Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

“Ah… Your Highness… Don’t do this…”

“Ah Zhen, my Ah Zhen, it’s my fault. I can’t live without you. Please come back to me.”

“It’s impossible, Your Highness. I’ve entered the palace and become His Majesty’s concubine. If the emperor finds out about us… Don’t… we can’t…”

“Ah Zhen, you smell so good… Can the emperor satisfy you? He’s old now!”

Blushing and heart-racing sounds emerged from within the rock garden.@@novelbin@@

Outside the rock garden, the emperor’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. A group of eunuchs followed him, cold sweat dripping from their foreheads. They didn’t dare to make a sound, pretending to be dead.

“Drag them out!”

With the emperor’s command, the eunuchs pounced like wolves and tigers. Sharp cries from a man and a woman echoed from within. Shortly after, they were dragged out, their hair disheveled, outer robes hastily thrown over their bodies without even tying the belts, leaving them looking utterly disheveled.

The Crown Grandson trembled. “G-Grandfather…”

The Crown Grandson was sent rolling, and when he managed to get up, one side of his face was swollen, and a bloodied tooth lay on the ground.

“Beast!”

The emperor’s face contorted with rage. “That’s your grandmother!”

The Crown Grandson held his face, forcing himself to stand straight. “Grandfather! She’s my mistress! You took her by force!”

“Pfft—”

The emperor’s eyes lowered in disdain as he sneered at him. “The entire realm belongs to me. Not just a mere mistress—even you, the Crown Grandson—if I want you on my bed, you’d better comply.”

The Crown Grandson, experiencing the harsh reality of life for the first time, was utterly stunned, his expression blank.

The emperor said coldly, “Qi’er, you are not the emperor yet.”

“Men! Strip the Crown Grandson of his luxurious robes. Dress him in coarse sackcloth and send him to the Ministry of Justice prison in a caged cart!”

The Crown Grandson opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a word.

Is this the same grandfather who has always doted on me?

He’s sending me to prison in a caged cart? Grandfather, how can you treat me like this! Being imprisoned is an enormous blow to my dignity!

Suddenly, a figure lunged forward, clinging to the emperor’s pants. “Your Majesty! It’s not the Crown Grandson’s fault! I seduced him! Please, don’t imprison the Crown Grandson! He’s the heir apparent—sending him to prison is a public humiliation!”

The Crown Grandson’s eyes welled up. “Ah Zhen…”

The woman turned her teary gaze toward him, then seemed to steel herself, whipping her head around with a tragic yet resolute expression.

“Your Majesty! This matter has nothing to do with the Crown Grandson! I coveted the splendor of the palace and entered it. Afterward, I was tempted by the Crown Grandson’s talent and beauty, and I seduced him. The Crown Grandson is still young—how could he resist my advances and ended up committing this indiscretion…”

“Ah Zhen!!!” The Crown Grandson cried out in a mixture of pain and sweetness. He knelt with a thud and wailed, “Grandfather! Emperor Grandfather! I beg you! Ah Zhen and I are deeply in love!”

The emperor coldly observed the pair of “star-crossed” lovers without a shred of compassion.

The Crown Grandson’s dignity?

Did he consider his grandfather’s dignity when he fooled around with his concubine?

Especially now that the entire court knew he was wearing a green hat!!!

And besides…

If you loved her so much, why didn’t you marry her openly as your wife back then? Even taking her as a concubine would’ve been acceptable. Instead, you degraded her to the status of a mistress and now have the audacity to call it true love?

Do you think your grandfather is too old and senile to see through this?

“What are you standing there for?” the emperor commanded coldly, his chest heaving with anger. “Drag them away now!”

The eunuchs’ coarse, labor-worn hands pinned the struggling Crown Grandson by his shoulders, the friction of fabric and footsteps making a scratching sound against the ground. Qin Zhen trembled violently as an indescribable fear seized her heart.

She could feel a cold gaze sweeping over her body, and the earthy scent of dust filled her nose with each shallow breath.

Qin Zhen’s trembling grew more intense.

If he wouldn’t even spare his own grandson, how could the emperor possibly let her go?

“Your Majesty—”

Her voice, cut through by the biting cold wind, became sharp and desperate.

“I’m already carrying the Crown Grandson’s child!”

“What?!”

The Crown Grandson froze, then burst into wild joy.

The emperor, however, nearly blacked out.

At this point, it was no longer about wearing a green hat but…

＊

[Oh my god! Qin Guiren is pregnant with the Crown Grandson’s child! It’s been a month!]

With the emperor absent, Xu Yanmiao naturally wouldn’t remain idle. He continued munching on the gossip, and what a juicy piece he bit into this time.

[Holy crap! Doesn’t this mean that if the emperor hadn’t caught them, he would’ve ended up raising someone else’s child?]

Exciting! Too exciting!

Xu Yanmiao gulped down his saliva, his throat dry with excitement.

The court officials: “!!!”

Their ears perked up instantly.

Gossip, everyone loves it. Quick! Tell us more, we’re all ears—after all, who would dare spread royal scandals ordinarily?

The court fell silent, except for the crackling of the nearby brazier, where dry firewood popped and released a charred fragrance.

Zheng Peng, the Minister of Rites, heard faint gulping sounds around him and found himself nervously swallowing as well. He was just short of shaking Xu Yanmiao’s shoulders and begging him to use that mysterious artifact of his called “the system.”

[How did they meet? Let me look it up.]

Here we go! Here we go!

The officials’ gazes burned with anticipation.

[Oh, oh! A life-saving encounter! The Crown Grandson fell off a cliff, was severely injured, and caught a fever. Back then, Qin Guiren, who was just a farm girl, saved him. She had no men in her family, so she took care of the Crown Grandson herself. One thing led to another, and they… well, you know.]