Wei Zhenfeng rode away so fast that Zhao Lin and Shen Buci couldn't catch up with him. Fortunately, they knew that Wei Zhenfeng was going to Shangjing. As long as they returned along the fastest route to Shangjing, they would definitely catch up with Wei Zhenfeng in the end.
Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. When the two took a shortcut, they encountered heavy snow and the road was blocked, which delayed them for some time. They hurried and finally returned to Shangjing on the ninth day of the second month, the day when the little prince was one month old.
Zhao Mian had already announced the birth of the little prince to the world, and the entire Shangjing City was celebrating the little prince's full moon. Flowers were everywhere in the city, and the artists in the music studio were singing and dancing. It was as if another Lantern Festival had been celebrated.
The most talked about mystery among the common people was the birth mother of the little prince. However, from the city gate to the palace gate, Zhao Lin had heard several versions.
"According to reliable information, the little prince's biological mother was a singing girl. Because of her humble status, the emperor could not bring her into the palace, so she has been raised in Yanhe Garden."
"No, the little prince's biological mother is clearly a female knight who indulges the world. She herself yearns for freedom and does not want to enter the palace."
"I heard that the little prince's biological mother is a princess of a fallen country in the desert. The emperor and her are separated by the hatred of a fallen country. The two love each other but cannot be together..."
"Wait, wasn't it Bei Yuan who destroyed Xi Xia?"
The people of Shangjing are really good at talking. If Wei Zhenfeng were in Shangjing right now, he would definitely have heard these rumors - I wonder if Wei Zhenfeng is doing well.
Zhao Lin went north this time, and neither brought Wei Zhenfeng back to Shangjing nor took back the imperial seals of the four concubines. He knew that he would be scolded to death by his brother. But even if he died, he did not want to miss his nephew's full moon banquet. Who would have thought that he and Shen Buci finally arrived at the gate of Taihua Gate, but were stopped by the imperial guards.
Zhao Lin was stunned, pointing at his own face and said, "Look carefully, it's me!"
The imperial guards looked at each other, and one of them asked, "Are you His Royal Highness Prince Jing?"
Zhao Lin was surprised and said, "I am who I am. How come you don't even recognize me?"
"But we just welcomed His Royal Highness Prince Jing back to the palace half an hour ago..."
Shen Buci's face darkened: "Oh no."
The night banquet in the palace was more lively than that in the private sector. All the civil and military officials in the court drank and talked happily by the Taiying Lake, congratulating each other that Nanping had successors and would last forever.
However, as the host of this night banquet, Zhao Mian was completely bored.
Zhao Lin and Shen Buci have been away from Beijing for some time. If the trip had gone smoothly, they should have brought Wei Zhenfeng back to report. Why is there no news from them
With their skills, ordinary things cannot stand in their way. Could it be that there is some tricky incident
Xiao Shiqing noticed that Zhao Mian was absent-minded and said, "It has been snowing heavily in the northern border for several days. It is normal for them to return home a few days late."
So, Wei Zhenfeng is going to miss even their son’s full moon banquet.
Zhao Mian was in a bad mood. He barely touched the table full of exquisite dishes, but he drank two glasses of wine. When he wanted to drink the third glass, Zhao Qi couldn't stand it anymore and took away his glass and didn't allow him to drink any more.
Although it had been a month since he gave birth and the imperial physician had lifted his alcohol and sex bans, drinking too much was never a good thing.
Zhao Mian felt a headache from the evening breeze, so he stood up and left the table: "Father, I want to go back to the palace to see Fanfan."
"Go ahead." Xiao Shiqing said, "I'm here."
Zhao Mian returned to Yongning Palace and was surprised to see the wet nurse who was supposed to take care of the little prince was waiting in the outer hall. He immediately became alert and asked, "Why aren't you watching the little prince in the inner hall?"
The nurse said, "Your Majesty, it was His Royal Highness Prince Jing who asked me to come out."
Zhao Mian was suddenly stunned.
Zhao Lin? When did he come back
Zhao Mian realized something, and his heart suddenly sank. He didn't care about his own safety and rushed into the inner hall first. The imperial guards responsible for guarding Yongning Palace reacted very quickly, surrounding their king from all sides to ensure that the emperor would not be harmed in any way.
The inner hall was the common bedroom of Zhao Mian and the little prince. The little prince's cradle was placed next to his father's dragon bed. At this time, a young man wearing the dragon robe of Prince Nanjing was standing next to the cradle, looking down at the sleeping little prince.
The young man had his back to Zhao Mian, so Zhao Mian couldn't see his expression. So many people rushed into the bedroom, but the young man didn't react at all, and continued to stare at the little prince motionlessly.
There is only one prince of Nanjing, Zhao Lin, and he is definitely not his noisy and silly brother.
The young man was so close to the little prince that he could hold the little prince's head with just one hand. Zhao Mian's legs were so weak that he could hardly stand. He had faced several life-and-death moments, but none of them had frightened him so much that his heart seemed to stop beating.
That was his and Wei Zhenfeng's child.
Zhao Mian tried to remain calm, but he couldn't hide the trembling in his voice: "Who are you?"
The young man finally responded when he heard his voice. He turned around very slowly, and Zhao Mian saw Zhao Lin's face and a pair of eyes that were all too familiar.
These eyes had long been imprinted in his mind, and even if they appeared on someone else's face, he could still recognize them at a glance.
If the little prince opened his eyes at this time, the young man would find that the little prince had a pair of eyes exactly the same as his.
Zhao Mian felt his chest hit hard: "...Wei Zhenfeng?"
The young man laughed, but his eyes did not turn up, and his pupils were not as bright as before: "Long time no see, Your Majesty." He took off the human skin mask on his face, revealing a face that Zhao Mian had been thinking about day and night: "I miss you very much, do you miss me?"
In an instant, Zhao Mian's eye sockets were framed by something and felt painful.
He wanted to, how could he not want to.
It was fine to think about it at ordinary times, but what made him angry was that he would think about it when he was busy with work. After giving birth to the little prince, he would think about it every time he saw the little prince's eyes.
He was really... angry and thoughtful.
But does Wei Zhenfeng miss him
She returned to Shangjing without informing him in advance, and sneaked into the palace under the identity of Zhao Lin. Instead of meeting him first, she came to Yongning Palace to see the little prince.
There was no hug or kiss after a long separation, and now she was looking at him with such an indecipherable look in her eyes - did Wei Zhenfeng take the wrong medicine
The joy of suddenly seeing Wei Zhenfeng was largely extinguished by the gloom in the other's eyes, and he didn't even want to take the initiative to hug Wei Zhenfeng.
"What's wrong with you?" Zhao Mian asked.
Wei Zhenfeng threw the mask to the ground and said, "Let's talk alone?"
Zhao Mian didn't want anyone to disturb his reunion with Wei Zhenfeng at this time. He turned his head to the imperial guards behind him and said, "You guys leave first."
Wei Zhenfeng's gaze returned to the little prince again. His voice was very low, as if he was holding back something: "He looks a lot like you."
"Nonsense." Zhao Mian walked towards the cradle, his tone as arrogant as ever, "He doesn't look like me. Who does he look like?"
As soon as the words came out, Zhao Mian instantly felt something was wrong.
The last glimmer of hope in Wei Zhenfeng's eyes disappeared completely, and jealousy surged in him like a flood. The sudden and huge feeling of oppression made Zhao Mian unconsciously take a half step back, and the air around them seemed to solidify.
The young man walked towards him step by step, and the shadow cast by the palace lantern behind him completely enveloped him in darkness.
Wei Zhenfeng stared at him intently, his voice so cold that it made his heart tremble: "He is your biological son."
His expression looked like he was going to kill someone.
Zhao Mian instinctively wanted to continue to step back, but Wei Zhenfeng grabbed his chin and forced him to look up and look at him.
Wei Zhenfeng was full of anger, but he still had a smile on his face: "I just went back home, and His Majesty even has a child?" His voice was as cold as ice, "I was really caught off guard by this cuckold."
Wei Zhenfeng's strength was too great, pinching his cheek painfully. Zhao Mian could hardly breathe, he knew that as long as he opened his mouth to call for help, the imperial guards would rush in and take Wei Zhenfeng down immediately, but he wanted to know the reason why Wei Zhenfeng suddenly went crazy.
At this moment, the baby in the cradle uttered a sound in his sleep, and Zhao Mian clearly felt that Wei Zhenfeng's movements froze for a moment.
—Is it because of the little prince? Wei Zhenfeng thought the little prince was born to him and someone else
—Is this okay? Is Wei Zhenfeng stupid
Zhao Mian held Wei Zhenfeng's wrists with both hands, and maintained his dignity: "You are crazy, you know that? Calm down and listen to me."
However, Wei Zhenfeng's next words made him lose his mind first.
Wei Zhenfeng leaned over, put his lips close to his ear and asked him, "Does it feel good to sleep with someone else?"
Zhao Mian only felt a roar in his head, and his voice suddenly dropped: "Do you know what you are saying?"
"Why didn't you tell me that you wanted your own child?" Wei Zhenfeng lowered his voice with a hint of joking, "It's not like I can't let you have one, why are you betraying me?" As Wei Zhenfeng spoke, he gradually lost control, "It's true that I'm not by your side, but I'm not dead."
The anger of not being trusted occupied Zhao Mian's entire mind. His thin chest rose and fell violently, and words came out of his mouth without thinking.
"Yes, you are not by my side. You have just been away from me for the past six months. So, even if I really did something, what qualifications do you have to shout in front of me?" The young emperor smiled contemptuously, "Everyone in the world belongs to me, so how can there be a cuckold?!"
This sentence completely angered Wei Zhenfeng. Wei Zhenfeng looked at him, his voice suddenly became very soft, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "It doesn't matter, we will have children too."
Wei Zhenfeng's hand moved from his cheek to his shoulder, and with a sudden force, he forced him to turn around and face the cradle.
Wei Zhenfeng stuck to his back maliciously and whispered, "In front of your son, I'll let you get pregnant again, how about that?"
Zhao Mian's body suddenly stiffened, and he gritted his teeth and said, "You dare?"
Wei Zhenfeng said coldly: "I dare."
Wei Zhenfeng's hand lifted his waist forcefully, and he had to hold the edge of the cradle with both hands to maintain his standing position. The little prince was sleeping nearby, his face was as pure as snow, as if he would never be stained by the dirt of the world.
But his father wanted to...
Zhao Mian suddenly closed his eyes, and his knuckles that were holding the cradle turned as pale as his face.
"Don't close your eyes, Mianmian." Wei Zhenfeng laughed, "Don't you think it's fun to look at your son and then be fucked by me?"
You bastard, I really give you face.
Feeling that his dragon robe was about to be torn off by Wei Zhenfeng, Zhao Mian could no longer endure it and shouted angrily: "Someone come!"
Seven or eight guards of Shen Buci's level rushed in at once. No matter how good Wei Zhenfeng was, he couldn't fight ten alone. Zhao Mian thought Wei Zhenfeng couldn't hold out for long, but he didn't expect that Wei Zhenfeng seemed to know that he couldn't win and didn't resist at all.
Wei Zhenfeng knelt in front of Zhao Mian again, and the imperial guards with knives stood behind him defensively. The noise woke up the sleeping little prince, and the baby's cry echoed in the bedroom. Zhao Mian picked up the little prince and brought him to Wei Zhenfeng.
"Weren't you very arrogant just now?" Zhao Mian held the little prince in one hand and said condescendingly, "Why don't you continue to be arrogant?"
Wei Zhenfeng chuckled: "Why don't you kill me?" Wei Zhenfeng knelt on the ground and looked at him, "Otherwise, one day, I will still do it in front of your son..."
Zhao Mian angrily interrupted Wei Zhenfeng and gave orders to the imperial guards: "What are you still standing there for? Get him out of here!"
Just as the imperial guards were about to take action, Wei Zhenfeng suddenly asked, "Why are you doing this to me?"
The hostility and anger in the young man's voice were replaced by endless grievances and sadness. The man who had been acting recklessly and domineeringly in the emperor's bedroom not long ago seemed like a teenager who would be abandoned in the end no matter how hard he tried.
Zhao Mian was stunned for a moment. He saw that there were real tears on Wei Zhenfeng's teardrop mole.
Wei Zhenfeng... cried
He had seen Wei Zhenfeng cry before, when he learned the truth about Concubine Mei's death at Benquan Academy. This time, Wei Zhenfeng seemed to cry even more sadly than last time.
Wei Zhenfeng is obviously more mature and stable now than he was then, so why is he still crying like this
Zhao Mian was so flustered that he didn't know what to do. The little prince was crying, and Wei Zhenfeng was crying too. Which one should he comfort first
We can’t let others see Wei Zhenfeng crying.
Zhao Mian remained silent and raised the hand that was not holding the child. The imperial guards received the order and retreated again.
Wei Zhenfeng raised his hand to cover his eyes, tears continued to flow out from between his fingers, no matter how he tried to stop them, he said: "You don't want to wait... You can tell me, I can stay, I can stay with you... Why do you want to find someone else."
Zhao Mian moved his lips and was about to speak when Jiang Dehai came in with the wet nurse: "Your Majesty, the little prince has been crying non-stop, let's feed him first..."
When Jiang Dehai saw the frighteningly pale face of His Majesty, he panicked and hurriedly advised: "Your Majesty, calm down! You are weak after giving birth, you must not get angry!"
Wei Zhenfeng suddenly raised his head, and a blank space appeared on his disheveled yet handsome face. He looked as if he had been cast under a spell of being immobilized, with only tears silently sliding down from the corners of his eyes.
Zhao Mian also wanted to cry, but he was the emperor of the people and the father of the little prince, so he could not cry.
"Why are you crying?" Zhao Mian stared at Wei Zhenfeng, trying desperately not to let his tears fall, and said aggrievedly: "I didn't cry when I gave birth to your child even though it was so painful. Why are you crying?!"
(End of this chapter)