Chapter 84: Crown Prince’s Concubine – 12

Ren Xin’s eyes lit up. “Then can we get a divorce?”

“You’re not even considering staying with me through thick and thin?”

Ren Xin gave him a fake smile. “Hurry up and tell me what happened in the end. Stop talking about useless things. Did you catch the mole?”

Xie Liangchen chuckled and kissed her before slowly finishing the story.

As it turned out, the mole was one of the Crown Princess’s people. This person had been planted specifically to ensure their campaign failed. At the critical moment, the Crown Prince was supposed to step in, lend a helping hand, and turn the tide. That way, the Crown Prince would gain the reputation, the merit, and the gratitude of the military officers.

Xie Liangchen would have been moved to tears of gratitude as well. That was the most important part. Xie Liangchen was a staunch, unwavering loyalist to the throne. With this incident, he would have subconsciously favored the Crown Prince in the future struggle for succession, even if he appeared to remain neutral.

Such a perfect plan was worth the risk.

Ren Xin asked curiously, “The Crown Princess’s idea? The Crown Prince must have agreed to it, right?”

Xie Liangchen sneered. “That depends on the Emperor’s intentions. But our Emperor is not exactly a man of clear judgment.”

Ren Xin wriggled into Xie Liangchen’s covers and whispered, “Ooh, tell me more, tell me more.”

Xie Liangchen wasn’t willing to say much more. He used his hand to close Ren Xin’s eyes and coaxed her softly, “Go to sleep. It’s late. I have to get up very early tomorrow morning to meet the army outside the city. After this rotation, I can stay home for a few months and spend some quality time with you.”

Ren Xin pulled his hand away. “If you won’t tell me the story, I’m not being nice to you anymore. Get out of my bed.”

“This is my blanket.”

Hmph! For this man to actually find a wife, his ancestors must have accumulated a massive amount of virtue.

Despite his blunt words, Xie Liangchen still pulled her into his arms. Ignoring Ren Xin’s struggling, he held her tight. “Sleep!”

She was so angry she couldn’t sleep at all!

A short while later, Ren Xin’s light snoring began. Xie Liangchen smiled and followed her into sleep.

The next morning, when Ren Xin woke up, Xie Liangchen was already gone. According to the wet nurse, he had visited the children before leaving.

He had also gone to pay his respects to Grandmother. Ren Xin was puzzled. How could he do so much in such a short time? It wasn’t even enough time for her to exert herself on the toilet.

Ren Xin strolled over to pay her respects to Grandmother. The old woman said cheerfully, “Chen-ge came back yesterday. You must be very happy, aren’t you?”

The lie had to be told. “I was incredibly happy. I hardly slept all night.”

Grandmother continued, “I was startled when I saw him this morning. You must have been quite shocked too!”

Not really. It just felt like a squatter had come to claim my territory.

“Yes, I was terrified. But then I was just happy. He’s finally back, and our family has its pillar of support again.”

Grandmother was overjoyed. “Yes, he is the pillar of our family.”

Yeah, right. He came back yesterday looking like a beggar. He wasn’t even a pig bone, let alone a pillar.

When Qingfeng returned from school and learned his uncle was back, he was so excited he nearly jumped for joy. He hurriedly asked Ren Xin, “Aunt, how do I look in this outfit?”

“Extremely handsome. Even more handsome than your uncle.”

Qingfeng grew bashful at the compliment. “Not really. Uncle is a recognized handsome man in these parts. I can’t compare to him.”

What? A handsome man? Wasn’t he wasted on her then? Well, whatever! Even if he didn’t have any medicinal effects, at least he was easy on the eyes and had good stamina.

That evening, Xie Liangchen was carried back. The reason was that the Emperor had reprimanded him for incompetence and for listening to slanderous rumors. He was ordered to stay home and reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors, and was “gifted” twenty strokes of the board.

That dog of an Emperor!

He couldn’t bear to punish his own son and daughter-in-law, so he used his official as a scapegoat. What a piece of work!

Xie Liangchen smiled and said to the furious Ren Xin, “It’s fine. The Emperor is just feeling guilty and trying to suppress me. It doesn’t matter. I’ll just treat it as a vacation.”

Grandmother was livid but couldn’t say anything. The Xie family had sacrificed so much for this land, even giving their lives, yet the Emperor still feared they would become too powerful. it was truly disheartening.

Ren Xin calmed down for a moment and said directly, “We’re going to the manor to recover. We’ll say Xie Liangchen’s old injuries have flared up and he needs proper recuperation, otherwise it will affect his lifespan…”

Looking at the frost-cold Ren Xin, Grandmother opened her mouth but said nothing. Xie Liangchen smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll listen to my wife.”

When the news spread, it created a terrible impression. The commoners didn’t dare criticize openly, but there was plenty of dissatisfaction. The Xie family had protected the country until they were nearly wiped out. Fortunately, the daughter of the Ren family was capable and had given birth to three sons. And yet, the Emperor still had him beaten, triggering General Xie’s old ailments. This was truly…

The talk was far from pleasant. To show his benevolence, the Emperor begrudgingly gave Xie Liangchen generous rewards and told him to recover in peace. At the end, he couldn’t help but take one last jab, saying that there were naturally others to take over the border defense.

Ren Xin was indignant. “Let whoever wants to take over, take over! Every single one of them wants to pick the peaches, but not one of them is willing to plant the tree. This dynasty is doomed!”

“Don’t be angry. It’s just the art of kingship. You get used to it. Look at it this way: this withdrawal might actually be a path to survival.”