Chapter 126: Learning the Truth of the Past

Zhou Ruizhen bent down, pressing his ear gently against Du Wanchun’s belly. After listening for a moment, he whispered to the child inside, “You have to be good in your mother’s womb. Don’t kick her too hard.”

As if truly understanding, the little one seemed to quiet down, and Du Wanchun noticeably felt fewer movements.

She reached out to touch her belly and smiled. “You’re going to scare the child.”

Zhou Ruizhen pulled Du Wanchun back into his embrace, his voice soft and affectionate. “No one can bully you—not even our child.”

Du Wanchun suddenly realized that her husband had a childish side. She reached out and pinched his nose. “You shouldn’t keep blaming the baby. I think you’re the one who shouldn’t bully me.”

Zhou Ruizhen caught her wrist, lowering his gaze as he leaned closer to her ear. “How have I bullied you?”

Her cheeks flushed as she muttered, “You tell me how you bullied me.”

A playful smile spread across Zhou Ruizhen’s lips. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, lightly biting the red mark on her skin before chuckling. “But my dear wife seems to enjoy being bullied by me.”

Du Wanchun’s face turned an even deeper shade of red.

She quickly struggled out of his embrace, grabbing the clothes scattered on the floor.

They say that once a domesticated wolf gets a taste of meat, it can’t stop craving it.

It seemed to be true.

After indulging once, Zhou Ruizhen was completely insatiable.

Hurriedly dressing herself, she made a quick escape from the “wolf’s den.”

Zhou Ruizhen watched her flee in embarrassment, his face filled with amusement. His deep, dark eyes reflected her retreating figure, as if she was the only one he could ever see—no one else could take her place.

Once outside the room, Du Wanchun washed her face with cool water before heading to the front hall.

The Third Prince emerged carrying breakfast. “Wanchun, come eat. I made some scallion pancakes for you.”

Du Wanchun looked up in surprise at the golden pancakes sprinkled with green onions. Her heart filled with curiosity. “Prince, you know how to make pancakes?”

The Third Prince smiled. “Mm. When I was young, your mother loved eating them, so I learned to make them for her. But later…”

Du Wanchun quickly asked, “What happened later?”

A hint of sorrow flashed across the Third Prince’s face. “Later… she thought it was my imperial brother who made them.”

Du Wanchun found it hard to imagine a noble-born prince squatting in the back kitchen, earnestly learning how to make pancakes.

She glanced toward the courtyard, seeing that Madam Zhou had yet to return, and asked, “Your Highness, about my mother…?”

The Third Prince answered frankly, “Mm, we have known each other since childhood. If she hadn’t entered the palace, I believe I would have married her into my manor.”

Du Wanchun was puzzled. “Your Highness, since you had feelings for my mother, why didn’t you stop her from entering the palace back then?”

“Because of the Empress Dowager…” The Third Prince turned slightly to the side as he spoke.

Du Wanchun lowered her voice. “I heard from my mother that the Empress Dowager didn’t insist on her entering the palace. She had a choice.”

A hint of sorrow flickered across the Third Prince’s face. “Yes, she did have a choice. But at the time, her heart belonged only to my royal brother. How could she have been willing to leave with me?”

Only then did Du Wanchun fully understand. “Your Highness, before my mother entered the palace, she wrote you a letter.”

“A letter?” The Third Prince looked puzzled.

Du Wanchun spoke gently, “I don’t know what was written in it. My mother only told me that she had sent you a letter before entering the palace… but you never replied.”

At those words, there was no need to guess the contents of the letter—they were already clear.

Shock spread across the Third Prince’s face. “I never received any letter.”

Just then, Madam Zhou returned, arriving just in time to hear those words.

She had always believed that the Third Prince had ignored her letter, but she had never considered that he might have never received it at all.

Meanwhile, inside the palace—

The Emperor retrieved a letter from a secret compartment beneath his bed.

The handwriting on the letter belonged to Madam Zhou.

Back then, he had ordered his men to intercept it overnight. He had read the letter countless times, yet he had never burned it. Whenever he had free time, he would take it out to read—not out of longing for a certain person—

But to savor the taste of victory once more.

The feeling of stealing the woman his younger brother loved.