The queen smiled slightly. "Yuning, I heard that some time ago, the regent got drunk in the palace. After returning to the mansion, he took a maid into his favor. I was really worried in my heart. How could he do such a thing during your pregnancy?"
A lady beside her quickly chipped in. "Oh, Your Majesty the Queen, the regent is a man. He is young and full of energy. The princess is in an advanced stage of pregnancy and it's inconvenient for her. Such things are always inevitable. In my humble opinion, the princess should take concubines or secondary wives earlier. That way, when the regent is busy, he can relieve his desires."
The queen nodded kindly. "Previously... the regent also mentioned something to me. But I felt sorry for the princess as she was newly pregnant. I didn't want her to feel unhappy. Later, she had an unstable fetal movement. The imperial doctor said it was because she thought too much during pregnancy. Naturally, this matter was delayed..."
These words were rather ambiguous. People who didn't understand might even think that Yin Zidu wanted to take concubines but was rejected by the queen.
The lady continued. "Your Highness the Princess, all women go through this. You are pregnant now and can't serve the regent. You can't leave the regent with nowhere to relieve his desires, can you?"
At this moment, the queen and Shen Yuning were sitting together with many ladies. The men were in the hall on the other side, and the young girls were taken to the flower hall by Tong Xianqiao. Since everyone present had experienced such things, there was no shame in talking about them.
Shen Yuning's expression turned solemn. Looking up, she saw the queen's concerned face, but there was a hint of schadenfreude in her eyes.
She stood up and asked, "Lady Sheng means that as soon as you got pregnant, you voluntarily proposed that your husband take concubines?"
The lady was stunned for a moment. She didn't take concubines voluntarily back then. It was her mother - in - law who forced them into the family. But she couldn't tell the truth.
Without waiting for her to answer, Shen Yuning just sneered. "I don't know why the more noble a man is, the more concubines he wants to take. It seems that this can show his ability. Are women like cattle and horses, the more the better?"
She glanced around and raised her head proudly. "Among the common people, a man usually has only one woman. If a man has second thoughts, it's better to get a divorce. I think the reason why you ladies can't make achievements in the court like men is that you spend all day fighting with others. You fight with your mother - in - law, your sisters - in - law, your sisters - in - law by marriage, and your concubines. Is this kind of life fun?"
Maybe they didn't expect that the regent's princess would lose her temper in public. Everyone was stunned for a moment.
Shen Yuning continued. "I don't know who started this bad precedent, making it so that a man is not satisfied with just one wife and has to take several concubines. What do you mean by 'inconvenient to serve during pregnancy and need to find other women to take care'? A woman endures ten months of pregnancy and steps into the gates of hell. For what? After all, the child in her belly still takes the husband's family name. If a man can't even endure these ten months, then what kind of man is he?"
These words were really heretical. But to the ears of those ladies who had concubines in their families, it was so refreshing. It seemed that she had said what they had thought about for a lifetime but didn't dare to say.
Maybe the atmosphere was a bit solemn. Princess Jiayang laughed and waved her fan. "Yuning's words really hit the nail on the head. Husband and wife are supposed to be one, but people always create so many troubles. Concubines? Humph!"
Everyone present knew about her past. Because of her high status, no one dared to say anything about her.
The queen took a deep breath, holding back her anger. After a while, she said, "But that innocent girl has followed Zidu. Zidu can't be irresponsible, right?"
Shen Yuning turned to look at her directly and asked, "Your Majesty, where did you hear that my husband had an affair with someone else?"
The queen was stunned and shook her head. "Well, it was just what a servant in the mansion said."
Shen Yuning pressed on. "Which servant?"
The queen's eyes shifted. "I can't remember clearly. It was General Manager Wu from the Internal Affairs Office who mentioned it casually. He said he heard it from a servant in the mansion."
Shen Yuning lowered her eyes. "The Internal Affairs Office really has great skills. They can even find out such confidential information, not to mention something that I, as his wife, haven't even heard of."
She immediately shouted, "Come here. Summon General Manager Wu. I want to ask him personally why he fabricated facts and talked nonsense in front of Her Majesty the Queen. Is he trying to ruin the regent's reputation?"
Sweat rolled down the queen's forehead. She quickly said, "Yuning, I was just asking casually. Since it's not true, let it go. There are many guests today, and General Manager Wu is very busy. It would be bad if something goes wrong."
Shen Yuning looked back at her. Subconsciously, she raised her eyebrows like Xuanzhi, with a hint of sarcasm in her eyes. "Since Your Majesty has said so, I'll let him go for now. After today's banquet, I'll make him confess his guilt."
The queen's fingers tightened. She forced a smile and nodded.
Just then, Yin Zidu strode over with a group of court officials. He bowed in front of the queen, gave Lady Sheng a cold look, and then walked up to Shen Yuning with concern. He sat down beside her and held her hand.
In front of so many people, Shen Yuning felt a bit embarrassed and tried to pull her hand back. But he held it tightly, and for a moment, she couldn't pull it out, so she had to let him hold it.
Yin Zidu said, "I heard that someone just wanted to suggest that I take concubines?"
At this moment, everyone fell silent. Compared with the gentle queen, they were more afraid of the sharp - eyed regent.
It was the queen who laughed and said, "Zidu, it was just a joke."
Yin Zidu always respected this elder sister - in - law. He only thought that this matter was provoked by the family member of Lord Sheng. So he softened his expression and nodded. "Now that my wife is pregnant, I don't want such things to happen in the future and make the princess unhappy."
He paused for a moment and then said, "I grew up among the common people. I can't stand the habits of the nobles in the capital. I think even birds know the principle of flying in pairs. Have you ever seen more than two mandarin ducks in a pond?"
Shen Yuning looked up at him. His eyes were full of determination, which was his determination towards her.
She was happy in her heart. Her struggling hand slowly calmed down, and she slowly held his hand back.
As if feeling the movement in his hand, Yin Zidu turned to look at her and gave her a gentle and natural smile.
After the noon banquet, it was time for entertainment in the afternoon. Maybe she was too tired. Shen Yuning felt a bit unwell. The queen quickly showed concern and told her to go back to her room to rest first.
Shen Yuning thought for a while. In such a situation today, it might not be good to go back to the courtyard alone to rest. So she just went to the warm pavilion beside to take a nap.
Today, her head felt tight and she was very sleepy.
Shen Yuning soon fell into a deep sleep.
She didn't know how long had passed when she slowly woke up. There was no one around her, but there was an unusual sound in her ear.
Shen Yuning suddenly turned back. Seeing the person in front of her, she was just stunned.
"Dad?"
Xue Yuxuan didn't expect that when Shen Yuning woke up from her dream, she would subconsciously call him dad. It seemed that for many years, he hadn't heard this murmur.
Dad.
At that time, he had hugged and loved her, right? But it seemed that too much time had passed, and he had forgotten everything.
The knife in his hand flashed. The cold light stabbed Shen Yuning's eyes. Shen Yuning widened her eyes and looked at Xue Yuxuan in disbelief.
"You... You want to kill me?"
Xue Yuxuan came back to his senses. The confusion on his face disappeared with the disappearance of that little bit of nostalgia in his heart. He looked at Shen Yuning fiercely. "Shen Yuning, don't blame me. Blame yourself. It's you who made me fall into this situation. It's you who ruined my family... I..."
He raised the knife and rushed towards Shen Yuning.
Shen Yuning didn't dodge. She just called out again, "Dad."
"I'm not your dad!"
Xue Yuxuan was a bit flustered, but soon he calmed down. He didn't know if he was saying this to Shen Yuning or to himself.
"I'm not your dad. You're not my daughter!"
If he wanted to turn things around, he could only obey that person. Otherwise, as long as Shen Yuning was alive, he would have to crawl on the ground for the rest of his life. He was not willing. He was really not willing.
Just as his knife was about to stab down, a pair of hands grabbed his hand.
Xue Yuxuan looked up and saw that it was Xue Yuxi.
Xue Yuxi gently pried his hand open. He only felt a sharp pain, and the knife in his hand slipped to the ground.
Xue Yuxuan stared at Xue Yuxi with wide eyes. Then he looked at Shen Yuning. Only then did he realize and ask, "You were prepared?"
Shen Yuning turned her face away and just nodded faintly. "Yes, I was prepared. I just didn't expect it would be you. I didn't expect that you would obey others."
Xue Yuxuan's eyes dodged. Soon he looked at her fiercely again. "I will never tell you who that person is."
Xue Yuxi picked up the knife and patted Xue Yuxuan's face with the back of the knife. He sneered. "You'd better think about how to save your own life. The crime of attempting to kill the regent's princess... Tsk tsk. Do you think the torture tools in the prisons of the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review are just for show? After you go there and taste the pain, then consider whether you want to talk or not."
Xue Yuxuan didn't dare to struggle. He stammered, "I... I'm your dad."
Xue Yuxi seemed to hear a joke. He stared at him, and his eyes became even more sinister. "You're no longer my dad. In my heart, I've never regarded you as my father. Xue Yuxuan, all this is your own doing. Do you think that just by giving a moment of effort to have a child, the child will come out on its own, grow up safely, and then be filial to you?"
He slowly turned the knife to the front and pressed the blade against his face. The hatred in his eyes turned into a blood - thirsty joy. "Maybe I have your blood in my bones, so I'm as cold - hearted as you..."
Xue Yuxuan widened his eyes and stammered, "No, Yuxi, don't. Yuning, Yuning, save me quickly, Yuning..."
Shen Yuning sat on the reclining chair and didn't move.
It was a voice from the side that shouted, "Xier."
It was Liang Hong.
Xue Yuxi seemed to return to normal. Seeing the knife in his hand, he was even startled. He quickly threw the knife aside and turned back to smile at Liang Hong. "Dad."