Chapter 86: Crown Prince’s Concubine – 14

The Crown Princess had not been having a good time lately. First, she had been reprimanded by the Crown Prince for overstepping her bounds, and then she received a warning from the Empress. She was told to learn her place and follow the rules, while simultaneously being pressured to produce an heir. To drive the point home, several beauties were bestowed upon the Eastern Palace, all chosen for their supposed fertility, with the explicit goal of ensuring the Crown Prince had offspring.

This nearly drove the Crown Princess mad with rage.

Because of her actions, her maiden family was also implicated. Her mother came to the palace to counsel her, urging her to stop acting so willfully.

“Crown Princess, your most important task right now is to give the Crown Prince a son. Everything else is secondary. Do not forget, he is still only the Crown Prince; biding one’s time and building strength is the best path forward. You interfered in his political affairs, yet he didn’t say much beyond a reprimand. That is already a rare kindness. If I had done what you did to your father, he likely would have divorced me…”

The Crown Princess remained defiant. “The Crown Prince’s temperament is too lukewarm. He doesn’t fight or compete, and he hasn’t realized how precarious his situation is. His brothers would like nothing more than to see the Eastern Palace wiped out, yet he still thinks of them as brothers rather than enemies. This man…”

Her mother immediately interrupted her in a panic. “Crown Princess, watch your words!”

“These are things you shouldn’t even think, let alone say. To put it nicely, you are the Crown Princess; to put it bluntly, you are a servant meant to attend to the Crown Prince. You must listen to him. Managing the Eastern Palace well is more important than anything else! Our family cannot help you, nor do we expect you to support us…”

The Crown Princess sat by the window in a daze for a long time. She only snapped out of it when the Crown Prince returned. Seeing the strange expression on his face, she asked with concern, “What is it? Is someone making things difficult for you again? I told you…”

Recalling her mother’s warning, she immediately shut her mouth.

The Crown Prince looked at her, his eyes filled with scrutiny.

After a long pause, he shook his head. “It is nothing. I have simply gained clarity on a few matters. You should rest. I still have official business to attend to.”

With that, the Crown Prince departed, leaving behind a frustrated Crown Princess.

Back in his study, the Crown Prince dismissed everyone. He sat in silence, lost in thought. He hadn’t expected that after dying of old age in his previous life, he would return to this point—back to the time before he was deposed. There was still time to change everything. If so, his “dear brothers” shouldn’t blame him for being ruthless.

As for…

Shen Shen. He was still too late. The Crown Princess was certainly capable, managing to incite the Emperor to issue a marriage decree. It seemed she had returned with her memories as well.

But perhaps it was for the best. Xie Liangchen was a decent match. He would ensure her husband’s life was spared; consider it a debt he owed her…

Ren Xin had no idea that another “reborn” soul had joined the fray. Book Spirit Number One was even less likely to say anything, choosing to maintain the peace by pretending nothing had happened.

The babies’ hundred-day celebration¹ was approaching, and Xie Liangchen and Little Qingfeng finally managed to squeeze out some names.

The eldest was named Xie Muchuan, nicknamed Da Bao².

The second was Xie Yuan, nicknamed Er Bao.

The third was Xie Haoting, nicknamed San Bao.

Ren Xin was speechless for a long time. What was with those nicknames? Did they come up with them using their feet?

Little Qingfeng had his own defense. “I haven’t read many books, is that my fault?”

Fine then! Little Qingfeng had been her little shadow for so long that while he hadn’t learned much else, his shamelessness had certainly improved.

Grandmother wanted to hold a grand celebration for the hundred-day mark. Ren Xin didn’t mind either way, but Xie Liangchen said the timing wasn’t right and they should wait.

Grandmother was displeased. “When will the timing be right? We didn’t get to celebrate their one-month milestone³ properly, and now we can’t do the hundred-day celebration either? Are we going to wait until the children’s sixtieth birthdays to celebrate everything at once?!”

Ren Xin gave a mental thumbs-up. Grandmother hit the nail right on the head.

Xie Liangchen rubbed his nose, not daring to speak up.

Since they decided to go big, everyone had to head back and prepare. Everyone in the house was busy except for the two idlest members: Little Qingfeng and Ren Xin.

He dragged Ren Xin along to say a sad goodbye to a small cat he had met at the manor.

“Kitty, I’m leaving. I don’t know if you’ll still be here when I come back. You have to live well. Don’t go hunting in the mountains; even my Little Aunt came back defeated…”

The cat: “…” I have nine lives, kid!

Ren Xin: “…” That’s a bad review. This ginseng doesn’t want to hear it.

Seeing how truly reluctant Little Qingfeng was to leave, Ren Xin decided to find the cat’s owner and see if she could buy it.

“Little Aunt, can we really? Can we really buy the kitty?”

“Not necessarily. It depends on whether the kitty is willing to go with you.”

Little Qingfeng hurried to ask the cat, “Are you willing to come home with me? My house has endless fish to eat.”

“Meow~” You better be telling the truth, brat.

Ren Xin asked the manager who the cat’s owner was. The manager said it was a stray. “It usually just catches field mice and such. People saw how good it was at it and thought about taking it home to catch rats, but it won’t follow anyone. It just wanders around.”

That simplified things. “Little Qingfeng, you can take it home. But I must remind you: a cat’s life is very short. You must be prepared to lose it one day. Also, since you’ve decided to raise it, you must be responsible and take good care of it.”

Little Qingfeng nodded solemnly. “I know. I will definitely protect my brother.”

The cat: “Meow~ Meow~” Are you blind? Can’t you see I don’t have any ‘bells’ down there?

(The above feline translation is provided by Ren Xin. If there are any inaccuracies, just deal with it!)

Translator’s Notes