Chapter 452: Chapter 450: No matter what happens, I will never abandon her
Lu Ying countered, "Do you think, with Zhaozhao’s personality, she would accept any rank below Empress? Forget ordinary concubines—she wouldn’t even deign to regard the titles of Noble Consort or Imperial Concubine. If it’s not the best, she’d rather have nothing at all."
Back when he was still Crown Prince, he had thought of arranging a title for Shen Zhaozhao.
Yet it was only today that he realized Shen Zhaozhao was far prouder than he had imagined.
For her, becoming a concubine was nothing short of an insult.
Lu Minmin said nothing in response.
Inwardly, however, she agreed with Lu Ying’s words.
After taking a sip of warm tea, she turned to look at Lu Ying again. "Then what about the position of Empress?"
"First Cousin, you should be well aware—Huo Mingyan has done no wrong. I cannot depose her without just cause."
"True, Huo Mingyan has done no wrong..." Lu Minmin murmured softly, "But Zhaozhao is equally blameless. Do you intend to let her remain by your side her entire life without name or rank? Your Majesty, that would be too unfair to her."
Lu Ying truly could not guarantee that he could one day make Shen Zhaozhao Empress.
As a monarch, he could not make promises built on castles in the sky.
After a long silence, he said, "First Cousin, you must understand. Under the heavens, apart from me, no one else has the power to protect her. I don’t intend to spout sweet nothings or pledges of undying love to her, but I only wish for First Cousin to know this: no matter what happens, I will never abandon her."
Lu Minmin lowered her eyes.
After some time, she retrieved a small, exquisitely crafted brocade box from her sleeve.
"This is something Xingye entrusted to me for safekeeping. I don’t know what’s inside, either," Lu Minmin said as she handed the brocade box to Lu Ying. "If what’s inside is harmful to Zhaozhao, I hope Your Majesty will handle it properly and not let others use it against her."
She rose and took her leave.
Shen Xinghan was waiting near the secondary hall.
When he saw Lu Minmin emerge, he stepped up to her and gently brushed a fallen flower petal off her shoulder. "Minmin."
Lu Minmin turned aside, avoiding his touch.
She faced Shen Xinghan directly. "I thought you would do everything in your power to stop me from handing that thing over."
"If Minmin has already guessed that its contents could harm Shen Yinning, why wouldn’t I?" Shen Xinghan grasped her hand firmly, not allowing her to pull away. "To tell the truth, I’m quite curious myself to see how His Majesty will react upon seeing what’s inside that box."
Lu Minmin slowly lifted her eyelashes.
The young Duke before her bore three parts resemblance to the man she had once pined for day and night.
They were brothers. Like Xingye, he was clever. He could even deduce the secret inside the box from His Majesty’s reaction.
But there was something more sinister about him.
And she utterly despised that dark, malevolent air about him.
She said coldly, "You’ll never measure up to your older brother."
Shen Xinghan’s face immediately darkened.
"You imitate everything about him, from his attire and mannerisms to the way he conducts himself in the world. You study all his strengths, from social graces to reading, writing, and horseback archery... But not being him means you’ll never be him," Lu Minmin’s words cut like knives. "Shen Xinghan, you fall far too short."
Shen Xinghan’s eyes reddened gradually.
Towering over Lu Minmin, he looked down at her—he was easily taller by half a head—yet he was overcome by an absurd sense of inadequacy.
When Lu Minmin used to visit the Shen Family, she would always laugh and chat with Shen Xingye.
Everyone in the Capital said that Minmin, the most beautiful and spirited young Commandery Princess, and the carefree and dashing Princely Heir of Shen Guogong Mansion were a match made in heaven.
But...
Wasn’t he the one who had first fallen for Minmin?
The Princess Consort of Qinghe had died early, and Cheng Hui, out of pity for Minmin, who had no mother to care for her, had brought her to stay temporarily at Shen Guogong Mansion.
Minmin had arrived on a bitterly cold winter’s day when water froze as soon as it touched the ground.
She was only five or six years old, dressed in austere clothing—a pear blossom white jacket with a fur-trimmed collar. Her cheeks were soft and pale, and her lips were bright red, like freshly bloomed plum blossoms in the garden.
He had been reading under the veranda when he looked up and saw her being escorted over by a group of little maids.
A few plum blossoms extended into the covered corridor.
The little girl was holding a golden hand warmer, correcting him solemnly, "Big Brother, though you recited this essay flawlessly, you made one mistake in the middle."
He stammered, "W-Which mistake?"
Perhaps it was because he looked so flustered that the little girl and her maids covered their mouths and giggled.
Her laughter was so beautiful—her eyes curved like crescent moons, as if spring breezes had shaken snow from plum blossoms.
At that time, he was only eight or nine years old, still too young to understand the feelings between men and women.
Yet in that moment, seeing her smile, he suddenly realized that marriage could truly be something wonderful.
If he could marry this little sister in the future, then even dying would be worth it.
But Shen Xingye had been so mischievous.
He always tugged on the little Commandery Princess’s braids, pinched her cheeks, and even destroyed the snowman she had painstakingly built over several days.
When the little Commandery Princess cried, he would climb a tree, clutch a wooden sword, and laugh mischievously.
Unable to stand his cousin’s unruliness and unwilling to see the little Commandery Princess upset, Shen Xinghan would pluck a few new plum blossoms every day and secretly place them by her bedroom window, hoping they would cheer her up when she opened it.
Whenever he found tasty flower-shaped pastries from outside, he would also secretly have them delivered to the little Commandery Princess.
But even so...
When the little Commandery Princess grew up, the young man who captured her heart remained his older brother, not him.
Learning that the little Commandery Princess was engaged to his brother had left him utterly devastated. He rode his horse out to the city outskirts, screaming and swinging his blade wildly as he chopped down trees and plants in the uninhabited mountains.
He drank himself into a stupor in the wilderness, unconscious for three days and nights.
When he finally sobered slightly, he returned home in a daze and asked his parents if they could beg the Prince of Qinghe to marry the Commandery Princess to him instead.
At that time, his father had not yet conceived the idea of murdering Shen Zhi and his son.
His father had harshly scolded him.
He had said that, as a mere illegitimate son of the Duke Mansion, he had no standing to compete with Shen Xingye over someone of Lu Minmin’s noble status.
But he refused to accept it.
He worked desperately to imitate Shen Xingye, desperately trying to be liked as much as his brother.
But it was so hard. He couldn’t match Shen Xingye in horseback archery, let alone in the natural talent his brother displayed in reading and academics.
To take first place at the academy’s examinations, he even resorted to bribing the examiner to obtain the test questions in advance. Unbeknownst to him, the questions had been changed, and his pre-memorized answers instead made him the butt of a scandal, mocked as the "Little Zhuge Liang" who could predict the future...
He became a laughingstock among his peers in the Capital.
In those dark, dismal days, a thought took root in his mind—
If only Shen Xingye were dead.
The Prince of Qinghe valued propriety so deeply. If Shen Xingye were gone, wouldn’t this marriage arrangement fall to him?
The thought sprouted and grew, eventually consuming him completely.
He incited his father to plot against Shen Zhi and his son. In the end, his wish was fulfilled. He took Shen Xingye’s place and married Minmin.
He thought his life had finally reached its pinnacle. From then on, he would lead Minmin to a position second only to the Holy Emperor’s in the Great Zhou Dynasty. But what he hadn’t anticipated was that even if he refrained from taking concubines or mistresses, Minmin would still refuse to spare him a single glance.
His mother constantly urged him and Minmin to have a child as soon as possible.
But Minmin refused to conceive.
Not wanting her to take abortion soup daily, he secretly drank sterilization medicine instead.
He had no great attachment to having heirs.
All he wanted was for Minmin to look at him, even once.