chapter 27

Xingchen bites his inner cheeks nervously. He doesn't know why the empress dowager suddenly summoned him ? She was laying low since consort Yuzu became the official empress of Zi.

He thought she wouldn't create any more trouble for empress Yuzu and his highness Zixuan.

"You are a very capable chief minister, Xingchen!"

Xingchen comes out of his thoughts hearing the empress dowager's voice.

He frowns in uneasiness "thank you, your highness!"

"Or so I thought! But now it looks like I was wrong."

Xingchen blinks.

"A loyal chief minister always thinks about their kingdom first, then he thinks about their king, then the prince & princess and then at last about himself."

"Pardon ..."

"But here you are ! Ready to block the only king who can give the kingdom it's future heirs." Empress dowager cuts Xingchen's words. "Aren't you being shellfish?"

"I ... Didn't .." Xingchen frowns "prince Zhan is the crown prince and future emperor of Zi."

"And what if something happens to prince Zhan ? Where is the spare ? You know the rules Xingchen, more the number of heirs,  more powerful the kingdom is."

"But .. prince Zemin is going to resign from his emperor position. He ..."

"So what ? He is still a prince , in the absence of Zhan , his other sons can be considered as backup." Empress dowager spats "because I can't expect anything from Zixuan.

He is blocked and isolated by that Fool Yuzu. But you are not a fool , Xingchen? Why are you blocking Zemin ? Why can't you be happy with being  his concubine ?

"I am not blocking him. If he wants, he can have other wives..."

"Yes yes ! You should tell him that. If you truly love someone, the position doesn't' matter, right ? Whether it's empress or concubine !

Then you reject him for the marriage! No need to be the empress ! I will look for a royal Princess for him . She can be a good empress and give us so many heirs."

***

"What are you thinking? It's been so long I asked you about your favourite flower ! Don't you really have one ?" Zemin's voice pulls Xingchen out of his thoughts.

Xingchen shakes his head "This isn't really necessary!"

Zemin puts down his pen and paper "ok ! What's wrong ? You are behaving oddly."

"What odd ?"

"I don't know, you tell me ! You don't want to invite guests, You don't want to decorate the venue, you don't want to wear wedding outfit, now you don't want flowers too. Everything is unnecessary ! You are behaving like our marriage isn't necessary!"

"It's not that! I was just ... Worried about border situation!"

"What's wrong with our borders ?"

"Nothing for now. But you know.. Lu kingdom and Lan kingdom both share boundaries with us and they are having some conflict between themselves ! What if they ... You know .. we are pretty weak in front of these two kingdoms.

"Weak ?" Zemin frowns "how come ? We can equal military power of Lu kingdom. And Lan kingdom has way less population and areas than us !"

"But both these kingdoms have a big harem , crowded palace and so many future heirs ! We neither have a harem nor any heirs except Zhan."

Zemin tilts his head "That's a minus point but every kingdom has its own weakness ! Don't worry, we will cross that bridge when we come at it !"

Xingchen hesitates a little "Zhan is your son ! But he is the crown prince of Zi even when .......you are not the emperor."

"Hmm ?"

S..so if you have ..more kids , they will also be co... considered as Heirs of Zi."

Zemin raises his one eyebrow. He looks at Xingchen with a calm expression.

Xingchen looks away "I mean ..  as a chief mi...minister.. I was just thinking."

Zemin shrugs finally "You want to marry me or not ?"

Xingchen lowers his head "I was .. thinking about this for two days. I ... am already yours! We .."

"You want me to have a harem and have heirs with the women of my harem ? I can do that. Can you tolerate it ?"

Xingchen looks up almost in shock "you are not angry with me ?"

"No ! You suggested something good for our kingdom. Why would I be angry with you ?"

"Then, you have no problems in having harem ? Was I really blocking you from...,"

Zemin stands up from the bed "I have no problem ! I will inform Yuzu that marriage is no longer necessary! You take rest !"

Xingchen blinks "I....we can still marry. I can be your consort !"

Zemin chuckles "no ! You got it wrong. I am still returning the Southern Zi to Zixuan. So, after that I will not be a emperor anymore. I will be a spare prince.

A spare prince can't have wives in positions like consort, noble consort and all that. I can only have one legal wife and other illegal partners."

Xingchen's eyes widen. "Th.. that's ..."

"That's the rule !"

***

Yuzu frowns at Zemin "This is so stupid  !"

"I know ! But he prioritises his responsibility as chief minister more than anything. So, he doesn't want to be my partner and block me."

"And you are ok with it ? Really ? After all of these ? You know , how much he loves you !" Yuzu pouts.

"I know but I can't force him."

"You are not serious about cancelling the marriage! Are you ?" Yuzu asks one last time.

Zemin chuckles "Is your sister I

Still alive ? I can marry her and give Xingchen his heirs !"

"You are angry at Xingchen!" Yuzu gasps.

Zemin leaves the room casually!

***

Xingchen paces in his room with a frown on his face. It's already past midnight. Zemin left the palace in the evening. He isn't back yet !

Xingchen starts biting his nails. "Any  news ?" He asks the guards outside after some time.

The guards look at each other before bowing "We got hold of his highness's shadow guard. His highness is.... in Fangxia Brothel right now."

"WHAT ?"

The guards take two steps back in fear "the soldiers are bringing his highness back !"

Xingchen clenches his fist and walks out of his room. He glares at the guards on his way out.

The guards look at each other again. They can't stop minister Xingchen anymore.

Xingchen walks towards the royal garden in hurriedly steps. There is a short cut route to fangxia brothel through garden gate. He needs to reach there before any ....

Xingchen stops his steps as he stands in front of the garden gate "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE ?"

A young lady fixes her robe hurriedly "chief minister, you are here ?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ?"

"Your highness, wanted me here ...we ..."

"HE WANTED YOU ? DON'T LIE TO ME !" Xingchen walks in and pull drunk Zemin away from the lady with a harse jerk.

"But his highness really ..."

"GET OUT ! GET OUT OF HERE ! I WILL KILL YOU IF I CATCH YOU NEXT TIME !"

The lady hurriedly runs away crying.

Xingchen growls in frustration "FUCK !!"

He punches a tree branch to eas his anger. He didn't notice how all the guards counted their extra income with greedy eyes. Neither did he notice Zemin standing straight on his legs with a slightly curved lips.

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(I will finish this story this October ! If you are still here after almost one month then I really appreciate your presence!

I had a tough time and not so tough times in the last few months which made me almost give up these stories ! Yet, I wanted to finish them. That's why, I keep coming back!💕)