Chapter 532: Chapter 532
She frowned, "How vulgar!"
Rong Heng snorted coldly, "Vulgar? You should think about what you’ve done. Any little thing and you bolt, you ran away, and you kept me chasing shadows. I must admit, your ability to escape is astonishing. How did you manage to break out from my fortress?"
Tangyuan choked, feeling this topic was not suitable for conversation and bowed her head to feign submission.
"Speak up, it’s your turn to talk. What do you mean by keeping your mouth shut?"
She pursed her lips, reached out her hand, and gently tugged at his sleeve, "Can’t I admit my mistake? Look, I came all the way here to please you, what more do you want me to do? If you don’t accept it, then I might as well leave. What’s so great about that? It’s fine if Ayue doesn’t become your son. What’s so good about being your son anyway? To be laughed at as a bastard? That’s flesh off my own body, the treasure I caught with my own hands. How can you let others insult me like that? We have our dignity, you know? Do you think I want to be separated from you?"
The more Tangyuan spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, the more tears she could not hold back, "I’m suffering from the consequences, aren’t I? Being locked up in the Imperial Palace is like being in prison, dark and sunless, sitting alone in my palace watching pigeons fly over Yikun Palace or squatting on the ground counting ants. No one talks to you, the food they bring might be poisoned, or it’s just an overload of rich food, as if they want to eat me to death. I was supposed to be a Princess, but the Empress forced the Yuan Family to swap her child with mine. The Yuan Family hated her for it, and took their revenge on me by making me an obese person. If I hadn’t realized in time, I would have died before you could rescue me from this cage."
Rong Heng, who was already somewhat sympathetic, wanted to lighten the mood, but unexpectedly, the girl impulsively revealed such a big secret.
He turned to look at her in shock, "You are... the biological daughter of Empress Dowager Zou of Dongru Country?"
"You think she fought to protect me to death for no reason? Haha, that was her clever scheme, making me Empress so that the children I gave birth to would still carry the Ning Family bloodline, not letting down our ancestors since I was the mother. But she never considered, by swapping another family’s son, would they agree to this? Despite her devotion to that son, it was her daughter who ended up being tormented. Just for her own selfish desires, she ruined the entire Zou Family and indirectly avenged her past deeds!"
Rong Heng thought back to when he had taken her hostage; indeed, it was Empress Dowager Zou who first stood out to protect her daughter. Thinking about it now, it felt like fate was playing tricks on people.
"And how did you find out about this?"
"I guessed it, then confirmed it bit by bit. Ning Xu, too, knew the truth and wanted to overthrow the dynasty. But fearing the Zou Family, he dared to take desperate measures, even risking the crime of treason to collaborate with Xigu Country but ended up causing his own downfall. If only he were a bit more mature, he would have been a formidable opponent."
Rong Heng deeply agreed, "You see right through him!"
"Hehe, how could I not? He was an extremely sinister person."
She gave a self-deprecating laugh, her eyes unknowingly filling with tears, which then fell onto the bedcover with a blink.
Seeing this pained Rong Heng, and with a long embrace, he pulled her into his arms.
"From now on, let me cherish you. Just promise you won’t leave me again, will you?"
She pouted and grunted, "We’ll see how you do!"
"You stubborn thing!"
After a sigh filled with love, hate, and helplessness, he deeply kissed her, leaned down, and their intimate moment intensified...
A month later, the Empress Dowager returned to the palace, and under her witness, Nanling Country finally held the long-delayed coronation ceremony for the queen—seven or eight years overdue.
Prior to this, Rong Heng had announced his queen’s past achievements to the world through public notices. Naturally, the common people supported the queen who came from among them, rendering the opposition of the civil and military officials, or even the Empress Dowager’s, ineffective in stopping Ms. Tang from becoming the new queen.
After becoming the queen of Nanling Country, she continued to be friendly with her former card-playing friends, occasionally sending them little gifts. She even advocated for the Emperor to be impartial to everyone, always managing to leave the Emperor storming off in frustration while she contentedly tended to her fish, fed the birds, occasionally turned the soil, and planted some fruits.
The Empress Dowager always remained lukewarm towards her, but she didn’t mind. She paid her respects when necessary and continued to give gifts, because they were all top-notch skin care products that indeed improved complexion and vitality. Gradually, the Empress Dowager wasn’t so arrogant, and everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.
As winter turned to spring, just when she was eagerly discussing plans to go out and enjoy the spring scenery with Rong Heng, damnably, she started experiencing morning sickness. The Imperial Physician came for an examination and found she was already two months pregnant. Rong Heng was so nervous, he immediately imposed a house arrest on her, commanding her not to go anywhere outside the Imperial Palace.
Worried about being too harsh and angering her, he softly promised her that she could go out and enjoy herself once she safely delivered the child.
However, as soon as the dragon-phoenix twins were born, her attention was entirely taken over, leaving her no chance to think about leaving the palace.
By the time the children had grown and she could let go a bit, she thought she might finally catch her breath and have fun outside.
But then this scoundrel got her pregnant again, angering her so much she picked up a broom and started hitting the Emperor with it, not allowing him to set foot in Changchun Palace for an entire month.
Eventually, the sisters in the palace complained to her, saying the Emperor was taking out his frustrations on them, and pleaded with the Empress to sort him out. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to live peacefully.
That allowed Rong Heng an opportunity to enter the gates of Changchun Palace again.
To call him a scheming boy was completely accurate. In a life of setbacks and chaos, he had found her weakness, learning to use the children and the concubines to influence her mood. As soon as she mentioned leaving the palace, he would get her pregnant. With her being so beautiful, how could he resist his urges? Follow current novels on novel⚑fire.net
Thus, Tangyuan was exceptionally fertile in this lifetime, giving birth to ten children. Rong Heng lived almost under her scolding, and he did feel guilty. But as much as she scolded, he still found ways to be close to her, because he couldn’t help himself.
Perhaps it was because of this guilt that he abdicated at the age of forty-five, fulfilling the promise he made in his youth to spend the latter half of his life with her, traveling and enjoying a free world just for the two of them.
In the last moments of her life, she held his hand, lying on the vast grasslands with a hooked lip, a smile on her face, and she slowly closed her eyes...
—The end of this story—