An hour later, no one was interested in the family dinner that Shangshiju had carefully prepared for the family of four.
Xiao Shiqing stood quietly in front of the window, looking at the dark night outside, his handsome eyebrows knitted tightly, his eyes condensed with ice, his expression was terrifyingly gloomy - several times more terrifying than last year when he learned that his eldest son was going to Beiyuan with Wei Zhenfeng to celebrate the New Year. Every once in a while, a figure running wildly in the night would pass by the window, that was his extremely uncalm second son.
Zhao Lin was so crazy that he screamed like the roof was about to fall off every time he said something, and Zhao Qi ordered him to run laps. In fact, Zhao Qi's mental state was not much better than his youngest son. When he saw his son's belly, which was obviously in the late stage of pregnancy, he felt his hands numb, couldn't control himself, and couldn't breathe.
This may be a common problem for parents. No matter how old the child is, even if he has ascended the throne as emperor, in his heart, Mianmian will always be a child.
And Wei Zhenfeng got his beloved son pregnant.
How old is Mianmian? How could Wei Zhenfeng do that? Isn't this against the law?!
What a beast! What a beast!
Zhao Mian sat at the table and lowered his usually proud head in front of the fathers, as if he was a child who had done something wrong outside and was blamed by his parents when he got home - of course, he was willing to lower his head only after Zhao Lin went out for a run.
Zhao Mian watched his father pacing back and forth in front of him, muttering things like "bastard" and "unforgivable". He was dizzy from being shaken by his father, and couldn't help but say, "Father, I was wrong."
Zhao Qi suddenly stopped and said, "You are wrong. What's wrong with you?"
Zhao Mian whispered, "I shouldn't have kept this from you for so long."
Zhao Qi paused and said, "Oh, yes! You are wrong about this too! But the most important thing is that you shouldn't have children at this age! Have you forgotten what your father taught you before?"
"Don't talk about love before the age of 18, and don't have children before the age of 22." Zhao Mian tried to defend himself, "But father, didn't you also give birth to me when you were 20?"
Zhao Qi choked and said, "Father's situation is different from yours. I was drugged back then, but you took the medicine on your own initiative—" The more Zhao Qi spoke, the more angry and incomprehensible he became: "Mianmian, do you really love him that much? Love him so much that you are willing to give birth to a child for him right after he ascended the throne? You promised father not to take the medicine!"
Zhao Mian said: "I have never used Dong Ling's secret medicine for having a child."
Zhao Qi was stunned, and Xiao Shiqing also looked over. Zhao Mian then told them Bai Yu's guess that the efficacy of the medicine could be passed down from father to son.
Zhao Qi's face turned pale, and he stood on the ground, swaying: "Prime Minister, I'm a little panicked..."
Xiao Shiqing immediately supported Zhao Qi and said, "Don't panic, I'm here."
Zhao Mian asked worriedly, "Father, are you okay?"
Zhao Qi sat down tremblingly with the help of Xiao Shiqing. He looked up at Xiao Shiqing, tightly grasped his arm, and said anxiously: "If the effect of the medicine is hereditary, then wouldn't Ah Lin also be..."
"Someone," Xiao Shiqing called out sternly, "Call the Second Prince back immediately."
"No need. I've already asked him, and he said he's never even held a girl's hand." Zhao Mian added, "He's never held a man's hand either, so don't worry, fathers."
The two fathers then breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon learning that his son did not actively want to have this child, Zhao Qi's mood changed completely, and all his emotions were replaced by guilt.
He had to be a father to a child so young, and he knew how scared and helpless he would be when he was pregnant. How did he survive these few months without the company of his family
It was his fault. He had always raised his sons as normal boys. He had never thought that having children could also inherit the trait. If Mian Mian knew that she might be able to get pregnant and have children, with her intelligence, how could she let herself get pregnant with a bastard's child
"I'm sorry," Zhao Qi said hoarsely, "It was father who made you like this. Father has implicated you."
Zhao Mian was slightly stunned. He didn't expect his father to apologize for such a thing.
It seems that he won't be scolded to death by fathers for getting pregnant before marriage.
"It's okay, Father. Although I couldn't accept it at first, I finally came to terms with it." Zhao Mian smiled a little embarrassedly, "I'd like to have a child with him, a child with our common blood."
Zhao Qi and Xiao Shiqing looked at each other, their eyes filled with overwhelming reluctance and helplessness.
Help, why did Wei Zhenfeng do this
Zhao Qi was almost heartbroken when he saw his son, who was so thin but had a belly as big as a ball. He knew that the first birth was the most frightening. After finally getting through the pregnancy and giving birth to the child, even if he recovered physically, he would still be tortured and destroyed mentally by that group of old scholars and censors - how could his Mianmian endure such suffering!
Zhao Qi hesitated: "But...but you are still so young."
Zhao Mian said: "I have grown up a long time ago."
Zhao Qi wanted to cry but had no tears: "What do you mean by growing up? In my great country, you are not even old enough to get married."
Xiao Shiqing took a deep breath and asked, "When did you know you were pregnant?"
Zhao Mian didn't dare to lie: "A few days before the ascension to the throne."
"If that's the case, why do you keep it secret until today?"
"Because I'm afraid of my father's collapse, my father's anger, and my brother's madness."
"You know you'll have to tell us sooner or later, and this isn't the main reason." Xiao Shiqing's eyes were stern, "You did it for Wei Zhenfeng."
His father revealed his thoughts, so Zhao Mian had no choice but to say, "If Wei Zhenfengshang told me about this in Nanjing, I would break his legs and lock him up in the palace so that he could not return to Beiyuan."
Xiao Shiqing sneered: "I do."
Zhao Qi covered his face: "Okay."
Xiao Shiqing glanced at his son's bulging belly and quickly looked away as if he had been stabbed: "Do you think that if you cover up for him for a while, he can escape?"
"Then let him come to Nanjing to survive after he completes his mission." Zhao Mian pleaded, "Father, this is a matter of life and death for Wei Zhenfeng, please don't break his legs at this time."
When Zhao Mian begged his father, his tone unconsciously had a hint of coquettishness. Xiao Shiqing was in a trance, and for a moment he seemed to have returned to the time when he was a clingy child.
His child was begging him, how could he bear to refuse.
Xiao Shiqing closed his eyes and sighed: "Okay."
After the three of them had made their conversation clear, Zhao Lin finally arrived. He ran fifty laps around Yongning Palace, sweating all over, his blood boiling, and he felt that he could fight a hundred people alone to Beiyuan and capture the bastard who had defiled his brother alive.
"Dad, I'm ready. I'm full of strength now." Zhao Lin bent his arms, flexed his muscles, and asked Xiao Shiqing with high morale, "When are we going to Beiyuan to get him?"
Without waiting for Xiao Shiqing to answer, Zhao Qi walked to his youngest son, took his hand, and said with a look of reluctance: "Don't worry about this for now. Honey, please sit down. Father has something to tell you."
Even if Zhao Lin was slow-witted, he could sense that what his father was going to say was definitely not good. He said as if he was facing a formidable enemy: "What's the matter, father? Don't scare me! Is my brother pregnant with twins?"
Zhao Mian shook his head at his brother's stupidity and foresightedly covered his ears.
After a moment, His Royal Highness King Jing roared at the top of his lungs, "What?! What do you mean I might get pregnant?!!!"
After confessing to his family, Zhao Mian finally felt relieved. His father shared most of the state affairs with him, and in order to allow him to rest, he occasionally acted as the emperor, which made the censors start to complain again.
"Your Majesty has always been diligent in governing the country, working day and night, but why has he become more and more lazy this month? He even has to ask Prime Minister Xiao to take his place at the morning court!"
"Your Majesty must have been bewitched by Prime Minister Xiao!"
"What did we say back then? The treacherous prime minister stole the country and had evil intentions!"
"We can't wait any longer, my colleagues. Even if we have to kneel down and die at the gate of Yongning Palace, we must persuade the emperor to get married as soon as possible. Don't give up power without reason!"
Zhao Qi not only often visited his son in the late stage of pregnancy, but also sent two people to Yongning Palace to take care of him. One was Cheng Boyan, the director of the Imperial Hospital and Bai Yu's teacher; the other was Jiang Dehai, an old eunuch beside his father. These two were veterans in taking care of the emperor's pregnancy and childbirth, and no one in the world was more experienced than them.
In addition to protecting the emperor and the dragon seed, Cheng Boyan and Bai Yu also did a lot of research on the secret medicine of Dongling. They tried to find a way to test whether the secret medicine had any residual effect in the body, so as to avoid the situation in the future where the prince could get pregnant without knowing it, and also to save the depressed His Royal Highness King Jing.
Yes, their usually cheerful and innocent Second Prince was depressed. He first replaced all the eunuchs who served him with palace maids, then locked himself in his bedroom, not going to the military camp or the parade grounds. He also refused to drink with his friends in the army, and became autistic.
After hearing this, Zhao Mian could understand his brother's feelings, but he couldn't understand what the replacement of the eunuch meant. Perhaps the huge blow made his brother's already worrying brain even worse.
Unfortunately, Zhao Mian escaped the blame of his father and the noise of his brother, but he could not escape the harassment of the imperial censors. Seeing that those gray-haired veterans of three dynasties were really going to kneel and die at the gate of the Qinzheng Palace, Zhao Mian was moved with sympathy and summoned them to the palace to meet him.
The old ministers knelt in the hall, and from their perspective they could only see the emperor's expressionless face.
After listening to their impassioned speeches, the emperor said calmly, "I feel unwell, so I have troubled Prime Minister Xiao to take charge of state affairs for me."
Censor: "The matter of choosing a queen and concubines, and giving birth to an heir..."
Zhao Mian: "I have a concubine, don't you know?"
Imperial Censor: “???”
"I met this person when I was on an incognito tour. He is virtuous and upright, and I like him very much." Zhao Mian said the second half of the sentence with a little hesitation, "Now that he is pregnant, I will allow him to stay away from others and rest. I will hold the ceremony of conferring the title after he gives birth to an heir."
The old minister in the lead said, "I would like to ask Your Majesty, who is that woman?"
Zhao Mian: "I'm too lazy to say."
Censor: “…”
"Anything else you want to ask?" Zhao Mian glanced at everyone and said coldly, "Ask."
I wonder who dares to ask.
Everyone looked at each other, speechless.
It’s not that they don’t want to ask, but the emperor’s expression... If they continue asking, something terrible will definitely happen.
The censors entered with great enthusiasm and left inexplicably. They remained tacitly silent all the way and only dared to speak after they had walked a long way.
"My dear colleagues, do you feel that the story the emperor just told is familiar?"
(End of this chapter)