Did The Young Prince’s Kingdom Get Destroyed Today? Chapter 135

Before they even reached Fenghua Palace, Shui Shui frowned and asked, “Little Seven, where does Noble Consort Yi feel unwell?”

The little one shook his head. “Mother said she’s not unwell.”

Shui Shui’s frown didn’t ease. If she wasn’t unwell, it didn’t seem like the consort would have called for him.

The two children, still holding hands, soon arrived at Fenghua Palace.

Upon entering, Shui Shui immediately went to check Noble Consort Yi’s pulse. The little one cupped his cheeks, observing from the side.

“Your Highness, would you like some water?” Ji Yan wanted to take the little one out of the room, but he was firmly glued to his chair, unwilling to move.

Noble Consort Yi glanced at Ji Yan, signaling her not to take the little one away.

Time ticked by slowly.

As Shui Shui was checking her pulse, he asked a direct question.

“Noble Consort, is it that you don’t want to have children?”

Noble Consort Yi: “…”

She was clearly startled. “Why would you ask that?”

Shui Shui looked up at her, his eyes unblinking. “After you caught a cold, you drank some medicine.”

Noble Consort Yi nodded. “Yes, I was very cold at the time, so I drank some tonics to nourish my body.”

“One of the ingredients in the tonic was a cooling herb. If you drank it, you would no longer be able to have children.”

Shui Shui calmly revealed a truth that made Noble Consort Yi’s scalp tingle.

“When you caught that cold, it already harmed your body. Drinking that medicine, even just a little, is quite serious.”

In fact, that incident alone would have been enough to prevent her from having children, but Shui Shui believed that he could still remedy it now.

However, after catching the cold, Noble Consort Yi drank just a bit of the cooling herb. Although it wasn’t much, it was enough.

“That’s impossible.”

Noble Consort Yi instinctively denied it. “The physicians in the Imperial Hospital, and even the doctors sent by my family, wouldn’t all lie to me. None of them ever mentioned anything about such a medicine.”

Even if the palace physicians were untrustworthy, she was sure the doctors from her family wouldn’t keep it from her.

“You only drank a small amount, and then took other medications later, so the doctors didn’t detect it.”

Shui Shui simply presented his diagnosis.

“You will no longer be able to have children. Aside from this, your health is fine.”

Noble Consort Yi was no longer able to have children, but otherwise, she was in very good health.

Even if Emperor Ling passed away, she would still live on.

Shui Shui finished checking her pulse and silently breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he didn’t have another sick person to deal with.

Although Noble Consort Yi’s body was healthy, her spirit seemed troubled.

After Shui Shui finished, she remained motionless and didn’t say anything, nor did she tell him to leave.

Ji Yan bit her lip and stepped forward, taking Shui Shui’s hand.

“Shui Shui, the consort didn’t sleep well last night and needs to rest now. Why don’t you go play with the little prince and let her rest, okay?”

“Alright.”

Shui Shui nodded and took the little one with him.

The little one glanced back at Noble Consort Yi, wanting to talk to his mother.

As the two children left, Noble Consort Yi remained in a daze for a moment before finally reacting.

Her lips moved, as if to say something, but no sound came out.

Ji Yan stepped forward and took her cold hand.

“Niang Niang, perhaps there has been some misunderstanding.”

Ji Yan had been shocked by Shui Shui’s diagnosis, but her priority was to comfort her mistress.

“So much time has passed… what happened back then—”

Before Ji Yan could finish, Noble Consort Yi swept everything off the table with a furious gesture.

Her eyes were red, and her voice trembled as she struggled to speak. “He didn’t want me to have children. He didn’t want me to get pregnant!”

“Was that accident his doing too?!”

Ji Yan clenched her fists, unsure how to answer.

In her eyes, Emperor Ling had always doted on her Niang Niang.

After so many years of affection, how could it all be so despicable?

Ji Yan couldn’t find the words. Noble Consort Yi, leaning on the table, seemed to have found the answer within herself.

Tears rolled down from her beautiful eyes.

“Ji Yan, he’s afraid of the Murong family.”

At that moment, Noble Consort Yi suddenly understood everything. “He didn’t want me to bear children because he feared my family would support them.”

Noble Consort Yi even recalled the resistance she faced when she initially wanted to raise Little Seven.

She should have realized then that if Emperor Ling didn’t even want to entrust her with Little Seven, how could he ever allow her to have her own child?

“Your Highness, please try to calm down.”

Ji Yan was heartbroken seeing her mistress like this.

She supported Noble Consort Yi and did her best to comfort her. At the very least, she couldn’t let the consort’s health be harmed by her distress.

In Fenghua Palace, Ji Yan tightly sealed off the situation even before the consort could give orders. She instructed Shui Shui not to tell Emperor Ling about today’s diagnosis.

At the same time, she tightened her control over the palace staff.

Outside the palace, the little one followed Shui Shui back to the small courtyard, his little head still foggy. “Shui Shui, something seems off with mother.”

Although Noble Consort Yi hadn’t let her emotions burst out in front of him, the little one still felt a sense of worry before leaving.

Shui Shui, skilled in medicine, didn’t fully understand palace matters. He only knew that Noble Consort Yi had taken some cooling medicine, but he wasn’t aware of the deeper implications.

So, when the little one expressed his confusion, Shui Shui couldn’t provide answers.

He busied himself with the herbs in his hands and said, “You can ask Noble Consort Yi yourself when you go back.”

The little one replied, “Okay!”

He spent half a day in Shui Shui’s courtyard, and by evening, they both went to Chengming Hall where Shui Shui was delivering medicine to treat Emperor Ling’s “head ailment.”

“Shui Shui, can we add some sugar to the medicine?”

The little one wrinkled his face at the bitter smell of the medicine and wanted Shui Shui to sweeten it.

Shui Shui refused. “No, it would affect the efficacy.”

As they debated whether or not to add sugar, Emperor Ling overheard them. He chuckled, ruffled the little one’s hair, and took the medicine, drinking it all in one go.

After he finished the medicine, the little one handed him a piece of candy.

Emperor Ling took the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.

The bitterness was quickly subdued by the sweetness, and Emperor Ling glanced at the little one, asking, “Where did this candy come from? Didn’t they confiscate all of yours?”

The little one opened his pocket to show that there was no candy left. “I asked Fifth Sister for it. It was the last one.”

Though Emperor Ling had eaten his last candy, he was still in good spirits.

After drinking the medicine, Shui Shui routinely checked Emperor Ling’s pulse.

Once the check was done, he didn’t say much about the emperor’s condition.

By now, it had already grown dark outside. Emperor Ling patted the bed beside him and asked the little one, “Little Seven, do you want to sleep with Father tonight?”

The little one was fiddling with a toy on the emperor’s lap. He stroked the toy with his small hands and replied, “No, I’m going back to bed. Daddy, play with this toy with me.”

The toy, crafted by the Ministry of Works, could twist and reshape in different ways, making it very fun to play with.

Emperor Ling lowered his head and began playing with him.

As they played, the two also started chatting.

“Little Seven, what will you do if one day Father isn’t around anymore, and no one’s there to protect you?”

“Ptooey!”

The little one threw the toy aside and covered his ears, angrily declaring, “Daddy won’t die!”

He was still so young, Daddy wouldn’t die!

Emperor Ling saw him covering his ears and gently took his little hands away.

“Daddy was just joking with you. Why are you so upset?”

The little one glared at him, his round eyes welling up with tears.

Seeing this softened Emperor Ling’s heart, and he lifted the little one into his arms.

“Little Seven.”

Holding his son, the emperor’s thin face showed a trace of weariness. “Daddy doesn’t want to die either.”

He had always believed he could live for a long time.

But reality was so cruel. Despite his supreme power, able to get anything he desired, in the end, what he wanted most—to live longer—was beyond his grasp.

Now, he had no choice but to keep scheming.

He needed to plan how to ensure Little Seven’s safety.

He needed to calculate what moves the Murong family might make in the future, and at the same time, find ways to conceal these schemes from Noble Consort Yi.

No matter what the Murong family did, Noble Consort Yi’s status in his heart would never change.

Emperor Ling had too many calculations to make. As he thought about these matters, his brows furrowed unconsciously.

Seeing this, the little one reached up to smooth his father’s brows.

“Daddy, I’ll recite my lessons for you!”

The little one was doing quite well in his studies at the palace school.

Emperor Ling personally oversaw his education and, whenever he excelled, it brought the emperor great joy.

So now, the little one was trying to cheer his father up.

After successfully lifting his father’s spirits, he dashed back to Fenghua Palace.

By then, Noble Consort Yi had calmed down a bit.

She didn’t let the little one notice anything unusual.

Although he couldn’t see it on her face, the little one still sensed that she was unhappy.

“Mother, look at me!”

The little one hugged a pillow and snuggled onto her bed, insisting on sleeping with Noble Consort Yi. His small body squirmed into her arms, his beautiful little face pulling silly expressions to amuse her.

Noble Consort Yi, seeing his playful antics, reflexively patted his bottom.

“I told you before, no pretending to be dead—it’s bad luck.”

“I won’t do it anymore.”

After receiving a light smack, the little one obediently nestled into her arms.

With his playful interruption, the dark cloud in Noble Consort Yi’s heart gradually lifted without her even realizing it.

She pinched his chubby cheeks and teased, “Aren’t you a big boy now? Still coming to sleep with Mother? Aren’t you ashamed?”

“Not embarrassed, not embarrassed,”

The little one mumbled, “I’m only six years old.”

He was still small and could sleep with his mother.

The Noble Consort raised her eyebrows, continuing to tease him, “Other six-year-olds don’t sleep with their mothers anymore.”

The little one knew that already. He often slept in his own room now.

“But tonight, I want to sleep with Mother.”

His little face flushed red as he continued to cling to the Noble Consort.

Though she scolded him, when he snuggled close, she didn’t actually push him away.

The night grew deeper.

The Noble Consort held the little one in her arms, but she wasn’t the least bit sleepy. She lay there with her eyes open, quietly staring into the darkness.

Just as she resigned herself to staying awake until morning, the child in her arms suddenly spoke.

“Mother, why aren’t you sleeping?”

The Noble Consort was startled, “Why aren’t you asleep?”

This little one usually slept soundly; once the lights were off, he would fall asleep quickly.

She hadn’t expected that despite the lights being off for so long, he still hadn’t fallen asleep.

“Mother isn’t sleeping.”

The little one spoke truthfully. He hadn’t slept because he saw that his mother wasn’t sleeping.

“Children need more sleep to grow taller.”

The Noble Consort said this, pulling him closer into her arms, gently patting his back, trying to lull him to sleep.

But no matter how she tried, as long as she didn’t sleep, the little one refused to either.

After a few futile attempts, the Noble Consort finally spoke softly, “Mother is just thinking about some things. Once I’ve finished thinking, I’ll sleep.”

“What things? Can Zai Zai help?”

“You can’t help.”

In the darkness, holding him in her arms, the Noble Consort whispered, “Little Seven, who do you like more, your father or your mother?”

“Mother, of course!”

The little one’s response brought a small warmth to the Noble Consort’s otherwise cold heart.

She held him tighter and said softly, “Little Seven, could you tell Mother again about your class in Guan Shan? Tell me about the lesson on monogamy and divorce.”

“Okay!”

The little one nodded obediently and began to tell her, “In big boss’s hometown, everyone is only allowed to marry one wife, they can’t have many.”

“If they don’t get along, they can separate.”

This particular lesson on marriage hadn’t been a major focus in Guan Shan.

The little one had mentioned it to the Noble Consort in passing when he came back from his lessons.

The Noble Consort loved to hear about it.

The little one recounted the lesson carefully, and at the end, he suddenly asked, “Mother, did Daddy make you sad?”

The Noble Consort smiled slightly, not pausing as she gently patted his back, “No.”

She believed there was love between her and the Emperor. But their love was also entangled with too many other things.

Holding the little one, she was just grateful that she still had him.

“Mother, Zai Zai loves you very much.”

He hugged her back, his soft voice filling the night. “Don’t be sad.”

“Mhm, with Little Seven here, Mother isn’t sad.”

Though she said she wasn’t sad, over the next few days, the little one could still tell that she was keeping her distance from his father.

The Emperor, exhausted as he was, also noticed the Noble Consort’s coldness toward him.

A crisis had emerged between his father and mother.

The little one didn’t know what had caused it, but he found himself running back and forth between them—helping his father drink his medicine and then cheering up his mother.

Running between them like that, the little one grew tired.

Exhausted, he longed to talk to Ah Wu.

As it happened, the Noble Consort was napping that afternoon.

The little one climbed onto the bed beside her and took a vision of the future.

In the little one’s imagination, his mother’s future should have been happy.

But when the vision came into focus, he saw the Noble Consort with red, tear-filled eyes, angrily accusing the Emperor of being heartless.

She cried that not only had the Emperor wronged her, but he also intended to treat the Murong family the same way!

In the next scene, the Noble Consort held a letter in her hand.

As she clutched the letter, her angry accusations revealed to the little one what it contained.

The letter spoke of making the little prince the new emperor.

But it also warned that once he grew up, the Murong family might become too powerful, and that the Prime Minister should, at that time, secretly carry out an order to eliminate them.

The little one was horrified by the future vision of his mother.

His voice trembling, he called for Ah Wu.

“Ah Wu…”

Ah Wu immediately responded, “Zai Zai.”

He had something to tell the little one as well.

But before Ah Wu could say anything, he heard the little one already crying, “Zai Zai doesn’t want to be emperor!”

Ah Wu, who had spent a few years as a little crown prince himself but had not yet ascended the throne: “?”

Ah Wu was a bit confused by the little one’s sudden outburst but patiently asked, “What’s going on? Zai Zai, stop crying first, and we’ll talk slowly.”

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