Everyone Wants To Harm Me - Chapter 85

Amidst the congratulations and laughter of the crowd, Dowager Consort De turned pale.

However, she still had to maintain a facade of happiness. After the banquet started, she drank a few glasses of wine before claiming she had a headache and excusing herself.
Perhaps she wasn’t lying—maybe she really did have a headache.

Prince Xin had said that he knew his limits. Last time, when Dowager Consort De celebrated her birthday, Lan Yue had claimed that they had never… How could she be pregnant after only three months?

I looked at Lan Yue closely. She seemed completely smug, especially when she glanced at me with a look of triumph. It was clear she wasn’t lying.

The third prince discreetly pointed at me under the table. “Your sister is pregnant. Are you unhappy? Don’t worry, let them have their child first. When we get married, you’ll catch up and have two babies within three years!”

Normally, I would have treated this as a joke, but I wasn’t in the mood to laugh. I asked him, “Your Highness, have you never thought to ask if I’m willing?”

He looked at me, surprised. “Marrying a prince, becoming a consort… and maybe even higher in the future. Who wouldn’t want that?”

“What if someone doesn’t want it?” I countered.

“You don’t want to marry me? Is it because I’m too young?” His expression suddenly darkened. “Or is there someone else…”

The last few words, he didn’t say aloud, given the occasion. But I knew what he meant: some wild man?

He had only ever used that phrase once, when he was delirious from the Wushisan. I thought he’d forgotten everything that happened that day.

Who is it? Prince Xin? Or the one I thought I saw with you last time… can’t remember. Doesn’t matter. Whoever it is, when I grow up and take the throne, I’ll have them all executed, families and all. Once you become my consort, you’re never allowed to think about anyone else. Even if I die first, you have to live like the dowager consorts—no remarriage, just lifelong mourning.

He grabbed my hand under the table. “Since Father Emperor gave you to me, in life, you’re mine. In death, you’re my ghost.”

His tone reminded me of the time he had pushed me into the water by the lotus pond and vowed to destroy me and send me to the King of Hell in vengeance for his mother. I had forgotten for a moment that he also had a cruel and cold side.

My heart skipped. I shook off his hand, picked up my chopsticks, and piled food into his bowl. “That’s right—I think you’re too young. Young and short. Better eat more so you can grow.”

The third prince finally smiled and picked up his chopsticks. “I like roasted deer and duck breast, give me more; but don’t bring me yellow sprouts or pine mushrooms—ugh, coriander! Disgusting!” He pushed all the food he disliked aside.

He picked food the same way he dealt with people.

After three rounds of wine with the ministers in the front hall, the Emperor moved to the Wuying Palace. Concubine Shu quickly informed him that Lan Yue was pregnant. Upon hearing this, the Emperor was pleased and said to Lan Yue, “This is the first great-grandson of the late emperor. Finally, the line of my elder brother has a successor. It’s a long-awaited wish fulfilled. Princess Xin, you have contributed greatly to the country.”

Lan Yue was delighted and knelt to thank him, saying, “It is my duty to expand the royal family, and I dare not take credit for it.”

She probably didn’t realize that what the Emperor meant by “contributing to the country” wasn’t quite what she thought.

The Emperor continued, “Prince Xin is a new father, but there are no elders in his mansion. I fear he won’t be able to care for her properly. Therefore, from now on, Princess Xin will stay in the palace and live in Fangyi Hall, where Concubine Shu will personally attend to her until she safely gives birth to a son. Also, bring your mother to the palace as well. At this time, your maternal family’s support is most considerate.”

Fangyi Hall had once been the residence of the former Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, and it was there that Prince Xin had been born. Since the Emperor had never formally appointed a crown prince, the hall had housed several princesses, but was now vacant.

Lan Yue was thrilled and thanked the emperor repeatedly. When she rose, she slipped on her knee. Concubine Shu quickly rushed over to help her up. “Did you fall?”

Lan Yue held her knee and shook her head.

“Since you’re pregnant, don’t drink anymore,” Concubine Shu advised. She then turned to the Emperor. “Your Majesty, may I leave for now and personally send Princess Xin to Fangyi Palace?”

The Emperor nodded, granting her permission to leave.

Lan Yue tried to decline, saying, “It would be impolite to leave early. I couldn’t trouble Concubine Shu to send me off. The banquet still needs to be hosted, and I can be accompanied by a female official.”

Concubine Shu scanned the room and then turned to me. “Please, County Princess, accompany your sister to Fangyi Palace on my behalf.”

I stood up and agreed.

Concubine Shu sent two female officials to make arrangements, with two female servants to assist.

As I walked toward Lan Yue, I extended my hand. She placed her hand on my arm.

I was concerned she might stumble, so I didn’t pull my arm away but let her hold it.

Lan Yue glanced at me from the corner of her eye: You’re not angry?

I didn’t have the time to be angry at her. And even if I were, it wouldn’t be over this.

Seeing I didn’t react, something else seemed to displease her. She got annoyed and started mentally composing all the miserable ways I might die.

With two of Concubine Shu’s maids behind us, I couldn’t say much. No one spoke along the way; the air felt strange.

When we arrived in front of Fangyi Palace, Lan Yue looked at the former Crown Princess’s residence, seeming to feel somewhat relieved. Forget it, no point fussing over all the butterflies and bees out there. I’m the main wife. As long as I give birth to a legitimate son, who could ever shake my position? When His Highness inherits the throne, there’ll be countless beauties and talented women in the harem. Am I supposed to be jealous of every single one? I don’t have the energy.

Lan Yue had been raised in seclusion since she was a child. She had little experience of the world outside, and only Third Aunt had taught her. The world in her eyes was not the same world Prince Xin saw.

Although no one currently resided in Fangyi Palace, it was kept spotless. The palace maid sent by Concubine Shu had brought a team of maids and eunuchs to arrange everything. I escorted Lan Yue to her new quarters and handed her over to the palace maid.

With nothing more to do, I said my goodbyes and left.

As I walked out of the gate of Fangyi Palace, I saw Prince Xin hurriedly coming from the other side of the alley. A eunuch led him to the palace gate, where he bowed to congratulate him. Prince Xin smiled and rewarded the eunuch with some silver. But as he turned to leave, his face darkened, becoming as stormy as a thundercloud.

I rarely saw Prince Xin lose control of his emotions. In an instant, countless bloody and reckless thoughts seemed to rush through his mind—thoughts of going in and strangling Lan Yue to death, or perhaps finding the General of the Right Guard and inciting him to slaughter his way through the Wenhua Palace.

He turned and saw me, then quickly suppressed his anger. He walked toward me.

I passed him, but he stopped me with a hand. “Sister Yao, I…”

The alley was wide and straight, and anyone passing by would easily spot us. It was not a good place to talk.

I spoke first. “Looks like Your Highness just found out you’re going to be a father?”

He looked down at me, his face still grim. “Are you angry?”

“At a time like this, Your Highness shouldn’t worry about whether I’m angry. You should think about what you’re going to do. This is a matter of life and death. And yet… if you’d just stalled a bit, there would’ve been time to plan and prepare. Two or three years could’ve bought you space, but now there’s only a few months left. What can be done in a few months…”

I was angry. But what was the point? I was still angry at His Majesty too. But would that make him repent, or spare me?

I suppressed my impatience and spoke to Prince Xin. “Since you’ve married Lan Yue, the two of you will be one from now on, advancing and retreating together. Why don’t you tell her about your difficulties? She… she’ll definitely understand your challenges—being caught between duties, walking on thin ice—and will help you avoid mistakes like this.”

Lan Yue, just like Prince Xin, had been worried about her life from a young age because of her birth status. She had endured much to survive. She would understand.

“His Majesty plans to kill me once I leave an heir. Only he knows this. If anyone shows signs of preparing for it, he’ll suspect you.” Prince Xin stared at me. “Consort Dowager only found out because Lan Yue cried to her. She pressured me into admitting it. I trust no one else.”

I was speechless for a moment under his intense gaze. “Then… didn’t Your Highness say you knew your limits? That you had everything under control? Why did you…”

“She took advantage of me…” Prince Xin seemed to want to explain himself, but I turned my face away. He fell silent, then muttered, “Forget it. After all, it was my own fault. I’ll deal with it.”

He looked toward the palace wall of Fangyi Palace, and a coldness in his eyes made me shiver.

“Your Highness wants to…” I hastily tried to stop him. “You must not do that. The Emperor asked Lan Yue to come to the palace to take care of the baby, and ordered Concubine Shu and Third Aunt to look after her. It’s obvious he wants to prevent anything from happening to her. You cannot do this. You must take good care of them. If anything happens to them, the Emperor will blame you.”

Last year, the Emperor was still in good health and had expressed his brotherly love for Emperor Fengtian. He had wanted to leave a descendant for his brother. But after the Emperor fell ill and fainted at the end of the year, his promises might no longer hold true. His kindness toward Prince Xin depended on his strength and stability, but if he felt threatened, everything could change.

The same applied to me.

“This is where my mother gave birth to me,” Prince Xin looked up at the exposed corner of the Fangyi Palace eaves. “I am not the Emperor, and I will not kill my own flesh and blood.”

His words caught me off guard, and I couldn’t help but look up at him.

Had I slowly started to be influenced by this palace that devours people? My first instinct just now had been to think that Prince Xin might kill the unborn child to secure his position in the future, that we adults would live longer without the child.

I wondered if my family thought the same way—sacrificing a newborn daughter for the fortune and benefits of the whole family—justified, guiltless.

I had always believed Prince Xin to be ambitious and unscrupulous, but at this moment, standing before him, I felt ashamed and deeply unworthy.

Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you. I didn’t want to become the kind of person I despised.

“There’s still half a year left,” Prince Xin turned to leave. “If nothing can be accomplished in that time, I will apologize for my incompetence and failure to help Sister Yao fulfill her wishes. Please, Sister Yao, sever ties with me and find another way forward.”