Super-Fertile Darling: Forced to Marry the Heirless Tyrant

Li Yuzong had been watching Prince Yong for a while, peering through a crack in the window of the hall.

He had practically watched Zhao Minghong grow up and knew his temperament well.

When a mischievous, boisterous child suddenly became quiet—too quiet—it meant he was brewing up trouble and was about to do something big.

Sure enough, Prince Yong lowered his head and charged straight for the main doors of Zhaoyang Hall.

Flicking his horsetail whisk, Li Yuzong moved with surprising agility, appearing before Zhao Minghong in a flash.

"My, my! Your Highness, you mustn’t do this!" he cried. "This is the Holy Emperor’s bedchamber! Trespassing is a capital offense."

Zhao Minghong glared at the chief eunuch who had appeared out of nowhere, foiling his plan.

His eyes darkened as he said sarcastically, "My Imperial Brother’s life hangs in the balance in his chambers, yet Eunuch Li seems to be in high spirits. Not a trace of weariness on you."

Li Yuzong met him with a smile, pretending not to notice the mockery in his tone.

"This old servant has been exercising these past few days to better care for the Holy Emperor’s sacred health. I even run my way to my post."

Zhao Minghong gritted his teeth. "You really are a tough old bag of bones!"

Ordinarily, he wouldn’t be so rude to the Grand Steward of the imperial court, but now... he saw Li Yuzong as a traitor.

’It was this man who had stopped him, again and again, from visiting Emperor Wu Su. There must be something fishy going on behind the scenes.’

’Perhaps he has already conspired with outsiders to... do something to my Imperial Brother...’

Zhao Minghong didn’t dare to think any further. The mere thought made his eyes redden with fury. Unable to control his temper, he snarled, "You backstabbing eunuch dog!"

Li Yuzong gave the Black-clothed Guards behind him a look, and they immediately moved forward to restrain Prince Yong.

Zhao Minghong snatched a guard’s sword and swung it wildly. "I’d like to see who dares stop me! You pack of treacherous rebels!"

Fearing the prince might hurt himself with the sword, Li Yuzong’s old face creased with worry.

Zhao Minghong seized the opportunity and charged majestically toward the entrance of Zhaoyang Hall.

He kicked open the hall doors and yelled, "Your subject has come to—"

The words "save you" were swallowed back down.

The tall, imposing figure of Emperor Wu Su was sitting behind the desk in the center of the hall. He set down his brush and straightened his sleeves.

In a cool tone, he asked, "Come to do what? Why did you stop?"

Zhao Minghong stood there, stunned. His eyes were wide as saucers as if trying to determine whether the man before him was truly his own brother.

Emperor Wu Su’s gaze fell on the sword in Prince Yong’s right hand, his tone flat.

"You force your way into Our bedchamber with a weapon. The ’treacherous rebel’ you spoke of... that would be you, I presume."

’He sounds so cold and impersonal...’

’And that cold glare...’

’It must be my Imperial Brother. Yes, it’s him.’

Zhao Minghong’s fingers went slack, and the sword he had snatched from the guard clattered onto the golden floor tiles. He hurried to the foot of the steps before the dais.

He called out plaintively, "Imperial Brother."

Hearing his tone, Emperor Wu Su frowned and chided, "What is with that tone of voice?"

If his Imperial Brother hadn’t been wearing such a cold expression, Zhao Minghong would have rushed forward to give him a brotherly hug.

He looked his brother up and down, noticing he was only a bit thinner. Otherwise, nothing had changed, and he certainly didn’t look ill.

Worried, Zhao Minghong asked, "Imperial Brother, when did you recover? Could this be a final burst of energy before the end? Should we have the Imperial Physician take another look?"

Emperor Wu Su’s hand reached for his inkstone. Prince Yong clapped his hands and said, "Right! The Imperial Physicians can’t be trusted. I’ll go get Ji Qingwu."

He was about to leave, but then he stopped.

"Imperial Brother."

Unable to stand his cloying tone, Emperor Wu Su said sternly, "If you have something to say, say it. If not, get out."

Being scolded like that by the Emperor finally put Zhao Minghong’s heart at ease.

"Imperial Brother, I have something to tell you. It’s a major affair. You must prepare yourself."

Seeing Emperor Wu Su lose his patience and reach for the inkstone to throw at him, Zhao Minghong ducked his head and said quickly, "Ji Qingwu has married Wei Ting."

He secretly glanced up to gauge his brother’s reaction, only to see that Emperor Wu Su’s expression hadn’t changed at all.

’That’s not right...’

Zhao Minghong began to doubt again whether the man before him was really the Emperor.

He asked tentatively, "Imperial Brother, do you remember the last time you hit me?"

His question made Zhao Mingyan laugh in exasperation. He looked up at him.

"We wouldn’t mind giving you another beating with the exact same moves right now, to help you recall everything."

Seeing the Emperor stand up and pull out a ruler, a light shone in Zhao Minghong’s eyes.

He waved his hands repeatedly. "No need, no need! Your subject remembers it all now."

Zhao Minghong heaved a long sigh of relief. "Since Imperial Brother is in good health, your subject won’t disturb your rest any longer."

He bowed and retreated, his steps light and joyful, as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted from his heart.

Emperor Wu Su watched Prince Yong’s retreating back, then rose and walked down from the dais.

"Ming Hong."

Hearing his brother’s low, somber voice, Zhao Minghong turned around, his eyes stinging. He immediately strode back.

"Imperial Brother, I knew you couldn’t bear to see me go..."

Zhao Mingyan’s brows furrowed slightly. "Stay where you are. Do not come any closer to me."

It was unknown what the Emperor had tasked Prince Yong with, but Zhao Minghong left Zhaoyang Hall looking absolutely elated.

When he walked out of the hall and saw Li Yuzong, he excitedly grabbed the eunuch’s hands, a completely different person from the man who had been seething with anger moments before.

Zhao Minghong said, "I misjudged you. You are a loyal and devoted..."

"...good man."

Li Yuzong saw Prince Yong off with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, feeling certain that the two words he had wanted to say were not "good man."

’Figures. Nothing good ever comes out of that mouth.’

Chief Li flicked his horsetail whisk and returned to the hall to serve.

*

「Nightfall.」

The moon was high and the night deep. The Prime Minister’s Mansion stood imposing and solemn behind its high walls. Ancient trees towered over a courtyard paved with blue bricks.

Two maidservants dressed in white entered the kitchen. "Is the master’s stewed soup ready?" one asked.

A kitchen maid, wearing a headscarf, was busy kneading dough with her head down.

The shorter of the two maidservants scolded, "Sister Hanzhang is asking you a question! Why don’t you answer!"

"Nong Ying, I think this kitchen maid is new and doesn’t know the rules. You go call—"

Before Hanzhang could finish, Nong Ying heard the thud of a heavy object falling to the ground behind her.

The taller maidservant had been cleanly knocked unconscious with a chop to the neck. Nong Ying turned around just in time to receive a blow herself and collapsed.

Seeing this, Ji Qingwu tossed the dough aside and went to shut the kitchen door.

She crouched down to check on the two maidservants, then fed each of them a pill.

Wei Tongyou, standing by the stove, asked, "What are you doing?"

"Making them sleep a little longer," Ji Qingwu said. As she spoke, she began to strip their clothes off. "Put these on."

The maidservants of the Su Mansion all wore spotless white robes. After changing into them, the two women found their movements automatically restricted, not daring to touch anything for fear of getting soot on the clean fabric.

Wei Tongyou stroked her chin. "But even if we change clothes, anyone who knows these two will recognize that we aren’t from the mansion."

Ji Qingwu didn’t reply, quietly busying herself with something with her head lowered.

When she looked up again...