At the Princess Palace, an anxious Prince Consort Xiu was bugging Princess Shen Ai.
"Is it truly alright for us not to greet the Emperor today?" He asked for the nth time.
Princess Shen Ai gritted her teeth. She finally had enough of it! "Imperial Father favors me very much and he will let me do as I please. As for you," she side eyed the pitiful pretty boy was following her around like a lost puppy. She internally smirked as an idea popped up in her head, "you'll probably get punished."
"What!?" Prince Consort looked horrified.
"Find a way to redeem yourself and stop following me around. I have things to do." With that, Princess Shen Ai slammed the doors close, leaving the frightened Prince Consort Xiu alone who ran away in tears.
Meanwhile, a man pulled on his dragon robes, fixing his clothes for the nth time as he anxiously walked back and forth.
"Y-your majesty," an eunuch called out.
The Emperor stopped prancing and looked at him. He was feeling very restless for the sake of his precious daughter, Shen Ai. The heavens knew how big of tantrum she threw when he told her about her wedding. He coaxed her as much as he could and gave her many treasures but she had given him the silent treatment and locked herself in her palace.
"The Prince Consort was serving the Princess in the bridal chambers when nucai arrived and her maidservants said that the Princess is still tired," the Emperor's eyes widened.
They were supposed to greet their elders the day after the wedding and with the reports from his shadow guards of what they heard last night and the stain in the sheets this morning… it meant that the Princess was truly satisfied with the Xiu young master!
The Emperor laughed heartily and waved the eunuch off. "Good, good, that's great!"
He was very much relieved. He had many doubts regarding their wedding. He spoiled his little princess ever since she was a child and made sure to give her the best. If it wasn't for the General's increasing power, he wouldn't have sacrificed his little girl. The marriage between the Prime Minister's daughter and the General's fourth young master created turmoil in him.
With the Empress urging him, he gave in. The General had too much power and although they didn't outright covet for the throne, if they did, it would cause problems for their eldest son, the Crown Prince and the Emperor was paranoid that someone might snatch the throne and power from him. He couldn't offend the General directly because he had the seal that controlled the army and he could not annihilate their clan either because it might start a rebellion from the people. So as a last resort, he chose to utilize his maiden daughter.
The Prime Minister was a loyal man; to the throne and to his deceased wife. He only had one blood daughter and his heir was his adopted son, however, although that man was capable, he was already betrothed and had so many concubines! The Emperor knew the dangers and schemes in a harem and he knew his rash and impulsive daughter would more or less fall for those concubines' dirty tricks.
Next were the General's four unmarried sons.
The eldest son was following his father's footsteps and was always at war. He feared that his dear daughter would get lonely and become a widow so early.
General Xiu also had twin sons who were both lecherous drunkards and there were rumors going around that they liked to share their women and torture them. He definitely didn't want that for his daughter! He would've punished those two if it weren't for the fear of the general rebelling.
Thus, he chose to marry off his sole daughter to General Xiu's second son who was sickly.
There were many rumors circulating Second Young Master Xiu Renchen such as he was sickly, ugly, retarded and many more. But through investigation, the Emperor found out that he was only sickly and regarding his appearance, the eunuch who delivered the marriage decree informed him that rumors were only rumors. Second Young Master Xiu Renchen definitely wasn't ugly!
The Emperor had witnessed many beauties before but seeing his daughter's husband-to-be at their wedding, he was no different than everyone else who were astonished. Although he was very pale, the Emperor felt as if the courtesan Su Yi was the number one beauty, Second Young Master Xiu was a fallen angel. Golden hair, light blue eyes and perfectly sculpted features, surely one smile from this charming boy will make his daughter fall in love! His beauty vaguely calmed the Emperor, his daughter was very much, in fact too much, fond of beauties so clearly her beautiful husband would satisfy her.
And he did! The Emperor was all smiles and he patted his chest. "Reward!" He exclaimed. Spouting a list of numerous taels, silks and many others, the Emperor gladly walked off with a flip of his robes.
Returning from her visiting her mother's grave, Princess Shen Ai and her two maids arrived to see a frenzied Prince Consort Xiu who was digging away in chests full of treasures.
When he heard the announcement of the Princess' arrival, Prince Consort Xiu's head popped out a big box and he grinned when he saw her.
"Look, Princess! Imperial Father gave gifts!" Xiao Xi sighed dreamily, staring at the beautiful Prince Consort Xiu who was wearing white robes, making him look otherworldly.
Princess Shen Ai cleared her throat, side eyeing her maidservant before she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Prince Consort Xiu. "Imperial Father?" She asked, emphasizing every syllable.
His smile didn't falter and he nodded his head. "Yes, he told me to call him that when he brought these earlier."
Princess Shen Ai's eyebrows furrowed. That father of hers was the Emperor and although he pampered her and acted like a kid sometimes around her, he was a very suspicious man and was wary even to a five year old girl. She knew from experience.
Was he like this to the people associated with her? No, he didn't even let her mother off. She glanced at Prince Consort Xiu who looked at everything amazed. Maybe he was fooled by this guy's innocent façade? Not likely. That Emperor was shrewd and he would never let anyone be so intimate with him so easily especially because they just met! With one last thought in her head, she decided to test it.
"Hey," Princess Shen Ai called out. "Hey, you."
Prince Consort Xiu stopped moving around and looked at her with raised eyebrows. He pointed a finger at himself, "Me?"
"What else did my father tell you?"
He thought for a second before he suddenly smiled shyly, cheeks turning pink. "H-he told me to take care of you."
Princess Shen Ai "…"
Conclusion, this pretty boy was completely harmless. In fact, the gears in her head turned, this boy was a retard! No wonder the Emperor was so chill!
"By the way, Princess," he smiled warmly, "you can call me Renchen."
Princess Shen Ai snorted and looked at him bossily. "Getting chummy with me, eh?" The blond beauty blinked in confusion. Hmmp, who said you get to first name basis easily? Ignoring his questioning gaze, she changed the topic.
"Why are you acting like a commoner? Doesn't the general's household receive a lot of rewards every time he returns from wars?"
Prince Consort Xiu twisted his lips to the side and shrugged as he slowly continued to look at the rewards. "Yes but I get sick easily so no one bothers summoning me."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "But don't you get gifts from your father?"
He didn't reply and instead just grinned widely at Princess Shen Ai which made her frown. To most people, he looked sheepish but she saw sadness in his eyes, she wanted to wrap her arms around the pretty gir…ly boy. The realization eliminated the urge.
It seemed like the General didn't know how to handle internal affairs properly.
"Whatever," Princess Shen Ai said. She ordered the servants to deal with the things. "They're all yours," she bid to Prince Consort Xiu.
"I know," he chirped.
"Excuse me?" Princess Shen Ai enunciated, eyes narrowing.
"Hmm?" Prince Consort Xiu looked at her, puzzled before grinning cheekily. "Well, I thought it was for you, too, but Imperial Father said you already had so much and was getting fat with all your treasures. He told me that they were all for me when he came."
"… I'm fat?" Princess Shen Ai sneered. As if she cared about being fat! But the way he said it so nonchalantly, it would've offended an actual girl! What an ignorant bastard! "Very well then," She rolled her eyes and headed to her courtyard.
"W-wait! Princess!" Prince Consort Xiu ran after her and caught her by her sleeve.
"I-" Princess Shen Ai turned around to see Prince Consort Xiu's blushing. His eyes refused to meet hers as he stuttered, "I-I remember Imperial F-Father also saying that… that he…" with a face as red as Shen Ai's robes, he mumbled the rest of his sentence which she didn't hear.
"What?" She asked with furrowed brows. "Louder."
"He…" He looked down and took quick breaths. Princess Shen Ai's eyebrows furrowed, was this guy going to faint? He let out a small squeak and muttered something unintelligible.
Princess Shen Ai pinched his chin and forced his head up. They were of similar height so it was not inconvenient. She looked at his tearful eyes. "What did he say?"
The scene of their highness Princess Shen Ai, confident and domineering, holding the beautiful and red face of Prince Consort Xiu like a husband teasing his timid wife. Although it was the other way around and the Princess was obviously getting impatient, the two deity-like beauties together was a sight to behold.
The answer Prince Consort Xiu said made her realize the misunderstanding created by what she pulled off this morning. Ordering him around like a servant and saying she was tired. That stupid eunuch serving the Emperor must've exaggerated.
"He…" Prince Consort Xiu stared shocked at Princess Shen Ai who was so close. He felt his face become warmer than it already was so he closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to say the words. "He says he wants us to have a child he will pamper soon."
Princess Shen Ai internally vomited blood.