Good luck in pregnancy, the daughter of the prime minister's mansion has a soft waist

From her words, the emperor could sense the concern behind the stiffness, and the anger in his heart dissipated a lot.

"Are you willing to become a member of my palace?"

This question was asked quite cautiously, because he was much older than her, and according to the rules, he could not have children to carry on the family line. What if she became resentful in the future?

However, Shen Muxue did not realize what the emperor was worried about and thought that this question was completely unnecessary.

Regardless of her subjective wishes, the objective facts are there: she has long belonged to the emperor and it is impossible for her to marry someone else.

This thought made her more determined about her position in the palace, and she knew that she could no longer change her fate.

So, she blurted out: "Except for Your Majesty, I have no other choice!"

This simple yet helpless sentence contains all her complex emotions, including acceptance of the current situation and helplessness and hesitation about the future.

This sentence made the emperor, who was holding a book and pretending to read, pause for a moment, as if his heart was cut by an invisible sharp blade, and the pain was excruciating.

His eyes revealed a hint of disappointment and sadness that was hard to conceal, a feeling that made him almost unable to breathe.

It turned out that in Shen Muxue's mind, marrying him was so helpless.

"Then who do you really want to choose? After hearing the news that Prince Xuan is getting married, do you really regret it?"

The emperor put down the book in his hand and approached Shen Muxue step by step. He seemed no longer the gentle monarch, but more like a warrior who had just returned from the battlefield and was full of blood.

His tone was mixed with questioning and unwillingness, as if he was trying to find the answer deep in his heart in this way.

"That is not the case. Your Majesty has misunderstood."

Shen Muxue hurriedly explained, hoping to regain the trust of this usually gentle and amiable man.

She didn't want to lose their harmonious relationship because of misunderstanding.

"Misunderstanding? As soon as you heard the news that Prince Xuan was about to get married, you hurried back to the Duke's Mansion to verify the situation. Then, disheartened, you avoided me for several days. Shen Muxue, do you think you can order me around as you please?"

The emperor's voice rose several degrees, and he seemed a little excited.

At this moment, he felt unprecedented doubts and frustrations towards the woman in front of him.

Your Majesty's misunderstanding is really too great.

Shen Muxue thought silently in her heart and tried to resolve the current dilemma in the most peaceful way.

"Your Majesty, you are overthinking it. I really didn't come to see you because I felt unwell."

Her tone was gentle but with a hint of helplessness, hoping to move the other person and ease his emotions through sincerity.

"Are you feeling unwell, or are you feeling down? Do you think I don't understand the emotions between men and women?"

The emperor's voice became deeper and more powerful, and it was obvious that he was deeply hurt.

In his opinion, if it was really just health issues that prevented them from meeting, as Shen Muxue said, then everything could be easily resolved. However, if it was due to a grudge, then things would probably not be that simple.

Seeing the emperor in emotional confusion and looking painful, Shen Muxue felt a sense of revenge.

I want him to experience the feeling of having her body but still not being able to touch her heart.

Although she still maintained a polite attitude on the surface, a sense of victory and pride had quietly risen in her heart.

That night, the system became unusually active in reporting favorability values, soaring to full marks for a moment, then dropping, and then rising to one hundred.

This fluctuation seems to reflect the huge changes in the two people's moods and the subtle emotional state between them.

"That's enough. Don't say anything more unless I ask you myself."

Faced with this situation, Shen Muxue muttered softly, obviously expressing dissatisfaction and impatience with the invisible reminder mechanism.

【Master, don’t you like to hear this? 】

Shen Muxue rolled her eyes weakly and gradually fell asleep in the emperor's arms, as if all her fatigue had dissipated at this moment.

A few days later, the spy who was sent to secretly investigate Shen Luoxi and Madam Kang finally returned from the Duke's hometown and reported to the emperor as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty," the spy knelt on the ground and reported respectfully, "According to my inquiries and investigations, Madam Kang's biological daughter tragically died in infancy. To prevent Madam Kang from plunging into excessive grief, Duke Anguo used a girl named Shen Muxue as a replacement, explaining to the outside world that he had originally intended to raise the legitimate child in a temple to ensure her safe upbringing. And Shen Luoxi, who has been brought back, is a girl who Prince Anguo bribed and found to be Madam Kang's replacement."

"Even though the truth has been revealed to Madam Kang, she still refuses to believe it in her heart, stubbornly believing that Shen Luoxi is her true blood descendant."

The spy then added, his tone full of helplessness.

No one would have thought that An Guogong, who always prided himself on being upright and selfless, was so good at weaving such ingenious and difficult-to-expose lies.

After hearing this detailed report, even the emperor, who was accustomed to all kinds of intrigues in the world, could not help but reveal an incredible expression.

Considering that this matter involved Shen Muxue's identity, the emperor immediately decided to go to the empress dowager's residence in person and inform her about this complicated and difficult incident.

"Since we have verified that Shen Luoxi does not come from a prominent family," the Emperor said carefully, "does this mean that she is no longer suitable to be Prince Xuan's consort?"

Although her son had already had an intimate relationship with this woman, the Queen Mother was still upset about the marriage and her attitude of refusing to give formal recognition did not change at all.

"That won't be a problem. Initially, I thought Prince Xuan had the qualities of a king, so I planned to pass the throne to him. However, this sudden outbreak has completely exposed his shortcomings—he is simply incapable of handling important national responsibilities. Given this, it's clearly not a reasonable arrangement for him to marry Shen Luoxi. Instead, having an ordinary member of the royal family marry her is a reasonable option."

The Queen Mother agreed with this view.

After all, apart from Prince Xuan, the royal family has many other princes and marquises to choose from. No matter who eventually becomes Shen Luoxi's husband, it will not have a decisive impact on the succession of imperial power.

Whenever she mentioned her grandson, a trace of sadness would involuntarily appear on the Queen Mother's face: "Did you really take the kind of medicine that would make you childless?"

"Indeed. Many years ago, you, Mother, specially summoned many imperial physicians to diagnose my condition, and I'm sure you are already very clear about the final result."

The emperor's tone was indifferent, but every word he said touched the empress dowager's heart.

She really couldn't understand why this child could be so cruel to avoid the position of crown prince and was unwilling to even try to have children.