The Cold King Demands Love and Pleasure

A glint of shrewdness flashed in Xia Tongsheng's eyes, then she smiled and looked at Min Yanyue, "How did you know that pregnant women crave sour foods?"

"It was Mother who told me, or she who reminded me to come see you."

Yingling and Xia Tongsheng exchanged a glance.

When Min Yanyue mentioned his mother at this moment, his intention was to express that his mother cared about Xia Tongsheng.

But in Xia Tongsheng's view, it was dangerous!

Xia Tongsheng calmly instructed Yingling to call Aunt Qinyin.

Qin Yin served Xia Tongsheng, who was pregnant, when she was in the Prince's mansion, and was quite knowledgeable about the affairs of pregnant women.

Qin Yin arrived and smelled a musk scent as soon as she got close to Min Yanyue. Although the scent was partially masked by other spices, the strong aroma of musk made it easy to identify.

Qin Yin walked to Xia Tongsheng's side and whispered to her, "Your Majesty, there is musk in the sachet."

Xia Tongsheng nodded, "Yue'er, show the sachet to Aunt Qinyin."

"what happened?"

"Take a look at her first."

Although Min Yanyue didn't know what Xia Tongsheng was going to do, she still obediently gave him the sachet.

Qin Yin hurriedly took the sachet and the dried fruit sent by Min Yanyue and threw them out of the palace.

"Yue'er, you've been used!"

Who would take advantage of me?

"Haven't you noticed that your sachet smells better today than usual?"

"Your subject is not familiar with spices. But I do feel that the fragrance of the sachet is a bit stronger than usual."

Xia Tongsheng breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from Min Yanyue's appearance, he didn't seem to be lying.

"Your sachet contains musk; inhaling it too much can cause a miscarriage."

Min Yanyue immediately knelt down, "Your subject would never dare to plot against the Empress Dowager."

"I know it wasn't you. It was the person who switched your sachet, Bai Shiqiu, right?"

Seeing that Min Yanyue remained silent, Xia Tongsheng sighed, "Fine, I won't force you. But Yue'er, you're all grown up now. You need to think things through before you act."

"Mother, your son..."

"Some people cannot be given a chance to reform themselves all the time, because they will not change."

Min Yanyue knelt down and kowtowed before Xia Tongsheng, "Mother, what happened today was her fault, but she was only concerned about my future. She was afraid that after giving birth to my younger brother, things would..."

Xia Tongsheng smelled a faint scent of sandalwood, and her face fell.

"This empire is yours, and no one can take it away from you. That's enough, only the four of us know about this today, and no one is allowed to tell anyone."

Yingling disagreed, "Miss, what if she tries to do it again later?"

"I'm not helping Bai Shiqiu, but if this matter blows up, Yue'er will be implicated. After all, it was Yue'er who brought the musk in. If word gets out, what will become of the Crown Prince's reputation?"

"Your Majesty, I have no way to repay you."

“You don’t need to repay me. Parents love their children and plan far ahead for them. Your birth mother used you to harm me for your long-term benefit. Your mother didn’t tell anyone about this for your future benefit as well. As long as you can always keep a kind heart, not be afraid of the powerful, and not bully the weak, this will be a blessing for Beimin.”

"My son understands."

“You don’t understand. If you did, you wouldn’t have come here to test me.”

Min Yanyue was slightly taken aback. "What does Mother mean by this?"

"Yue'er, you still learned some underhanded tricks from your mother. You saw through these tricks a long time ago, didn't you? Rather than saying Bai Shiqiu used you, it's more accurate to say you used Bai Shiqiu."

"How could I possibly use Mother Consort? And how could I possibly know the secret formulas for miscarriage in the palace?"

"I initially thought you didn't know anything about spices, but you clearly said you didn't understand spices, so how come you know how to use agarwood?"

Min Yanyue shook his head, "What does this have to do with agarwood?"

“Ordinary princes and nobles in the palace usually use ambergris, but you use agarwood, which means you don’t like strong-smelling spices. Musk has a strong scent, while agarwood has a light scent. If you are used to smelling agarwood, you will definitely notice the strong musk scent immediately.”

"Your subject did indeed find the smell strong."

“Since Bai Shiqiu wanted to use you to harm me, knowing that you are used to the light scent of agarwood, you would naturally pay attention to the amount of musk and try to hide its overpowering aroma. But just now when you entered the room, the smell was very strong. You must have secretly increased the amount of musk in your bag.”

Min Yanyue lowered his head, not daring to look Xia Tongsheng in the eye. "Why is it that I increased the dosage? It's very likely that Mother didn't get the proportions right."

"Bai Shiqiu is such a meticulous person, she wouldn't mishandle it. You deliberately added more spices because you wanted me to notice that the sachet had been tampered with."

Yingling was completely confused. "Miss, wait a minute. If the Crown Prince added more musk to harm you, then why would he want you to notice that there's something wrong with the sachet?"

“He didn’t add more spices to harm me. He wanted to remind me that someone was trying to harm me. Pretending not to know was a test, a test of my feelings for him,” Xia Tongsheng looked at Min Yanyue, “Yue’er, don’t you agree?”

Min Yanyue just wanted to see how Xia Tongsheng would treat him after discovering this. This way, Min Yanyue would know his place in Xia Tongsheng's heart.

Min Yanyue knelt on the ground, "Mother, how did you guess?"

"What child doesn't want to be favored? But testing me is wrong. What if something really happens to me?"

"I consulted the imperial physician, and he said that inhaling just a tiny bit of musk is harmless."

"You should learn from your father, the Emperor. He was a real old fox who handled things flawlessly."

"Your subject knows his mistake!"

Xia Tongsheng sighed, "Go back now. Remember to always take your father as your role model and don't listen to the nonsense your mother taught you. I'm tired, you should go back now."

Min Yanyue nodded and left.

Yingling glared at Xia Tongsheng, "You're too soft-hearted. His Highness the Crown Prince dared to treat you like this today; who knows if he won't really try to kill you tomorrow?"

"Yingling, what do you think I should do?"

Min Yeon-wook said that the eldest prince was the only child, and the eldest prince was so important to Min Yoo-an.

She could only do her best to ensure that Min Yanyue didn't go astray. Killing him was something she couldn't do, and neither could Min Youan.

"Forget it, forget it. I can't convince you!"

Yingling muttered to herself as she ran to the palace gate, “From now on, no one will be allowed to enter Fengqi Palace. The palace maids and eunuchs who deliver food must undergo rigorous screening before they can enter Fengqi Palace.”

"Yes!"

Xia Tongsheng watched from afar and thought that Yingling really did have the aura of a big sister.

"Yingling, during the three years I was away, did anyone bully you?"

“Who dares to bully me? It’s just that you’ve been away from the capital for the past three years, and I have to take care of Yan Xiang and Wu Tongsheng. I can’t be too ruthless.”

"Are Shui Han and Cai Die alright?"

"That's wonderful, they've all found good husbands and are deeply in love."

Xia Tongsheng chuckled, "Are you jealous?"

"What's sour about it?"

Yingling turned and left.

Over the next few months, Yingling and Min Youan protected Xia Tongsheng very well, keeping almost all dangerous factors out of her.