The husband I snatched halfway through his life is strange.

The palace has red walls and tiled roofs, with upturned eaves and corners, and is magnificent in appearance.

Inside the Jiaofang Palace, you could hear a pin drop.

The old man who brought the news kept his head down and didn't dare to breathe.

It was strange, though. From the moment he stepped into the palace, he noticed that the Empress was acting strangely, as if she had been seriously ill and did not look as energetic as before.

Upon hearing that the Emperor had arrived, he knocked over the teacup in his hand.

"Miss?"

The Empress closed her eyes briefly to calm herself.

"Understood, back off."

As soon as her father-in-law left, the nanny beside him was filled with panic.

"Your Majesty, what should we do?"

"Why panic!"

"Have someone keep a close eye on the Crown Prince's daughter, and make sure she doesn't cause any trouble!"

When the Crown Princess heard that Chu Ning had taken the child back to her parents' home, she rushed to Jiaofang Palace, only to be warned by the Empress and sent back.

The Empress, with a cold expression, instructed the nanny to apply makeup to conceal the fatigue under her eyes.

Since learning that the child was mentally challenged, she has not had a single day of peace.

He once stormed into the Duke of Zhou's mansion, disregarding his elder brother's injuries from being flogged, and gave him a severe scolding.

He bluntly said that she had been ruined.

Why did I have to make such a grudge against Gu Fuju?
When he was just a minor censor, he could just throw away Jia Shan's newborn child. Now that he's become the Grand Tutor, why doesn't he stop? Why does he have to exterminate Yu Tingwan?
She was completely unaware of it!
Now, things have turned out badly. Where would the Grand Tutor's Mansion and the Duke of Shun's Mansion possibly help the Crown Prince?

The Empress was equally angry that the Duke of Zhou was unreliable in his work.

They got a mentally ill child and went to great lengths to switch out the real royal bloodline!
It all sounded absurd to her.

Duke Zhou listened to her rant with a gloomy face.

"To exterminate them all? I'm just following orders. You should ask the one sitting on the dragon throne."

"—As for the child…it was indeed my oversight. Please allow your brother to devise a plan. If the Emperor finds out that the heir is mentally challenged, the Crown Prince will have no chance of recovery. Although he has shown his face, the child changes every day…"

This sentence contains so much profound meaning.

The Duke of Zhou will arrange other matters privately; all she needs to do now is wait.

It's impossible that something unexpected could happen in just a few days that could catch them off guard.

The Empress smiled politely and rose to greet her.

As soon as she stepped out of the palace gate, she saw Emperor Yingqian sitting in a palanquin, the sides of which were carved with dragon patterns, exuding an imposing aura. More than twenty eunuchs carried it over, while palace maids stood by, holding fans and umbrellas.

Just as the Empress was about to step forward, she saw that the Fifth Prince, Ying Yin, had come along with her.

She raised an eyelid, a sudden sense of wariness creeping in, though she didn't show it on her face.

As Emperor Yingqian was helped to his feet, the Empress stepped forward to pay her respects, her golden phoenix hairpin swaying with her movements: "Your Majesty."

Emperor Yingqian nodded.

Ying Yin stepped forward and respectfully bowed, saying, "Empress Dowager."

The Empress smiled and said, "The fifth prince has also arrived."

“I heard from my subordinates that you have a poor appetite, so I was worried. It just so happens that the Fifth Prince is here, so he came with me.”

The Empress frowned: "How did such a trivial matter reach the Emperor's ears?"

"How could I not value your health?"

Emperor Yingqian looked at his wife with concern, just like any ordinary husband.

In her youth, the empress might have genuinely believed that this man cared about her.

But at her age, how could she not know how hypocritical Emperor Yingqian was?
The only person he truly longed for was Ning Suchan!

He married her because he was incapable of contending with the late emperor.

"I am fine."

Emperor Yingqian didn't know whether he believed her or was just putting on an act, but he took her hand and led her inside. When they passed a screen with a painting of court ladies, he stopped.

He seemed to sigh with emotion. "This screen was a gift from the Emperor to the Empress Dowager. After the Empress Dowager passed away, the nanny who served her gave it to you on her behalf."

This empress dowager was Consort Yue.

"I remember when the Crown Prince was young, he fell and spilled ink on the corner, which he couldn't get rid of no matter what he did. You scolded him and punished him severely, saying that he was disrespectful to his grandmother, and then you put the screen away in the storeroom for safekeeping."

After all, he was her own son; how could the Empress truly not care?
She just had too much ambition in her heart.

She stared at the screen for a moment, then lowered her voice: "I had the servants put it back a few days ago. Whenever I see this screen, I think of him."

Emperor Yingqian said, “After the Crown Prince left, I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to get over it. These days, even I am often in a daze, as if the Crown Prince were still here. How much more so you?”

"He was my first child, and I loved him the most. But... we had a shallow father-son bond."

The empress lowered her eyes and remained silent.

But deep down, I didn't believe a single word of it!
The most painful?
He clearly dotes on Ying Yin!

Otherwise, why would you keep him by your side and teach him personally?

Was it because her son was frail that Emperor Yingqian predicted he wouldn't live long?
"To have His Majesty remember me, it is not in vain that Yige came to this world."

Emperor Yingqian sighed, entered the hall, sat down in the main seat, and accepted the tea offered by the maid.

He flicked the lid of the teapot twice, but showed no intention of drinking it.

"How is the young prince doing these days?"

The Empress remained expressionless: "Everything is fine, it's just that the child lost his father at a young age, he's so pitiful."

"You cried a lot just now, but I finally managed to get you to sleep. Would you like me to bring you here so I can take a look at you?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yingqian said, "That's enough, lest we wake him up."

He finally revealed his main purpose.

"Although he is the heir left behind by the Crown Prince, it is only natural for you to value him. But the Crown Princess is his birth mother. A child should always stay with his biological mother."

"You have to worry about the harem and keep an eye on the little prince. How can you manage both properly over time? Don't ruin your health."

"The Crown Princess is the daughter-in-law I chose, so I will take good care of her."

What child isn't raised by their birth mother?
The Empress suddenly raised her eyes.

The child has been raised by her for so long, and the Emperor never said anything before, so why is he interfering now?
She refused to believe that Ying Yin had nothing to do with this!

It was indeed Ying Yin who did it.

He knew better than anyone how much the late Emperor disliked the fact that Consort Yue had been transferred to the current Empress Dowager's household after her death.

He simply acted at just the right moment, and as expected, the Empress's actions displeased Emperor Yingqian.

Ying Yin simply lowered his head respectfully and remained silent.

He did many things, such as sending people to rescue the Crown Princess who was imprisoned in the Eastern Palace.

The Empress was practically grinding her teeth to powder. Emperor Yingqian's tone sounded like he was negotiating, but it left no room for her to refuse.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Princess suffered greatly during childbirth and is still recovering."

She took a deep breath, about to say something, when a woman dressed as a palace maid rushed in and knelt straight down at Emperor Yingqian's feet.

The Empress frowned.

Tu, the eunuch beside Emperor Yingqian, rebuked, "Insolence! How dare you be so disrespectful in front of His Majesty! Guards, drag him away!"

Then the man raised his head.

Ying Yin seemed surprised: "Imperial sister-in-law?"

This sentence caused everyone in the hall to look at the woman.

The Empress panicked, her eyes sharp as knives.

The Eastern Palace is full of her people; the Crown Princess is practically imprisoned. How could she possibly be here?

Emperor Yingqian leaned forward slightly: "Crown Princess, what's wrong?"

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I cannot see you unless I dress up as a palace maid."

(End of this chapter)