EMHTC -Chapter 29 Wow! The Young Prince is Going All Out for His Grandfather…

Xu Yanmiao was feeling quite troubled.

After parting ways with Princess Xiangyang, he wandered to the East Market, gloomily munching on a bag of sweet and sour snails.

“Delicious!”

As expected, eating brought him joy again!

While devouring the snails, his mind wandered, his face lighting up with contentment.

As for Ji Sui losing his daughter—who left behind a granddaughter—it was something Xu Yanmiao could accept. If worst came to worst, he could just write a note and toss it into Ji Sui’s residence anonymously.

“This pickled cabbage? I’ll take a jar.”

“These duck feet? A bag, please.”

“And this roasted watermelon seeds? A pack.”

“And that one too…”

By the time he was leaving the East Market, passersby stared in concern at the young man struggling under a pile of purchases, a bag of sweet and sour snails still clamped between his teeth.

Their main worry? That he’d trip and fall flat on his face.

As he passed a cosmetics shop, a booming, familiar voice rang out, as if amplified:

“Six boxes of Jade Blossom Face Powder, please!”

“Six boxes of Maiden Peach Blossom Powder!”

“Six sticks of sandalwood charcoal!”

“And also…”

Wait a second—why did that phrasing sound so familiar?

Xu Yanmiao poked his head into the shop and saw none other than the Young Prince himself!

Perhaps sensing someone watching him, the Crown Prince turned around. He locked eyes with Xu Yanmiao, who wore a strange, almost amused expression. Inside, his thoughts screamed:

【Wow! Buying six of everything—living life to the fullest, huh?!】

…Absolutely lethal.

The Crown Prince, visibly trying to hold it together, explained, “These are for my mother. Those are for my wife. And those are for my four daughters.”

Xu Yanmiao blinked. “…Oh.”

【So that’s what it’s for…】

Why did his inner thoughts sound so disappointed? Sorry for not being the kind of Crown Prince you were imagining, okay?!

After realizing he had misunderstood, Xu Yanmiao promptly made his exit, beating a hasty retreat.

【Thank goodness I only thought about it silently!】

The next day at court, Xu Yanmiao continued his internal musings:

【Why isn’t it New Year’s Eve yet? When can we have the sealing ceremony for officials? When can I finally sleep in—wait, let’s see what Consort Qin is up to!】

The sudden shift almost broke the collective composure of the officials.

The Emperor’s face turned green.

It had been nearly two months since the incident, yet Xu Yanmiao still brought up Consort Qin? Couldn’t he just forget about her already?

The Emperor himself had worked hard to put the whole “cuckolded by his grandson” ordeal out of his mind. The court officials nodded internally, vigorously.

Forget about her! We don’t want to die over this scandal involving the Emperor’s Grandson and the Consort!

Also…

Was Noble Consort Qin even still alive? With no updates, many assumed the Emperor had quietly executed her.

【!!!】

【Why did she throw herself down the stairs on purpose?! Is she trying to miscarry?!】

The Minister of Revenue yanked out a strand of his beard in shock, stealing a quick glance at the Emperor’s dais.

He suspected that Consort Qin was alive because she was still pregnant with the Emperor’s Grandson’s child. Even if it was an illegitimate child, the Emperor valued his bloodline too much to act rashly—especially since it was the Emperor’s Grandson’s first offspring.

But now…

The Emperor stood abruptly.

Once again, he left the court.

Once again, abandoning the officials.

Once again, dashing off urgently!

【Huh…】 Xu Yanmiao mused cluelessly. 【Why is the court session interrupted again?】

The officials: … What do you think?!

That’s the Emperor’s great-grandchild! The first child of the Emperor’s beloved grandson! How could he not be worried? Surely even the Crown Prince would—

“This… Consort Qin is kind of pitiful,” someone murmured.

Indeed… Prime Minister Dou nodded slightly.

She had been alive and well but now sought to end her pregnancy and life over rumors that she seduced the Emperor’s Grandson and lacked virtue.

“If only my good-for-nothing son had properly compensated his savior, either with money or status, things wouldn’t have escalated like this.”

The Minister of Rites nodded. True, if the Emperor’s Grandson had conducted himself with propriety, this wouldn’t have—wait, what? “Good-for-nothing son”?

The Prime Minister and six ministers all turned their heads in unison: “Your Highness?!”

The Crown Prince looked contemplative, even sympathetic toward Consort Qin. When he noticed their shocked expressions, he seemed genuinely puzzled. “What’s with those looks?”

Your Highness…

The Minister of Rites was struck like lightning. “Your Highness, that’s the Emperor’s Grandson! Consort Qin is carrying your eldest grandson!”

Why was the Crown Prince more concerned about the consort than his direct descendant?!

“So?”

The Crown Prince sincerely explained, “Minister, I come from a farming family. We were slaves, beggars, refugees, soldiers, and soldiers’ families…”

The surrounding officials wanted to cover their ears.

The Crown Prince could afford to say such things—they couldn’t afford to hear them!

Earnestly, the Crown Prince continued, “So my family isn’t all that particular about rules. You all know Lady Zhang, right?”

The officials nodded reflexively.

The first concubine the Emperor took after rising to power—they knew.

“And Lady Zhang’s daughter, the County Lady of Wanquan? You’re aware of her too, right?”

Again, the officials nodded.

Lady Zhang had a daughter with her previous husband, who wasn’t considered part of the imperial lineage. She was raised as a noblewoman and given a title—though not Princess status, she was granted a County Lady’s rank.

The Crown Prince clapped his hands and spread them wide: “Isn’t that simple? My father has always had a very straightforward mindset—he believes the more descendants, the better. Before he became emperor, he even adopted a large number of foster sons and went around boasting that he had a hundred sons. In reality, his biological children numbered fewer than ten. Back then, he would often lament to me about how unfortunate it was that Zhang Meiren’s child with her former husband wasn’t a boy. If it were, they could have gone to war together as father and son, which would have given him more confidence in fights.”

“I even remember he once had this crazy idea: he would take concubines, and his retainers would secretly visit his harem to impregnate them. This way, he could produce as many sons as possible in the shortest time and expand the family. For this goal, not a single one of his concubines was shorter than seven feet tall. The only reason this plan didn’t succeed was because he hadn’t anticipated how extraordinarily gifted he was. He conquered the world in just thirteen years, leaving no time to implement it. After becoming emperor, such things were no longer feasible.”

Prime Minister Dou’s pupils shook in shock.

The Six Ministers’ pupils shook in shock.

No wonder they’d always felt that the emperor gave them strange looks back during the wars—especially the generals. No wonder the emperor would occasionally sleep foot-to-foot with them and inquire after their health… particularly their height!

All the officials collectively wore expressions of utter despair.

Why did they have to know these things? Crown Prince, couldn’t you just keep these stories to yourself?

The Crown Prince cast them a sidelong glance and shook his head: “Why are you all so conservative?” After shaking his head, he let out a long sigh, clearly frustrated by their outdated ways.

“So, from beginning to end, my father despised the Crown Grandson and Consort Qin for cuckolding him. He was never angry about the issue of muddling the bloodline. Do you understand?”

In any case, even if this matter hadn’t been exposed, Consort Qin’s child would have had no chance of inheriting the throne.

As a simple farmer, my father was overjoyed at having more sons to work the fields. Let alone the fact that this son carried his own blood.

The Six Ministers nodded in a daze.

Understood.

But we didn’t want to understand.

The Crown Prince looked at the dumbfounded expressions of the high-ranking officials and suddenly felt a rush of satisfaction greater than ever before. It turned out that watching others lose their composure was an unparalleled joy!

The Crown Prince smiled with restrained glee: “So, there’s nothing about the matter between Consort Qin and the Crown Grandson that can shock me anymore…”

【Wait! Consort Qin wanted to terminate the pregnancy because of the Empress!】

“What—”

The Crown Prince’s pupils contracted, and the next second, he covered his mouth.

… Ouch, bit my tongue.

But he still couldn’t suppress his disbelief.

What did you say?!

Consort Qin wanted to terminate the pregnancy for whom?!

【For the Empress, to prevent her from being criticized!!!】

【Wow! For over a month now, the Empress has been visiting her daily and showing her care.】

【Wow!!! Consort Qin even told the Empress that she was just the daughter of a farmer. The Crown Grandson, so noble and handsome, had confessed his love for her. She felt both overwhelmed and grateful, thinking it was a miracle that someone so lowly could be cherished by someone so lofty. She said she was willing to die for him to repay that love.】

【Then! She said she’d realized that the Crown Grandson’s feelings weren’t true love. It was the Empress who truly loved her.】

Clatter—

Prime Minister Dou dropped the imperial tablet he was holding.

What does she mean by saying the Empress truly loves her?!

Could it be that Consort Qin has feelings for the Empress…

【Caring for her as a person, not as the Emperor’s concubine, the Crown Grandson’s mistress, or the mother of the Emperor’s great-grandson.】

Prime Minister Dou: “…”

He exhaled deeply and used his robe sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Xu Yanmiao, could you stop pausing in your speech like that! A missing word here and there could scare people to death. At seventy-seven years old, I can’t take this kind of shock anymore.

“Phew—”

Several officials took deep breaths.

That scared us too!

We didn’t even dare to breathe a moment ago!

【Rumors were spreading that she was unchaste, and although the Empress had suppressed them quickly, a few whispers still reached her ears. Originally, she had thought to live on for the sake of the child in her womb. But she didn’t want to tarnish the Empress’s reputation, the Empress who had protected her, and cause people to call her naive or incompetent for sheltering a ‘fallen woman.’】

【So, when no one was paying attention, she threw herself down the stairs. The blood pooled into a long trail. How tragic. Ji Sui’s actions were truly vile—if he hadn’t gone to the Emperor with his lecture on “Lessons for Women,” none of this would have happened…】

【It’s so tragic that even eating melons doesn’t feel enjoyable anymore…】

【Sigh. Thank goodness she doesn’t know what the Crown Grandson said to Ji Sui in prison. If she did, she might just jump into a lake after being saved by the Imperial Physician.】

What did the Crown Grandson say in prison?

Although they knew they shouldn’t be listening, curiosity got the better of them… The officials, just recovering from the Consort Qin and Empress revelation, couldn’t help but want to dig their own graves again.

One by one, they leaned forward, their curiosity piqued, ears perking up.

【Oh, oh, oh! Just as it was mentioned, his uncle slapped him across the face—a dramatic reversal of the emotional reunion when the uncle welcomed his nephew out of prison. The Crown Grandson was left dumbfounded, clutching his face in disbelief. Hahaha!】

【But it’s no wonder—this Crown Grandson has the nerve to say anything…】

【Tsk, tsk… ‘I don’t want to leave. Ah Zeng is dead; I don’t want to live anymore!’ Not wanting to live, yet he didn’t starve himself or anything before, huh?】

【And ‘If I had known, I would have taken Ah Zeng and rebelled against this court, abandoning my status as the Crown Grandson. We could have fled to Dali and lived as a pair of immortal lovers, envying neither gods nor kings!’】

Wha… what?!

The officials widened their eyes in disbelief and exchanged glances. Was this supposed to be an expression of love? It sounded more like a death wish for the other party!

Clatter—

The Prime Minister Dou, who had just picked up his fallen imperial tablet, slipped and dropped it again. This time, he bent over, frozen mid-motion, completely stunned. Old age had made him mishear things. He thought he heard something about… rebelling against the court? That must have been a mistake… right?

Prime Minister Dou clenched his fists, knuckles cracking.

How could his younger sister have a grandson like this? They should have drowned him in a washbasin when he was three days old. At the end of the hall, the Commander of the Imperial Guards felt his scalp tingle, his face turning pale.

—They had just returned because the Emperor wanted to bring the Crown Prince along. And upon their return, they overheard…

“Rebel against the court? Quit being the Crown Grandson?” The Emperor repeated the words, laughing in rage. “Fine. I’d like to see if he truly has the guts for that.”