I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Lu Yuan didn't care about anything else; the meat was already right in front of him, wouldn't it be a waste not to eat it?

His hand encircled her waist, his thumb gently gliding across Su Yuling's clothes.

"Lu Yuan, you're hurting me."

"Honey, you smell so good."

Lu Yuan rested his chin on her shoulder and said, "You were too intense before, I didn't even notice."

Su Yuling clenched her fists, suppressing the shame and indignation in her heart.

"Let go now."

"I don't."

"Lu Yuan, what's wrong with you?"

"Call me 'old man'...call me 'husband'."

Lu Yuan originally wanted her to call him "husband," but when he remembered that "husband" was a term used to address old eunuchs in this era, he quickly changed his mind.

Su Yuling took a deep breath and slammed her elbow backward, hitting Lu Yuan hard in the ribs.

Lu Yuan snorted coldly, but did not let go of her hand; instead, he pushed her onto the bed.

"If anyone dares to gossip about me being intimate with my wife, I'll throw them in jail for 're-education'."

"We're not married yet, this is against propriety, you should leave now."

"It was bound to happen sooner or later. It's not like we haven't done it before. You weren't like this before."

Su Yuling's chest heaved, her face burned, and her eyes welled up with tears, feeling both ashamed and angry.

"You scoundrel, you've gone too far."

Lu Yuan clutched his ribs, leaning against the headboard, grimacing, but unable to suppress the urge to smile.

"My wife, I'm your future husband, let's do it a few more times!"

"No... Ugh, I don't want to... Isn't this annoying? What if someone sees us...?"

"Ouch...you stepped on my hair!"

At the same time, footsteps could be heard outside the courtyard.

The steward, Su Bo'an, strode in. He wanted to discuss the accounts of the prince's residence with Lu Yuan.

As soon as they reached the bedroom door, they heard a series of suggestive sounds coming from inside.

Su Bo'an's hand remained in mid-air, and he stood at the doorway.

He is the steward of the Ninth Prince's residence, a position he has held for ten years.

For the past ten years, apart from walking his birds and fishing, His Highness has never brought a woman to the mansion, let alone gone to a brothel for drinks.

He and his wife had talked about it privately many times, wondering if His Highness was not capable of it.

The late Empress died very early, so Your Highness has never had a mother's love since childhood.

If he has no descendants, how will he face the late empress in the afterlife?

Every time he thought of this, Su Bo'an would feel so sad that he would burst into tears.

But the current situation...

Su Bo'an pressed his ear to the crack in the door and listened for a couple of breaths. His old face turned bright red, but his eyes immediately welled up with tears.

His Highness has finally seen the light.

The late emperor's spirit can now rest in peace.

As he got excited, someone quietly approached from behind.

When the young maid came over, she saw the steward and was about to bow to him.

Su Bo'an reacted quickly and covered her mouth.

"Shut up."

The young maidservant widened her eyes and nodded.

Su Bo'an released his hand from hers, pulled her back two steps behind the pillar, and asked in a low voice.

"What is it?"

The maid rubbed the spot where she had been pinched and whispered, "Someone from the palace has come. The little eunuch by the Emperor's side has delivered an imperial decree, summoning Your Highness to the palace to receive a reward."

"To claim the reward?"

Su Bo'an's eyes darted around.

His Highness went out today and brought a young lady with him when he returned. She's busy inside right now.

If he were to go in and report this now, it would ruin His Highness's plans, and His Highness would surely skin him alive.

Su Bo'an stroked his beard and made a decision.

"Go tell that the prince is not at his residence and that people have been sent to look for him. Tell him to go back first. When the prince returns, we will inform him to come to the palace."

The maidservant responded and turned back the way she came.

After the maid agreed, she walked back in the same direction.

Su Bo'an glanced towards the bedroom from the corridor before leaving.

Your Highness has finally come to your senses.

If you don't get it, you'll be a bachelor for ten lifetimes.

He will go to the late Empress's memorial tablet tonight to offer three sticks of incense and tell her the good news.

……

The inner courtyard of the Second Prince's residence.

Lu Cheng leaned against the couch, his head wrapped in a white cloth, revealing only his eyes and mouth.

With his left arm draped around his neck and his right leg resting on a soft pillow, he looked like a rice dumpling.

A maid knelt before the bed, holding a bowl of bird's nest porridge, and used a small spoon to scoop some up and bring it to his mouth.

Lu Cheng opened his mouth and took a mouthful of porridge, which dripped down his chin and onto the gauze.

He mumbled a curse and glared at the maid.

"Don't you have hands? Use a towel to wipe yourself!"

The maid was so frightened that her hand trembled, and the spoon hit his teeth, which then struck his broken nasal bone.

Lu Cheng gasped in pain, then kicked her in the shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

"Get out!"

The maid scrambled away, the porridge bowl spilling over and shattering into pieces on the ground.

Lu Cheng was panting heavily, staring blankly at the roof beam.

Just then, footsteps could be heard coming from inside and outside the courtyard.

Han Gou was carried in, limping.

His brocade robe had several holes, his face was covered in bruises, the blood flowing from his nostrils had congealed into scabs, and he had lost two front teeth.

He knelt down with a thud as soon as he entered the room.

"Your Highness, you must stand up for me!"

Lu Cheng rolled his eyes down and saw Han Gou's miserable state, and suddenly felt a little better.

"What's wrong with you now?"

Han Gou lay on the ground and started crying.

"The Ninth Prince beat me up and stole 100,000 taels of silver from me. Your Highness, do you think I can still save face?"

Lu Cheng leaned his head back.

His own face wasn't much better than Han Gou's; his nose was broken, his cheekbones were sunken, his front teeth were missing, and his head was wrapped in three pounds of gauze.

"You got beaten up by Lao Jiu, what brings you here to complain?"

Lu Cheng's voice was muffled by the gauze, sounding muffled.

"Second Prince, you and the Ninth Prince are brothers! If you say something, he should at least give you some face, right? That 100,000 taels is really too much."

Han Gou raised his head, his eyes, swollen shut, filled with pleading.

"Brothers?"

Lu Cheng sneered, then shouted at the top of his lungs, "When he kicked me down the steps, he didn't think about being brothers with me."

Han Gou's eyes widened immediately.

What's going on?

The Ninth Prince beat up the Second Prince too?

And he was even kicked down the steps by the Ninth Prince?

When did this happen?

I haven't heard of that.

He was incredibly curious, but seeing Lu Cheng's ever-present air of impending fury, he dared not ask another question.

He could only grit his teeth and continue, feigning grievance, "Second Prince, but Lu Yuan has gone too far..."

Lu Cheng waved his still-movable hand impatiently.

"You've been beaten, go to the Censorate and write a memorial impeaching him. What's the use of coming to me? In my current state, do you think I can even leave this room?"

"But Your Highness..."

"roll."