Chapter 193: Urging for Children
The Jin Kingdom Emperor returned to the Purple Palace and sat on the dragon throne carved from a single piece of yellow jade. The frustration in his heart had not yet subsided. That Noble Consort Yu, day after day, kept chattering about sour for a boy and spicy for a girl, sour for a boy and spicy for a girl, making him truly believe that this time it would be a princess. He had been looking forward to it for months!
As a result, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
The Jin Kingdom Emperor was irritated and wanted to urge his sons to produce granddaughters. There was no other way; he couldn’t give birth himself, so he had to rely on his sons!
“Summon the eldest, the second, the third, and the fourth to see me!”
Eunuch Wang: “Your Majesty, only the Crown Prince is in the palace. The Second Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince are all away from the imperial capital.”
Hearing this, the Jin Kingdom Emperor became even angrier. Those little rascals, in order to avoid producing granddaughters or avoid getting married, one by one, they all ran off to who knows where!
“Let the Crown Prince come see me!”
“Yes!”
Soon, a handsome man with a tall, straight figure and a reserved demeanor walked in. “Your son greets Father Emperor.”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor narrowed his fox-like eyes and looked at his eldest son: “How long has it been since the Crown Prince’s wedding?”
Shen Hancheng remained silent for a moment, his pair of fox-like eyes, identical to the Jin Kingdom Emperor’s, filled with helplessness: Here we go again!
He knew it. Last night, he gained a new imperial brother, so today, he definitely wouldn’t escape Father Emperor’s urging for children!
“Reporting to Father Emperor, it has been over two years since your son’s marriage.”
“Is there still no movement in the Crown Princess’s belly?”
Eunuch Wang remained silent. How could a father-in-law, who was also the emperor, inquire about his daughter-in-law’s belly? Wasn’t that something the mother-in-law should handle?
Shen Hancheng lowered his head and replied helplessly: “Father Emperor, matters of children are about fate and cannot be forced.”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor was so angry that his beard bristled and his fox-like eyes widened: “What do you mean, cannot be forced? Take a few more secondary consorts, and wouldn’t you have children? You are the Crown Prince, the heir apparent. Your offspring are related to the fortune of the Jin Kingdom. Only with many offspring can the dynasty and society last for thousands of generations, flourish, and ensure the continuity of generations.”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor spoke on and on.
Shen Hancheng lowered his head and listened to the lecture. However, he couldn’t help but think, of course it cannot be forced. You’ve been longing for a daughter for so many years, have you gotten one?
And saying things like only with many offspring can the dynasty and society prosper, Father Emperor, you simply can’t give birth to a daughter yourself and want him to do it!
But even if the Crown Princess were to conceive, it’s not guaranteed that she would give birth to a princess!
He wondered if there was something wrong with the Feng Shui in the palace. Since the time of his great-grandfather, they had only been giving birth to sons. Even now, there was only one princess, his cousin from Prince Yu’s Residence. It could be said that it was “three generations of single inheritance,” so one could imagine how much she was doted on.
“I don’t care. Since the Crown Princess can’t give birth, you shall take secondary consorts! I will choose secondary consorts for you tomorrow!”
Shen Hancheng was about to protest when a young eunuch entered and whispered something to Eunuch Wang. Eunuch Wang immediately said: “Your Majesty, the Third Prince requests an audience on an urgent matter!”
Shen Hancheng breathed a sigh of relief and immediately shifted the trouble to his brother: “Father Emperor, I wonder what urgent matter the Third Imperial Brother has? Could it be that he wants to get married?”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor’s gloom had not yet dissipated. It was just the right time for another son to be urged to produce offspring: “Summon him!”
Shen Hancheng spared no effort in throwing his brother under the bus: “Third Imperial Brother is not young anymore. He looks like a father-in-law at first glance. He really should get married and start a family, continue the royal lineage, and give Father Emperor a few granddaughters!”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor’s interest was indeed piqued: “Father-in-law appearance? Does the third one really have a father-in-law appearance? How do you know?”
Shen Hancheng: Who knows if it’s true or not, he just made it up: “It’s as true as a pearl! I heard it from a master.”
He wanted to say that the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh all had father-in-law appearances, and only he had a grandfather appearance, so Father Emperor didn’t need to urge him, he couldn’t give birth.
But after thinking about it, he was afraid of being beaten up by a group of brothers. He could handle one, but not a group, so he decided to forget it!
“Did that master say what kind of appearance I have?”
Shen Hancheng: “Father-in-law appearance, Father Emperor is destined to have daughters! Father Emperor, don’t worry!”
So, hurry up and go to the inner palace, favor more consorts, choose more consorts, and give birth to daughters yourself!
Stop bothering him and the Crown Princess!
Speaking of which, Father Emperor went to the inner palace far too infrequently, only once or twice a year. How could the consorts in the inner palace give birth to imperial sisters with that?
If it weren’t for the fact that almost every time he visited a consort in the inner palace, that consort would become pregnant, he would doubt if Father Emperor was even a man!
The Jin Kingdom Emperor was delighted to hear this!
He touched his own face, father-in-law appearance, haha, not bad!
But he still needed to choose a few more consorts for the third one.
✿✿✿
“Achoo!” Shen Hanyu sneezed as he walked into the hall. He rubbed his nose; it must be his dear sister missing him!
Don’t worry, Third Imperial Brother will be back to pick you up soon!
Shen Hanyu walked into the main hall and saw Shen Hancheng was also there. He first paid his respects: “Your son greets Father Emperor, greetings to Eldest Imperial Brother!”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor snorted coldly: “You’ve finally deigned to return! Where have you been fooling around all this time?”
He couldn’t help but scrutinize the third one’s face carefully. Where was the father-in-law appearance?
Shen Hanyu felt uneasy under his father’s gaze. That look, it was the beginning of being urged to get married!
He immediately said: “Father Emperor, your son suspects that I have an imperial sister living outside! Did Father Emperor ever favor a woman in the Chu State and forget about it?”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor: “. . .”
What did he mean by an imperial sister living outside?
Shen Hancheng was stunned for a moment, then his heart surged with excitement, though his face remained expressionless: “Really? Are you sure?”
That would be fantastic!
Whether it was true or not, even if it was false, he would make it true. The pressure to produce offspring was simply too great!
The Jin Kingdom Emperor also came back to his senses and looked at Shen Hanyu with burning eyes: “Explain clearly!”
Shen Hanyu: “Where is Father Emperor’s birth jade pendant?”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor frowned. Each prince of the Jin Kingdom had a jade pendant at birth, all of which were consecrated. Just like a jade lock, carrying it could ward off disasters and ensure safety. It also had another meaning, as a symbol of identity.
The Jin Kingdom Emperor frowned. It seemed to be missing? He had forgotten how it went missing.
“Forgotten! You little rascal, speak quickly!”
More than a decade ago, he had a period of missing memory. At that time, he was assassinated and suffered a blow to the head. One day, he woke up and suddenly felt as if a part of his memory was missing. He vaguely felt that the memory was very important, but he couldn’t think of what was so important about it, and no matter what, he couldn’t recall it. This led to him always being easily irritable.
Back then, he was also a handsome, elegant, and courteous prince with a super, super good temper!
Could it be that his missing memory was because he had a daughter with a certain woman outside during that time, and he actually forgot to bring his daughter back to the palace?
No wonder he felt it was very important!
No, his missing memory was only for a few hours, only enough to do something with another woman, not enough to give birth to a daughter!
“Speak, quickly tell me the whole story clearly!”
So, Shen Hanyu told him how he met Xingnong, how he felt that Xingnong’s eyes resembled theirs and had a natural sense of closeness to her, and how he later accidentally saw Xingnong’s jade pendant.
He also told him about Xingnong and Shen Ruoxi’s life and circumstances over the years.
Shen Hanyu also drew portraits of Xingnong and Shen Ruoxi and presented them to the Jin Kingdom Emperor.
The Jin Kingdom Emperor looked at the mother and daughter in the painting, at the woman with a beautiful face but eyes filled with fear, and his head throbbed as some images flashed in his mind.
He was being pursued in the Chu State. When the last of his guards held back the assassins, he escaped into the mountains, planning to cross the mountains and regroup with his guards before returning to the Jin Kingdom.
Unexpectedly, a violent storm suddenly erupted. Having been fleeing all the way and drenched by the cold rain, he collapsed from exhaustion in the mountains.
