After so many years apart, when husband and wife met again, everything had already changed.
When Yongchang Emperor stepped into Taiji Hall, for a moment, he actually felt nervous, like someone returning to their hometown after a long absence.
At that moment, all that flashed through his mind was their early days as a struggling couple when they first arrived in Zhangzhou.
Back then, he was an unfavored prince, and the territory he was granted was a rundown fishing village.
Typhoons struck from time to time, and the winters were unbearably cold.
When he first arrived, he didn’t even have a prince’s residence. He and Liu Wangfei had to live in the Governor-General’s mansion in Fujian.
It wasn’t until he worked tirelessly, built a seaport, cleared out pirates and coastal bandits, and finally secured his footing, that he had his own Min Wang residence three years later.
Even then, his residence was nothing like the grand, red-walled, glazed-tile palaces of other princes. It was built from local materials—sturdy local timber and green bricks, without elaborate carvings or painted beams.
Those days seemed to have passed in a flash.
But in truth, they had been so long. His eyes were already brimming with tears as he stumbled forward and called out, “Wanyin!”
Liu Wangfei’s temples had turned gray, though her figure remained as slim as it had been all those years ago. When she saw Yongchang Emperor, she turned, a barely noticeable trace of hatred flickering in her eyes. After a long pause, she knelt to offer a formal greeting.
How could Yongchang Emperor let her kneel? He immediately strode forward and pulled her up, overwhelmed with joy: “Wanyin, I knew you weren’t dead! I knew you were alive!”
Compared to him, Liu Wangfei’s attitude was far colder. She calmly and deliberately pushed him away, looked at him, and smiled: “Your Majesty still looks so young, but I have already grown old.”
Yes, by comparison, Yongchang Emperor was now nearly sixty, but apart from a few gray hairs at his temples, he still looked much younger than most men his age.
But Liu Wangfei was different. The wrinkles on her face, the roughness of her hands—every detail revealed her age and the hardship she had endured.
Yongchang Emperor’s expression faltered. His voice choked as he asked: “Wanyin, since you were alive, why didn’t you come back to find me? I’ve been sending people to look for you all these years—why didn’t you return?”
Return?
Liu Wangfei immediately retorted: “Was there still a place for me at Your Majesty’s side? You had a new empress, a crown prince, and new favored concubines. Jiangxi is separated by thousands of mountains and rivers. How could I, with a frail child in tow, possibly survive the journey to return?”
Each word was like a blade, stabbing straight into Yongchang Emperor’s heart.
Grasping her hand tightly, he rushed to explain: “Wanyin, listen to me—there was nothing I could do about the Empress! But I have always held you in my heart. It was for you that I cherished the Liu family and Wanqiu so dearly. When I look at her, it’s like I see you…”
Liu Wangfei sneered and flung his hand away: “Your Majesty, spare me the empty words! Whether those ‘bandits’ who attacked me on my journey to the capital were truly bandits—well, everyone knows the truth! Just now, you asked why I didn’t return all these years. How could I return?”
Her face brimmed with sarcasm: “All these years, I lived in hiding, constantly on the run, because I realized people were still relentlessly searching for us. Once, we left our home briefly, and when we returned, the house had been ransacked, and the entire family next door had been slaughtered!”
Yongchang Emperor’s face filled with fury: “Someone was trying to kill you?”
Even after all these years, someone had still been hunting them!
Was it Empress Feng? Was it the Feng family?
Yongchang Emperor clenched his teeth: “I will get to the bottom of this. I will never let them off!”
He couldn’t help but ask: “Do you know who it was back then? Who tried to harm you?”
If it was Empress Feng, this would be the perfect chance to depose her and eliminate the Feng family once and for all.
Liu Wangfei’s face remained calm: “I only know it wasn’t the Feng family.”
Not the Feng family?
Yongchang Emperor’s expression darkened with suspicion: “Why are you so sure it wasn’t the Feng family?”
Back then, the eldest princess had also insisted it wasn’t the Feng family. They had even quarreled about it.
The eldest princess had since secluded herself in Baiyun Temple and refused to return to the capital.
Now, hearing Liu Wangfei say the same thing, Yongchang Emperor found it hard to accept.
Liu Wangfei coldly laughed: “It’s not about me being certain. Back then, if it had been the Feng family, how could they have sent soldiers from Min? The people who hunted us were all elite Min soldiers, familiar with the local terrain, and they spoke the Minnan dialect.”
Min soldiers?
Yongchang Emperor immediately understood.
Min was his fief, his base of power—he controlled its military and administration. No matter how powerful the Feng family was, they couldn’t have reached that far.
If the Min soldiers had disguised themselves as bandits to kill Liu Wangfei, then it meant the culprits came from within his own trusted vassals in his fief!
But how could that be?
These people had been his confidants! Those who survived had all been promoted and made nobles.
His thoughts were a mess, but he still remembered the most important question: “Wanyin, our child…”
When he left, Liu Wangfei had been eight months pregnant—almost ready to give birth.
If the child had survived, they would now be over thirty—two years older than the Crown Prince.
Liu Wangfei’s expression darkened: “I was hunted and terrified while pregnant with him. He was frail from birth. When he turned one, we were attacked again. At that time, he had a high fever, and the treatment was delayed…”
It was as if a bolt of lightning struck Yongchang Emperor’s heart.
So, his eldest son… is a fool?
His voice turned dry: “Where is he now? What’s his name?”
But instead of answering, Liu Wangfei asked: “Your Majesty, I have a question too. Now that you’ve brought us back, how do you plan to arrange for us?”
Yongchang Emperor was at a loss for words.
By all rights, Liu Wangfei was his principal wife, the one he had married by the mandate of Heaven and his ancestors. Now that he was emperor, she should naturally be the empress.
If they could have proven the Feng family’s guilt, he could have deposed Empress Feng and officially made Liu Wangfei the empress.
But now…
He gripped her shoulders: “I will discuss it with the court ministers. No matter what, I will not let you down!”
Liu Wangfei lowered her head: “Your Majesty, for now, I came back alone. As for Mo’er, he is with Prince Consort Lu and will arrive later.”
Prince Consort Lu?
Yongchang Emperor asked in surprise: “Lu Mingan? He’s still alive?”
Liu Wangfei sighed deeply: “Yes. It was Yongping Marquis who found him. He had lost his memory and was working as a laborer on someone’s estate. Over the years, he’s suffered greatly. Seeing that they were sickly and the younger ones were all small children, the Marquis settled them in the capital’s outskirts first and brought me back ahead of them.”
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