AUBTN -Chapter 270 Acknowledging the Child

As long as the lineage of the imperial heir was preserved, the Zhou family’s power could rise even further.

The Empress Dowager’s chest tightened with anger at those words.

She knew perfectly well it was fake, yet she had no way to refute it.

Could she really say that the emperor was incapable?

If she publicly destroyed the emperor’s reputation, then the dignity of the royal family would be completely lost.

The hall fell into a deathly silence. The atmosphere grew tense to the extreme.

Zhou Wenhai stared fixedly at the Empress Dowager, a sinister cold smile curling at the corner of his lips.

“Empress Dowager, since this child is the Emperor’s bloodline, then it is the future hope of Great Wei. As the Grand Empress Dowager, surely you will love this child more than anyone else?”

The Empress Dowager knew that this loss today, she had no choice but to swallow it.

She squeezed out the words through clenched teeth: “Since the Grand Chancellor insists the child is of imperial blood, then naturally I will protect it well.”

A flash of ruthlessness crossed her eyes as her tone suddenly shifted.

“The Empress is still young, and now that she carries the imperial heir, how can she manage without someone trustworthy by her side? Conveniently, I have two personal palace maids who are the most meticulous and considerate. From today onward, let them stay in the Chaofeng Palace to attend to the Empress’s daily needs, never leaving her side!”

As she spoke, the Empress Dowager pointed at Su Hewan and Yu Qing, who had been keeping their heads down, pretending to be meek and insignificant.

Zhou Wenhai and Zhou Ruoyun’s expressions changed at the same time.

Everyone understood—this so-called “care” was nothing more than planting two surveillance eyes, watching them twenty-four hours a day.

Zhou Wenhai narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze scrutinizing Su Hewan and Yu Qing like a blade.

It felt as if he wanted to pierce through their very bones.

Su Hewan and Yu Qing did not dare delay. They immediately knelt properly and performed their formal courtesies, their voices humble yet steady.

“This servant will do her utmost to take good care of Her Majesty and will not fail the Empress Dowager’s trust!”

Zhou Wenhai stared at them for a long time. The feeling of being locked onto by a predator made both of them feel a chill crawl up their spines.

Finally, he let out a cold laugh and said to Zhou Ruoyun:

“Since this is the Empress Dowager’s kindness, Your Majesty should accept it. If anyone dares act dishonestly and harm the imperial heir, this old minister’s three thousand Feather Forest Guards will demand an explanation.”

This was both a step back—and a warning.

“I… I thank the Empress Dowager for her grace,” Zhou Ruoyun replied, trembling.

Before leaving, Zhou Wenhai gave Zhou Ruoyun a deep look.

There was no fatherly warmth in that gaze—only suffocating indifference and hunger for power.

Su Hewan and Yu Qing exchanged a glance, both seeing solemnity in each other’s eyes.

Su Hewan slightly lifted her gaze, quietly observing Zhou Ruoyun’s surroundings.

Just as Zhou Ruoyun lowered her head in distress, Su Hewan caught a subtle detail.

Zhou Ruoyun’s eyes had unconsciously drifted to the left.

There stood a maid dressed as a second-rank palace servant, her appearance utterly ordinary.

Yet amid everyone’s shock, that maid’s expression remained completely unchanged.

Like a lifeless puppet, she coldly observed Zhou Ruoyun’s performance.

Su Hewan’s heart tightened suddenly.

That’s an informant placed beside the Empress by Zhou Wenhai!

Was that glance just now Zhou Ruoyun seeking confirmation—or making sure she hadn’t said the wrong lines?

With a cold snort, the Empress Dowager finally swept her sleeves and left.

The atmosphere in the hall eased slightly.

With the help of a maid, Zhou Ruoyun returned unsteadily to her bed.

The emotionless maid quietly retreated into the shadows.

In the following days, Su Hewan and Yu Qing officially stayed in Chaofeng Palace.

Every day, Yu Qing carried bird’s nest and white fungus soup, circling Zhou Ruoyun like a diligent servant.

“Your Majesty, please try this—plum sour soup. I specially prepared it for you.”

Zhou Ruoyun took the porcelain bowl, but the moment she smelled the sour aroma, she immediately clutched her chest and retched.

“Ugh—take it away, quickly, take it away.”

Zhou Ruoyun’s face was deathly pale. She kept waving her hands, her whole body so weak it looked like a gust of wind could knock her over.

Yu Qing hurriedly handed her some mouth rinse, though inwardly she was furiously complaining.

【That face so pale, that cold sweat—don’t tell me she’s really pregnant?】

Not far away, Su Hewan was tidying up the medicine box, also deep in thought.

【Why is Zhou Ruoyun’s morning sickness always at its worst right after she drinks that bowl of “pregnancy-preserving” medicine?】

Her gaze slowly fell on the bowl of dark medicinal soup still steaming on the desk.

On the surface, Su Hewan and Yu Qing were lying low in the palace, doing nothing obvious.

But in the shadows, Lu Yan and Shen Jue were also secretly investigating!

Shen Jue leaned lazily back in the grand master chair, idly playing with a folding fan in his hand.

In front of him, tied to a punishment rack, was a bloodied eunuch barely hanging on to life.

It was Chief Eunuch Wang, the one responsible for the new emperor’s daily affairs during the banquet before the wedding.

“Eunuch Wang, my patience is limited.”

Shen Jue’s voice was soft and almost tender, yet it carried a killing intent that made one’s bones chill.

“At the banquet a month ago, did His Majesty ever go to the rock garden in the imperial grounds?”

Chief Eunuch Wang, beaten beyond recognition, weakly lifted his head.

“Lord… I’ve been wronged. That night His Majesty drank too much osmanthus wine. As soon as he returned to the palace, he fell into a deep sleep.”

“I stayed by his bedside the entire time and never left even a step!”

“His Majesty couldn’t even walk steadily—how could he possibly have gone to the rock garden to… to spend the night with the young miss of the Zhou family!”

Shen Jue’s fingers paused slightly.

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his lips.

“Oh? So you’re saying that the Empress’s child is a bastard from nowhere?”

“That old fox Zhou Wenhai certainly has guts—he actually dared to let his own daughter put a green hat on the current emperor.”

Shen Jue stood up and slowly wiped his hands with a snow-white silk handkerchief.

“Dispose of him. Leave no trace.”

With that sentence, he turned and walked out of the prison.

At the same time, inside a secret chamber of the Jinyiwei Commandery, candles burned brightly.

Lu Yan sat at the desk, in front of him piled layers of classified dossiers sent by hidden agents.

These records detailed every movement of Zhou Ruoyun in the year before entering the palace, and every person she had come into contact with.

“Sir, we’ve found it.”

A Jinyiwei centurion hurried in, respectfully presenting a yellowed dossier with both hands.

“We combed through all intelligence lines around the Zhou household and discovered a highly suspicious person.”

Lu Yan took the dossier, his gaze sharp as lightning as he scanned the text.

“Zhou Ruoyun has a distant cousin named Zhao Mingxiu, a fallen scholar.”

“Though his family was poor, he was handsome and refined. A year ago, he sought refuge with the Zhou household and was arranged by Zhou Wenhai to serve as a private tutor.”

The centurion lowered his voice, a hint of excitement in it.

“Reports from the covert agents say this Zhao Mingxiu and Zhou Ruoyun were extremely close. They often met privately in the back garden of the Zhou residence and exchanged poetry.”

Lu Yan frowned deeply and coldly spat out two words.

“Then what?”

The centurion swallowed and pointed to the last line of the dossier.