"How is the plan?"
"The old hag is in the hospital, so Beichen canceled the trip early!" Wanyue said, her face full of hostility.
"Tsk, tsk." The person on the other line chuckled, "Based on how disappointed you are, I guess you didn't manage to get him this time either?"
Wanyue clenched her teeth and replied angrily, "Shut up! I even tried to drug him, but he fell asleep instead!"
She did suspect that he was impotent before because he never touched her besides the usual kisses. But her sister's pregnancy proved that he was a normal man.
But why did he refuse to sleep with her? Was he just impotent towards other women but not to Yanyue?
Wanyue became angrier when she thought of this possibility.
"I don't have much time, so you must get them to divorce as soon as possible," the person paused, "but if you can't, then maybe I should get someone else to do it..."
"No! Beichen loves me, so he won't easily be seduced by anyone else!"
Wanyue heard an insulting laugh from the person through the phone's speaker.
"Don't kid yourself. How did your sister become pregnant again? For men, love and lust can be separated."
"You!"
Wanyue wanted to deny it, but she knew that the man was right. Even though Beichen clearly showed that he hated Yanyue, he still slept with her.
She breathed out to calm herself. "You also need to do your part too."
The man smiled wickedly, "My part comes after you did your part. We agreed to this, didn't we?"
Wanyue raised her lips scornfully, "I know!"
"Good, then I better see results by next week."
With that, the phone call ended.
*
Due to Grandma Lu's crisis, Beichen did not force Yanyue to go back to Bayside Garden. So, she returned to the Eastern Palace.
Even though she was relieved to be back, this place was no different from that place because, in reality, she was just moving from one hellhole to another.
"Princess consort, the crown princess is here to visit," said a maid coming into the greenhouse with Suyin following behind her.
"Sister-in-law, how are you?" Suyin asked with a smile.
Yanyue put the teacup she was holding down on the table. She grinned and stood up to greet the cheerful woman.
"Crown princess."
"Ah, there is no need to be so formal! There is no one here to see anyway, so treat me like a friend!" said Suyin as she took a seat on the available chair across the table.
Yanyue must show respect to the crown princess because the crown princess's status was above hers. But, she relaxed when Suyin told her not to trouble with their positions or formalities.
Yanyue did not expect the crown princess to be so laid back.
She seemed like a completely carefree person unbounded by her status. For some reason, this made Yanyue comfortable and she wanted to get to know Suyin more.
Suyin gazed around the greenhouse. "I didn't know there was a greenhouse at the Eastern Palace. It must have been built after I left."
Yanyue nodded.
"Yes, this place has only been five years old."
"The Palace has changed so much," Suyin sighed. "I guess time waits for no one."
Yanyue heard that the crown princess was exile by the crown prince to a foreign country in the west. It had been six years since then. No one knew the real reason for her exile, but it must have been a big one. Based on the crown prince's personality, he would never do this if it wasn't a serious issue or something unconsequential.
Suyin chuckled because Yanyue's curiosity was shown so vividly on her face. She didn't blame the woman for her curiosity because she did cause quite the commotion back then. Along with appearing back in the country so suddenly, she was indeed a mystery for many.
She remember that on her first day back, her pictures were taken secretly by the paparazzi who followed her from the airport to the hotel. She appeared on the news the following morning.
EXILED SHU SUYIN SUDDENLY RETURNS TO YILONGGUO!
Then, she met Jinchen afterward and became his fiancee after some twists and turns.
"You've probably heard that I was exiled." Suyin lowered her head and touched the rim of her cup, "but that's not important."
She looked back up at Yanyue and smiled nostalgically. "I remember seeing you when you were just a little kid. You've grown so much."
"We have met each other before?" asked Yanyue, surprised by the remark.
Suyin nodded her head.
"Yes, I think I was about twelve at that time. You were probably less than five years old, so maybe that's why you can't remember me."
Yanyue crooked her head, attempting hard to remember the event. Her mind drew a blank.
Suyin explained more with more details, "That year, the Zanark royal family came to Yilongguo to attend a national event. A celebration was held and I met you there. I would always remember the event because of that incident."
"Incident?"
"Kidnapping," Suyin confirmed. "The small Zanark's princess was kidnapped. The king of Zanark was so angry that he called off all relations with Yilongguo. He suspected it was the Yilongguo's king that had taken the princess away as a hostage."
Yanyue was speechless. "I didn't know that such a thing like that happened back then..."
After some thoughts, she asked, "Then, what about the princess?"
As a journalist, Suyin read many articles about the case, but it was so long ago that she only remember the important details.
"The princess was never found. No one knows if she was dead or alive."
"I see," said Yanyue downheartedly. Somehow, she felt pitiful for the little princess.
Suyin smiled awkwardly. "Well, I didn't mean to make you sad," she said.
Then, she took out an invitation, "I came here to deliver this."
"This..." Yanyue read the envelope on the table.
WEDDING INVITATION: LU JINCHEN & SHU SUYIN
Suyin smiled and said, "I hope you can be there."
"I will. Thank you," Yanyue said gratefully.
As they continued to chat away, Yanyue winced as she felt a kick from the little guy in her stomach.
Suyin and Yanyue began laughing.
"Well, look at that. Already naughty!" remarked Suyin. She looked at the protruding stomach and couldn't help but to ask, "Is that a girl or boy?"
"It's a boy," replied Yanyue with a soft smile as she patted her stomach to soothe the energetic life growing in her.
"What a precious thing," Suyin said, a hint of envy radiating from her voice.
She once was able to feel the loveliness of motherhood, but fate was too cruel to her. It took the only thing that kept her living from life's shadow right in front of her eyes. So now, she was alone and forever scarred from that experience. She didn't think that she would ever have another baby again.
As she was reminiscing, she got a phone call from her colleague. There was an urgent matter, so she said her goodbyes to Yanyue and left.
*
Over the next few days, between tea time and cooking for a non-existent Beichen, Yanyue spent most of her present visiting Grandma Lu at the hospital.
However, on this particular day, she was sitting in Yanfeng's car because he had asked her for a favor. He was attending a function, but he had no companion, so he begged her to go with him.
Even though she couldn't trust him entirely because of his association with the Yang family, she agreed to go. After all, he did help her at the launch, and he was also currently assisting Klotho with the plagiarizing investigation. It was only fair to pay him back.
The shiny black car stopped by a luxurious cruise ship. Yanfeng came out of the car. He went to the other side and opened the door for Yanyue.
Even though she was six months pregnant, the slender dress and fur scarf that hugged her curvy body looked refined on her. The elegant makeup on her also allowed for a classy appearance.
Yanfeng raised his arms for Yanyue to hook on. They were so well-matched that people couldn't keep their eyes away from them.
After getting onto the ship, Yanfeng took her to meet many people. There were many new faces that she did not recognize. Some people recognized her because of her status as a successful young female entrepreneur. But most people remember her because of the gossips about her as the princess consort.
On the other side of the ship were two faces that she could recognize even with one eye closed.
"I'm sorry," Yanfeng said with guilt. "I didn't know that they would also attend the function."
Yanyue smiled dimly at the man. "Well, it's okay."
Yanfeng was still feeling bad, so he gave a card to a room in the ship to her in case she wanted to avoid them or take a rest.
Although they tried to evade them, Beichen and Wanyue still walked over to them while they were talking to the mayor.
"Sister Yanyue, you're here too," Wanyue looked at Yanfeng, "with my cousin." Then she turned to the mayor and gave him a polite greeting as well.
"It's a pleasure to see you, your highness."
The mayor bowed his head towards Beichen, while only glancing at Wanyue to acknowledge her presence. He tried to introduce Yanfeng to Beichen.
"This is President Yanfeng of-"
Yanfeng raised his hand to stop the mayor. "Ah, it's alright, Mr. Wong. I know his highness quite well. I'm good friend with his wife, the princess consort, after all," Yanfeng said, smiling at Yanyue and then raising his eyes to meet Beichen's. There was a freezing breeze coming from Beichen.
The mayor, who could read the room quite well, understood the situation as he looked at Beichen and Yanyue with their companions. It seemed the situation was messy. But he was just a small mayor, so he didn't dare to comment anything on the prince's affair.
It was the first time that Yanyue had seen Wanyue ever since the banquet. Her stomach was no longer big because of the miscarriage.
The baby was not Beichen's, but it was still an innocent life, so she felt sad thinking about it.
As a pregnant person herself, she couldn't even imagine intentionally harming her baby. So, she didn't understand how Wanyue could risk losing her baby rather than telling Beichen the truth.
After the incident, she felt that her sister was not as innocent as she looked. Along with her other complex emotions, Yanyue felt cheated for Beichen. It didn't seem like he knew that the baby was not his.
But based on experience, she was willing to bet that Beichen would not punish Wanyue for having another man's baby because he loved the woman very much.
He was the type to dote and excuse the actions of the person he loved dearly. Those that his eyes wouldn't meet like herself could only beg to receive one ounce of his forgiveness.
"Eh, cousin Wanyue," Yanfeng pretended to be surprised, "I thought you're still mourning your baby, but it seems like you're doing fine."
"Cousin..." Wanyue inched closer to Beichen for support like a distressed doll.
The mayor placed his condolences, "I apologize for your loss, Lady Shen."
Wanyue gave a weak smile. "Thank you, Mr. Wong. Even though my baby is gone, my sister is still living happily with hers. Let's hope that her baby can be born safely."
Even though Wanyue spoke kindly and softly, Yanyue could feel the threat in the woman's voice.
Yanfeng also caught the threat and couldn't help but to comment, "Unlike someone's ordinary baby, the princess consort's baby is important. After all, the child could be a potential heir to the throne, so it must be protected at all cost."
Wanyue was burning with anger and jealousy inside. But she had to pretend to be understanding in front of Beichen and the mayor, so she held back and reluctantly agreed with what Yanfeng pointed out.
Meanwhile, Yanyue observed Beichen's expression. She felt disheartened when he showed indifference. Her baby was his, but he didn't seem to care at all.