After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Chapter 207 Wanting a Grand Wedding (Part 2)

When she and her mistress entered the palace, the emperor, due to health reasons, had stopped taking new concubines. Besides the empress, the harem only contained the former imperial concubines, other concubines, and beauties. The emperor spent most of his time with the empress, and the palace wasn't filled with the endless power struggles depicted in historical novels.

After Lu Jinyao entered the palace, she used the identities of Prince Yue and Consort Jiang to trip up her mistress a few times, but her mistress always managed to get away with it.

Liu Ying belatedly realized that the fact that His Highness Prince Yue had established his residence a year ahead of schedule, the sudden death of Consort Jiang, and the fact that the princesses and concubines in Prince Yue's residence were all arranged by someone.

Liu Ying broke out in a cold sweat, then comforted her, "His Highness the Crown Prince is different. He is truly in love with Miss. He is well past the age of coming of age, and according to royal rules, he can take at least four concubines, but there are none in the Eastern Palace."

“We can do without a crown prince, but we must have an emperor.” Lu Zhiyuan picked up a fruit and played with it. “Even if we don’t have one now, we will in the future. Nothing in this world is unchanging, including feelings. If I marry an ordinary person and he changes his mind, I can divorce him. But the one outside the door is the crown prince, the future emperor. Have you ever seen an empress divorce the emperor? If an empress is rejected, she can only live in the cold palace.”

"How tragic! This servant doesn't want Miss to suffer like this!"

“Your young lady won’t suffer; the one who will suffer is the one who betrayed her.” Lu Zhiyuan tossed the fruit in her hand: “Other empresses will resign themselves to living in the cold palace, resign themselves to drinking poison, hanging themselves with white silk, or slitting their throats with the imperial dagger. Your young lady won’t. Your young lady will kill the emperor, and do it in a way that the imperial physicians can’t detect, and then become the Empress Dowager in a glorious manner.”

Liu Ying's eyes lit up: "That works too!"

“But he is a good crown prince, and he will be a good emperor in the future. His offspring may not be half as good as him. To me, he is scum. To the people, he is a good emperor. If I kill him, what will happen to the people? In conclusion, I can be the crown princess, I can be the empress, but I cannot be his wife.”

Liu Ying was confused. She pointed at Lu Zhiyuan, and then at His Highness the Crown Prince who had just gotten up outside.

"Can you even tell if a married couple is real or fake?"

"Give it a try." Lu Zhiyuan stretched. "The letters are the two that Han Ting and Xiao Yebai wrote to me."

Outside, the Crown Prince was still thinking about what had just happened, a slight smile playing on his lips, his body still warm. Outside Ronghua Palace, his trusted aide, Zuo Yi, leaned against the wall and hurried to greet him when he came out.

"What time is it?"

"Your Highness, it is already 7:45 PM."

"The Empress Dowager has not yet rested. Please come with me to Fengzao Palace."

"Is Your Highness concerned about your upcoming marriage to the Crown Princess?"

“I am of marriageable age, and my marriage to A Yuan was arranged seven years ago. Isn’t it only natural for us to get married?” The Crown Prince turned to look at Zuo Yi: “Judging from your expression, you seem to have something difficult to say. But please speak freely, I will not blame you.”

Zuo Yi cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness's treatment of the Crown Princess is evident to me. The Crown Princess is also a virtuous and capable wife to Your Highness, so their marriage is only natural. However, I remember Your Highness saying that the Crown Princess and Your Highness have a five-year agreement. Also, I heard what the Crown Princess just said."

Zuo Yi hesitated for a moment, then mustered his courage and said, "What I mean is, if the Crown Princess doesn't want to be the Crown Princess, Your Highness can choose someone else. There are many noble ladies in the capital, and Her Majesty the Empress also has suitable candidates. Why should Your Highness wrong yourself like this?"

"I do not feel wronged to marry A Yuan."

“The Crown Princess is perfect in every way, except that she is not suitable for the royal family.” Zuo Yi lowered his head. “Your Highness is the Crown Prince. How can a Crown Prince have only one woman for his entire life? If you become Emperor one day, you will certainly need a harem. The Crown Princess lacks tolerance; how can she be the mother of the nation? She has compromised, but her method of compromise is outrageous. Since she has married Your Highness, she should manage the harem for you. She wants Your Highness to reserve the position of Crown Princess for her while she runs away. If the world finds out… Your Highness, you cannot continue to indulge the Crown Princess.”

"Left one, I remember you are a year older than me."

"Your Highness, I am a year and a half older than you."

Do you have someone you like?

Zuo Yi first shook his head, then said, "Your Highness is the only one in my heart."

The Crown Prince smiled, gazing at the distant palace eaves, and said softly, "I have been the Crown Prince since I was old enough to understand. From the moment I learned what it meant to be the Crown Prince, I have always prioritized the country and its people. Once, I was just like you are now, thinking that no woman could ever enter my heart. Even seven years ago, when my mother talked to me about wanting me to marry A-Yuan as my Crown Princess, I felt no ripples in my heart. My only worry was that A-Yuan was much younger than me."

The crown prince sighed.

At that time, he felt it didn't matter who he married as his crown princess, as long as it benefited the country and the people. The only reason he agreed was that the Xiao family's empire, in terms of imperial power, military power, and the people's livelihood, needed the Xie family's support. A-Yuan was indeed, as his mother had said, the most suitable candidate.

But as she gradually entered his heart, his thoughts changed. Over the years, he not only worked hard to prove himself, but also, like the Xie family, constantly paid attention to her health, collecting prescriptions and rare medicinal herbs wherever he went. This was both to win her favor and to sincerely hope that her health would improve so that they could spend more time together.

Over the past seven years, he had traveled to many places, seen many new landscapes, and encountered many beautiful women of various styles. In terms of figure, beauty, and skill in pleasing men, each of them had something extraordinary that his A-Yuan could not match. Yet he felt nothing for them, and even found them annoying.

It turned out that she had unknowingly entered his heart long ago.

The world is vast, but his only wish is to stay with A-Yuan. He knew that before he ascended to that position, he couldn't make too many promises to A-Yuan. He agreed to her request and allowed her to leave the palace. Only by letting her go out and see the world would she be willing to stay with him in this palace. He also needed more time to prove to her that he could fulfill her wish of a lifetime of monogamy.

Zuo Yi said nervously, "What if the Crown Princess walks by, sees it, and then doesn't want to come back?"

The Crown Prince turned around and looked at the lamp in Ronghua Palace: "Then let her be a free and unfettered kite."

After saying that, he looked at his palm.

He believed that his seven years with A-Yuan would become a kite string that bound A-Yuan.

Night had fallen, and the palace lanterns illuminated the entire palace, making it both bustling and eerily quiet. The Crown Prince boarded his sedan chair, which headed towards the Phoenix Palace.

Inside Ronghua Palace, Lu Zhiyuan leaned against her pillows and read a letter.

Han Ting remained as taciturn as ever, only saying that if she wanted to leave the palace, he would wait for her at the palace gate.

Xiao Yebai's style was similar to Han Ting's, but he was better at feigning weakness and acting coquettishly. The ending of his letter was exactly the same as Han Ting's. He asked her if she wanted to visit Southern Chu. He also said that he had built a courtyard for her in Southern Chu, exactly like Ronghua Palace, except that the herbs there weren't as well-grown as those in Ronghua Palace.

Aro got married and had twins.

If she had arrived in Southern Chu earlier, she might have been able to witness the birth of her child.

Arro also said that he hoped she could name her two children.