Chapter 243

Two months passed without notice, and Su Jingyao counted the days carefully, thinking she might be pregnant. After she stopped taking birth control pills, she drank the medicine made by Doctor Li every day on time. She asked Nanny Lin to check her pulse, and sure enough, she was pregnant.

But Su Jingyao didn’t tell Jun Zechen this news because she received a letter from her father. Her hand trembled slightly as she held the letter, and her face turned pale. It turned out that before she married the crown prince, Jun Zechen already showed signs of targeting the Su family in court.

So the original book didn’t mention the Su family because after Jun Zechen became emperor, he had already destroyed the Su family? This time, her father wrote the letter because he heard that Jun Zechen favored her very much.

After all, Jun Zechen ignored other concubines because of her, which was no secret in the palace. Her father wanted to know if the crown prince’s favor was real or just using her. This would decide his attitude toward the crown prince. Before, her father was a firm royalist and leader of the conservatives, which was why he held a high position and was trusted by the emperor. Su Jingyao marrying the crown prince meant her father was already on the crown prince’s side.

Other people in the court didn’t know, but Su’s father already knew the crown prince’s ambition. After becoming emperor, the prince would need his support to start wars against other countries. The conservative ministers didn’t want this. If Su’s father followed the crown prince, he would lose the officials who supported him. If he didn’t, he didn’t know how long he could resist the prince.

For an old official in high position like Su’s father, every decision was complex. He had to consider the views of those who followed him. The prince was still young. Why would the old ministers give up peace and spend a lot of money and resources to train soldiers and start wars?

So Su’s father didn’t know how to reply to the prince.

But as the prince favored his daughter more and even talked with him in private and tried hard to persuade him, even Su Jingxuan advised him, so he had to write a letter to ask his daughter. The prince had a deep mind, and Su’s father was afraid the prince was using Yao Yao.

Su Jingyao frowned deeply, staring at her father’s letter. The paper made a soft sound in her trembling hand. Seeing this letter, her thoughts became clearer, and she started to connect some things she didn’t understand before.

So in the original story, her father didn’t fully support Jun Zechen partly because he was a conservative and refused to join in a costly war. Another reason might be that she died in the Eastern Palace in the original story. With how much her father loved her, how could he work with Jun Zechen?

That meant it was very possible the Su family was destroyed by Jun Zechen. But in this life, Jun Zechen truly spoiled her. Maybe, for her sake, he wouldn’t harm the Su family. As for the idea of using her, from Su Jingyao’s own feeling, the prince’s love didn’t seem fake.

But Jun Zechen had lived a life before. He was once an emperor, with a mind as deep as the sea. Su Jingyao could only force herself to think clearly. As someone in the middle of the game, she couldn’t be ruled by emotions. She couldn’t trust just her feelings. For now, she didn’t have enough reason to believe Jun Zechen would spare the Su family just for her.

She also wasn’t sure if Jun Zechen really cared about her. Su Jingyao gently touched her belly, her eyes full of mixed emotions.She murmured,

“Baby, you came at the right time. Then come with me to test your bad father.”

Jun Zechen and her father had exchanged letters before, even some secret ones, planning to deal with the Su family in secret, but it was postponed. Su’s father knew because Jun Zechen was recently trying hard to win over the Su family, and even admitted the secret letters.

But winning over also meant threatening.

The secret letters clearly told her father—if he didn’t side with Jun Zechen, the Su family would be destroyed sooner or later. Su Jingyao took a deep breath. She had to find those secret letters.

Yude Hall.

“Why have you been so busy lately, Your Highness?”

Su Jingyao spoke sweetly, sitting softly on Jun Zechen’s lap, holding a plate of grapes. Each grape was juicy and full. She picked one and ate it slowly, juice on her lips. She also fed one to Jun Zechen now and then, her eyes playful. Jun Zechen held her in his arms, focusing on the documents, but his right hand kept working without pause.

“I should be the one asking—why are you sticking to me today? What do you want?”

Of course, she wanted to find the secret letters. These days Su Jingyao visited the study at Yude Hall often. She almost searched the whole room but still found nothing. Jun Zechen usually left documents on his desk. If there were other files or letters, they were on the bookshelf nearby.

His bookshelf was big. Su Jingyao worked hard to search but found nothing. Was there a hidden mechanism?

Su Jingyao thought to herself.

Since she hadn’t found anything, she had to keep coming to Jun Zechen. The Su family’s fate couldn’t depend only on a man’s love. She had to test things herself before telling her father what to do. Right now, her father still controlled many people in court. For a while, Jun Zechen couldn’t act against them. But if they supported him, the Su family’s fate would be completely in his hands.

Su Jingyao had to be careful to survive.

“Your Highness, I just missed you. If I didn’t come here, you’d just go between Qianqing Palace and Yude Hall.”

Su Jingyao pouted, looking upset, her big eyes full of grievance.

“The emperor is very sick. I spend an hour each day in Qianqing Palace caring for him. Then I have to handle many documents and review reports from all over.”

“So stop making trouble.”

His tone was serious but still doting.

“You’ve worked hard, Your Highness. Let me feed you a sweet grape.”

Su Jingyao smiled charmingly, bit a grape, and brought it to Jun Zechen’s lips, looking very attractive. Jun Zechen suddenly kissed her, taking the grape into his mouth. Their lips touched, and the juice burst in their mouths. The sweet juice seemed to flow into their hearts too.

After the kiss.

Jun Zechen rubbed his forehead, looking helpless, and sighed inside.

He had been emperor for decades in his past life and never understood how beauty could be distracting. Now he truly felt it. After the kiss, he regretted it. His eyes drooped, looking at her with a complicated gaze.

“Go read for a while?”

His voice was low, with a hint of frustration. She made him lose focus and it was a big problem.

“No, I want to sleep in Your Highness’s arms.”

After speaking, she gently leaned into Jun Zechen’s neck, looking cute and sweet. She had already searched all over the bookshelf, there was nothing, Su Jingyao suspected the secret letter was in his bedroom.

And she had been in the Eastern Palace for almost half a year but had never been to his bedroom. Jun Zechen looked helpless, then got up quickly and carried her toward the bedroom.

“Where is Your Highness taking me?”

Su Jingyao blinked and asked him.

Jun Zechen didn’t answer. Soon, he entered the bedroom and placed her on the bed. He bent down, hands on either side of her, leaned in close, his dark eyes deep.He said softly,

“Sleep. After you wake up, join me for dinner. If you keep clinging to me, I won’t finish today’s reports.”

Su Jingyao blinked her bright eyes at him and nodded obediently, a sly smile on her lips. Exactly what she wanted. Seeing her behave, Jun Zechen stood up and left the bedroom, returning to the study. When Su Jingyao was alone in the bedroom, she casually set the grapes aside and walked to the water basin to wash her hands carefully.

Her slim fingers stirred the water lightly, droplets splashing. Then, she began carefully observing Jun Zechen’s bedroom. It was her first time there. It had taken a lot of effort to get him to stay overnight at her place before. She wondered when she could live in his bedroom.

But she only thought about it. Today’s business came first. Su Jingyao’s eyes were sharp as she started searching everywhere something could be hidden, but found nothing. Based on shows she had watched, maybe there was a secret mechanism in the bed?

She bit her lip, took off her shoes without hesitation, and climbed onto the bed. She lay on the bed, hair messy, searching all over, completely losing her usual grace. But after a long time searching, still nothing.

Impossible. How could the letters not be in Yude Hall? Confused, she lay down hard on Jun Zechen’s pillow. Luckily, it was soft, letting her head sink in. Suddenly, her eyes sharpened. Why didn’t the vase on the bedside table move at all?

She frowned, got up slowly, and looked closely at the vase. She gently turned it, but nothing happened. She tried to move it but couldn’t. That was strange. Staring at the detailed patterns on the vase, she focused, pressed a small spot lightly—suddenly a hidden compartment popped out.

The vase had a secret! Her eyes lit up with joy. There were letters inside. She quickly found the one about her father and read it carefully. Turns out Jun Zechen had already secretly contacted other conservative officials. No political group could think completely the same. Jun Zechen planned to break them one by one.

On the surface, he pretended with her father, but behind the scenes, he worked with his subordinates. This man was deeply scheming. Su Jingyao bit her teeth in anger.

So Jun Zechen had planned to take power away from the Su family? The letter even promised another official the Minister position. He was already planning to replace her father? If the letter hadn’t been dated before she entered the Eastern Palace, Su Jingyao might have been so angry it would harm her pregnancy.

She took a deep breath, forced down her anger, and put the letter back in the vase.

She lay down, closed her eyes, and rested.

She had a big scene to act later, and the baby in her belly needed to rest well.