Chapter 9
I was settled in the western warm chamber behind Taiji Hall.
Within days, the story had spread through Chang’an.
The Meng daughter once intended for the crown prince had climbed into her uncle’s imperial bed during the period of national mourning.
No one dared criticize the emperor.
So all the filth was poured over me alone.
Lühe served my food with reddened eyes. “Miss, please eat a little.”
I refused and turned away. “Take it away.”
Xu Jiuliang personally brought in the medicine to support my pregnancy.
I refused that too. “Leave it there.”
Xu Jiuliang smiled placatingly. “His Majesty gave special instructions before leaving. If you don’t drink it, miss, I won’t be able to answer to him.”
“Then tell him the truth. Say I refused.”
He stood there for a while, but did not dare press me further.
One bowl of medicine cooled and was replaced by another.
Toward evening, Yuan Zhaoyu finally came.
The court had been in an uproar over me.
The crown prince was confined to his residence, and the Yaos kept submitting memorials.
The ministers dared not mention that night at Taiji Palace aloud, but behind closed doors the gossip raged.
Even so, he still came every day.
The first thing he saw on entering was the untouched bowl on the table.
His brows drew together at once. “Refusing again?”
I said nothing.
He came over, picked up the bowl, and gently stirred it with a silver spoon. “Open your mouth.”
I turned my face away, refusing to look at him.
“Meng Shanwu!”
His voice carried authority. Still, I did not move.
After a while, he set the bowl back on the table.
His tone softened. “You’re pregnant. You must take your medicine.”
I smiled indifferently. “Why should Your Majesty take such trouble?”
“Everyone is cursing me now.”
“If I died, the court would settle down and everyone could breathe again. Wouldn’t that be good?”
He gritted his teeth. “You carry my child, and you dare say that?”
I smiled, but tears fell.
“Then what would Your Majesty have me do?”
“They call me shameless.”
“They say I climbed into my uncle’s bed before my aunt’s body was cold.”
“For as long as I live, those words will follow me.”
“Must my child grow up hearing every day that he’s a cursed bastard conceived during national mourning?”
Yuan Zhaoyu said nothing.
I turned away and would not look at him again, but the tears kept falling.
After a long time, the couch dipped beside me, and he drew me into his arms.
“Shanwu, I’m here.”
“No one will dare touch you.”
I smiled bitterly and stripped away the final pretense.
“Your Majesty rules the world. Naturally you fear nothing.”
“But I don’t. I have the Meng family behind me. They’ll be nailed to a pillar of shame, subjected to gossip, never able to hold up their heads again.”
If he had first been drawn to my face because it resembled my aunt’s,
then what truly held him now was probably my stubbornness.
My aunt had never defied him. No woman in his harem dared.
But I was not afraid of him, and I did not go along with his wishes.
The harder I pushed him away, the harder it was for him to leave.
He ground his teeth, as though I had left him helpless.
“Meng Shanwu, do you understand what an emperor is?”
“If this were merely a passing whim, do you think you’d still be comfortably living here and sulking at me?”
“If I didn’t wish to suppress those memorials, they could destroy the Meng family a hundred times over today.”
I gave a couple of broken sobs as he went on.
“I did not bring you back to let others bully you.”
“You are mine. And the child you carry is mine.”
“Anyone who dares touch you will die.”