Chapter Thirty: With Child

Li Tinghan could not help but lower his head to kiss her lips. "Is Xiaobai hoping for a daughter?"

Shen Tubai wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded solemnly.

She was naturally charming and alluring. Even without any makeup, her habit of looking at people with wide, round eyes made them feel an instinctive sense of intimacy. At this moment, after eating a few spicy dishes, her face was flushed with a faint rosy hue, as if she had just applied rouge. The youthful innocence in her features had faded, making her appear all the more captivating.

"Eating vegetables alone won't be enough to produce a daughter!" Li Tinghan scooped her up and carried her toward the bed curtains.

For the next few days, Shen Tubai accompanied him in indulgence, not stopping until the excess energy provided by the medicinal tonics had been completely spent.

Just as the two were working hard to conceive, a thunderclap shook the inner courtyard. A piece of news spread like wildfire into everyone's ears: Qin Hongmian was three months pregnant, with the conception dating back exactly to the few days Li Tinghan had brought her back.

Previously, everyone in the manor had tacitly assumed that Qin Hongmian had never shared an intimate relationship with Li Tinghan. The sudden emergence of a pregnancy caught everyone off guard.

Lu Yuanshuang was the first to jump up in opposition. "How can a bastard of unknown origin be accepted as the Prince's heir?"

She was fuming, even more incensed than she had been when dealing with Shen Tubai. Perhaps remembering the lessons from past encounters, she did not go directly to harass Qin Hongmian despite her rage, but instead summoned the others to deliberate.

Though she called it a deliberation, it was, in truth, a one-sided tirade of curses directed at Qin Hongmian while she sat in her chair. Ever since the incident with the human placenta, Lu Yuanshuang had stopped pretending altogether, letting all manner of venomous words spill from her lips without a second thought.

Consort Tang increased the volume of her scripture chanting, and occasionally, when things became too excessive, Consort Zhu would speak up to retort.

As for Shen Tubai... she kept her eyes down, acting as if she were blind and deaf.

The servants below whispered that since Qin Hongmian had been brought to the Prince's residence, Li Tinghan had never once visited her chambers. However, if the child was conceived outside the manor...

Li Tinghan had clearly retreated the moment he discovered someone was inside. If he truly had the ability to make anyone he looked at pregnant, the rumors of the Prince of Yan being unable to produce an heir would not have been swirling everywhere to this day.

Shen Tubai felt that the matter of Qin Hongmian was not so simple.

Just like herself, having been sent to the Prince's residence by the Cui family, it was possible that Qin Hongmian was also a pawn placed by someone with ulterior motives. The Cui family had been bold enough to risk smuggling an infant into the manor during the ten-month birthing period; it was not inconceivable that someone would dump a woman who was already pregnant onto Li Tinghan.

Yet, Shen Tubai could not figure out the logic. Even if one wanted to contest the inheritance, the child would need to be at least a teenager to be of any use. The Prince of Yan was in his prime; who knew how many children he might have in the future? Was it not a bit too hasty to be planting fake heirs now?

Shen Tubai felt restless. These matters were too far removed from her, and it was not her place to interfere. Sitting here was merely a waste of time.

"You usually have so much to say! Now that this secondary consort has come to ask for your ideas, have you all turned mute?" Consort Lu was furious.

Shen Tubai’s impatience was written clearly on her face. Just as she was about to find an excuse to leave, she saw Lu Yuanshuang suddenly stand up, with Yin Zhu hurriedly following her.

"Fine, fine, fine! You are all such noble souls, and I am the only poisonous woman." As she stormed toward the exit, Shen Tubai took a closer look and realized that Yin Zhu was holding a bowl of steaming medicinal broth.

Shen Tubai was shocked by her actions. "What are you doing?"

Consort Lu gritted her teeth. "I am going to finish her and the monster in her womb. I will not let the reputation of this manor be destroyed by her."

"Are you insane? The Prince hasn't spoken yet—how can you be so certain that the child in her belly isn't his?"

Shen Tubai was appalled on every level. She had heard plenty of stories about the underhanded tactics used in grand households, but was Lu Yuanshuang really going to charge in so openly?

"What do you mean?" Lu Yuanshuang looked at Shen Tubai with indignation. She felt that on this matter, all the other women in the manor should share her sentiments and rally behind her. Yet, at this critical moment, Shen Tubai was contradicting her.

"Do you know what it would mean if her child were born? If that monster in her belly becomes the eldest son of the manor, how will Cousin face the world?"

Shen Tubai’s political intuition was not particularly sharp, but recently, there had been whispers everywhere. Since the Empress Dowager had ascended the throne as Emperor, perhaps in a few years or a decade, they might all move into the imperial palace. After all, the Empress Dowager was advanced in age and could not bear another son. Currently, the only remaining descendant of the Empress Dowager in Chang'an was the Prince of Yan.

If there were those who had previously supported the three-year-old Grandson to cater to the Empress Dowager's whims, now that she sat firmly on the throne, the only possible successor was the Prince of Yan.

If the first heir born to the Prince of Yan now were to become the future Crown Prince, or even...

No one dared to finish that sentence, but everyone thought it. Consequently, many people were waiting to take the life of an infant whose royal bloodline could not be verified.

Shen Tubai took a sip of tea. "Whether or not the child belongs to the Prince, the Prince knows better than anyone. Furthermore, there is the Ancestral Temple—there is no room for us to intervene."

Shen Tubai knew her place well. It was not her business to comment on these things, but since she was sitting here, she could not watch Lu Yuanshuang commit such a folly. If something were to happen, everyone present would inevitably be implicated.

Lu Yuanshuang sneered and, without another word, turned to leave. "I knew you were all unreliable. I never expected you to stand with me. I will go and end her myself."

"Where are you going?" Li Tinghan, arriving late, blocked Lu Yuanshuang's path.

"Your Highness." Everyone bowed in unison, save for Lu Yuanshuang, who stood with her neck stiff, her face full of defiance.

Li Tinghan’s gaze fell upon the bowl of medicine. Recalling his cousin's usual temperament, he had already guessed most of what was inside. "Go back!"

"Cousin! This is a matter of the utmost importance regarding the lineage; you must not be soft-hearted." Lu Yuanshuang stamped her foot, her expression one of utter frustration. "I know you are too kind to do such a thing, so I will do it. If the Empress Dowager blames anyone, I will take full responsibility."

Li Tinghan was overcome with a headache.

Shen Tubai spoke up at the opportune moment. "The Prince surely has his own plans regarding the truth of the matter. We should simply wait and see. The unborn child is innocent, after all; all this talk of killing—"

"If there is divine retribution, I will bear it myself!" Lu Yuanshuang interrupted with a cold laugh. "I already have enough karmic debt on my soul; what does one more matter? Even if I remain childless for the rest of my life, I cannot stand by and watch her trample the dignity of the Prince of Yan's residence underfoot. I will bear the consequences!"

Shen Tubai felt a sudden jolt in her heart. The look in Li Tinghan’s eyes as he watched Lu Yuanshuang had indeed changed.