This punishment indeed wouldn’t take his life, but for someone as proud as him, this was clearly meant to make him wish he were dead.

“Wouldn’t it be more straightforward for Your Majesty to just kill me?” Yuwen Xi sneered. “My reputation is already ruined. Being a titular prince at the mercy of others’ bullying—how is that different from death?”

“You seem to be under some misunderstanding,” the Emperor said, looking at him seriously. “This Emperor simply wants you dead. It’s only because Mother pleaded on your behalf that you have a chance to live. If you feel it’s no different from death, this Emperor can lend you a blade. If you take your own life, it won’t be counted as this Emperor being unkind.”

Yuwen Xi: “…”

Hua Chun said, “Prince Xi has always had this confidence in his bones that the whole world should revolve around him, unable to consider others’ feelings, and always unable to place himself correctly. No wonder, with such a temperament, you couldn’t secure the throne.”

Slightly annoyed, Yuwen Xi said, “Winner takes all, loser bears the consequences, but what kind of temperament this prince has is not for a woman to judge.”

“Oh,” Hua Chun nodded. “Then off you go.”

She waved her hand, and the people nearby came up to restrain him and the dark plump girl together, about to take them out.

“Letting this vixen gesture and meddle beside the dragon throne—Your Majesty’s throne may not sit so securely either!” Struggling a couple times, Yuwen Xi glared coldly at Yuwen Jie. “She’s someone who deceived the sovereign. If Your Majesty doesn’t punish her crime of deceiving the emperor, but instead lets her continue to abuse her borrowed power, aren’t you afraid of a temptress ruining the country? Is the throne you’ve worked so hard to secure worth ruining over a woman?”

Yuwen Jie paused, turning his head to glance at Hua Chun. She, in turn, paused, then made an effort to put on a temptress-like appearance, leaning toward him, blinking coquettishly.

Shivering slightly, the Emperor calmly turned his head to look at Yuwen Xi below, his voice unusually gentle:

“If she truly ruins the country, then this Emperor accepts that.”

Hua Chun was stunned, glanced at him, and sat up straight. Below, Sun Liuxiang was also startled, kneeling there dazedly, glancing at the Emperor.

Was he serious about this?

Yuwen Xi was stunned for a moment, then grew somewhat angry. “If you care so little about this realm, why not hand it over to me?”

Shaking his head, the Emperor’s face was expressionless, his tone flat. “This Emperor cares very much about the realm.”

“…” Yuwen Xi frowned. If he cared about the realm, why treat it so carelessly?

He was about to retort when he heard the next sentence: “But this Emperor cares even more about her.”

Hua Chun, sitting beside him, had actually guessed he’d say something this sappy to infuriate Yuwen Xi, but hearing it with her own ears still moved her—she pursed her lips, nearly tearing up.

Pregnant women were indeed emotional; even knowing this was said in jest, her heart still pounded along with it.

Sun Liuxiang was stunned, mouth agape, staring at the person above as if she’d heard something unbelievable, frozen still.

As a child, she’d once asked her mother what kind of person could be entrusted with one’s heart. Her mother said, if you fall in love with a fisherman, see if he’s willing to give you all the fish he catches. If you fall in love with a farmer, see if he’s willing to give you all the grain he harvests.

But, if you fall in love with an emperor, don’t even think about it—an emperor won’t give you anything, while you’ll have to sacrifice a great deal.

Because of these words, she’d never had any thoughts of marrying into an imperial family.

But today, she’d actually heard an emperor say he cared more about a woman than about his realm.

It was somewhat absurd, but… also enviable.

Yuwen Xi, left speechless, sneered coldly after a long moment. “I wonder what the entire court would think if they heard you say such things.”

“You don’t need to wonder about that,” the Emperor waved his hand. “They won’t hear it. Even if you told them, no one would believe you. Better hurry back to White Horse Temple.”

The attendants behind stepped forward and restrained Prince Xi again. His body stiffened for a moment, but he still followed along.

Sun Liuxiang stood up, instinctively about to follow, but after two steps stopped in place.

“What?” Noticing her movement, Yuwen Xi turned back and sneered. “If the Commandery Princess can’t bear hardship, then there’s no need to follow this prince to suffer. This prince will send you a divorce letter to send you home.”

This fool had been used thoroughly by him without ever noticing, and today, having said so much here, he’d clearly also stepped into Hua Jinghua’s trap—she’d likely give up on him now.

Good—now he wouldn’t need to maintain ties with Prince He anymore, nor deal with this dark plump girl.

Sun Liuxiang looked up at him. Yuwen Xi’s expression still carried mockery, not looking at her directly, but his peripheral vision seemed to be glancing over. The hand held behind his back clenched into a fist, whether from anger or something else, unclear.

“…Mm.” After a moment of silence, she turned to look at Hua Chun. “My father and Prince Xi share the same crime, right? Even if His Highness divorces me, it seems I still can’t be exempt from guilt.”

“Mm.” Hua Chun nodded. “It’s just that the punishment on Prince He’s side will be lighter—just stripped of his princely title and demoted to commoner.”

No lifetime imprisonment.

“Good.” Sun Liuxiang nodded. “Then let His Highness divorce me.”

Slightly surprised, Hua Chun glanced at her. Coming to her senses this quickly? She’d thought it would take at least a few days at White Horse Temple to sink in.

Yuwen Xi mocked her verbally, but truthfully hadn’t expected this dark plump girl to actually abandon him so easily. He was stunned for a moment, awkwardly turning his head aside, saying in a deep voice, “The divorce letter will be written back at White Horse Temple. The Commandery Princess may wait here for a while.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Sun Liuxiang bowed to him.

This time no one needed to restrain him—Yuwen Xi walked out on his own, his back held very straight, carrying all his pride, striding out of Purple Dawn Hall.

Hua Chun glanced at Sun Liuxiang several times, just about to say she wanted to chat with her, when her belly suddenly felt warm.

Yuwen Jie said expressionlessly, “You should get some proper rest.”

Rest again? She was half laughing, half crying. “This concubine really hasn’t done anything lately, just resting the whole time.”

“Your belly is getting bigger,” the Emperor said, glancing sideways at her belly, frowning. “Don’t wander around.”

Raising an eyebrow, Hua Chun looked at his face, thought for a moment, and asked, “Are you worried this concubine’s belly will fall off from too much walking?”

The Emperor fell silent, then raised his eyes seriously to ask, “Won’t it?”

This expression was a rare, dazedly adorable moment from the domineering CEO-like Yuwen Jie. Hua Chun looked at him, stunned, then held her belly and burst out laughing. “Hahaha.”

Frightened by her laughter, the Emperor reached out and pressed a hand to her belly. “Don’t be so loud!”

“So… that’s why these past two days, wherever you walk, you’ve been holding up my belly for me—afraid it’s too heavy and will fall off?” Hua Chun asked, her face creased with laughter.