Chapter 3

Maybe the inner palace was just that bored.

The Emperor's consorts had started shipping me and Consort Su. Our "forbidden love."

My son sleeping in the Eastern Palace? In their eyes, that was a moth throwing itself into the flame for love.

Me feeding him pastry? They wrung their handkerchiefs and sighed, "It's so sweet~"

My son raising hell in the hall? They filled in the blanks themselves until their faces went red.

Some maid had even been secretly writing palace pamphlets.

Forbidden Love in the Eastern Palace.

Captive Nights in the Inner Palace.

The Consort Who Never Left the Eastern Palace.

They sold like crazy.

Even the Empress Dowager had three of them stashed away.

Once I went to pay my respects. I'd barely stepped through the door.

And there she was, sneak-reading The Consort Ran with His Child.

That wasn't all. The consorts had also self-organized the "Crown Prince–Consort CP Support Club."

Dedicated to running cover for us.

They held meetings every day.

They were not discussing inner-palace warfare.

They were discussing—

"Did the Crown Prince look at the Consort today?"

"Did the Consort sneak off to find the Crown Prince?"

"Has the Emperor noticed anything off?"

Worse: they were actually "pushing the plot."

Yesterday, for example. I'd just sat down in the Imperial Garden.

Consort Shu "happened" to walk by, "accidentally" left Consort Su's cloak on my shoulders, and left at speed.

Today, Consort Xian sent a box of pastry, and made a point of saying, "Consort Su made these herself."

I opened it. A line of tiny writing sat inside: "Come home early, okay, Crown Prince-gege~"

Me: "..."

But none of that was the scariest part. The scariest part was the Emperor's attitude.

He'd started to change.

Before: he stayed up on that high seat and glanced at me once in a while, the way you glance at a qualified heir.

Lately: he looked at me longer. And—too quiet. Quiet like he was studying something.

Take this morning's court.

The Ministry of War had just finished reporting on the Northern Frontier.

He didn't comment. He asked, out of nowhere, "What was the Crown Prince doing yesterday?"

The whole civil and military court froze.

I froze too, stood, and answered, "Organizing the waterworks maps."

The Emperor nodded. Said nothing. But he looked at me for a long time. Long enough that my back went cold.

After court was dismissed, he kept me behind for the first time. "Crown Prince. Stay."

My heart thudded. Here it comes.

The Imperial Study was very quiet.

He was marking memorials. I stood there, not daring to move.

The air felt like a string pulled taut.

After a long while, he spoke. "The palace has been… lively, lately."

My heart clenched. Did he know about me and Consort Su?

I dropped to my knees at once. "Your son is guilty."

He paused. Looked up. "Guilty of what?"

Me: "..."

Weren't you just implying that?

He set down the vermilion brush, stood, and walked over. Step by step.

Slow. Heavy. The pressure was a lot.

He stopped in front of me and, out of nowhere, reached out and straightened my collar.

The motion was light. Almost… too intimate.

"Has the Crown Prince been very busy lately?"

I locked up. Didn't dare lift my head.

"Father is only worried about you." His voice was very quiet. "You look… tired."

My brain went into full alarm. This is not worry! This is a probe! Absolutely a probe!

"Your son is perfectly well. Thank you for your concern, Father." I bowed at once.

He gave a soft laugh. "Is that so? That's good, then."

Then he turned around, went back to marking memorials, as if none of it had happened.