She Holds the World After Being Reborn
Chapter 512 - 511: Neither you nor your parents shall have an easy life!

Chapter 512: Chapter 511: Neither you nor your parents shall have an easy life!

"Lord Xie certainly has some nerve, thinking he can just waltz into my harem whenever he pleases?" The newcomer’s thin lips curled slightly as Ding Dang drew back the curtain, allowing him to step inside.

Xie Qun immediately rose to his feet, turned, and knelt down: "I am at fault, your Highness the Crown Prince! It’s just that there is a reason for my actions, I had no choice but to—"

"Xie Qun, remember that you are my subject," Xiao Pingfeng cut him off abruptly.

Xie Qun’s face turned pale.

This was indeed his misstep.

Now that the Crown Prince had caught him meeting secretly with the Crown Princess Consort, this was bound to cause her more trouble.

"Lord Xie’s business has concluded, so you may leave the palace now," Yan Wanqing intervened at this point.

Xiao Pingfeng pursed his lips, concealing a faint and enigmatic smile.

Xie Qun dared not move.

"Since the Crown Princess Consort has spoken, Lord Xie, you should return home. I remember that you are off duty today."

Xie Qun was drenched in a cold sweat.

"...I will take my leave then, with your permission, your Highness..." He stood up, bowed his body, and backed out of the pavilion to leave.

After the man had departed.

Xiao Pingfeng looked at the two cups of tea on the table as he sat down: "You knew he was coming."

"It wasn’t him I was waiting for," she answered laconically.

"Then, you were waiting for me." A smile played on his lips. "Ding Dang, bring a fresh set of tea utensils."

The morning wind was cold.

Yan Wanqing was wrapped in a cloak, sitting in the draft with lips that had turned slightly white, her expression calm.

So calm that she appeared completely unconnected to the person who, the previous night, had been the heated subject of discussion, whom everyone had been so eager to condemn.

A new set of tea utensils was brought in.

Yan Wanqing silently began boiling water, steeping tea, cleaning the pot, rinsing the cups, steeping more tea...

Her movements were graceful and pleasing to the eye.

"You..." Xiao Pingfeng looked at the teacup placed before him, his voice low: "Are you sure there’s nothing you wish to tell me?"

"What I wanted to say, I’ve already said, haven’t I?" she said with a faint smile, her eyes like flowing water glancing over him: "It’s just that no one believed me."

"It’s not a matter of disbelief. This affair has far-reaching implications. This morning, two court officials hanged themselves right before me... Wanwan, one of them was Minister Song, who had watched over me since I was small."

Yan Wanqing’s movements paused for a moment, then she extended her hand to pour freshly brewed tea for herself.

"I knew it the moment he died before me."

"Why did you go?" Xiao Pingfeng didn’t understand: "You’re still in your confinement period, why would you go out late at night? And now you sit here in this cold pavilion, meeting with a foreign official. Sometimes, I truly don’t understand what you’re thinking."

The words Yan Wanqing was about to say were stifled by his tone.

She chuckled lightly.

"Yes, it’s my fault."

Then there was no need to say another word.

"Do you think I’m idly dealing with matters concerning you every day?"

Yan Wanqing looked up at him.

Xiao Pingfeng then realized what he had said, but once the words were out, and the water splashed, it was impossible to take them back.

"Wanwan... please, no more mischief. Do you not realise how much I’ve been doing to keep you by my side, to have you become the Empress? Can’t you be a little more obedient?"

A good while passed, the tea having gone cold.

Only then did Yan Wanqing look into his dark eyes and nod slightly: "...Okay."

"Wanwan, I cannot be without you, neither you nor the child can leave me."

Yan Wanqing remained silent and unresponsive as Xiao Pingfeng embraced her, sighing.

"I must return to the Golden Throne Hall now. Cong Ge, take your mistress back quickly and don’t catch a chill," he said.

Cong Ge, from outside the curtain, acknowledged with a ’yes’.

Xiao Pingfeng and Ding Dang left swiftly.

Cong Ge hobbled in, her gaze full of concern as she looked at the silent Yan Wanqing: "...Miss."

Somehow, her nose began to feel sour.

Yan Wanqing stared blankly at the figure disappearing around the corner, as a tear involuntarily trickled down her cheek.

"...Cong Ge, I have nowhere to retreat to this time."

Cong Ge shook her head, "That won’t happen, Miss. The Crown Prince will protect you."

"It’s different..."

At that moment, Cong Ge still didn’t understand why her mistress would say such words.

In her memory, Miss was like a god in handling affairs, skilled in both the literary and martial arts, omnipotent.

There was never any difficulty that could stop her.

But ever since the incident at the pavilion, Yan Wanqing’s countenance had grown grayer with each passing day.

She was already in her weakest state during her confinement, and with the constant breastfeeding, she quickly became thinner. Wearing her usual clothes, standing in the room, she seemed as if a mere breeze could knock her over.

The situation with Qin Jun got worse and worse.

Rebellions kept breaking out around Dawei.

Xiao Pingfeng’s times back at the palace grew shorter and eventually, he stopped returning altogether.

Sometimes, Cong Ge saw her mistress standing by the window with the child in her arms, staring blankly, and more often, she stood by the bedside herself, watching the rustling bamboo swaying outside, listening to the wind blowing through the bamboo forest, staying up all night, as if turning a deaf ear to any attempt to persuade her otherwise.

The fifth and sixth young misses, even Madame Sun, were ordered by the Crown Prince not to enter the palace.

In the vast palace, only Cong Ge, the nanny and a few palace maids remained to accompany Yan Wanqing.

She truly seemed, as if she was cut off from the rest of the world.

Until this day.

Tomorrow would be the coronation ceremony, and there were more and more unfamiliar palace maids and eunuchs running to Yan Wanqing’s palace. Today, the Yan Family was also specially allowed to enter the palace in advance, so Yan Wanqing’s mood improved a lot, and she went out to bask in the sun.

"His Highness has insisted against all objections to name you as the Empress, Miss. The Phoenix Robe that was tailored for you has already been placed on the couch," Cong Ge said as she and Yan Wanqing had just returned from basking in the sun outside.

Yan Wanqing replied with little interest, "I would like to see the child first."

Somehow, just stepping out for a bit and walking in the garden made her miss him terribly.

Cong Ge teased, "Now that Miss has become a mother, it’s only natural that you are always thinking about the young Crown Prince."

She pushed open the door and saw a woman dressed as a palace maid, with her hand reaching out towards the cradle, about to pinch the little Crown Prince!

Cong Ge’s eyes widened, "Who are you!"

Before she finished speaking, she saw her mistress employ Qinggong to move swiftly forward, reaching out with one hand to grip the palace maid’s throat directly.

"Let go!" Yan Wanqing’s eyes were filled with rampant murderous intent.

The palace maid, being choked, rolled her eyes back and released her grip from the little Crown Prince.

The young Crown Prince, now free to breathe, bawled loudly.

The nanny came in from outside with a soft, dry little garment, and upon seeing this scene, collapsed to the ground, "...I only went to get the dried clothes."

Cong Ge quickly stepped forward, holding the young Crown Prince in her arms, and shouted at the nanny, "Go call the Imperial Physician!"

A premature infant, tiny as can be, now had red marks all over his skin.

If they had been any slower, the consequences would have been unimaginable!

Yan Wanqing, still gripping the palace maid’s throat, demanded, "Speak, who sent you!"

The palace maid, with tears emerging from the corners of her eyes from the choking, looked back with the eyes of a vengeful spirit, "...Hahaha, Yan Wanqing, you and your breed, none shall have a good end!"

With that, she bit down on the poison hidden in her teeth, foamed at the mouth, and died!

Yan Wanqing let go, and the palace maid fell to the ground.

"Cong Ge, have someone call for the Crown Prince. I want to see him!"

Her offspring had almost been murdered... What about the one who gave birth to her?

Today, the sun was shining brightly, yet she felt as if she was in the dead of winter.

She dared not imagine what she would do if something had happened to her mother.

At the same time.

The carriage carrying the Yan Family to the palace was surrounded in the grove, swarmed by numerous assassination experts, all targeting the women inside the carriage!