Chapter 76: Twice in a Row part 1
While the Bai family was preparing for their housewarming banquet, the atmosphere inside the Empress’s bedchamber in the palace was incredibly delicate.
The Second Prince sat on a low stool by the bed, his eyes cast downward as he quietly carved something into a pearl smaller than a fingernail with a small knife, turning a deaf ear to the Empress’s words.
The Empress finally lost her patience and took a deep breath. Her tactful tone finally hardened into something cold and rigid. “Did you hear what I said or not?”
The Second Prince didn’t even raise his head. His voice remained perfectly calm, without a single ripple of emotion. “Naturally, I heard you. I am not deaf.”
The Empress hadn’t fully recovered yet. Lying there, she was panting slightly from having spoken too much. She no longer possessed the dignified, virtuous, and magnanimous aura she displayed in front of outsiders; instead, she stared darkly at the Second Prince. “So, what is your answer? Do you truly not care at all about the grace of my raising you all these years? If it weren’t for me, do you think you could have remained safely in the palace? If it weren’t for me, how would you have a legitimate and honorable identity? The Crown Prince was merely momentarily misguided. As long as I don’t pursue the matter, and His Majesty doesn’t pursue it, you just need to publicly declare it was all a misunderstanding, and the Crown Prince can be released.”
The Second Prince listened until she finished before slowly raising his eyes to look at her calmly. “You are wrong.”
The Empress glared at him with dissatisfaction. “Wrong about what?”
The Second Prince replied, “First, he is no longer the Crown Prince; he is the former Crown Prince. Second, it wasn’t you who gave me a legitimate identity; it was Imperial Father who gave you two choices back then. Either let me stay in the palace as an adopted son—I would still be a prince, just with a difference in bloodline—or you could fake a pregnancy to act as my biological mother. And the result? To show off your magnanimity, you chose the second option. But are you truly that magnanimous? You know the answer to that better than anyone. Third, the grace of raising me? All these years, in order to suppress me, you told the outside world that I was in poor health and almost never allowed me to appear in front of others. As for raising me, have you ever seen anyone ‘well-raised’ on a single tube of the most basic nutrient supplement a day? Oh, right, and even that required me to beg you bitterly just to drink it, or else I would go hungry. Even those nutrient supplements weren’t from your own assets. Do you want me to recount all these past events, piece by piece, to my good Imperial Father, who only cared about giving birth but not about raising me?”
The Empress’s expression finally changed. “But that was because…”
“Because you were jealous. You spoke of magnanimity, but in reality, weren’t you infuriated by the deep affection Imperial Father showed toward my biological mother? You didn’t dare do anything to him, so you could only take your anger out on me. To make him believe you were truly magnanimous, you deliberately acted as if you treated me better and cared for me more than the Crown Prince. Haha, and the result? You lied to the very end—you didn’t fool yourself, you didn’t fool me, you only fooled your good son. He actually believed you treated me better than him. He went mad with jealousy, which is why he orchestrated this whole spectacle. Blame His Majesty for the situation today; it is his selfishness, cowardice, and incompetence. If you have the ability, go make him release the Crown Prince. Tell me, would he dare to release a son who wants to kill him?”
The Empress’s face turned even paler. “You hate me, don’t you? Even though I’ve changed and treated you very well these past few years, you still hate me, don’t you?”
After speaking, the Second Prince lowered his head and continued carving the pearl as if nothing had happened, stating calmly, “You’re overthinking it. Where would I find the energy to hate you? Hating you would only mean I still care. But look at you, why would I hate someone who is more pathetic than I am now?”
But the Empress didn’t believe him. “I realized my mistakes long ago. You’ve grown up now and haven’t suffered any real hardship; why won’t you move forward? Even if it’s just to repay me, to pity me, could you please talk to His Majesty and ask him to spare my imperial son? His Majesty feels guilty towards you. If you speak up, he will definitely listen.”
The Second Prince finally stopped. Gripping the small knife, he slowly raised his eyes. “Move forward? I want to move forward, but whenever I close my eyes, I remember the anxious heart I had when I came looking for my biological father, only to be tossed to you like unwanted baggage.
“I can’t forget myself back then, unable to control my transformation, desperate for water. I needed to soak in water. But you? You sat up there, high and mighty, just watching me struggle like a dying dog. The scales on my body dried up and fell off one by one, until I was down to my last breath, and only then did you graciously toss me into the pond. Haha, and you tell me to move forward? This went on for five years. Until I could control my mental power, until I could stop transforming into a mermaid. Five years, nearly two thousand days and nights, and you tell me to forget and move forward? I still remember the despair and pain when the scales fell off my body—can you understand that?
“You don’t understand, because you believe that leaving me alive was already your charity. I didn’t turn out crooked only because I didn’t want to end up as disgusting as you people one day. In the end, I didn’t turn out crooked, but that prince you were so proud of went mad first. Haha, tell me, is this considered karma?”
Every word made the Empress cough violently. She had forgotten these things long ago. She thought he was too young back then to remember. Now, decades later, hearing them brought up again finally filled her with terror. “What… what exactly do you want to do?”
The Second Prince chuckled softly. “I don’t want to do anything. I just want to see you spend the rest of your long years in remorse. You see, when a person does something wrong, even if they don’t get their comeuppance at first, they will face divine punishment. You want me to let the Crown Prince off, but His Majesty isn’t willing. Not only that, he even wants me to be the Crown Prince. Tell me, should I take the position or not?”
The Empress stopped coughing, her face flushed red. “You cannot take it. That position belongs to my imperial son; it can only be his. Without the eldest, there is still the third. He hasn’t made any mistakes; he is the true heir.”
The Second Prince slowly put away the half-carved pearl and the small knife. As if he hadn’t heard the Empress’s words at all, he stood up, brushed the pearl dust off his clothes, and smiled gently. “Time’s up. Imperial Father asked me to come keep you company. See, how obedient I am. But Imperial Father only told me to keep you company; he never said I had to obey your orders. Rest assured, I will come again tomorrow. I don’t know if I’ll have the chance once I become the Crown Prince, but don’t worry, even if I do become the Crown Prince, I will make time to come tell you.”
“You!” The Empress violently coughed up a mouthful of blood, but the Second Prince didn’t look back, nor did he even pause his steps.
He merely kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, still bearing a lingering layer of sorrow. The scars etched into his body—even if they had healed and disappeared, the past that hurt with a single touch was something he could never possibly forget.
He hated the imperial palace. He hated this identity. Compared to the Empress, he loathed His Majesty even more.
Didn’t he want to make him the Crown Prince? Then he would grant his wish and give him a grand gift.
On the other side, after Ning Yunyi said he wouldn’t let Zong Hao drink wine, the latter—whether out of a guilty conscience or fear of truly making a fool of himself in front of so many people—didn’t touch a single drop of wine throughout the housewarming banquet, quietly eating his roast meat instead.
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thank you for the chapter!