Chapter 102: Cruel Prince 51

Tang Wan’s mouth twitched violently after hearing Little Cutie’s comparison.

But strangely enough—

her nervousness truly eased quite a bit.

Combined with the experienced guidance of the midwives, Tang Wan gradually relaxed.

Unlike the exaggerated screaming scenes from television dramas, she calmly conserved her strength while biting down on slices of ginseng.

And after relaxing like this—

the child truly came out just as Little Cutie had said.

Before Tang Wan even had time to feel prolonged pain,

the baby was already born.

Immediately afterward, the room filled with joyful congratulations.

Even though Tang Wan already knew the child would be a boy,

the moment she truly heard his cries,

her heart still softened with indescribable emotion and happiness.

She...

finally had a child of her own.

...

The moment the child was born, Feng Qitong immediately established him as Crown Prince.

And with the existence of the legitimate heir,

all possibility of the Second Prince inheriting the throne was completely destroyed.

Even if Feng Qitong suddenly went mad now—

the throne still would not fall into the Second Prince’s hands.

For a time, the Second Prince’s resentment toward Tang Qingzhu exploded completely.

Although this woman had never truly changed anything,

she had still given him false hope.

And because of that—

he hated her.

...

But when the Second Prince went looking for Tang Qingzhu to settle accounts,

he discovered that she had already fled with all the jewelry he had previously gifted her.

“Bitch!”

“You deceived this king and still dare to run?!”

The Second Prince smashed a teacup furiously onto the ground and immediately ordered people to hunt her down.

Not long afterward, Tang Qingzhu was captured and dragged back.

The Second Prince ruthlessly ordered her lying tongue to be cut out.

Had it not been for the Fifth Prince pleading desperately on her behalf,

he would have directly chopped her into pieces and fed her to dogs.

In the end,

Tang Qingzhu was thrown into a brothel owned under his name.

...

In the blink of an eye,

nine years passed.

During those nine years, countless women threw themselves at Feng Qitong.

The ministers repeatedly urged him to expand the imperial harem and allow the rain and dew of imperial favor to fall equally.

But after Feng Qitong personally beheaded several noble ladies who schemed toward him—

no one dared mention the matter ever again.

...

Nine years later.

On the second day after the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet,

Feng Qitong suddenly disappeared together with Tang Wan.

He left behind only a single imperial edict.

On it was written one simple sentence:

“You have grown up.”

“You should learn to govern the country yourself.”

...

When the nine-year-old Crown Prince saw the decree, even his usually calm expression cracked.

The corners of his mouth twitched violently.

No wonder he had felt yesterday that the old man was plotting something.

So he had actually abducted Mother away!

Hmph!

As expected—

sinister, cunning, cold-blooded, and shameless!

...

Tang Wan and Feng Qitong eventually died during the seventh year after leaving the palace.

Feng Qitong had wanted to take her to see the legendary Penglai Island.

But unexpectedly,

the sea was unpredictable and dangerous.

A tsunami struck without warning.

Before death,

Feng Qitong held her tightly, his face full of guilt and self-reproach.

Tang Wan looked at him gently.

“It’s not your fault.”

“And being able to die together with you...”

“is also a kind of happiness.”

Hearing this, Feng Qitong tightened his grip around her hand even further.

Finally—

he asked the question that had been buried in his heart for many years.

“Wanwan...”

“Can you tell Gu now... who exactly are you?”

Hearing this, Tang Wan slowly curved her lips into a smile.

“I knew long ago that you had already discovered it.”

“But I can’t say.”

“Otherwise, even after death, there will still be punishment.”

The moment Feng Qitong heard this, he immediately said firmly:

“Then don’t say it.”

“In the next life...”

“Gu will definitely find you again.”

Tang Wan nodded gently.

“Mm.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

...

In the next second,

towering waves swallowed them whole.

But even in death,

the two remained tightly embracing each other.

Not even the tsunami could separate them.

...

“Congratulations, Host, for successfully completing the mission!”

“The mission has been evaluated as S-rank!”

“You have been rewarded with 1000 points and one lottery draw opportunity!”

Little Cutie excitedly summoned the lottery wheel.

But Tang Wan showed no interest in drawing the lottery.

Instead, she looked at Little Cutie and suddenly asked:

“Little Cutie...”

“Why is it that whenever I choose to remain in the mission world, I always end up dying early because of accidents?”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

🌸 Translator's Note

And with that, Arc Two is officially done! 🎉

So... what did you guys think?

I have to say, this version of the ML is probably my favorite of them all. Out of all his different incarnations throughout the novel, there's just something about this one that I really adore. Maybe it's because he reminds me a little of another character I really like, Feng Ci (if anyone knows him 🫣)

He's just... adorable. Even though he's also a murderous little demon. Somehow those two things coexist perfectly in my head. 

Anyway, I'm curious what everyone else thought of him! Did you like this version of him? And when will Wan Wan realize... ya know👀

---

And now for a completely random thought I had while reading this arc...

The whole situation with the child being left behind to inherit the throne made me think about a trope I've come across quite a lot in novels.

This isn't me saying that's what this particular couple is doing, because I don't think that's really the case here. It's just something the situation reminded me of.

You know those stories where the male and female leads are completely, ridiculously, hopelessly in love with each other... and then they have a child?

And suddenly the child becomes this third person who is somehow intruding on their relationship?

I've noticed that in quite a few novels, the child is treated almost like an accessory to the main couple's romance. Sometimes a daughter is absolutely adored, while a son gets treated almost like a rival for the mother's attention. And sometimes the father is basically thinking, "Why is there suddenly another person between us?!" 

And honestly... those stories make me so sad.

I completely understand being possessive. I actually think it's perfectly fine for someone to know that they don't want children because they don't want to share their partner's attention. That's a completely valid choice.

But then... don't have children! 🙈

If you already know that you would resent a child for taking your partner's attention, why bring a child into the world and then become possessive of your own child?

Personally, I've always thought that if someone knows they don't want children, or like the consequences associated to having kids; choosing not to have them is much kinder than having them and then being resentful that they exist (or treating them like burdens you wanna get rid of by trying to make them mature asap and leave the nest, ya know?)

And yes, I know this is probably a slightly controversial opinion...😅

This particular couple doesn't really go that far, and there are only a couple of moments in this arc that even made me think about the trope. But once I started thinking about it, I couldn't stop noticing how often I've seen similar dynamics in other novels.

I think that's also part of why I liked the ML from the first arc so much. His solution was basically: "I don't wanna share Wan Wan... but what about the baby making activities? I want that! so lets cut and tie! Fine. Problem solved." 😂

Anyway, that's my completely random novel-trope thought of the day.

What do you guys think?

Have you noticed this trope too? Does it bother you, or am I just reading way too much into these things? I'd genuinely love to hear your thoughts.

Keep letting me know what you think (even recommendations for other QT novels😉)!

See you in the next arc! 🌸

— Cy