they have too much fortune, are hard to raise, so I thought it best to put off requesting the titles for now." Ye Qiu spoke logically and appeared to be considering what’s best for the children, indeed moving many people.
Only Lin Jingxian felt a bit nauseated, her children are clearly healthy, where do they often fall ill? Wouldn’t this later lead to people saying her children can’t handle important affairs?
However, if she hadn’t said so at that time, what if the two children grew fond of Ye Qiu? Or what excuse would she have for not sharing the bed?
After hearing Ye Qiu’s words, Emperor Xingwu was even more satisfied, "Good, that’s what a Father should do. If the children have any issues, summon the Imperial Physician immediately, don’t delay."
"Yes, Father Emperor."
"Today’s gift was well thought of, how did you come up with it?"
"It was nothing." Ye Qiu suddenly felt bashful, "I had sent people to look for the ginseng years ago, and I didn’t expect that only this year they found one of good quality; I just hope Father Emperor stays healthy."
What he said was true and not afraid of scrutiny, indeed the predecessor had sent people to the mountains to look for ginseng, partly to make money and partly to offer, this year the people searching for the ginseng just happened to return, which would definitely not arouse suspicion but would underscore his sincerity towards the Emperor.