Tianliangyuan

Chapter 467 The Position of the Prince

After everyone left, Xie Zheng sat down on the bed. At this moment, Xu Zhaozhao's shoulders were trembling, and occasionally a few sounds could be heard.

Xie Zheng thought she was crying because she was sad, and for a moment he froze, not knowing how to comfort her.

"Don't cry. I... I didn't intend to take a concubine, nor did I intend to find another woman."

Xu Zhaozhao's shoulders stiffened for a moment, then moved again.

This time the shaking frequency was even higher.

Xie Zheng thought he had said something wrong, so he quickly coaxed, "Really not! I really don't want to find anyone else. I only want you. Let's spend our lives together, one love for life, one couple for life. I promise I will never let you down!"

This time, Xu Zhaozhao's shoulders stopped trembling, but her head was moving, and the sounds coming through her fingers became more frequent.

"Zhao Zhao?"

Xu Zhaozhao was turned over by Xie Zheng, and when he looked at her, she burst into tears!

His own daughter-in-law was laughing so hard she was shaking, her eyes were red, and she looked like she was about to cry from laughing.

Xie Zheng was a smart man; how could he not understand what was going on?

"Zhaozhao, you've gone astray!"

"No way! I wasn't crying at all. You misjudged the situation, and you're trying to pin that on me?"

Xie Zheng choked. Okay, he did think she was crying, but who would have thought she was lying on the bed laughing so happily!

"Okay, my bad."

Xie Zheng may not be good at anything else, but he's number one at admitting mistakes.

Given this attitude, Xu Zhaozhao couldn't possibly be truly angry with Xie Zheng.

And of course, she would be happy if her man could slide on his knees like that in front of her.

"Cough, cough."

He laughed so hard that he choked.

Xie Zheng quickly brought her some warm water, and Xu Zhaozhao drank several mouthfuls before she recovered.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just choked a little. Why are you back now?"

"Nothing urgent, so I came back naturally."

Xu Zhaozhao glared at him, and Xie Zheng said helplessly, "They made plans to go out for drinks together, but I didn't want to go, so I came back."

"Alright, now that you're back, we can have a chat."

Xu Zhaozhao is still in her postpartum period, so she usually goes to bed early at night. Even if she is not very sleepy, she can fall asleep as long as she wants to.

"His Majesty intends for the young prince to have more contact with us. Do you understand His Majesty's meaning?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Zheng first looked around.

"Don't worry, the person has already been sent away. Besides, our private conversation won't get out."

Xie Zheng was silent for a moment: "Do you think His Majesty considers you a lucky star, so he wants the little prince to share in your good fortune and grow up healthily?"

"On the surface, it seems so. But His Highness clearly doesn't think that way. And I can see that he has ambition in his eyes. When he came last time, he inadvertently revealed his dissatisfaction with the Empress and Prince An."

Actually, it was just a small grumble that Xu Zhaozhao overheard.

Of course, besides that, there was also what Xu Zhaozhao knew using her special abilities.

The source of the information wasn't important; what mattered was that she had genuinely sensed the young prince's dissatisfaction with the Empress and Prince An.

This is interesting.

The young prince is the legitimate son of the emperor. Why would he harbor hostility towards his own mother and elder brother?

Is he a born scoundrel, obsessed with power, or is there something else going on?

Xu Zhaozhao had already figured out a way to find out the truth, because she asked the young prince to bring the potted plant from his bedroom next time he came.

To be honest, it was His Highness who brought it up first.

He said he had been taking care of that potted plant for a long time, but it looked wilted recently.

Xu Zhaozhao said she had some experience in this area, so the young prince offered to bring the potted plant next time and ask Xu Zhaozhao to take care of it for a few days.

"We need to make more preparations. In my opinion, His Majesty will soon appoint a crown prince. What do you think will happen in the court?"

Xie Zheng's expression was serious: "The original intention of establishing a crown prince is to stabilize the foundation of the country and reassure both the court and the people inside and outside the court. But in reality, it may mean that another bloody storm is about to break out."

“You’re right, so we need to prepare early. Even if a crown prince is appointed, we must maintain the right attitude. As long as His Majesty is alive, we are only loyal to His Majesty. There is absolutely no need to support a crown prince whose future is uncertain.”

Xie Zheng frowned, somewhat disagreeing with the statement, but ultimately said nothing.

Sure enough, a few days later, rumors spread throughout the court that His Majesty intended to establish a crown prince, and various factions naturally began their own competition.

Since Xu Zhaozhao was able to foresee some things, she would naturally try her best to make the worst-case scenario plan and make arrangements in all aspects.

If nothing unexpected happens, His Majesty will appoint Prince An as Crown Prince.

After discussing it, Xu Zhaozhao and Xie Zheng decided to keep a low profile and for both families to try to avoid getting involved in other people's affairs.

Xu Han didn't think it was a big problem, after all, His Majesty was still alive.

Xu Zhaozhao could foresee that the future of the world would inevitably fall into the hands of the eldest son of the emperor, so she should still befriend those who deserved it.

However, it cannot be too much.

Therefore, Xu Zhaozhao took the opportunity of entering the palace to express her gratitude and also paid her respects to the Empress.

Empress Qu originally wanted to win over Xu Zhaozhao, knowing that she had the Xie and Xu families backing her. Once they were both on her side, Prince An's position as crown prince would be secure.

In fact, Empress Qu now also believes that His Majesty will make Prince An the Crown Prince, after all, Prince An is the legitimate son, and His Majesty's attitude towards Prince An has been very good lately.

But we must not be careless about anything.

Moreover, it would certainly be beneficial for Prince An to receive more assistance.

“Before giving birth, you sent people to visit me many times. According to the rules, I should have gone to the palace to express my gratitude as soon as possible. However, I was not feeling well at the time, and I have troubled Your Majesty with worry.”

"I hope you can give birth to two sons smoothly! His Majesty often says that you are well-behaved, sensible, and filial. He has said many times that he wants to adopt you as his goddaughter, but your father always refuses. If he had, you would be calling me 'Mother' now!"

Xu Zhaozhao smiled, knowing that the Empress was trying to win her over.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I brought some longevity wine for Your Highness when I entered the palace today. However, it is different from the wine Your Majesty drinks. It contains some medicinal herbs that can help women replenish their qi and blood, so the taste is also different."

Empress Qu naturally welcomed such a clear gesture of goodwill with open arms.

In fact, Empress Qu and Xu Zhaozhao didn't need to say anything to the outside world. The fact that Xu Zhaozhao went to pay her respects to the Empress after seeing His Majesty was enough to explain the situation.

In particular, when Xu Zhaozhao left the palace, the young prince accompanied her to see her off.

This small detail alone is enough to make all parties ponder.

The Jiang family had anticipated that the Xu family would not support the Prince Zhong's Mansion, but they did not expect them to be so direct.