A scorching fire burned in Emperor Zhou's heart as he paced back and forth in Zhangze Hall.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand why the little wretch was fighting with him over an Imperial Noble Consort.
He had given birth to him and raised him, personally teaching him as an emperor, sharing his meals and his bed. What an enormous honor!
He refused to believe anyone would not want such an honor.
If someone did not want it, he must be sick, stupid! Mad! Utterly mad!
Emperor Zhou spread his hands and roared at the heavens, "The Crown Prince has gone mad! The Crown Prince has gone mad!"
No one dared fight with him like this. No one!
He had said the Imperial Noble Consort could not threaten his position as Crown Prince. He would bring her into the Rear Side Hall, and he would suppress every rumor!
The Crown Prince only needed to stay obediently in the Main Hall!
Why did he insist on fighting him?!
What was he worried about? What was he afraid of?!
Emperor Zhou paced in agitation.
"Who did the Crown Prince see today? What did he do? What did he hear?! Is someone beside him sowing discord?!!"
Qian Deli answered cautiously, "The Crown Prince followed his usual routine, eating after he woke, then going to pay his respects to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. But Her Majesty was unwell and could not see him."
Emperor Zhou grew suspicious. "The Empress Dowager was unwell? Which imperial physician examined her?"
Qian Deli said, "...Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager did not summon an imperial physician."
The air abruptly froze.
Veins bulged on Emperor Zhou's forehead, and he kicked over the table.
He roared as though venting his fury, "Aaaah-!"
He knew all too well why the Empress Dowager had refused to see the Crown Prince.
Because she did not like him. Because she hated him!
Because the Crown Prince was born of him! Because he was a wretch!
They disliked not only the Crown Prince, but him as well!
The Retired Emperor had even considered deposing him and passing the throne to his uncles' branch of the family!
They liked Wu Junzheng! They did not like the Crown Prince!
They disliked the Crown Prince just as they disliked him!
Emperor Zhou's hatred nearly made him vomit blood. He clutched his throat and bent over, dry-heaving, but nothing came out.
Qian Deli dropped to his knees and shuffled over on them, weeping as he kowtowed.
"Your Majesty! You cannot hurt yourself like this! It pains your servant to see it. Kick your servant! Kick your servant instead! Your Majesty!"
Emperor Zhou tipped his head back and let out a long breath. Bloodshot veins filled his eyes; he had already descended into obsession.
The Empress Dowager and the Retired Emperor hated him, and now the child he had personally borne hated him too!
They had all betrayed him!
"Tell me! Why has the Crown Prince betrayed me?! I have treated them so well! Why does he insist on going against me!"
"Was it the Empress Dowager? Did the Retired Emperor secretly say something to him?! They dislike me, so they must steal even my child!"
"They must be stirring up trouble between us!"
Emperor Zhou shouted until his voice grew hoarse, those few sentences draining every ounce of strength from him. One moment he said "they," the next "he," his words jumbled, but Qian Deli understood.
He understood all too well.
"Your Majesty!" Qian Deli had followed Emperor Zhou since childhood. They had grown up together, and he understood the emperor's taboos and the bitterness in his heart.
He also understood exactly where Emperor Zhou was trapped.
With hot tears in his eyes, Qian Deli hugged Emperor Zhou's legs and spoke earnestly.
"Your Majesty, today your servant will risk his life to ask you three questions."
Emperor Zhou seized his collar and stared him down. "Speak!"
"Leaving aside how Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and the Retired Emperor feel about you, your servant dares to ask: have either of those noble personages ever mistreated you in food, clothing, shelter, or travel?"
Emperor Zhou said, "No."
"Your servant's second question: since His Highness the Crown Prince was born, has he ever been close to anyone besides Your Majesty?"
Emperor Zhou said, "No."
"Your servant's third question: if the consorts of the harem stay overnight in Taiji Palace, where does Your Majesty intend to put the Crown Prince?"
Emperor Zhou was confused at first, then felt as though a thunderbolt had struck from a clear sky.
"Does Your Majesty intend to make His Highness the Crown Prince sleep every night in the bed where you and the consorts of the harem tumble like mating phoenixes?"
"How is His Highness the Crown Prince to hold his head up in the harem? How is he to hold his head up at court?"
"Your Majesty is supreme beneath heaven. No one dares criticize you, but the Crown Prince's dignity rests entirely upon you! If one day your protection cannot reach him, how is he to safeguard himself?"
"The Crown Prince is precocious. Perhaps he dimly grasped this today, which was why he sought out the Empress Dowager. But she did not see him, so he could only come to Your Majesty himself to ask for a palace."
"The Crown Prince wants a palace neither because of the Imperial Noble Consort nor because he distrusts Your Majesty, but because the rites and regulations demand it. Not everyone possesses Your Majesty's courage and ability to follow their own wishes."
"Others at least have their birth mothers to plan for them, but His Highness the Crown Prince has only you! If you do not think of him, who else will?"
Qian Deli slammed his forehead against the floor. "Your Majesty! This is the root of it all!"
Emperor Zhou was speechless.
Though he had his own way of doing things and refused to let others interfere, Qian Deli's words about "the Crown Prince sleeping in the bed where he and his consorts tumbled like mating phoenixes" had struck far too hard.
He wanted to say that he had never even considered letting the consorts stay overnight in Taiji Palace.
Taiji Palace was his and Jier's home. How could he let another woman spend the night there?
He had taken it for granted that the Crown Prince should understand his intentions.
If he understood his intentions, why was he still singing a contrary tune? The Crown Prince did not trust him. The Crown Prince had betrayed his affection!
But he had forgotten that outsiders did not see it that way.
In outsiders' eyes, Taiji Palace was merely his residence as emperor, not the Crown Prince's. It could house the emperor and the consorts the emperor favored, but not the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince was young enough now that it did not stand out, but once he reached six or seven, old enough to sleep apart, it would truly become indefensible.
Emperor Zhou indeed had no fear of what others might say, but the knife was not stabbing into his own flesh. He could be accused of speaking comfortably on his feet, heedless of another's aching back.
Several times, he opened his mouth to offer some defense.
But Qian Deli's words about tumbling like mating phoenixes kept drifting through his mind.
If he brought the Imperial Noble Consort into the Rear Side Hall, outsiders would gossip, and resentment would take root in her heart.
Emperor Zhou could certainly be arrogant enough to shoulder the rumors for the Crown Prince, but those rumors would have been his own gift to him in the first place.
If he followed the rites and brought the Imperial Noble Consort into the Main Hall of Taiji Palace, the Crown Prince would have to move out.
He had not prepared a palace for the Crown Prince. Wherever he moved, Emperor Zhou would feel that he was being wronged.
At last, Emperor Zhou understood why the Crown Prince wanted a palace.
Emperor Zhou murmured, "He is such a tiny little thing. How can he carry so much on his mind?"
But on second thought, the Crown Prince had no mother to look after his interests. He could only look after them himself.
The name "little wretch" was one way he had looked after himself.
A palace belonging to the Crown Prince was another way he was looking after himself.
Emperor Zhou rose in a daze, memories of the past coming into sharp focus.
In truth, he had only been with the Crown Prince for two years, and for half a year of those two, he had seen him only through the Secret Guards' reports.
The Crown Prince had spent half a year being raised in the Temporary Palace. Because Emperor Zhou neither asked nor cared about him, the wet nurses had gradually grown negligent.
When he soiled or wet himself, they failed to clean him promptly, and sores developed on his bottom.
Once he could roll over, whenever he soiled or wet himself, he would shift to a clean spot on his own.
He even knew to air out his bottom.
Such a tiny little thing, and even then he had known how to look after himself.
Emperor Zhou had also discovered that the Retired Emperor had once ordered someone to open the windows to secretly harm the Crown Prince. Who could have known that the little thing could cover himself with a blanket?
Every night, he huffed and puffed as he wrapped himself into a caterpillar, taking such good care of himself that he never fell ill once.
Yet after coming to the imperial palace, because of Emperor Zhou's carelessness and self-righteousness, he had suffered indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and coughing.
The little thing treasured food, and Emperor Zhou thought he was stingy and lacked a crown prince's majesty.
The little thing lost his temper with him for feeding him wine, and Emperor Zhou called him petty and narrow-minded.
The little thing feared the cold, and Emperor Zhou used his belly to warm his hands.
The little thing cherished his health and wanted an imperial physician to prescribe medicine to strengthen him, and Emperor Zhou said he was inventing an illness where none existed.
The little thing loved clothes embroidered with dragons, and Emperor Zhou scorned his poor taste as stiff and old-fashioned.
Even his fondness for little silver beans had once struck Emperor Zhou as far too small-minded.
Adding clothes when winter grew cold, shedding them when he grew hot, eating liquid food when ill, going to sleep by himself when tired-all of this was the Crown Prince looking after himself.
He had earnestly raised himself, while Emperor Zhou, his unfit father, had simply claimed the credit as his due because he was close at hand.
He had deceived himself until he truly believed that no one loved the Crown Prince more than he did.
And in the end, he had driven the Crown Prince to helplessness over a palace that should already have been his.
"Ha, hahahaha..."
As though something had dealt him a crushing blow, Emperor Zhou pushed Qian Deli away, staggered over to sit on the Imperial Steps, and thought for a very, very long time.
"You are right. He has only me."
"If I do not look after him, no one beneath heaven will."
He could cling stubbornly to his own views and disregard the rites, but he should not drag Jier down with him.
Emperor Zhou covered his face and gave a long sigh.
"He truly is the bane of my life."
"Prepare to leave for Taiji Palace."
Qian Deli slowly raised his head, weeping with joy.
"Yes! Your servant will accompany Your Majesty to Taiji Palace at once!"
Emperor Zhou gave a cold snort and said awkwardly:
"I am the emperor. An emperor does not make mistakes. At most, I will coax the little thing a bit."
Emperor Zhou had only just finished speaking when someone rushed in from outside the hall, dropped to his knees with a thud, and spoke with despair written all over his face.
"Your Majesty! His Highness the Crown Prince has gone missing!"
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