32 3.3

As usual, Emperor Taihe indifferently scanned the crowd saluting him.

Seeing that he didn't pause on anyone, the concubines who had held their breaths released sighs mixed with both relief and disappointment. If even Consort Jing couldn't catch the emperor's attention, what hope did they have? Nevertheless, it was good that there was no change in the status quo.

The other aristocrats similarly turned away, berating themselves for their absurd speculations. The emperor truly was above the mortal realm, a mere consort obviously wouldn't enter his eyes.

Chen Yu, on the other hand, barely flicked a glimpse at the emperor before turning his focus away. While Lu Guanting was imposingly handsome in his black robes decorated with silver dragons, that was simply as it should be for the male lead.

Instead, what he was curious about was the quality of the crown prince.

The boy following closely behind the emperor had yet to develop a strong atmosphere of his own, but he managed to appear solemn and noble. Indeed, a tiger father wouldn't have a dog son. Only, there was a bit of arrogance between the sharp eyebrows, along with a buried disdain in his eyes.

Probably this was not only due to his royal birth but also due to his belief that his father wholeheartedly loved his deceased mother and himself.

To this, Chen Yu could only laugh.

From what he'd gathered, the dead empress, who'd been the favorite daughter of the prominent left prime minister, had become Lu Guanting's main wife and mother of the current crown prince when Lu Guanting was still a wangye. Unfortunately, soon after Emperor Taihe was enthroned, the newly minted empress died by a small concubine's hand.

The emperor brutally executed the alleged culprit and, furthermore, refused to fill the phoenix seat for the next decade, thereby winning the absolute loyalty of the entire left wing.

In the original plot, even when Emperor Taihe later retracted his promise and titled Yuan Niu as empress, there was little objection, since the left prime minister believed that the emperor was doing so to compensate the woman for finding out who had acted against his grandson. Indirectly, this was indicating how highly Lu Guanting valued the crown prince's life.

To be able to acquire an heir, dispose of the overly powerful wife, and secure the goodwill of his influential father-in-law, Chen Yu could only offer praise for Lu Guanting's tactics.

As for the notion that Emperor Taihe had prevented other consorts from becoming pregnant because he so loved his son, Chen Yu merely cast a meaningful look at how the previous emperor had died.

Lu Guanting had five half-brothers and three half-sisters, all of whom had either been given posts in distant outposts or killed. This in itself wasn't unusual.

What was noteworthy was rather the timing of Emperor Taihe's ascension.

Apparently, the eldest prince had been Lu Guanting's strongest rival, but due to Lu Guanting exposing his plans to rebel against their father, he was executed. For his credit in saving the emperor, Lu Guanting was declared the honorable crown prince, and not a year later, the emperor weakened from a mysterious illness and passed away.

As an outsider, Chen Yu could clearly deduce that the former emperor must have been so distracted by the power struggle between his sons that he hadn't noticed that he was being administered a slow-acting toxin.

This was almost certainly why Emperor Taihe was so wary of having more than one child—he trusted that he could suppress a single prince, but having to defend against multiple ambitious wolves at the same time would be trickier. Naturally, this also implied that Lu Guanting prioritized his safety over his succession, meaning that any prince would be regarded as a threat first and a tool second.

Well, in short, if the emperor had any genuine affection for his son at all, it would be surprising.

Initially, Chen Yu had attended this feast because he'd been considering whether to work with the boy, but having seen him, he directly gave up on the idea. Someone who could remain conceited despite living for twelve years surrounded by knives hidden in smiles was useless to him. Chen Yu would personally deal with Lu Guanting.

Finished with his evaluation, Chen Yu glanced around the hall.

Although most of the guests weren't recognizable to the sheltered Zhang Hua, there was a group of very familiar faces some distance away.

From the original owner's memories, the dignified man in his early fifties was his grandfather, General Zhang, and the younger couple beside him were Zhang Hua's parents. When their gazes connected, the general bowed deeply, as befitted a subject to a consort, which Chen Yu politely moved to avoid and saluted in return. Besides this exchange, there was no other contact.

Chen Yu hummed. As expected of a distinguished family, they knew to keep their poise.

But this banquet had grown quite tedious, particularly for the Chen Yu who had inherited Zhang Hua's lazy nature. Behind his wine cup, he could hardly hide his yawn.

All of this fell into the eyes of Emperor Taihe.

He'd permitted Consort Jing's message about his infertility to reach his paternal home, but the general hadn't made any obvious movements so far. While he didn't believe Zhang Jia wasn't scheming anything, the consort's apathy did not seem to be faked.

During the two weeks since Consort Jing had entered the palace, he had constantly been 'too ill to receive the emperor,' yet, according to servants' reports, the tonics the emperor had sent were completely neglected. Every day, the consort rarely troubled himself to step out of his bedroom, preferring to spend his time reading frivolous nonsense, enjoying the opera, and inviting storytellers.

Upon review, Lu Guanting hadn't caught sight of him after that night at the lake. Now, in the brighter surroundings of the hall, watching those black eyes squint sleepily with a teardrop trembling on his long lashes, even the eternally aloof Emperor Taihe's body heated up.

However, in the next moment, the young man stood with his wine and swayed out to the gardens without speaking or looking at anyone else. As this was a casual banquet, many of the guests milled about freely in and out of the hall, going to admire the flowers wasn't uncommon.

Still, was the consort leaving so unobtrusively for the purpose of meeting with a representative from Zhang Jia? Or...the crown prince had left toward the gardens earlier claiming that the air inside was stuffy, had the two somehow set up a rendezvous? Although it wouldn't be odd if the prince was trying to build up his own support in the palace, Zhang Jia was too big a piece to give to him.

Full of doubt, the emperor sent a hidden guard to find out what Consort Jing was intending.

In fact, Chen Yu had walked out purely because he felt that he'd accomplished what he'd come for and wished to peacefully enjoy his liquor. But having reached a secluded stone table and stools, he'd scarcely relaxed the ties on his robe and poured himself another cup when a slightly childish voice sounded.

It seemed the crown prince was touring the garden. Since Chen Yu was sitting in an inconspicuous spot, he didn't immediately stand up to greet him, instead he leaned his head on one hand, listening as the boy discussed philosophy with an elite imperial scholar, and hoped not to be bothered.

Yet, how could things be so easy?

Too trivial to be noticed by Chen Yu, a male concubine had been stalking him the whole evening for just such a chance. If Consort Jing wasn't brought down, he, as another man in the harem, would have to continue being compared to that exquisite appearance! Thus, he harshly shoved Zhang Hua, sending him hurtling toward a fake mountain arrangement in front of the crown prince. Falling at that angle, his face would be ruined, both physically and socially. To publicly cause a fuss in front of the crown prince was equivalent to disrespecting the emperor!

Having already dulled his sense of pain, Chen Yu made no move to avoid the collision and barely shifted sideways to rescue his features.

So, there was such a brave little concubine...While he was thinking about this, he landed sharply on his shoulder.

When the other people in the area turned at the thud, ready to see the drunkard who'd embarrassed himself at an imperial banquet, they found a delicate man leaning against the rock formation, his disarrayed gown exposing a sliver of his delicate collarbones. The impact had jostled his hairpins, making his long hair flow down like silk, and his robe, having been splashed with the wine he'd been holding, clung wetly to his figure. Combined with the bright red patch flowering on his chest, the man seemed to exude a demonic charm.

Instantaneously, the scorn in the hearts of the crowd evaporated.

Moreover, although his eyes glistened with a layer of mist from the pain, Consort Jing perfectly demonstrated his refinement by doing all that was proper—standing up, he bowed to the crown prince, then apologized to everyone present for shocking them.

Despite the fact that the crown prince had met many beautiful people, he fell into a daze staring at this man. The boy marveled, the new consort had stood out at a distance, not to mention standing so closely. How could there be such a seductive person in this world?

But a moment later, anxiety surfaced. Would his imperial father be tempted by this man? Would imperial father allow this consort to give birth?

The hidden guard who'd been sent to follow Consort Jing had done nothing to prevent the crash, but seeing this scene, he turned and reported to the emperor.

After hearing what had happened, Emperor Taihe tapped his long fingers one by one, then rose from his seat. Waving off the courtiers who swarmed to follow him, he passed steadily through the middle of the crowd, which naturally separated for him.

When he arrived at the center of the scene, he found the crown prince gazing at Consort Jing with a peculiar look. Noticing his presence, Zhang Hua bent to kowtow, but he gripped his arm to stop him, gently asking, "My beloved consort, this emperor heard that you have been injured. Come, let this emperor take a look."

Saying so, he stroked Zhang Hua's hair concernedly and personally straightened his robes, his face expressing earnest distress. Everything exactly matched the image of an affectionate lover, except that his eyes lingered an instant too long on the bloodstain.

Chen Yu sneered in his heart. He'd been wondering why the original owner had been tortured so viciously after being convicted when the emperor wasn't even sincerely concerned about the crown prince. So this pervert's fondness for blood was the reason.

On the surface, Consort Jing glowed at the emperor's solicitude and lightly replied, "It was nothing but this consort's carelessness, Your Imperial Majesty. This consort should rather plead forgiveness from the honorable crown prince."

Emperor Taihe's eyes deepened.

He'd displayed such exceptional tenderness that the courtiers around them were all reevaluating his value, but this consort's perfunctory smile held no emotions at all.

When he'd first brought Zhang Hua in, he'd intended to use him to compromise with the general's ambitions and, alternately, to hold a Zhang Jia descendant's life in his hands.

Seeing Consort Jing's detachment, however, he began contemplating other options.

The man had a strong background, which could have threatened the emperor, except that he had long been spayed and didn't seem to pursue anything but leisure. A beautiful but empty vase, such a placeholder for the phoenix seat would not be bad. Of course, Consort Jing could be acting, but if he was able to so thoroughly conceal his greed, he was worthy of keeping close.

Furthermore...if the left prime minister complained, Zhang Jia was no pushover, the two would occupy each other nicely.

In any case, Lu Guanting resolved to try exclusively favoring Consort Jing. For one thing, doing so might expose any unsuitability or hidden desires on Zhang Hua's part, while those who wished to pull this new player down would constantly pay attention to him and promptly report any suspicious movements to the emperor.

Decided, he swept his hand down along Consort Jing's back and held his waist, pressing them closely together so that he held almost all of the other man's weight. Utterly disregarding his son, he indulgently murmured, "How could the crown prince blame this emperor's beloved?"

The audience sucked in a breath of cold air at the emperor's slightly but significantly altered form of address, only to nearly choke when Emperor Taihe coolly demanded, "What is the crown prince waiting for, not quickly reassuring his consort mother?"

The courtiers took a step back. Consort mother? Was this suggesting that Consort Jing would be made the empress?

While the crown prince didn't understand why his imperial father was humiliating him for this man, he could only grit his teeth and bow. But in his heart, hatred for Consort Jing brewed.

Watching any relationship the two might have formed be severed, Lu Guanting's eyes flashed a satisfied light.

Chen Yu was also pleased, lowering his head, he curled his lips and silently mouthed, 'Got you.'