Dethroned the Crown Princess? Then she became your mother

The hunt was drawing to a close, and the sound of the horn echoed over the vast hunting grounds, scaring away the fleeing prey.

At the end of the hunt, Murong Shuo still pulled the bowstring and aimed at the target. The moment he let go, the arrow cut through the air and hit the prey accurately with a crisp sound.

Cheers rang out all around, and ministers and nobles gathered around the emperor, praising him endlessly.

"Your Majesty is truly an arrow that never misses its target. Your skills are superb and no one can match you!" a minister complimented.

"That's right. Your Majesty's archery skills are becoming more and more advanced. We are ashamed of ourselves. Even those young people who practice hard every day cannot compare to Your Majesty." Another noble echoed.

"Even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is slightly inferior, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's performance today was also quite good." Someone else added.

In the eyes of the public, the Crown Prince's performance was acceptable, but he was still inferior to the Emperor. In this hunt, no one could surpass him except the Emperor.

Crown Prince Murong Shenxing rode his horse and stood quietly by the side, looking calm and without making any remarks.

Murong Shuo glanced around, unconcerned with the ministers' flattery. He then gazed skyward, assessing the time, and returned with the hunting party. Upon returning to camp, he noticed that the women had all returned, but the virtuous concubine, the empress, and the queen mother were nowhere to be seen. Upon inquiry, he learned that they had already returned to the palace due to exhaustion.

Murong Shuo stepped into the dragon tent, and the palace servants respectfully withdrew. A moment later, a palace servant knelt and presented him with a glass of water. He took the cup, took a sip, and then gestured for the servants to leave. At this moment, Eunuch An lifted the curtain and entered, his steps carrying a hint of urgency.

"Your Majesty." Eunuch An whispered.

Murong Shuo raised his eyes and looked at him, as if he had a premonition of something.

"Your Majesty." Eunuch An called again, with a hint of hesitation in his tone.

Murong Shuo felt an ominous premonition in his heart, and he waited quietly for Eunuch An's next words.

Eunuch An pondered inwardly, and finally mustered the courage to speak: "Your Majesty, there are more than one letter arriving from the capital at full speed."

Murong Shuo frowned slightly and motioned for Eunuch An to continue. Eunuch An then explained the origins of the letters: one from the palace, another privately sent by Concubine Liang, and that the Crown Prince had also received the same letter.

Murong Shuo immediately became confused. He eagerly took the letter, glanced at the other letter in Eunuch An's hand, and asked, "Did the Crown Prince also receive a letter? What's going on?"

Seeing this, Eunuch An quickly explained, "Your Majesty has misunderstood. The Crown Prince's letter was sent from the East Palace in the palace and arrived at the same time as Your Majesty's letter."

Murong Shuo's doubts subsided slightly upon hearing this, but he remained vigilant. He opened the letter and read it carefully. The contents of the letter made his heart sink—the Crown Princess had given birth to a stillborn child prematurely.

This news was undoubtedly a heavy blow to him. He had been looking forward to the Crown Princess giving birth to a grandson for the royal family, but he did not expect this result.

After reading the letter, Murong Shuo's face darkened. He looked up at Eunuch An and asked, "Is what the letter says true? Was the Crown Princess really murdered by the two women in the Eastern Palace?"

Eunuch An nodded in confirmation, "Your Majesty, the letter does state so. Two concubines from the Eastern Palace, for their own purposes, drugged the Crown Princess, causing her to give birth prematurely and subsequently to a stillborn child."

Murong Shuo was silent for a moment after hearing this and then said, "This is all the Crown Princess's own fault. As a member of the royal family, she failed to protect her unborn child. This is her own responsibility."

Eunuch An didn't dare to say anything after hearing this. He knew that the Emperor had always been critical of the Crown Princess, and this incident had brought his disappointment in her to a peak.

Murong Shuo once again examined the letter in his hand, thinking about how to deal with this sudden incident. He knew that the internal disputes in the Eastern Palace had affected the stability of the imperial family and must be dealt with as soon as possible.

However, he did not want to personally intervene in the affairs of the Eastern Palace, but hoped that the prince could resolve it himself.

"Eunuch An." Murong Shuo suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

"I'm here." Eunuch An responded quickly.

"Send someone to inform the prince to deal with the affairs of the Eastern Palace as soon as possible, and then come to see me." Murong Shuo ordered.

Eunuch An took the order and left.

Murong Shuo continued to sit in the dragon tent, thinking about his next plan.

After a while, Eunuch An returned to the dragon tent, looking a little nervous.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Liang said in the letter that she knew in advance about the Crown Princess's premature birth and sent the imperial physician into the palace, but unfortunately it was too late." Eunuch An reported.

Murong Shuo nodded slightly upon hearing this. He appreciated Concubine Liang's actions, believing that she had remained calm and taken appropriate measures at the critical moment. Although she had failed to save the Crown Princess's child, it had at least demonstrated her loyalty and wisdom.

"Is Concubine Liang okay?" Murong Shuo asked with concern.

Eunuch An quickly replied, "Your Majesty, rest assured. From the letter, it seems that Concubine Liang is fine."

"Oh? In that case, then forget it." Murong Shuo responded softly, and the letter in his hand slipped away without saying anything more.

Eunuch An also remained silent and did not ask any further questions.

A moment later, Murong Shuo picked up the letter again, his eyes reflecting deep thought. Eunuch An, beside him, secretly wondered what the emperor was thinking, but didn't dare to speak out.

However, Murong Shuo did not give him a chance to figure it out and directly ordered: "Prepare the bath water."

"Your Majesty?" Eunuch An opened his mouth in surprise when he heard this.

Murong Shuo glanced at him sharply and said without question, "Prepare some water first. I need to bathe and change clothes. As for the Crown Prince, don't worry about him for now. There's no need to be impatient. Just send someone to secretly monitor him and make sure he doesn't do anything out of line."

Eunuch An bowed his head and accepted the order, then hurried off to make arrangements. Meanwhile, Murong Shuo entered another tent not far from the dragon tent.

-

At the same time, the prince also received the report from the visitor and the letter from the capital.

He gently shook the letter in his hand, not rushing to unfold it, but first asked about the reason for the letter from the capital. However, before he could ask, he learned that not only did he receive the letter, but his father had also received the news.

"Did the Emperor receive the letter, too? Who wrote it? Is the content the same as mine?" the Crown Prince pondered. Ever since leaving the capital, his father had stopped spying on him and his attitude toward him had softened considerably, as if things had returned to normal. His relationship with his father was quietly recovering.

"The Emperor's letter came from both the palace and the garden," the visitor replied cautiously, secretly wondering if the contents of the letters were consistent. He wasn't entirely clear about the situation in the garden, having only just inquired about it.

"The contents of the letters from the palace might be the same, but what about the ones from the garden?" The prince keenly noticed this and frowned slightly. "Could they be different?"

The visitor was about to open his mouth to explain, but he saw that the prince had already impatiently unfolded the letter. After reading it, his face turned pale.

"Crown Princess... Ci'er..." He murmured to himself, his voice filled with disbelief and grief. His Ci'er had been born prematurely in his absence, a stillborn child. The son he had longed for, the grandson his father had placed such high hopes on, was gone just like that.

"Is this also what was written in the letter Father received?" The Crown Prince felt an ominous premonition. He couldn't imagine whether Concubine Liang, whom he had once considered a thorn in his side, was secretly mocking him.

He absolutely refused to believe this was true. How could his Ci'er give birth to a stillborn baby? If it was said that it was Concubine Liang's doing, he might be able to accept it.

But how could it be those two women of the Luo family? Where did they get the courage? They were his women, and that was his son! He had clearly told them that favoring them was for the future, and they should know his bottom line.

The more the Crown Prince thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. Before leaving the capital, he had personally examined Ci'er's body, and the imperial physician had said everything was normal, with no signs of premature birth. The fetus was also well-nourished; although small, it was healthy. How could it have suddenly gone into premature labor? Or was it stillbirth?

He clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with anger. He wanted to smash things, to vent his anger. He wanted to return to Beijing immediately and find out the truth of all this! He wanted to find out how his son died! Once he found out the truth, no matter who it was, he would not let it go!

He was his eldest son, the nominal eldest grandson of the Emperor, the fruit of his love with the Crown Princess, and the guarantee of his secure position as Crown Prince! There could be no mistakes!

"Your Highness..." The visitor spoke cautiously, seeing the Crown Prince's ferocious expression. However, the Crown Prince suddenly threw the letter at him and shouted angrily, "Get out!"

The visitor trembled with fear and quickly retreated with his head lowered. The prince strode out quickly. He wanted to find his father, to explain everything to him and see what he would think and do.

However, as soon as he walked outside, he met his father's men. The men blocked his way and asked him to wait for a moment. His father had obviously learned the news and sent people to stop him to prevent him from acting impulsively.

The prince thought to himself: Father really knows, and he's afraid he'll do something irrational. So he sent someone to stop him and told him to wait until Father finished bathing and changing clothes before seeing him again.

He was thinking about Ci'er, the lonely and helpless Ci'er in the capital without him. And also about the vicious Luo family, those two bitches Liang Yuan... and the Liang Fei who was probably watching the joke from the sidelines!

Eunuch An, standing at the doorway of the tent, also saw the Crown Prince and his angry yet sad expression. He sighed helplessly. His Majesty hadn't finished bathing and changing clothes yet.

Soon after, Murong Shuo finally finished bathing and changing his clothes, and slowly walked out of the tent. Seeing this, Eunuch An breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at the Crown Prince, who was still standing there, his eyes filled with determination and resoluteness.

-

Elsewhere, Concubine Xian and Concubine Wan had just finished their bath. They'd been riding horses and were sweating profusely, their bodies sticky and uncomfortable. So, after their bath, they were enjoying a leisurely rest.

When they suddenly heard that there was a letter from the capital, they couldn't help but become curious: I wonder what news it brings this time?