My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 43 From Now On, We'll Start Living Together Again

Emperor Huiyuan replied, "The Marquis of Yongxing's household shows such disrespect to me. If they dare to deceive the imperial edict, I will not forgive them!"

Lu Jinshi smiled gently and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lu Jinshi curtsied and took her leave. As she walked outside the palace, she saw Rong Yi still lingering beside her, wanting to get into her carriage. She frowned and asked, "Don't you have your own carriage?"

Rong Yi followed Lu Jinshi into the carriage. Once inside, he slowly said, "Didn't I already apologize to you in front of Father?"

Lu Jinshi said coldly, "Your apology is completely insincere."

Rong Yi said, "I also have many reasons for making you my concubine. I have always been sincere to you, but you have no sincerity towards me at all, and you just kick me aside like that."

Rong Yi knew very well that Lu Jinshi was only willing to marry him for Zhang'er's sake.

Rong Yi looked at Xiao Zhang'er in Lu Jinshi's arms and felt a hint of jealousy.

Lu Jinshi said, "You've already made me your concubine, how can I not kick you out? Why should I cry and endure being your concubine?"

Rong Yi quickly said, "Stop. Let's not dwell on the past. From now on, we'll start a new life together."

Lu Jinshi didn't want to argue with Rong Yi, after all, with Zhang'er around, she and Rong Yi were in the same boat.

Rong Yi looked at Lu Jinshi and said, "You said you had a way to make my mother become empress smoothly. What way?"

Lu Jinshi said, "This method is somewhat unorthodox, so I won't tell you about it for now."

Rong Yi said, "Just now, Father wanted to make me the Crown Prince and Zhang'er the Grandson. Why did you try to stop him?"

Lu Jinshi said, "You are neither the eldest son nor the most virtuous. His Majesty has tacitly approved of Prince Jin forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices in court. If you are rashly made crown prince now, countless people in the court will find fault with you. Once you have the title of the empress's son, the position of crown prince will be just a matter of time."

Rong Yi chuckled lightly and said, "I thought you were afraid that after becoming the Crown Princess, you wouldn't be able to leave the palace so easily to see Senior Brother Shen... Senior Brother Mu..."

Lu Jinshi glared angrily at Rong Yi.

Rong Yi quickly added, "It was just a joke."

Lu Jinshi said, "So, you're the one who arranged for my senior brother Shen to go to Luoyang? You should bring him back right away."

Rong Yi said, "No, he was engaged to you before, and he still wants to marry you again. He should just stay in Luoyang."

Lu Jinshi stared intently at Rong Yi, who quickly gave in, saying, "I'll send someone to deliver the imperial decree for him to return."

When Lu Jinshi returned to East Street, he saw several carriages parked in front of the neighboring houses, as if some homeowners had moved in.

Lu Jinshi watched as the woman who stepped down from the carriage was dressed in fine clothes and was six months pregnant. After her stepped down a young man who looked to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old and had a handsome appearance.

"Daddy."

The young man turned around and picked up a little girl who looked similar to him from the carriage; she appeared to be about two years old.

Lu Jinshi wouldn't stay on East Street for long, so he didn't bother to inquire about the newly moved-in couple. However, Rong Yi stood still, his gaze fixed intently on the young man in the neighbor's house across the street.

The young man looked over, and when he saw Rong Yi, his expression changed drastically. Lu Jinshi noticed the anger on Rong Yi's face. After Rong Yi handed Zhang'er to him, he walked up to the young man and punched him hard in the face.

Lu Jinshi handed the little Zhang'er, who was watching the commotion with great interest, to the wet nurse.

Rong Yi is so unscrupulous, hitting people in front of Xiao Zhang'er, isn't he afraid that Xiao Zhang'er will learn from him?

Lu Jinshi walked over to Rong Yi and said, "Who is this person? If you're going to hit someone, you can't do it in front of two children."

Rong Yi said coldly, "My elder sister's husband is Yuan Jie, the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion."

Yuan Jie was punched twice and staggered a bit. He was mostly afraid at the moment.

Lu Jinshi glanced at the Imperial Son-in-Law Yuan Jie, then at the two-year-old child beside him who bore a striking resemblance to Yuan Jie. She then looked at the woman in brocade robes, her face filled with fear, and said to Rong Yi, "Well done."

After Yuan Jie steadied himself, he said, "Yongjia and I have been married for six years and have not had any children. I am a man, the eldest grandson of the Yuan family. How can I continue to be childless? Your Highness, the Seventh Prince, you are also a man. Can you tolerate your wife being childless for six years?"

Lu Jinshi said, "If you are dissatisfied that Princess Yongjia has not borne any children in six years, you should discuss with the princess about taking a concubine, instead of secretly keeping a mistress outside as the princess's husband. Do you even respect Her Highness the princess?"

Yuan Jie said, "Back then, Princess Mingzhu was unable to bear children for four years after her marriage. His Majesty and the Empress Dowager both favored Princess Mingzhu. How could I dare to discuss the matter of taking a concubine with the princess for the sake of having children?"

"If Princess Mingzhu hasn't been able to conceive for four years, am I a ghost?"

Lu Jinshi was furious; this imperial son-in-law, Yuan Jie, was just another He Tan.

Yuan Jie then learned of Lu Jinshi's identity and said, "You are just a daughter. The Yongxing Marquis's Mansion has a title to inherit, so how can you not have a son? My Zhenguo Duke's Mansion also has a title, so how can I not have a son? Seventh Prince, you are also a man, so you should know how important offspring are to a man!"

"I will not allow Wan Niang to appear before the princess. I only wish to ask for a child. I beg Your Highness the Seventh Prince and Miss He to help me not to tell the princess about this matter. The princess has been unwell these past few days."

Rong Yi said angrily, "Offspring are important, but you should not try to disregard the royal princess. You did not even ask my sister to take a concubine for the sake of offspring, yet you kept a mistress and betrayed my sister. This is an unforgivable crime. I will give you a chance to apologize to my sister and accept your punishment."

After Rong Yi finished speaking, he took Lu Jinshi's hand and turned back to the neighboring courtyard.

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi and said, "Do you also think that a prince consort can take a concubine because he has no children?"

Rong Yi said, "If it is true that the Empress is unable to have children, then it is not impossible for the Prince Consort to have a child outside the marriage and raise it as her own flesh and blood. However, the Prince Consort should not keep this matter from the Empress."

Lu Jinshi said, "If you can't have children, then I'll go outside and borrow a sperm donor to have a child, and you can treat it as your own flesh and blood?"

Rong Yi frowned upon hearing this and said, "You dare?!"

Lu Jinshi said, "Then why do you think the only mistake the prince consort made was keeping it from the princess? Your sister is a princess! The only princess of the Great Sheng Dynasty, and she actually had to tolerate her husband taking a concubine for the sake of having offspring. How ridiculous!"

For a moment, Rong Yi also felt that Lu Jinshi was right. Perhaps it was because he was siding with his family rather than with reason. His only sister, the only princess of the royal family, why should she tolerate her husband taking a concubine for the sake of having offspring?

Lu Jinshi said, "If the consort's family insists on having an heir, they can request the princess to divorce him. The princess can then choose whether to divorce or not. If the princess is unwilling to divorce, it shouldn't be that she tolerates the consort taking a concubine, but rather that she is willing to grant the consort a concubine. If the princess is unwilling to grant the consort a concubine, the consort should endure it, since the princess is the ruler and the consort is the subject."

Rong Yi laughed and said, "So now you know the difference between a ruler and his subject? And what about me? I don't see you showing me any respect."

(End of this chapter)