As long as she knew what was going on, there was no need to overturn the ancients' understanding.
Xiao Xuanzi walked in from outside, bypassing Nanny Li and others, and whispered a few words in Jiang Xinyue's ear.
Her facial expression remained unchanged, still gentle and kind. She even picked up the rattle on the bed to amuse the Sixth Prince, while in her heart she cursed the Xuanwu Emperor to high heaven.
The dog emperor couldn't endure celibacy for even half a year. The beauty that the old hypocrite Empress Dowager had brought in from outside the palace was said to be the granddaughter of Minister Pei of the Privy Council, which meant she was Consort Li's cousin. It was unclear whether she would be a friend or foe.
Would she blame Jiang Xinyue for the deaths of Consort Li and the Pei family?
He kept saying he loved her, but his body always reacted to other women.
Men were indeed animals that thought with their lower halves.
Couldn't he have found her a place to live in the harem and given her a title before summoning her to serve him? The beauty went to Chengqian Palace to offer herself, and he readily accepted?
Coming and staying overnight at Chengqian Palace was supposed to be her exclusive privilege. Tomorrow, those concubines would probably be discussing in private how she had lost favor after giving birth.
Gradually, the sounds around her seemed to disappear. When Jiang Xinyue came to her senses and turned her head to look, a fresh lychee was pressed against her face.
"Let me see, who's the little sulker pouting here?" the Xuanwu Emperor said.
Jiang Xinyue's first instinct was to hug the Xuanwu Emperor joyfully, but she quickly suppressed her expression and turned to hug the little dumpling instead. Her mouth was puffed up in anger, looking like it could hang an oil pot.
The emperor peeled the lychee and brought it to her lips. "I didn't favor Pei Wu. She came to me because she wanted to leave the palace. I've told you, my heart and eyes are full of you now. How could there be room for other women?"
That's debatable, she thought.
Jiang Xinyue rolled her eyes. "Then why did Your Majesty have the Investigative Bureau keep the truth from me? Is that also because Your Majesty's heart and eyes are full of me?"
The Xuanwu Emperor pushed the lychee closer to her mouth. "Eat this first, and then I'll tell you. My arm is getting sore from holding it up."
This lychee was seedless, the kind that would sell for over 70 yuan per 500 grams in fruit shops in the future. Jiang Xinyue's hospital colleagues had even complained that even lychees had become a luxury item.
She loved eating lychees the most.
The sweet fragrance entered Jiang Xinyue's nostrils. She lowered her head and took a small bite, then another...
Like a little hamster, she ate the lychee bit by bit.
Only then did the Xuanwu Emperor stand up to wash the juice off his hands in the copper basin on the rack. He dried his hands with a cloth before sitting down beside her again. "Consort Rong was only acting on orders. The real mastermind is the Empress Dowager. I wanted to protect you and the child, so I needed to ensure a decisive strike. Otherwise, we would alert the enemy. Don't think that the Empress Dowager keeps losing to you; it's all her tactic to lower my guard."
The lychee got stuck in Jiang Xinyue's throat. She couldn't swallow it or spit it out. She looked like a frightened little rabbit. If she had two long ears on her head, they would probably have stood up in shock.
The Xuanwu Emperor found this occasional display of childishness from Jiang Xinyue very cute. He pinched her little upturned nose and shook it gently. "Did you really think I couldn't tell you were acting every time you framed the Empress Dowager for hitting you?"
Of course, Jiang Xinyue knew inwardly that she was deliberately using this clumsy acting to repeatedly refresh the Xuanwu Emperor's perception of her, implementing his own desire to take revenge on the Empress Dowager.
The emperor would naturally help her because she was helping the little emperor, who had been violently treated as a child, to vent his anger!
These harmless pranks would only make the emperor think she was mischievous, without suspecting her character or thinking she was deeply scheming.
After all, her "acting skills were poor"!
Jiang Xinyue pushed away the emperor's hand, pouting. "You... you knowing is enough. You didn't have to tell me. I'm embarrassed too, you know?"
She buried her head in the blanket coquettishly and angrily, refusing to look up at the emperor.
The Xuanwu Emperor's joyful laughter sounded above Jiang Xinyue's head. He hugged the little woman who had rolled into a ball under the blanket like a caterpillar. "I know you were also protecting yourself, so didn't I play along? I've said before, I love you, whether you're being a little naughty or mischievous. I accept all of you. Even if you poked a hole in the sky, I would find a way to patch it for you. Yue'er, after I'm gone, I hope the person buried with me will be you."
Wasn't this telling Jiang Xinyue that he wanted her to be his empress?
That wouldn't do!
Jiang Xinyue shook her head. "I don't want to be the empress. The empress has to be a role model for the nation, follow rules and laws, and can't make any mistakes. I'm used to being lazy. I just like to be unrestrained and mischievous with Your Majesty, not following rules..."
"I know..." The Xuanwu Emperor "rescued" her little face from the blanket and kissed it. "I know all of that."
So, to make Jiang Xinyue become the empress who would stand by his side, he had designed this scenario, letting her investigate the true culprit who wanted to harm the little dumpling.
Everyone has a contrary psychology, especially his little beloved who never follows the usual script.
If she discovered that the true culprit had already been found out, but he was keeping it from her and deliberately covering for the mastermind behind the scenes, she would investigate on her own.
He had intentionally reassigned the palace maids in the empress's palace, just to make it easier for her to eavesdrop.
She must know by now that the person who scattered the white phosphorus powder was unrelated yet related to the empress, arranged by the Zhu family.
Though she said nothing, she had probably already formed a plan in her mind, thinking about how to bring the empress's father to his death.
As long as Zhu Jianshen died, the empress and Senior Concubine Xian would become mortal enemies.
This empress position - Jiang Xinyue would have to take it whether she wanted to or not.
Otherwise, Empress Zhu would surely seek revenge madly.
What the Xuanwu Emperor wanted was for Jiang Xinyue to confront the empress. He wanted to personally place the woman he loved on the throne.
Back in Cining Palace, Pei Wu covered her wildly beating heart, once again feeling sorry for Empress Zhu.
Although Empress Zhu wasn't a good person, it was truly pitiful that her husband was scheming to give her position to another woman, and she had no idea.
Moreover, the emperor's thoughts were even more terrifying than her grandfather had imagined.
He had seen through the fact that Senior Concubine Xian didn't want to be empress at all, and deliberately set up a situation for her to become enemies with the empress, forcing her to fight for that position to protect herself.
Everything was intricately linked. His thoughts were so meticulous that Senior Concubine Xian probably hadn't even realized she had fallen into his trap.
However, the emperor did all this for Senior Concubine Xian, which showed how deep his feelings were for her.
The Empress Dowager was still dreaming about competing for favor. She would likely be disappointed.
Using her hand to make some red marks on her neck, creating the appearance of having just finished lovemaking, Pei Wu then removed the cape from her shoulders, exposing her smooth chest and neck, along with all those "ambiguous" marks.
