Deep Palace Pet Peach Blossom Flawless

The Crown Prince naturally had high hopes for his first child, and therefore had been visiting Liangxu Palace more frequently recently. However, today's incident had instantly dampened his enthusiasm. He thought, "Let's just go back to the usual routine of summoning the Crown Princess to the bedchamber!" He also wanted to let the Crown Princess be quieter and take turns. No one would be able to say anything if they were impartial.

Emperor Shenwu naturally knew what had happened in the Cining Palace. He had a strange feeling in his heart, "Li Xiang, did the Queen really punish that Concubine Deng?"

Li Xiang coughed lightly and said seriously, "Your Majesty, that was the grace bestowed upon Concubine Deng by the Empress!"

Because of Concubine Deng's attempt to curry favor, Li Xiang and several other palace servants and eunuchs in the Qianzheng Hall were punished with a beating. Although the punishment was not much, it was a great humiliation for Li Xiang.

Emperor Shenwu chuckled and said, "My queen is showing her power. I'll go and take a look!"

Li Xiang responded with a smile, but he was secretly complaining in his heart that the Queen would probably not be in a good mood when she saw Your Majesty, after all, she was the talented person you appointed yourself!

The Shenwu Emperor came to Fengqi Palace with great enthusiasm. As expected, he saw that Lan Qingwu's face was not very good. The Shenwu Emperor seemed not to notice. He embraced Lan Qingwu and chuckled, "My weak one is very majestic today. I don't even have the honor to see the Empress showing her majestic power in Cining Palace!"

Lan Qingwu glared at the Emperor Shenwu, but in the Emperor's eyes, it was just a coquettish look. "It's all because of your Majesty. Do you think I'm so weak that I'm willing to embarrass a mere talent?"

"Yes Yes Yes!"

Emperor Shenwu said, "It's all because of me. I was planning on how to deal with that talented woman Deng, but I didn't expect that weaklings would get there first."

Lan Qingwu said: "Forget it! It's better for Ruo Ruo to handle the affairs of the women in the harem by herself! You can't let others see Ruo Ruo having the title of queen but can't even deal with a little talent who climbed over your head, and still rely on His Majesty to take action! As long as -"

The Shenwu Emperor's fingers were stroking Lan Qingwu's snow-white chin out of boredom. "Hmm? What do you want?"

"As long as Your Majesty doesn't feel bad for the beauty, I will stand up for her later!"

The Shenwu Emperor laughed and leaned over to Lan Qingwu's ear and whispered softly, "How dare I! If you do it again, I won't even be able to get on my weak bed!"

Lan Qingwu's cheeks flushed. There were palace maids in the palace! She was annoyed and embarrassed: "Brother Heng!"

Emperor Shenwu grabbed Lan Qingwu's boneless hand and said, "Ruoruo, seeing you protecting the food makes me so happy!"

However, Lan Qingwu's simple words almost upset the Emperor Shenwu. She said, "Your Majesty, don't forget the weak Black Dragon Fish and Silver Phoenix Fish!"

Two days later, on the outskirts of the imperial city, Wei Yanting led a group of people into the imperial city as low-key as possible.

There was a prison van in the team, which was covered tightly with curtains, making it impossible to see who was being arrested!

In the Qianzheng Hall, Emperor Shenwu looked down at Wei Yanting in the hall, his expression unreadable: "He asked to see me?"

Wei Yanting replied, "Yes, Your Majesty! We sent His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince directly to the Fourth Prince's residence, but two days ago, the Fourth Prince went on a hunger strike and insisted on entering the palace to meet Your Majesty. I can only report this to Your Majesty!"

Emperor Shenwu threw down the memorial in his hand and said, "Then let's meet!"

The Fourth Prince once again met his father in the Qianzheng Hall. Years had passed since their last meeting, and he had longed to see his father again. He had never imagined that he would be in the Qianzheng Hall, the epicenter of power, so soon.

The Fourth Prince prostrated himself and bowed to the Emperor Shenwu: "The unfilial son Zhou Chengyu greets his father!"

Emperor Shenwu looked at his Highness's Fourth Prince calmly. He knew too much about his son's future, so he had a vague premonition of what would happen. Fourth Prince Zhou Chengyu would not give up his ambitions, but in reality, he already had a recognized and excellent successor, so the current situation was predictable.

The Fourth Prince wondered what expression this almighty ruler would have when he saw the Shenwu Emperor. Was it anger? Sorrow? Regret?

But no! His cold-hearted, aloof father was as calm as water! Not even a trace of compassion could be seen in his eyes!

How could this be possible! The Fourth Prince was screaming in his heart! Father, how could you do this to me!

At this moment, the Fourth Prince did not want to continue pretending. He knew that his extremely intelligent father was certain that he was harboring a rebellious heart, and no matter how he denied it, he could not shake the emperor's perception.

The Fourth Prince's face was filled with an unprecedented look of dejection and faint collapse. "Father, is there anything else you want to ask me? I can tell you everything!"

Emperor Shenwu thought for a moment and said, "If you had acted openly and honestly, I might have even considered you. But you used the women in the harem to try to send your woman to the prince's bed in order to confuse his bloodline. What can I say about you for that? I have no words to say!"

I just think it's too shameful to be on the stage. The right path for a man is to make achievements in the court.

The Fourth Prince said helplessly, "Father, you haven't given me any chance. I can see the end of my life at a glance! While you are on the throne, I might be able to save my life and guard the imperial mausoleum for the rest of my life! But what about after the Crown Prince ascends the throne? How dare I take this gamble? How can I not find a way out for myself?"

Emperor Shenwu shook his head. "You said I won't give you a chance? Zhou Chengyu, have you forgotten that I give the same opportunities to all the other princes? Aside from being the Crown Prince, you'll all be treated the same in terms of civil and military skills! Over the years, what have you done that has stood out to me and made me look at you differently? What are you good enough to suppress the other brothers?"

"Only one thing—your ambition! Others can quietly serve the court, but you, alone, have ambition and desire. In reality, are you really that good? Are you good enough to make me give up my legitimate son?"

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince collapsed and trembled all over. "Father! You actually said the same thing! Since I was a child in the palace, among the several princes, my mother's status is the lowest. The palace maids in the previous dynasty and even the harem look down on my mother and me the most! I have worked so hard than the other brothers, but I have received the least!"

"Father, and the Crown Prince, my younger brother, you were ecstatic the moment he was born. When he was three, you even invited great scholars and generals to be his teachers! You brought him to your side day and night, personally teaching him and instilling in him the art of ruling! Father, do you think this is fair?"

"He is smart and excellent, but I think I am no worse than him! Father, just because my status is low and I can't compare to the prince's noble birth, does that mean a legitimate child should be superior to an illegitimate child? I refuse to accept this! I will never accept this, even if I die! Father! Father! When have you ever really looked at me, and when have you ever truly understood me?"

The Shenwu Emperor remained unmoved, his eyes fixed on the Fourth Prince. "You don't accept? Then let me ask you, if you inherit the throne, can my legitimate lineage survive? If you take the throne, can my brothers, who are of nobler birth than you, survive? You say you're a bastard, you're of humble origin, and you don't accept it! Let me tell you, it's precisely because of your bastard-like, narrow-minded thinking that I suppress you and will never value you!"

"Because once you take the throne, none of my sons will have a happy ending! If you think being born out of wedlock limits you, then that's right!"