A middle-aged emperor, childless, was blessed with a beautiful and pregnant concubine who entered th

She seemed humiliated; her shoulders trembled slightly, her lips parted slightly, and her cheeks flushed red with anger.

This appearance, however, made her cherry lips appear even more rosy and glistening.

Xie Jing's eyes darkened, and the surging desire within them almost completely consumed him.

Zhou Mingyi had been Xie Jing's woman in her previous life, so of course she knew what his gaze meant.

Although it was her deliberate plan, this bastard really did as she expected, daring to come after her.

She is now Emperor Qianwu's woman, his nominal stepmother.

That's incredibly bold!

Don't you know that lust is a dangerous thing?

However, she went to the trouble of leaving the palace not to satisfy Xie Jing.

"Don't talk nonsense!" She turned her head away, her eyelashes trembling like the wings of a dying butterfly, feigning anger, "If Your Majesty knew..."

"Father?" Xie Jing scoffed.

"I heard that the beautiful lady who was suspected of being pregnant with my father's child was beaten to death in public by him, her blood splattering everywhere."

He pinched Zhou Mingyi's slender, fair chin, and her small chin suddenly turned red.

"My father is truly heartless!"

"She was a woman he once favored, yet he beat her to death with a stick."

He then changed the subject, "If Father Emperor knew that his Consort Zhen was secretly meeting with me in this side room of Hanshan Temple, do you think he would immediately have you beaten to death?"

His thumb gently caressed Zhou Mingyi's delicate chin skin, his tone softening, carrying the feigned, indulgent tenderness he usually displayed when seducing women.

"I know that a wonderful person like you needs to be cherished and... carefully coaxed."

In her past life, she thought Xie Jing was a gentleman, gentle and refined.

A gentleman keeps his promise; he will certainly keep his word and help her rescue her brother from Princess Chaoyang.

Unfortunately, Xie Jing was nothing but a joke.

She didn't struggle; instead, as if bewitched by that gentleness, her body relaxed slightly, and her voice was barely audible: "Your Highness... do you truly know how to care for someone?"

Xie Jing's breathing caught in his throat and suddenly became rapid.

Zhou Mingyi shoved him away forcefully. Xie Jing, caught off guard, stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Then Your Highness..." She looked down at him, the panic in her eyes receding like the tide, replaced by a strange focus and indulgence, as if looking at a child throwing a tantrum for candy, "You must be more obedient."

Xie Jing was taken aback.

obedient?

"That won't do," she said softly, "impatient, like a dog that hasn't gotten a bone."

Xie Jing was stunned, but his handsome face suddenly turned red.

A powerful sense of shame and unprecedented stimulation crashed down on Xie Jing.

He is the crown prince. Emperor Qianwu has no children, so once he dies, he will ascend to that supreme position.

But at this moment, he was being comforted by a concubine in the manner of treating a pet?

The feeling of humiliation had just begun to surface when it was strangely overwhelmed by another, more turbulent and obscure pleasure.

His body stiffened, and he forgot to move. A very low, almost sobbing sigh escaped from his throat uncontrollably.

After Xie Jing became the Crown Prince, he was always gentle and composed. He had long forgotten the pitiful child he was back in the Prince's mansion, who longed for food and clothing, and for his mother's embrace and comfort...

Zhou Mingyi's actions have easily stirred up his deepest, most primal desires.

That secret, buried for who knows how many years, was exposed to the light of day.

"That's a good girl." She smiled, not a fawning smile, but a satisfied, rewarding smile.

"If you want a reward, you have to sit down first, right?"

The words "sit down" struck Xie Jing's confused mind like a thunderbolt.

What a shame!

He suddenly awoke with a start, a storm brewing in his eyes, and he raised his hand to grab that unruly hand.

"His Majesty?!"

Just as his anger erupted, the woman suddenly trembled violently, her pupils contracted, and she stared in utter horror at the small window of the meditation room that faced the bamboo forest behind the mountain.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was shrill and distorted by extreme fear.

Xie Jing's blood froze into ice crystals in that instant!

Father?! Why is he here?!

He dared not even imagine the consequences of being witnessed by his father, the Emperor, in this place, at this moment, and in this situation!

The position of crown prince, and even his life, could be reduced to dust in an instant!

The instinct to survive overwhelmed everything.

He shoved Zhou Mingyi away abruptly, like a frightened trapped beast, his gaze sweeping around in panic.

The meditation room was small, with only an old mahogany wardrobe standing in one corner. The door was ajar, and the inside was dark, seemingly filled with miscellaneous items.

There is no other option.

He darted into the wardrobe like an arrow released from a bow, gently closing the door behind him, leaving only a barely perceptible gap.

In the darkness, the smell of old wood and dust wafted over, mixed with the faint, cloyingly sweet musty smell of the offerings made before the Buddha.

The space was cramped, and his tall body could only curl up. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, almost shattering his eardrums.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through his undergarment.

Almost simultaneously, the door to the meditation room was pushed open from the outside.

Through the narrow sliver of light shining through the crack in the wardrobe door, Xie Jing saw a tall figure enter the room.

Against the light from outside the door, his face was not visible, but his figure was as majestic as a mountain, with broad and straight shoulders and a calm and imposing aura as he walked. He even bore a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to Emperor Qianwu!

Especially that dark-colored cloak with subtle patterns; he seems to wear similar styles quite often lately!

"Your Majesty..." Zhou Mingyi's voice came, filled with a sob of relief and endless reliance. She softly lunged forward, only to be caught steadily by the person's outstretched arms and pulled into his embrace.

Xie Jing held his breath, his pupils dilating in the darkness.

He saw his "father's" arms encircle her slender waist and tighten around it.

Seeing Consort Zhen raise her face, he took the initiative to bring his lips to hers.

From the wardrobe's angle, the two people's profiles overlap, resembling a kiss.

He saw that "Father" seemed to have lowered his head and buried his face in her neck, while she let out a sob that sounded like a whimper, her fingers tightly gripping the cloak behind him, her knuckles turning white.

The rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other was amplified infinitely in the deathly silent meditation room.

Heavy breathing, indistinguishable from one another, mingled together.

The tall figure half-embraced and half-pushed her against the wall not far from the wardrobe.

The shadows descended, almost completely engulfing her.

However, out of Xie Jing's sight, Zhou Mingyi clung to Shen Kuo's broad arms with both hands.

The man was tall and imposing, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, making him quite eye-catching.

His physique does indeed bear a striking resemblance to Emperor Qianwu.

Who would have thought that the poor little thing who didn't even have enough to eat when he was a child would grow up to be so tall and have such a majestic physique.

At this moment, Shen Kuo's handsome face with its distinct features tightened slightly. He instinctively kept his distance from her, but as soon as he reached out, he pinched her slender waist, and the two were very intimate.

Zhou Mingyi took half a step back and was immediately pinned against the wall by Shen Kuo.

"His Majesty!"

Shen Kuo froze, but faced with the righteous expression on the face of the woman who seemed like a celestial being.

He knew she was doing it on purpose.

She didn't mistake him for His Majesty, but the way they acted together was certainly suggestive.

But for some reason, Shen Kuo couldn't bear to push her away.

He later learned that the woman who jumped off the cliff with him without hesitation that day was actually the little girl from his childhood who had been watching him eat with a smile on her face while resting her chin on her hand.