After looking at the terrified back leaving, Sun Gui leaned down on the chair again to be deep in thought.
The emperor's harem consisted of one empress and 32 consorts. It was not as if the emperor did not have intercourse with any of them before meeting Sun Wen, but several years passed and there was no offspring yet. The imperial blood in this world could be counted on one hand with only the emperor, the son of the previous emperor, and the regent, the younger brother of the previous emperor. The rest of the imperial blood were gers or princesses that were married off to other nations or other nobles. If the throne were to pass to their children, it would mean they submitted to that nation. Therefore, the emperor had always been paranoid about the regent, the only other legitimate heir. And if the regent suddenly had an heir, it would be a threat to his position.
That was the reason the court officials were heavily concerned about the emperor's bloodline. The arrival of Sun Wen and the dragon's indulgence in him caused a headache to them.
'Strange, strange, strange...There's no way that guy is infertile, right? He still had a kid with Sun Wen after all. Maybe I should investigate this part a bit.'
After some digging around, Sun Gui had another laugh at the information in his hand. It turned out the emperor was really infertile! As if fate kept telling him that he was never fit to be an emperor. It was all due to the late empress dowager indulging in beauty pills as she was pregnant with Zheng Hong. Poor thing.
'Then whose father was the baby in Sun Wen's stomach? Did he use his system to cure Zheng Hong's infertility?'
It did not matter much to Sun Gui at the moment. This was the information he could use later. With the unstable position of Sun Wen right now, there was no way he would cure the emperor's infertility so soon. Especially... Sun Gui wanted to gag. Especially when the emperor was fascinated with the 'mysterious diviner'. How curious it was that they only met once and Zheng Hong already had an obsession. Maybe it was his type, transmigrators...
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Three months after Sun Gui's punishments, the emperor's 21st birthday had arrived. High-ranking officials, their daughters and sons, as well as foreign envoys, attended the grand banquet. Sun Gui chose to have somewhat healed from the lashes and participated in the party to prove his devotion to the emperor. He was curious to see the other legitimate heir, if he were to bring the emperor down, would this regent be excellent enough to carry the responsibility of governing the state? It was a shame that he could not approach the regent's residence without alerting the shadow guards and the previous Sun Gui had never met him face to face.
As he was lost in thoughts and looking dazedly, everybody gaped at the unworldly appearance. They had all heard of the beauty in the Sun family but he was unfavored in the harem because of his brother. All the people present felt that beauty was not enough to describe this immortal figure before their eyes. It was regretful that he was unfavored ger of the imperial harem.
Then a sudden commotion arose, which caught Sun Gui's attention back to reality. He looked at all the attendants and officials that started kneeling at the majestic figure striding forward the regent's seat. Sun Gui's eyes opened wide and his jaw almost dropped, he hastily used his wide sleeve to cover his expression. His man was the regent?!
The regent immediately noticed the gaze of someone in the crowd and turned his head in Sun Gui's direction.
'Will he recognize me?' Sun Gui was confident that no one found out about his identity because it was not common for people to change their hair and eye color in ancient time. However, he had few expectations from his lover.
Zheng Guozi looked at the concubine seating area with a complicated gaze. Even though the appearance was a little different, this feeling could not be fake. That concubine had to be the diviner he had been missing days and nights! In his heart, he was glad to finally know where his beloved had been, but at the same time, it was incredibly bitter to know his beloved was married to someone else.
'Was that why he ran away? It was because he was married to my imperial nephew? No, he has to be mine...'
Looking at the painful emotion on his man's face, Sun Gui's heart softened, and immediately lowered his gaze. His hands were fidgeting under the long sleeves. The people around thought that the beauty was scared of the regent's pressure. But how could it be? His man recognized him in an instant which made him very happy but he knew that his man was in pain because he was married. This only made Sun Gui more determined to speed up his plan, the first step was to abolish the harem.
The Emperor finally arrived and sat in his seat. His gaze looked over everyone when it suddenly stopped at Sun Gui. He thought that this concubine of his looked familiar like that diviner, however, the color scheme was all different so he just passed it off. No one could compare to that ethereal figure.
The banquet was lively with people's congratulations and blessings. When the music started, some drunk people started to sway and dance along with the dancing beauties. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was great. The banquet was a success for everyone, except for two people with a storm brewing in their hearts.
Right after the banquet ended, the people all went back to their respective homes. The concubines retreated to their quarter. The regent had already left at some time.
Sun Gui, who was not tended to by anyone, was walking alone in the outdoor corridor to his quarter. A shadow emerged in front of him and caught his hands to push it against the wall. The shadow effectively trapped Sun Gui within his large hands.
"What is a royal concubine doing by venturing outside the palace wall and dressing up as a diviner?" Zheng Guozi's tone was cold as if being doused with a bucket of ice water.
"What is Lord Regent saying? This concubine doesn't understand..." Sun Gui faked his innocence and avoided the man's eyes.
"Don't call yourself concubine!!" It only reminded him more of the fact that his beloved belonged to another man, much less an emperor!
The look of sadness, pain, and grief made Zheng Guozi's eyes red. Even though Sun Gui's heart felt like it was being shot with bullets, he had to push him away. The plan had not been set in motion yet, and it was too risky for them to be involved with each other for now. With his husband's possessiveness, the moment he gave him an inch, his husband would go a mile.
'In my heart, you are my only husband. Please wait a little bit.'
"It is inappropriate for a married ger to be alone with a man. Please, Lord Regent, let go of me." Sun Gui had to squeeze out every single word and dared not look into his man's eyes.
And that every word stabbed into Zheng Guozi's heart. He gritted his teeth but decidedly let him go. Even if he wanted to kidnap him and betrayed the emperor for him, he could not hurt his beloved or caused him grievances even just a little bit. That reminded him that he grabbed the fragile ger's hands in a fit of anger. He lifted those soft hands up and examined them thoroughly. Only after he confirmed that Sun Gui was not hurt, did he bid the ger goodbye.
'Goodbye, my ass. You're stalking me now.'
Sun Gui rolled his eyes at the watchful gaze in the corner of his room. He knew that it would not be easy for his man to let go. So, the regent resorted to the idea of watching him from the shadow that he could not see. Sun Gui just turned a blind eye to this. It would at least reassure the man that he was okay, and his relationship with the emperor amounted to nothing. People might think it was creepy, and it was! However, for such long-time lovers, this possessiveness was something that Sun Gui could easily handle.