Chapter 399: Chapter 397: If the Seed in Her Belly Isn’t Cui Ji’s
Lu Ying raised his eyes and glanced at him.
Xue Ling feigned innocence: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Do you understand matters of the heart?"
Xue Ling stammered, dabbing his fingertips clean with a handkerchief: "Not... not really."
"Then keep quiet."
Lu Ying’s expression remained calm throughout; even his tone was placid, as if he genuinely no longer cared about Shen Yinning.
But when Xue Ling met those serene, narrow eyes, he felt a sudden, inexplicable chill that raised a thin layer of cold sweat upon him.
Lu Ying’s demeanor gave off the sense of a gentle surface of the water, hiding ferocious waves that could devour someone whole.
Xue Ling coughed lightly, not daring to provoke Lu Ying any further. Gathering his wide sleeves, he hurried away.
The Imperial Study fell into silence.
Lu Ying lowered his gaze and resumed reviewing the memorials.
However, the words on the memorial seemed to come alive. He tried to discern what his ministers had written, yet the characters danced around in his vision, disassembling themselves mockingly into individual radicals. Despite staring at the document for a long while, he couldn’t decipher a single sentence.
Eventually, the disordered words began reconstructing themselves into a name—
A name he regarded as taboo.
She and Cui Ji intertwined like a tangled skein. She kept Cui Ji in her chambers night after night.
Back when she and Lu Shiyan were close, she had never done such a thing.
How dare she with Cui Ji...
How dare she!
Lu Ying gripped the vermillion pen so tightly that his fingertips turned pale.
All of a sudden, he broke the vermillion pen and stood up, flipping the Dragon Desk in front of him.
A pile of memorials scattered onto the ground, the vermillion pens on the pen rack crisscrossed amidst the chaos, and the National Seal rolled across the tiled floor before coming to a stop in a pool of vermillion ink. The precious jade brush washer shattered into countless pieces, resembling a land littered with shards of Spring Mountain Shattered Jade.
Gui Quan and the others rushed in, trembling as they kowtowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"
De Sun carefully picked up the National Seal and wiped off the vermillion ink stains with his sleeve, his face ashen with fear: "Your Majesty, the National Seal is priceless; it must not be treated carelessly!"
Lu Ying turned his back, standing with folded arms before the Map of the Vast Empire.
He closed his eyes deeply.
Cui Ji was about to depart for the Northern Border.
He would no longer have the chance to share a room with her.
Slowly, Lu Ying opened his eyes, his jet-black pupils filled with ominous obsession.
Even if he didn’t love her, he would never allow another man to find joy with her.
She loved the bustle; he would make her lonely.
She pursued fame; he would see her fall to disgrace.
She would come to understand that in this world, no man could surpass Lu Ying!
News of Lu Ying’s outburst in the Imperial Study quickly spread to the harem.
Chunxi Palace.
Shen Yunxi was sipping tea with Shen Xinghan.
Upon hearing of Lu Ying’s fury, she curiously asked, "How could His Majesty, typically so composed, suddenly lose his temper? Did some officials offend him again? I always say those scholars are the most stubborn!"
Lianxin replied, "The eunuchs overheard that His Majesty grew angry only after Lord Xue left. It must have been some unpleasant words from Lord Xue."
Shen Xinghan skimmed the tea froth, a faint sneer playing on his lips: "Who else could it be about but her?"
"Brother means Shen Yinning, that wench?" Shen Yunxi scoffed. "Impossible, it’s been so long, and Shen Yinning is already carrying Cui Ji’s child. His Majesty even gifted her to become Cui Ji’s concubine. It doesn’t look like he holds her dear anymore."
Shen Xinghan said nothing.
His face was obscured by the curling tea steam, giving him an inscrutable, dreamlike air.
Others might not understand his cousin, but he knew her character inside out.
He recalled an incident from their childhood. On the Festival of Blossoms, the Shen family children went out to the streets together. Shen Yinning took a fancy to a small colorful cloth tiger but didn’t have the chance to buy it before Shen Xingye bought it first and gave it to Minmin.
Minmin saw Shen Yinning’s desire for the tiger and offered to give it to her.
Yet Shen Yinning gracefully refused, smiling as she said there were more beautiful trinkets up ahead and she didn’t want it.
But after wandering for an hour, she didn’t buy a single item.
Then, in the dead of night, she climbed over the mansion wall and sneaked into Prince Qinghe’s residence, shyly asking Minmin whether her offer earlier still stood and if she could give her the little tiger.
What lunacy.
When she returned to the mansion, Shen Zhi and Cheng Hui scolded her thoroughly, yet she still delightedly clung to the tiger.
That was when Shen Xinghan recognized her nature—a seemingly carefree and romantic façade masking unyielding stubbornness.
Once she set her eyes on something, it was like an eagle locking onto its prey.
So, would she truly consort with Cui Ji while being involved with Lu Ying?
What if...
What if the child in her womb wasn’t Cui Ji’s...
Shen Xinghan envisioned a possibility.
A possibility that might bring utter ruin to their Shen Guogong Mansion.
A vicious gleam flashed in the man’s eyes as he lowered his voice: "Cui Ji is heading north. This is the perfect chance for us to act."
Shen Yunxi eagerly asked: "Brother, have you already devised a specific plan to get rid of her?"
Shen Xinghan set down his tea cup: "Guess—does His Majesty wish to see her again?"
Shen Yunxi’s face shifted. "Brother, what do you mean? We worked so hard to push her away from His Majesty; are you trying to bring her back now?"
Shen Xinghan offered a faint smile, his gaze carrying the arrogance of someone in control: "Guess—does the Empress wish to see her?"
Shen Yunxi’s thoughts tangled up; she couldn’t follow.
Beside her, Shen Xinya spoke softly: "I understand Brother’s intent. He plans to bring her into the palace and use the Empress’s hand to eliminate her. This way, we avoid dirtying ourselves while causing His Majesty to resent the Empress. Then, our Shen family can reap the benefits."
Just days ago, Shen Yunxi had sent her into His Majesty’s bed.
Now she was titled a Beauty, adorned with dazzling jewels and ornaments, even affecting the dignity and demeanor of a palace concubine as she spoke.
Shen Xinghan’s gaze deepened: "Correct, but not just that."
If Shen Yinning truly carried the Emperor’s child, then when she fell to her death under Huo Mingyan’s hand—along with the unborn child—her status as the Emperor’s only love and the bearer of his heir would become her last leverage. What would the Emperor think?
Would he immediately strip Huo Mingyan of her position?
That would be true mastery of strategy.
Shen Xinghan strode out of Chunxi Palace with confident composure.
In the palace alley, he encountered Huo Mingxu, who was on his way to Kunning Palace to visit Huo Mingyan. Huo Mingxu greeted him warmly: "Shen Family Elder Brother!"
Shen Xinghan frowned slightly, unwilling to engage with the barbaric outsiders like the Huo family.
Huo Mingxu, however, was naturally outgoing, scratching his head with an honest grin: "I’ve long heard of Shen Family Elder Brother’s remarkable talent and the nickname ’Little Zhuge’ for your literary prowess in the Capital. My father often scolds me for not valuing books, so I deeply admire Shen Family Elder Brother!"
Shen Xinghan’s expression openly conveyed disdain.
The Huo siblings were insufferable.
"Little Zhuge"? Did they not know that was a jab at his exam cheating scandal?
He flicked his sleeve and left with a darkened expression.
"What kind of person is that!" Huo Mingxu muttered in displeasure. "Back when I met Xingye Big Brother at the border, he was clearly affable. How could his cousin be so rude?"
That night.
Shen Xinya personally prepared some snacks and delivered them to Lu Ying.
She spoke gently: "Now that Lord Cui has traveled to the border, the Cui family is left with only Shangguan Min and my cousin. I fear Shangguan Min won’t manage to care for my cousin well, so I thought to invite my cousin into the palace to nurture her pregnancy. Would His Majesty approve, so she could keep company with me and my sister?"