Chapter 1524: Her Highness the Princess (74)

“I truly never imagined that even after I did everything the Second Princess asked of me, she would still grow tired of me. Fearing for my wife and children’s lives, I never dared to secretly return to see them. For over ten years, I thought of them every single day. I believed they must still be living well, but who could have known… who could have known that the Second Princess would go back on her word?”

Lü Qing continued weeping bitterly. If his wife and children had not been standing there alive and well, each of them radiant and flourishing, everyone might truly have been moved by his supposed devotion.

But now, everyone only had one thought.

Who was he trying to fool?

Tang Guo nearly burst out laughing. Raising her head, she glanced at the Emperor, who happened to be suppressing his own amusement. Their eyes met.

Father and daughter silently looked away at once.

They absolutely could not laugh. If Lü Qing noticed, there would be no more entertainment.

The corners of Lü Yufan’s mouth twitched. In his previous life, how had he failed to notice that the Emperor and the Grand Princess were such interesting people?

At this moment, in everyone's eyes, Lü Qing looked like a clown, performing with deep emotion over the loss of his wife and children solely to amuse them.

Clad in her dignified official robes, Lin Yuexiang stood calmly to the side. One minister who knew her well quietly muttered, “Lord Lin, is there something wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. This official isn't familiar with him.”

“Oh…”

Not familiar with him, despite having borne him two children. It was the first time he had ever encountered such a thing.

The Emperor swallowed back all traces of his smile and maintained his majestic demeanor. “What exactly are you implying?”

“Your Majesty, Lü Qing has been wronged! After enduring ten years of bitter study, Lü Qing finally became the top scholar. Why would I abandon the lofty halls of government to become the Second Princess's prince consort? Why? Because the Second Princess threatened me with the lives of my wife and children! She even staged her own fall into the water, forcing me to save her. If I had refused, I did not care about my own life, but I could not bear to watch my wife and children die. In the end, I had no choice but to agree to the Second Princess's demands.”

The Emperor was so angry he almost laughed.

Though Tang Xi had lived a rather frivolous life in recent years and had secretly kept male favorites, she rarely caused trouble. She simply shut herself away in her princess residence and amused herself.

As long as Lü Qing tolerated it and did not come complaining to him, the Emperor had no desire to interfere. After all, what dynasty lacked a few romantic princesses?

Tang Xi and Tang Zhao had always grown up under his watchful eye.

He knew clearly everything they had done.

“Lü Qing, you say the Second Princess threatened you. Do you have evidence?”

At the Emperor’s question, Lü Qing panicked slightly. In his haste, he replied, “The maids in the residence can testify for me.”

“Very well. Summon the Second Princess and all the maids of her residence into the palace.”

Tang Xi arrived in a fury.

Whatever the case, she was still the Emperor’s daughter.

The eunuch delivering the imperial decree had quietly given her a hint.

When she heard that Lü Qing had a wife and children and was claiming that she had used their lives to force him into marriage, she was so furious she nearly fainted.

She had long given up dreaming of becoming the Crown Princess. All she wanted now was to live out her life in carefree pleasure. Yet having Lü Qing as her prince consort truly felt like the unluckiest thing to happen to her in eight lifetimes.

“Lü Qing, everyone is here. Which of these people are your witnesses?” the Emperor asked.

Lü Qing first turned his gaze to Juanzhu.

“Juanzhu, tell them. Wasn't it because the Second Princess threatened me with the lives of my wife and children that I had no choice but to marry her?”

Juanzhu quickly nodded.

“Yes.”

She knew exactly what Lü Qing was trying to do. Once he succeeded, her own status would rise as well.