Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks

Chapter 3608: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (27)

The way Ao Tianze treated her suggested he had truly chosen her, which was a great honor. Yet, seeing him behave so heartlessly toward others, she couldn’t help but wonder if that same coldness would one day be her own fate.

Fu Min, grieving the loss of her child, was trapped in a cycle of sorrow and insecurity, her mind racing with anxious thoughts. She massaged Ao Tianze’s temples, yet his headache did not recede. Instead, it intensified, feeling as though needles were being driven into his brain.

Consort Xuan had been waiting for Ning Shu since early morning, eager to hear the names the Emperor had bestowed. When she saw Ning Shu’s grim expression, her heart plummeted. “Did the emperor refuse to grant them names?”

“The emperor brushed the matter aside, saying we would speak of it later,” Ning Shu said while picking up her teacup for a sip.

Consort Xuan’s expression turned dazed. Her face was full of bewilderment and loss. “Why is the emperor treating me like this? What have I done wrong?”

Her greatest mistake was letting the children be born at all. These two children were meant to have been nothing more than a pool of bloody water. Their survival only served to provoke Ao Tianze’s irritation. It was only natural that he would be displeased at the thought of them receiving names and imperial treatment. His refusal was entirely predictable.

Ning Shu had no intention of telling Consort Xuan that the children were not Ao Tianze’s. The fewer people who knew that secret, the safer everyone would be.

“There are other ways to handle this,” Ning Shu stated plainly.

Ning Shu sought out the clan patriarch and several princes of high standing within the imperial family. She pointed out that the emperor’s line was sparse and that, after much difficulty, he finally had two children. For the emperor to refuse them names and a place in the imperial genealogy was simply unacceptable. Furthermore, they were a twin pair—a boy and a girl—which was a sign of great fortune. She asked the patriarch and the elders to help persuade the emperor.

Since the empress had made the request herself, the elders felt compelled to show her respect and went to the palace to advise Ao Tianze. He received them in the imperial study, but upon hearing their request, his face darkened instantly.

He had not expected the empress to go running to the clan elders. She was certainly exhausting every effort for the sake of those two children. Yet the harder she worked, the more determined he was to deny them names. After all, they did not carry the Ao bloodline.

Ao Tianze flatly rejected the clan’s request, stating that he would wait until the children were older. He argued that since they had been sickly from birth, bestowing names now might overwhelm their luck and lead to disaster.

Ao Tianze could not simply say the children were not his, nor could he reveal that the concubines in his inner palace were actually being bedded by shadow guards. That would be a complete betrayal of moral and social order. If the court officials ever found out, they would surely risk their lives to protest, denouncing him as a debauched and dim-witted ruler.

The clan elders looked at each other in confusion. The old patriarch spoke up. “Your Majesty’s line is indeed sparse. You could grant them simple names that won’t overwhelm their fortune, but at the very least, they must be recorded in the imperial genealogy.”

No. He would not do it. Ao Tianze felt wretched. These people who didn’t know the truth wouldn’t stop their incessant meddling. Not only had he been cuckolded, but the ‘green hat’ was being jammed firmly onto his head.

“Your Majesty, once they are on the registry, perhaps your descendants will begin to flourish,” the old patriarch said tremulously. There was a folk custom where families without children would buy a young girl to bring luck to the household so they could eventually conceive their own children. If the child was a boy, the girl could even become his bride.

Ao Tianze rubbed his temples. His head throbbed with a pain that felt like sharp objects were piercing his skull. He took an elixir and swallowed it. His eyes turned a faint, bloodshot red. The clan members present couldn’t help but frown. Why was the emperor so obsessed with these things and favoring those charlatans? Many nobles sought immortality only to enjoy their wealth forever, but such people usually died younger than anyone else.

The old patriarch struck the floor with his cane. “Your Majesty, you cannot continue to consume such things.”

He was thinking of the entire clan. After all, the Ao family was the imperial family. They had to look out for their own interests. The realm belonged to the Ao family—or rather, the realm was controlled by the great clans, and the imperial family was simply the most powerful among them.

If the emperor died from his elixirs, there would be no heir to the throne. That infant boy in the inner palace, at least, had to be placed in the imperial genealogy. Ao Tianze was frustrated to the point of madness. The officials in the court wouldn’t shut up, and now the clan members were doing the same. Was everyone trying to harass him to death?

“Your Majesty, please bestow a simple name upon the little prince so as not to jinx his fortune,” the old patriarch pressed. Ao Tianze felt as though he had stepped in filth. His head felt like it was going to explode and a ball of fire was burning in his chest. He swept the items off his desk in a single motion.

Everyone in the room immediately dropped to their knees. “May the emperor calm his rage!”

“We beg Your Majesty to think of the Ao family’s empire. Without an heir, the court will never be stable.”

Even if something were to happen in the future, as long as there were heirs in the inner palace, the imperial bloodline would not be extinguished.

All Ao Tianze wanted was to reserve the very best for Fu Min’s future child. If she bore a son, he would name that child the crown prince. Only then would the empire truly belong to the Ao family, rather than to some bastard.

“I am the emperor. Whatever I do is based on my own considerations for the sake of the empire. You need not say any more.” He had absolutely no intention of bestowing names upon those two bastards in the inner palace.

He wished he could just remove the empress. She was constantly stirring up trouble. Ao Tianze rubbed his forehead. The room full of buzzing voices was becoming unbearable.

The clan members present could not fathom why Ao Tianze was so unwilling to grant a name. Could it really be as the empress said—that the emperor only recognized the children of Lady Min? To be planning for a child that didn’t even exist yet while ignoring the ones already born… the clan members were at a loss for words.

“Your Majesty, it is only a name. You are in your prime and will have many more children in the future. A large family is the key to a flourishing clan.”

Ao Tianze gave a cold laugh in his heart.

So what if it flourishes? It would only lead to more bloodshed over power.

“Prosperity means more choices,” the old patriarch countered. “Only through that struggle can we determine who is most fit to sit upon the throne.”

If an incompetent or dim-witted man were to take the throne, could he truly protect the Ao family’s empire? The struggle for the succession was merely a way to select the most suitable candidate to become Emperor. Courage, strategy, and destiny—not one of them could be lacking.

The patriarch was telling the cold truth. An emperor climbed to the throne over a staircase of bleached bones. To enjoy supreme power, one had to endure the loneliness of the heights. One who wished to wear the crown had to bear its weight. Ao Tianze, however, could not bear the thought of his and Fu Min’s child having to fight others. He believed with all his heart that his child would be a brilliant ruler, and he did not want his child to experience the cruelty of the imperial life.