Chapter 220: Chapter 220: Don’t Be Angry, I Love You Very Much...

The Imperial Physician had only just checked her pulse a few days ago and declared her healthy. There was no mistake, so Xie Jinbai didn’t insist on calling for him.

His large, warm hand moved of its own accord to rest on her lower abdomen, warming it.

Before long, Cui Lingyao felt the dull, pulling ache begin to fade.

A pleasant warmth spread through her abdomen, and it was very comfortable.

She lay on her side, burying her head in the hollow of his shoulder and humming in contentment. She didn’t forget to praise him in a small voice, "You’re truly useful in the winter."

Xie Jinbai: "..."

He didn’t say a word.

They were both naked, holding each other without a stitch of clothing between them.

It suddenly occurred to Cui Lingyao. She tilted her head up to look at him. "Is this hard for you?"

The smooth line of his jaw tensed abruptly at her words.

"What do you think?" Xie Jinbai grumbled, rubbing her stomach as he let out a derisive snort. "You’re tormenting me so much I’m about to become a saint."

Cui Lingyao actually felt a rare pang of guilt.

She was the one who had started this on a whim, seducing him.

And she was also the one who had left him high and dry, abandoning their efforts midway.

She blinked. "It doesn’t hurt as much anymore," she ventured. "Should we... continue? We could try again..."

’How strange.’

’She actually knew how to be considerate of others.’

A sweet warmth filled Xie Jinbai’s heart. He held her closer. "You’re so delicate. I’m afraid I’ll hurt you."

She was already injured, after all.

And with her menstrual period approaching, he wasn’t some kind of beast. Surely he could endure for a few days.

Since he said there was no need, Cui Lingyao didn’t press the issue.

She rested in his arms, wanting to talk with him a little longer.

But then she heard him say, "Go to sleep. It’s late."

Cui Lingyao was struck speechless.

She felt a stifling sensation, as if a torrent of emotions was caught in her throat.

She vaguely sensed that he seemed to be intentionally avoiding conversation with her.

In the past, whenever they had a heart-to-heart, he had always been so eager and proactive.

Now, he was avoiding it.

Cui Lingyao felt a sense of unease. She tilted her head up from his embrace, trying to see his expression.

But Xie Jinbai didn’t look down.

She could only see his jaw and his slightly prominent Adam’s apple.

After a standoff that lasted a few breaths, seeing that he still wouldn’t look at her, Cui Lingyao’s vexation grew. She pushed him away and turned over to sleep on her own.

His arms suddenly empty, Xie Jinbai froze for a second.

He looked at the girl beside him, who was clearly in a sulk, but surprisingly, he didn’t move closer.

And so, the two of them lay there, side by side.

Cui Lingyao didn’t know what she was waiting for.

After waiting for a while and seeing that he still hadn’t moved, she pressed her lips together, closed her eyes, and fell asleep just like that.

The breathing of the girl beside him grew long and steady.

She had entered the land of dreams.

Only then did Xie Jinbai move. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back into his embrace.

She had fallen asleep angry. Her long lashes fanned out against her eyelids, her lips were crimson, and her cheeks were still slightly puffed in a charming pout.

It was an incredibly endearing sight.

Xie Jinbai gazed at her for a long moment before lowering his head and pressing his lips to her eyelashes.

’Don’t be angry. I love you so much.’

’So much...’

...

「The next day.」

When Cui Lingyao woke, the space beside her in bed was, as expected, already cold.

’Who knows how early that man woke up.’

’Is he so afraid of running into me when I wake up?’

’If he wants to avoid me, why bother coming back at night at all?’

’Anyway, I’m injured right now and can’t satisfy him physically.’

’He doesn’t even need to make time to sleep with me anymore.’

The more Cui Lingyao thought about it, the angrier she became. After finishing her breakfast, she couldn’t take it anymore and slammed her hand on the table. "Pack our things! We’re moving back!"

’Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say.’

’My living here in the study every day must be an eyesore to him.’

’It’s made him want to keep his distance.’

With the end of the year approaching, several of the important rear courtyards had been renovated, and the main courtyard, in particular, had been readied long ago.

It was just waiting for its mistress to return.

The moment Cui Lingyao gave the order, her four personal maids sprang into action.

After living in the study for over a month, she had accumulated a fair number of belongings—not too many, but not too few either.

The servants were quick and efficient, and everything was packed by noon.

Li Yong saw the commotion but didn’t dare to intervene. He could only report it to his master.

But today, Xie Jinbai was truly busy.

For the assassination attempt at the Horse Racing Ground, Zhao Shijie had first taken the lead. He had meticulously unraveled the plot, and all the clues pointed directly to the Prince Ping Mansion and the Empress.

Having reached this point, Xie Jinbai would no longer allow anyone to muddy the waters. He transferred the case directly to the Three Ministries for a formal trial.

Within eight days, all the evidence of their crimes was laid out and presented in a memorial placed before the old Emperor’s sickbed.

「Taiji Palace.」

Only the father and son were present.

The Emperor was propped up on the dragon bed; he hadn’t opened the folded memorial.

Confined to his bed for years, his face was aged and his spirits were low.

Xie Jinbai stood beside the bed with a slight bow. "Why don’t you take a look, Father Emperor?"

"Whether I look at it or not, the result is the same."

The old Emperor looked at the Prince he relied on most, a faint smile touching his weary eyes. "My son, how do you wish to handle them?"

Xie Jinbai replied, "For openly plotting to murder a Prince Consort, according to Da Yue Law, the punishment is the execution of nine generations of their clan. However, considering they are members of the Imperial Family, a decreed suicide would suffice."

"No," the Emperor said, slowly shaking his head. "One of them is your mother, the Empress, and the other is your own uncle. Even if they are guilty, their crime is not punishable by death."

To make a dignified Empress and a Prince of the blood pay with their lives for a mere Prince Consort would be a laughingstock.

Especially when said Prince Consort is still alive and perfectly well.

The noble do not answer to the lowly.

Let alone pay with their lives.

Xie Jinbai pressed his lips together, conceding a step. "Then I ask Father Emperor to announce to the public that I am not the Empress’s biological son, list her crimes, and issue an edict deposing her. As for Prince Ping, place him under house arrest for life in the Prince Ping Mansion."

"Unacceptable."

The Emperor shook his head again. "Although the Empress is not your birth mother, you owe her for raising you. If you have me depose her for the sake of a woman, you will be accused of valuing your wife over your mother, of being unfilial and unjust. It would damage your reputation."

"I do not care about that," Xie Jinbai said. "Anyone who dares to gossip will be punished accordingly."

Inside Taiji Palace, face to face with the Emperor, his powerful aura was not the least bit suppressed. It remained just as sharp and formidable.

He already carried the air of a golden dragon ready to take flight.

The old Emperor didn’t seem offended. Instead, he chuckled. "Your fearsome reputation precedes you. Of course, no one today would dare to question your actions. But you cannot change the historian’s brush. Future generations will be free to pass their own judgment."

No Emperor is indifferent to their posthumous reputation.

Xie Jinbai was no different.

But if that reputation came into conflict with Cui Lingyao’s safety...

...he would discard it without a second thought.

However, while he might be willing to discard it, the Emperor would not permit it.

This was the heir he had painstakingly cultivated; he would absolutely not allow him to be stained by the slightest hint of scandal.

This was unacceptable.

That was forbidden.

Xie Jinbai gripped the memorial in his hand, his voice dropping. "So, Father Emperor believes that for plotting to murder my wife, for intending to send me into a spiral from which I could not recover, they should pay no price at all?"

He was insisting on an answer.

The Emperor sighed and shook his head. "Your temperament is so unsteady, so easily swayed by a woman. How can I possibly entrust the realm to you?"

Any other Prince, upon hearing such words, would likely be both shocked and overjoyed, and would have immediately begged for forgiveness in trembling fear.

But Xie Jinbai stood ramrod straight, his tone light. "As a husband, I only wish to protect my own wife. What is so wrong about that?"

The Emperor looked at his son, pondered for a few moments, and said, "You want an answer. Very well, I will give you an answer."

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