A chill rose in the Crown Prince's heart. He was the first to get the news. Immediately afterwards, he had the news blocked and then ordered an investigation. It turned out that the news was spread by the Fourth Prince.
But how could this happen? The news actually reached the Emperor's ears.
The Emperor... had known about it for a long time. So he had already decided to take Shi Aohan as a concubine, while he himself had been foolishly trying to find the most appropriate opportunity for Shi Aohan to meet the Emperor.
The pawn he thought he had in hand was no longer a pawn at all.
Was this the doing of the Fourth Prince? Or had the Fourth Prince colluded with the Third Prince?
The Crown Prince's gaze shifted from Sheng Jinyu to the Fourth Prince. His mind was in turmoil. No, no matter what they did, he couldn't just sit back and wait for death. Whether Shi Aohan was a useful pawn or not could be discussed later, but today, in front of so many court officials, this must not be exposed, or else...
He raised his eyes and stared at Shi Aohan, who was pale and in a daze. With a firm look in his eyes, he gently shook his head at her and then gave the Duke of He a warning look.
Shi Aohan was out of it, but fortunately, the Duke of He was still sober. He gave his eldest son a look, and the eldest son immediately turned around and tapped gently on Shi Aohan's table.
At the same time, the Duke of He kowtowed and said, "Congratulations to Your Majesty on getting such a beautiful woman."
The court officials also came to their senses and shouted in unison, "Congratulations to Your Majesty on getting such a beautiful woman."
But Fu Rongxuan was in a state of madness. Inside the palace today, his eyes had always been on that woman. In the past, he had been annoyed by her because she was always so gorgeous. When he was with her, his friends would always tease and mock him, talking about her identity and appearance, saying that she was a good - for - nothing fool.
But now, looking at her, he felt that she was not as arrogant and domineering as he had thought. She was wearing plain clothes without any decorations, and her face was clearly haggard, which made his heart ache.
But that heartache turned into shock when the Emperor made her a princess. What would this make of Han'er?
Yes, Han'er was the one he loved. How could he be attracted to another woman?
When the Emperor said he would take Han'er as his wife and casually betrothed him to the Lin family's cousin, he felt extremely disgusted. He couldn't and didn't want to be with such a woman.
Fu Rongxuan's mind was in a daze. He didn't notice the Crown Prince's instructions. He quickly stood up, stepped forward and knelt down. With a sorrowful tone, he said, "Your Majesty, you can't take Shi Aohan as a concubine."
The Crown Prince was greatly shocked. He slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Fu Rongxuan, step back for this prince!"
The chaos in Fu Rongxuan's mind faded, and he slowly came to his senses. But he didn't look at the Crown Prince. Instead, he firmly looked at the Emperor and repeated, "Your Majesty, you can't..."
The Emperor looked at him with a half - smile and asked softly, "Why can't I? A woman destined for the phoenix throne, how could she be a match for you?"
Cold sweat broke out on the Duke of Fu. He almost crawled over and grabbed his son forcefully, shouting sharply, "It's the order of parents and the words of matchmakers. Step back for me!"
Just then, Shi Aohan rushed out and knelt beside Fu Rongxuan, shaking her head desperately. "My lord... oh no, the heir. It's me who's unworthy, unworthy. Please stop talking, stop talking."
The Duke of Fu was in a complete mess. He tried to stop Shi Aohan. "You are now a noble lady. How can you kneel to us? Please get up quickly. It's not you who's unworthy. It's Xuan'er who's unworthy."
Shi Aohan still shook her head. "I'm unworthy. I'm just an orphan girl. Please, my lord, don't do anything stupid for me. I just hope you'll be well..."
They were really a touching couple in love, but obviously, not many people present were touched. Especially the Emperor's face, which was as black as if ink was about to drip from it.
These two were showing their affection here. Where did they put him, the Son of Heaven? Did they think he was taking a subject's wife? Or that he was insisting on taking the Empress's adopted daughter?
The Crown Prince was afraid that these two would ruin things. In excitement, he stood up, walked up to Fu Rongxuan and slapped him hard. "Fu Rongxuan, are you crazy? In the main hall, the Emperor is the sovereign and you are the subject. How can you make a ruckus? Don't you get it? You are now the heir of the Duke's mansion. Do you really want to sacrifice everything for this?"
By the end, it was an obvious threat.
Shi Aohan's face was ashen. She stared at the Crown Prince. She always had a glimmer of hope, thinking that the Crown Prince still cared about her. It was just that she had come too late and didn't have the childhood friendship with the Crown Prince.
But at this moment, she felt deeply powerless. The Crown Prince, the elder brother she had always been proud of. But now, she felt that her dream was shattered. The Crown Prince was clearly a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
Today, the Crown Prince clearly wanted to abandon her. The actions of the Duke of He just now had already said it all. These people who knew her background didn't care at all about what she thought.
And after today, her background would no longer matter. She was destined to be the Emperor's concubine. Her background would only become a scandal. In order to prevent the scandal from happening, she might not even be able to survive. She would die quickly or slowly because of some "illness".
At the same time, the Emperor stood up impatiently and walked out. As he walked, he said, "I'm too tired today. You may withdraw. Minister Lu, A Yu, come with me."
Taking concubines was just for warding off evil spirits with joy. Although he had accepted the congratulations, there was not a trace of excitement on the Emperor's face. All he could think about was the battlefield and his son's upcoming expedition.
A chill rushed out of Shi Aohan's heart. Did she want to die or live?
She had thought that for the little bit of sibling affection from the Crown Prince and for her beloved Fu, she was willing to die.
But today, what should she do? Her elder brother didn't act like an elder brother at all, and Fu's heart was no longer on her.
Shi Aohan raised her head and looked at the woman standing above seeing off the Emperor. Even without any decorations, Lu Wanning was still so dazzlingly beautiful. Without nice clothes, she was like a lotus emerging from the water, unforgettable at first sight.
She knew Lu Wanning's beauty. So from the very beginning, she had wanted to take everything from Lu Wanning... not take, but all those things should have been hers. If she had been born in the capital, would everything have been different? She was smart and talented, and would never be worse than that fool Lu Wanning.
She didn't want to die quietly. She had to fight hard, and Fu was the only straw she could hold on to.
Shi Aohan bit her lips. With a sad look in her eyes, she looked at Fu Rongxuan and nodded following the Crown Prince's words. "My lord, what the Crown Prince said is right. I'm just a humble woman. If there's an afterlife... if there's an afterlife..."
She knew what she looked like at her most beautiful, which was when she tilted her head like this and two lines of tears fell from her eyes. This determined posture was the most heart - stirring. She didn't need much. Just this little bit of heart - stirring could impact the love, heartache and debt in Fu's heart.
Fu Rongxuan gritted his teeth tightly. At the moment when the Emperor walked past him, he shouted loudly, "Your Majesty, you can't do this, because Shi Aohan is your biological daughter!"