[Various] The Deposed Crown Prince's Survival Story

As soon as Liu Rong returned to the Crown Prince's palace, he heard a servant say, "Lady Li has been waiting for the Crown Prince for a long time."

Oh dear, why is this cheap mother here instead of visiting her cheap father?

Liu Rong was slightly surprised.

Ever since Liu Rong and A Jiao's marriage became a done deal, Consort Li began a "non-violent non-cooperation" protest, constantly using excuses like "Your father's health is poor, I need to spend more time with him" and "Engagement? Let the servants handle the engagement," before interfering with Liu Rong and A Jiao's engagement ceremony.

They ignored it completely.

Regarding this behavior, Liu Rong could only say "naive".

Things have come to this point, and there's no way to salvage the situation. Why not just accept your fate instead of resorting to such pointless methods of resistance? Aside from making Liu Piao and A Jiao dislike you even more, I, the Crown Prince, see no benefit whatsoever.

The Crown Prince's engagement ceremony was attended by ceremonial officials and Empress Bo, the Empress Dowager. What are you, the Crown Prince's birth mother, compared to her?

"What a foolish woman. Instead of stepping forward and making her presence felt at a time like this, she hides away because of a little personal misunderstanding. It's... very much in line with her intelligence." Liu Rong couldn't help but complain about Li Ji's behavior in private.

But whether it was the virus affecting his brain or his IQ dropping after being disgusted by Wang Zhi, he interpreted Li Ji's foolish act of revenge as low-key, calm, and not seeking the limelight, plus concern for him.

Does anyone remember that last week, Liu Qi was completely disappointed with Consort Li because there were calls in the court to make her empress, and Wang Zhi bribed ministers to openly demand that Consort Li be made empress, which was the last straw that broke the camel's back, and finally made Liu Qi decide to depose the crown prince.

Therefore, Li Ji's low-key and calm demeanor this time, without seeking the limelight, made Liu Qi praise her highly, which is quite impressive.

As Liu Rong was thinking this, he arrived at the main hall. Consort Li was sitting on the head seat, smiling at him, with several very pretty palace maids beside her.

Seeing Consort Li's gentle smile, Liu Rong felt little happiness; instead, his heart skipped a beat before he spoke, "Your subject greets Mother."

"Rong'er, come here quickly." Consort Li smiled and beckoned to Liu Rong, gesturing for him to sit down next to her.

The happier Consort Li was, the more worried Liu Rong became. He wiped away a non-existent cold sweat, sat down next to Consort Li as instructed, and said with a smile, "Mother, what makes you so happy?"

"Rong'er, you're twenty years old now, a grown-up." Li Ji smiled and said something that sounded somewhat familiar to Liu Rong.

I think someone said that to me recently... no, today, but who said it? It sounds so familiar.

"As the crown prince, your duty is to carry on the family line and have many descendants," Consort Li said, adding a phrase that sounded very familiar to Liu Rong.

This time, Liu Rong remembered who had said those words: Liu Piao had said them, and after she said them...

"Rong'er, which of these women do you like?" Consort Li asked with a smile, pointing to the palace maids beside her.

Sure enough, here we go again with this stunt! My goodness, Liu Piao doesn't believe me? Why don't you believe me either? In your heart, is your son such a creature who can't live without women?

Liu Rong gasped, feeling his emotions surging. Being treated like a pig was bad enough, but why did everyone like to say things like "carrying on the family line and spreading the branches"? Did they think this prince was a stud and a seed-sowing machine?

Although I'm reluctant to admit it, whether one is a crown prince or an emperor, it doesn't matter whether one can do the job well; what matters is whether one can have children.

Women outside always say they are breeding machines, with no autonomy and no human rights, but aren't men the same?

Look at that Liu Xiaozhu from last week, how worried he was because he couldn't have children? He was overjoyed to have a daughter, like she was a treasure.

Even though Liu Xiaozhu later stopped liking Wei Zifu and the Crown Prince, he still doted on his eldest daughter... Of course, marrying the swindler was purely an accident, after all, when his daughter was married off, the swindler was a rather handsome immortal in Liu Xiaozhu's eyes.

Given Liu Xiaozhu's doting love for his first daughter, Princess Wei Chang, one can imagine how happy he was when Princess Wei Chang was born, finally shedding the label of "coward."

"Mother, I..." Liu Rong was about to say to Li Ji that he was not only healthy, but he could also kill seven people like Su Yuzhou with one punch. As for having children, he could have boys or girls as long as he wanted, and if he was in a good mood, he could even have n babies. So, Mom, you really don't need to worry about your son not being able to carry on the family line.

"What do you mean, 'you, you'?" Li Ji glared at Liu Rong and said unhappily, "You're all grown up now, your wings have hardened, you can fly now, right?"

Princess Kuriki, though not old now, is not young either; according to a woman's age, she is going through menopause.

The most prominent characteristic of menopausal women is that their emotions are easily volatile, and they become very talkative, extremely talkative, and very verbose.

Although Liu Rong disliked Consort Li, after so many years of getting along, even though she hadn't raised him, he still felt a little bit of kinship with her. As long as Consort Li didn't go too far and only grumbled a few words, Liu Rong wouldn't turn against her again.

Furthermore, the Han Dynasty governed the country with "filial piety," and even Emperor Liu Qi had to be filial to Empress Dowager Dou, let alone him, the crown prince.

"Mother, I..." Liu Rong struggled to speak, but middle-aged and elderly women are not so easy to deal with.

Seeing Liu Rong's desperate struggle, Li Ji immediately became possessed by his spirit. What spirit? It's the spirit of parents forcing their older, single children into marriage throughout the past five thousand years.

"Waaah... I know, I know, you must have gotten a wife and now you don't want me, your mother, anymore." Princess Li pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, wiping her tears as she said pitifully, "Yong'er, it wasn't easy for your mother to raise you. I remember when you were little... you were sickly, and your mother never asked anyone else to help you. I always did everything myself, even breastfeeding you..."

"Okay, okay, okay, Mother, Mother, I'll do whatever you want, alright?" Liu Rong stretched out her hand, making a pleading gesture, and said in a particularly helpless tone, "I'll take it, I'll take it, I'll take it all, alright?"

"That's right, it would have been better if you had said so earlier." Consort Li wiped away her tears, tucked her handkerchief into her sleeve, and said triumphantly, "My child, don't worry, these eight ladies-in-waiting..."

"Eight?" Liu Rong looked at Li Ji in shock.

Liu Piao only sent four, but Li Ji sent eight at once. Four plus eight, that's a dozen.

Oh dear, after taking turns all night, aren't you worried that I "can't perform"?

"Mother knows that eight is a bit few, not quite befitting your status as Crown Prince, Rong'er. But Rong'er, don't worry, Mother will work hard in the future to find more and better women for you." Consort Li pretended not to understand Liu Rong's words and continued talking to herself.

"Oh dear..." Eight is not enough? This is really... If it were Liu Piao finding women for Liu Qi, let alone finding eight at once, even if he only found one, Mother, you would be furious, right?

Now that it's her own son... why do women have to make things difficult for each other?

The inherent flaws of Earthlings.

"Mother, I don't actually need..." Liu Rong still tried to persuade Li Ji. Even if he couldn't persuade Li Ji, reducing the number of people by two would be good.

"Absolutely!" Li Ji interrupted Liu Rong rudely, her face ashen. "Rong'er, don't worry, the women your mother chooses for you will definitely be the best. Your mother will never be like that Liu prostitute, who would take any kind of trash for money."

That's right. In this era, becoming a concubine of the crown prince or some vassal king, or even if you weren't even a concubine in the household, was an extremely glorious and prestigious thing.

Therefore, despite the fact that it was a matter of separation between family members, countless people went bankrupt in order to enter the palace, and some even abandoned their husbands and children like Wang Zhi.

As for bribing those who participated in the imperial concubine selection in hopes of entering the palace or meeting the crown prince or emperor, this was commonplace, as evidenced by the later example of Wang Zhaojun.

Liu Piao was a big spender. Even though she gave four beautiful women to Liu Rong, she didn't lose out at all. There were definitely many more people who offered her money in order to give their daughters and sisters to Liu Rong.

Actually, it's pretty much the same with Kurihime; she also charges money.

The only possibility is that if Liu Piao encountered an exceptionally beautiful woman, even if she received money, she wouldn't recommend her to herself for fear that Liu Rong would be unable to resist her beauty and would share the favor he had given to A Jiao; while Consort Li would pay money to take the beautiful woman in for her son's sexual happiness.

The difference between a biological mother and a mother-in-law

But regardless of the story behind it, Liu Rong has no choice but to accept the beauties, otherwise his own mother would not let him off the hook.

“I’ll take it, I’ll take it. Anyway, the Crown Prince’s palace is huge, I can take it. Mother, please stop talking…” Liu Rong nodded resignedly.

Liu Rong knew that if he didn't accept these gifts today, his mother wouldn't leave. Compared to his mother's nagging, what did accepting a few beautiful women matter? So he decided to accept them.

Not long after Liu Rong accepted Liu Piao and Consort Li as his concubines, he and A Jiao became engaged. After the engagement, Empress Dowager Dou sent Liu Wu back to his country as promised.

Liu Qi was already in poor health. The reason he was able to last so long in his previous life was entirely because he was holding on to his son, who was too young and his younger brother was too ruthless. In this life, his son is already twenty years old, and his younger brother has been driven away.

Without the strength to sustain him, Liu Qi, who was already seriously ill, fell seriously ill after his engagement to Liu Rong and soon passed away. Liu Rong then ascended the throne as emperor with the support of the officials.

Meanwhile, fearing that Liu Rong might change his mind, Liu Piao married off the eleven-year-old A Jiao to the palace as empress.