The Cold King Demands Love and Pleasure

"Your Majesty, I am only following orders. Please do not make things difficult for me."

What if I insist on making things difficult for you today?

"Then I can only be disrespectful to you."

The Empress Dowager's face turned green with anger. "Fine, the Emperor is truly my good son, so good!"

Min Youan used to respect him so much, so why has his son started to be wary of him again now that Xia Tongsheng has come?

"let's go!"

The Empress Dowager turned to leave, just as she bumped into Bai Shiqiu, who was approaching. "Mother, are you here to see Her Majesty the Empress as well?"

"I came to see my grandson, but the Empress of Bei Min is quite arrogant and won't let me see her at all."

"Mother, the Emperor wanted to protect the young prince. Last night, there were snakes all over Fengqi Palace. The Emperor must have been terrified."

"What did you say?"

The Empress Dowager turned to look at the palace maid beside her, and Green Ivy lowered her head, indicating that she knew nothing about it.

"Your Majesty, you go to bed early at night, so it's normal that you don't know. I heard that when Her Majesty the Empress was giving birth last night, many poisonous snakes appeared in Fengqi Palace, and one snake even ran onto Her Majesty's bed. In order to protect Her Majesty, His Majesty specially brought Her Majesty to the palace, where the child was born."

The Empress Dowager already believed in these supernatural tales, and Bai Shiqiu's words aroused her even more concern.

Bai Shiqiu continued, "People used to say that snakes are small dragons. Since Your Majesty is said to be the goddess of Nanye, it's normal for her to attract such a thing."

Mentioning this made the Empress Dowager feel even more uneasy. Xia Tongsheng had stayed in Nanye for a long time. When Min Youan brought Xia Tongsheng back, Xia Tongsheng was already pregnant. Whether the child was Min Youan's or not was another matter.

Seeing the Empress Dowager's increasingly grim expression, Bai Shiqiu continued, "Her Majesty the Empress was frightened and gave birth only seven months after returning to the palace. It's probably premature. I wonder how the little prince is doing."

The Empress Dowager was furious, but she was a smart woman, and even if she was angry, she wouldn't say anything in front of Bai Shiqiu.

After returning to the palace, the Empress Dowager summoned the imperial physician from the previous night. "I heard that the little prince was born prematurely?"

The imperial physician was aware of the intricacies of the palace, but since the child was Xia Tongsheng's, he was reluctant to discuss it further, saying, "The little prince was indeed premature."

She was born a month premature.

"How's your body?"

The imperial physician reported, "Although the little prince was premature, he is still the emperor's child. He is strong and can be compared with full-term babies."

"Alright, I understand! You may leave."

The Empress Dowager paced around the palace several times.

She asked, "Green Ivy, you said An'er said the child was conceived eight months ago when she met Xia Tongsheng at the border. How come the child looks like a full-term baby? Is Xia Tongsheng lying to the emperor?"

"The Empress and the Emperor have such a strong bond, they wouldn't lie."

The Empress Dowager slammed her hand on the table angrily, “What do you know? Xia Tongsheng has been a goddess in Nanye for three years. How do you know she doesn’t want to expand the territory? If this child is from Nanye, and Min You’an passes the throne to this child, wouldn’t that be handing over the entire Northern Min to someone else?”

Seeing how angry the Empress Dowager was, Green Ivy didn't dare to say anything more.

"No, go and summon the Emperor. Tell him I have something to discuss with him."

"Yes!"

The pothos can finally go outside and breathe a sigh of relief.

When Min Youan arrived, the Empress Dowager was extremely anxious, "An'er, is that child yours?"

"Of course it belongs to my son. No matter how confused he is, he would never treat someone else's child as his own."

"Didn't the imperial physician say yesterday that this child was born at full term?"

“It was a full-term birth. Actually, the child was conceived when I was in Nanye. I deliberately concealed the time of Asheng’s pregnancy because I was afraid that Your Majesty would suspect me.”

Min Youan's expression was not good. Only Ying Lingqinyin and the imperial physician knew that the child was full-term. How did the Empress Dowager know?

Qin Yin wasn't there yesterday, and Ying Ling would never betray Xia Tong Sheng. She also knows what she should and shouldn't say.

Could it be the imperial physician?

It seems the Empress Dowager has already consulted the imperial physician in private.

“An’er, if this child is not yours, you must not keep him. This is related to the foundation of Bei Min.”

Min Youan's expression was resolute. "Mother, are you forcing your son to kill his own son?"

"Do you really know whether it's your biological child or not?" The Empress Dowager conceded, "If that child is gone, I can let bygones be bygones what Xia Tongsheng did. You can have another one."

"Your subject once swore in the name of the Emperor that he would never allow Asheng to bear another child for him in this lifetime."

"You!" The Empress Dowager held back for a long time, smashing the cup before finally uttering only the word "wicked child."

"If Your Majesty has nothing else to say, I shall take my leave now."

"Wait, weren't there a lot of snakes at Phoenix Palace yesterday?"

"Yes!"

“Snakes are cleared from the palace every summer, so how could there be any in such cold weather?”

Min Youan looked up. "Someone tampered with it."

"When Yi Yi was born, the sky above the Prince's Palace was filled with crows; yesterday, when the little prince was born, the Phoenix Palace was teeming with poisonous snakes. Son, this is a warning from Heaven. The will of Heaven cannot be defied!"

"If it is the will of Heaven, I will defy it!"

After saying that, Min Yoo-an left.

The Empress Dowager was furious. "Green Ivy, look at his attitude!"

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is also worried about the prince."

"We don't even know if it's his child yet, why are you so nervous!"

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. "No, Xia Tongsheng's two pregnancies were both warnings from Heaven. We have to take this seriously!"

"Your Majesty, what do you intend to do?"

"Since this child is so wicked, I will not let him live."

Green Ivy knelt down. "Your Majesty, please reconsider. If the Emperor finds out, I'm afraid the relationship between you and your son will become even more strained."

“I am not afraid of his hatred. As long as the bloodline of Bei Min is pure and the country is not taken over by foreigners, I will accept the blame for killing my grandson.”

Green Ivy lowered her eyes. The Empress Dowager knew what she was thinking. "If you dare to tell the Emperor about this, you know how I will treat you!"

"The slaves dare not."

Min Yoo-an went directly to Phoenix Palace after leaving Cining Palace.

The palace clears out snakes every year. It's almost winter, so how could there be so many snakes in the palace?

Moreover, it happened in Fengqi Palace, which was nowhere else.

There must be a reason.

Min Youan ordered his men to search Fengqi Palace thoroughly, but the white powder used to attract snakes had long since dissolved into the dew overnight, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Cang Jue ran over, "Your Majesty, why have you come? There might still be some poisonous snakes here that haven't been cleared out. Please leave."

Min Youan frowned. "Did you find anything?"

"Not yet, it's not obvious that these snakes are not wild."