The Obsessive Crown Prince Can't Let Me Go
Chapter 53 - 52: Sooner or Later, You and I Will Have Offspring

Chapter 53: Chapter 52: Sooner or Later, You and I Will Have Offspring

The two women exchanged a glance, their faces full of schadenfreude.

Little did they expect, upon returning to the camp, to find a sizable crowd gathered outside the tent.

At the forefront stood Lu Zhengliu, who mockingly remarked, "I heard that Royal Brother favored a certain lady tonight. Royal Sister-in-law and Third Sister set out in the dead of night to catch him in the act—so, did you succeed?"

The crowd murmured and pointed, with some stifling laughter from behind.

Shen Yunxi was infamous in the Capital for her jealousy, to the extent that the Eastern Palace had yet to produce an heir.

In the current age, men of noble families often had three or four concubines. For Lu Ying, as the Crown Prince, to dote on a woman was perfectly normal. Yet Shen Yunxi had turned it into such a spectacle, storming off to catch him in the act in the middle of the night—it was simply laughable!

Shen Yunxi panicked.

She had made every effort to act discreetly when setting out to catch him, so how had this incident become public knowledge?!

Though she loathed the thought of the Crown Prince favoring other women, she had not intended to make this a scandal. Otherwise, given the Emperor’s temper, he would surely scold the Crown Prince for his lack of propriety and poor conduct.

She looked anxiously toward Lu Ying, who responded languidly, "Sixth Brother, you’re running around asking about my private affairs in the middle of the night. Is it because you’ve nothing better to do?"

Lu Zhengliu responded cheerfully, "My concubine passed suddenly, and I was too distressed to sleep. Hearing of a commotion here with Royal Brother, I came out of concern to take a look. By the way, who is your new flame? Tomorrow, perhaps we could petition Father Emperor to bestow her as a concubine upon you."

The words sounded like congratulations, but they were veiled barbs.

Everyone in the court knew the Emperor and the Crown Prince had a strained relationship.

However, the Crown Prince had always appeared upright and disciplined, leaving no openings for reproach.

This time, during the autumn hunt, the Crown Prince had uncharacteristically taken a mysterious woman as his consort for the night, and the Crown Princess Consort had created an uproar by bursting in to catch him in the act. Such a scandal was sure to provide the Emperor with an excuse to make trouble for him.

Lu Ying, calm and unhurried, said, "I wasn’t aware that Sixth Brother, at such a young age, had taken on the mantle of a matchmaker. If you have so much free time, why not spend it reading? Stop meddling in others’ business. If I remember correctly, the essay you wrote last month was described by the Imperial Tutor as clichéd and worthless."

Lu Zhengliu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Lu Ying’s sharp tongue was infamous.

He had never managed to out-debate him.

Still, the night’s drama made for decent entertainment.

Back at the tent, Shen Yunxi dropped to her knees in terror. "Your Highness, only Qianqian knew about my plans to catch your affair tonight! I don’t know how Prince Shen found out and made such a spectacle of it... I swear, I’m innocent!"

Lu Ying paid no mind to Lu Zhengliu’s attempt to mock him.

After all, it was merely a matter of favoring a woman. Could his father truly depose him as Crown Prince over such a trivial matter?

At most, he would endure a brief tongue-lashing, and that would be the end of it.

However, Shen Yunxi’s stupidity was another matter entirely.

Her prior handling of the storybook and the cherry banquet had been clumsy enough, but to botch even this affair and become a laughingstock?

This level of foolishness was nothing short of absurd.

He cast a glance at the woman kneeling on the ground. "Think carefully before acting in the future."

Shen Yunxi trembled. "I will remember Your Highness’s teachings..."

She hesitated, then added worriedly, "This is all my fault. Will Father Emperor blame Your Highness tomorrow? For Your Highness’s reputation, I am willing to personally clear things up with Father Emperor and say that Your Highness wasn’t favoring another woman—that it was all my misunderstanding."

Lu Ying toyed with the jade ring on his finger.

Though Shen Yunxi was foolish, her feelings for him were genuine.

Unlike Shen Yinning...

At the thought of that woman, Lu Ying’s eyes darkened involuntarily.

He said, "Tonight’s incident was orchestrated by someone with an agenda; it has nothing to do with you. Besides, I hardly need a woman to take the blame on my behalf. Stand up."

Shen Yunxi rose gracefully, then asked cautiously, "It was my rashness tonight—I simply couldn’t contain myself because I love Your Highness too much, which is why I went to the hot springs. Could Your Highness tell me who that woman is? I promise I won’t harm her—I’m simply curious."

Lu Ying looked at her silently.

His gaze made Shen Yunxi uneasy. She raised a shy hand to touch her face. "Why is Your Highness staring at me? Is there something dirty on my face?"

"In due time, we will have an heir. As long as you don’t stir up trouble, your position as Crown Princess Consort will never change." Lu Ying reminded her, "So, stop scheming against others."

Shen Yunxi’s face burned as her intentions were laid bare.

Lu Ying pinched the bridge of his nose. "You’re too impulsive, too foolish, and too harsh. Once we return to the palace, you are to copy ten volumes of the Buddhist Scriptures as punishment to temper your temperament."

"What?!"

Shen Yunxi was incredulous, but faced with Lu Ying’s cold expression, could only reluctantly murmur her compliance.

Meanwhile,

The crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed.

Someone remarked curiously, "The Crown Prince is not a man of excessive desire. For him to favor a woman, she must be breathtakingly beautiful. Who could it be?"

Lu Zhengliu, leading the way, chuckled dismissively. "Whoever she is, she could never surpass Shen Yinning! Among all the beauties under heaven, only Shen Yinning could claim the crown! It’s a pity she was exiled to Gan State three years ago—we’ll never again behold such unparalleled beauty in our lifetimes."

At the mention of Shen Yinning, the group fell silent for a moment.

Evidently, they remembered how her beauty had once left them in awe.

After Shen Yinning’s departure, the title of the Capital’s First Beauty had remained undecided.

But as long as she was around, the title undoubtedly belonged to her.

Cui Ji, overhearing the gossip, stepped into the moonlight and quietly made his way toward the grove.

The Crown Princess Consort’s scandal had been deliberately leaked by none other than Shen Yinning.

He knew her intentions.

She wanted to stir chaos in the Capital, to drive a wedge between Lu Ying and Shen Yunxi.

As he thought this, he slipped into a stream, navigating the underwater currents to reach the depths of a mountain cave’s hot spring.

When he emerged, he saw Shen Yinning soaking languidly in the pool like a mermaid, playing idly with water.

Her seaweed-like dark hair cascaded over her smooth, pearly skin. The exposed flesh bore faint red marks and ambiguous bruises, leaving little doubt as to what Lu Ying had done to her here.

Noticing him from the corner of her eye, she smiled playfully. "Ah, Lord Cui, you’ve arrived."

Cui Ji averted his gaze and draped his outer robe around her. "I’ll take Lady Shen out through the underwater route."

Shen Yinning placed her delicate hand in his palm, laughing coquettishly. "I knew that with Lord Cui’s cleverness, you’d figure out where I was trapped and conceive the perfect way to rescue me. Lord Cui, you’re my savior."

The touch of her skin was soft, fine, and tender, like pliant jade.

Cui Ji’s face remained calm, though his ears turned faintly red.

He wrapped an arm around Shen Yinning’s slender waist and led her beneath the hot spring’s surface.

Fearing she couldn’t hold her breath long enough for the journey, Cui Ji kept a close eye on her. When her face indeed grew flushed, he pressed a firm hand to the back of her head and sealed her lips with his, granting her a deep breath of air.

With that single breath, Shen Yinning emerged safely on the other side of the forest with Cui Ji.

The moon sank westward; it was almost dawn.

Shen Yinning clutched Cui Ji’s robe, catching the faint fragrance of gardenias clinging to it.

She looked up at him. The ever-reserved man brushed his fingers across his lips, the wet ends of his jet-black hair framing his pale skin. His downcast eyes were as tranquil as spring rain on a mountain, avoiding her gaze as always.

Beneath the waterside’s faint scent, she suddenly leaned close to his ear. "Lord Cui, you mustn’t fall for me."

It was as though she had unearthed a deeply buried secret. Cui Ji’s body stiffened under his white inner robes.

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