Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I returned to my palace to find two rows of handsome young eunuchs standing in the courtyard.

I looked them over one by one. They were all fair-skinned, delicate, and supple-excellent, truly excellent.

The Head of the Imperial Household Department flattered me, saying, “Your Majesty, would you like to select a few to stay and serve you?”

I smiled and waved a hand. “Send them all to His Majesty’s palace. It doesn’t matter what duties they are assigned.”

The Head of the Imperial Household Department’s eyelids twitched in surprise. How did the Empress know about His Majesty’s illicit dalliances?

I covered my face as if weeping and spoke with pointed intent, “If His Majesty asks, tell him that Zhao Zhen knows she was wrong. Now that I am heavy with child and it is inconvenient for me to serve him, I only ask for His Majesty’s understanding.”

I knew Liu Hong’s tastes all too well.

In the past, he used to indulge in these secret pleasures within the palace. Now, I would give him a helping hand. It just so happened that I had mixed a little ‘extra’ something into that group.

How could I wait for him to execute his plan of killing the mother to keep the child? I had to get rid of him before the baby was born.

Sure enough, a few months later, Liu Hong did not disappoint. He became obsessed with male beauty and neglected state affairs, to the point where even the eunuchs in the Imperial Study had been replaced with fresh faces.

When I entered the Imperial Study, Minister Fu was kneeling on the floor presenting a petition. I heard that the censors were kneeling outside the palace gates, demanding that His Majesty distance himself from the inner palace eunuchs.

Liu Hong’s voice carried an uncontrollable rage. “Let them kneel, those old fossils. Empress, you’ve come at the right time. Tell me, am I in the wrong?”

I raised my handkerchief to lightly cover my nose. The air in here was foul and suffocating; it was a wonder Fu Xingjian could stand kneeling in it.

“Your Majesty, they are but a few boys. No harm will come from doting on them.”

Fu Xingjian gave me a cold look.

My words were exactly what the Emperor wanted to hear. In his growing muddle-headedness, he actually tried to pull me into his arms.

I hurriedly braced myself against the table and said, “Your Majesty, I am heavy with child. Be careful of our imperial son.”

Only then did he snap back to reality. “How many months has it been?”

I replied with a smile, “The Medical Records state it has been five months.”

Liu Hong forgot that Fu Xingjian was still there and blurted out, “Then it has been six months.”

Fu Xingjian was a clever man; a single hint was all he needed.

His gaze filled with shock and suspicion, followed by a momentary daze. His fingers curled slightly, and even his kneeling posture became unsteady.

I shifted my body slightly to block his view of me and placed Liu Hong’s hand on my stomach.

“Your Majesty, the imperial physician has seen me; it is a prince. Why don’t you choose a name for him?”

Ever since that scapegoat guard died, I had intentionally shown a softer side, and Liu Hong had gradually resigned himself to the situation.

As long as this was a prince, he would be the future Crown Prince.

Liu Hong chuckled. “Empress, are you in such a hurry?”

I scoffed inwardly. I wasn’t the one in a hurry, but I feared that when your illness flared up one day, you wouldn’t have time to leave your final instructions.

He thought for a moment, then picked up a brush and wrote with a flourish: “Liu Ye. I hope he will establish a great legacy for our dynasty.”

Liu Hong then found amusement in stroking the hand of the eunuch attending his ink, so he dismissed both Fu Xingjian and me.