Yan Yunning answered honestly: “Because that day I didn’t want to drink the bird’s nest congee, so I looked for something to keep me busy — to give you a reason not to keep feeding it to me.”

“Of all the things you could have done, why did you have to pick something that would make this Highness angry?” the man said in a sulky tone.

Yan Yunning: “…”

She glanced at the large hand resting atop her belly, and as though moved by some strange impulse, Yan Yunning asked, “Xuan Yanyu, if something were to go wrong when I give birth to the child — if I were to leave the two of you forever — would you still care for the child properly?”

“No.”

“Hmm?” Yan Yunning looked up at him with a smile. “You mean there won’t be any mishap? How can you be certain there won’t be?”

“That’s not what I mean.” The man pulled her close, his voice low and heavy. “This Highness would not be able to care for him. This Highness would have every midwife and physician who assisted with the birth thoroughly investigated — and this Highness would also despise himself for being unable to love the child properly.”

Under ordinary circumstances, the kind of mishap she described would never come to pass.

“What?” Yan Yunning couldn’t make sense of his reasoning. She pursed her lips. “You should love him even more in that case.”

“This Highness said no, and this Highness means no.” Xuan Yanyu’s eyes were grave and earnest. “So you must promise to take care of yourself. Otherwise, do not expect this Highness to spare the child so much as a glance.”

Yan Yunning’s heart lurched. Furious and flustered, she pushed him away, pressed her fingers to his temple, and demanded, “Xuan Yanyu? That is your child! Would you truly have him lose his mother and still be denied his father’s love? How unbearably tragic!”

“That is beside the point.” The man leaned back and looked at her, his deep-set features settling into a serious expression. “You must promise me that you will be alright.”

“Beside the point?” Yan Yunning grabbed his hand, her cheeks puffed with indignation. “I don’t care — you must promise me. You must love this child at least nine parts as much as the Emperor loves you.”

She wasn’t asking for ten parts. Nine was perfectly reasonable.

“This Highness does not wish to deceive you.”

“You—” Yan Yunning’s chest heaved with anger. “Then what about a beloved princess? Would you treat her the same way?”

“Yes.” The man looked at her, puzzled. “Isn’t it all the same?”

In his heart, with her present, the child was merely an added blessing. If he were not Xuanzhao’s Crown Prince, the child would not actually matter all that much to him. What difference would it make whether it was a princess or a prince?

It was as Ningning herself had once said: the Emperor loved his children because he loved him. He was the same — he would love their child because he loved Ningning.

Yan Yunning felt, for the first time in her life, that talking to someone could be this utterly futile. She was so frustrated her head was nearly spinning. He probably had no idea that in every palace drama she had ever watched, it was always the children who elevated the mother’s standing.

With her it was the reverse — and she didn’t find that particularly delightful either. She had originally been afraid of leaving suddenly, which was why she had wanted to leave behind the baby. Now she could see that would be no use at all.

What was she to do?

She was now more worried that after she was gone, her baby would be made to suffer.

After thinking it over for some time, Yan Yunning pouted her rosy lips and said languidly, “Xuan Yanyu, if that’s how you are, then I don’t like you either.”

The man raised an eyebrow, a smile in his voice. “If you’re already gone, why would this Highness care whether you like him or not?”

Yan Yunning: “…”

Xuan Yanyu quirked his lips. “Is this Highness not correct?”

“Ahh~” Yan Yunning gently shook his arm, wheedling in a spoiled tone. “In any case, you absolutely must love the child.”

Xuan Yanyu narrowed his eyes slightly. “The child hasn’t even been born yet, and you’re already planning for his future. Once he’s actually born, won’t you love him even more than you love this Highness?”

Yan Yunning deliberately nodded, mimicking Xuan Yanyu’s manner from a moment ago. “Yes. I don’t wish to deceive you either.”

In truth, she loved both the baby and Xuan Yanyu — there was no question of one being more than the other.

“Ha.” Xuan Yanyu suddenly burst out laughing. “Then this Highness certainly won’t love him.”

With so many imperial physicians and court physicians attending to her, the mishap Ningning feared during childbirth simply would not happen. But Ningning saying she would love the child more than she loved him — now that was entirely plausible.

Yan Yunning: “…”

“Why don’t you take after the Emperor in this?” Yan Yunning pouted.

“That cannot be inherited.” The man shot her a sideways glance.

Yan Yunning: “…???”

The audacity — daring to give her a sideways glance!

“Do you love the child or not?” Yan Yunning grabbed Xuan Yanyu’s ear and twisted it, warning him, “Regardless of whether I’m here or not, you must — absolutely must — love the child properly. Otherwise, I will walk out of the Xuanwang Palace this very moment!”

“I do, I do, I do.” Xuan Yanyu, helpless, hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. “Would this Highness dare to not love him?”

Between his Imperial Father and Ningning, they would both make his life miserable.

His Imperial Father he could perhaps disregard, but he could not allow Ningning to be displeased.

Whether he loved the child or not, the child would not lack for love — there would be no shortage of people to adore him.

Just having his Imperial Father’s love alone would be more than enough. Any more, and wouldn’t the child simply grow up insufferably spoiled and lawless?

“Promise me. Swear it.” Yan Yunning seized his hand and raised it to his own temple.

“This Highness promises — to love you and the child always, without ever changing.” After saying so, the man pressed a kiss to her rosy cheek and murmured with a soft laugh, “Is that satisfactory, Crown Princess?”

“It is, it is.” Yan Yunning laughed. “Crown Prince, do your best. Make sure you govern Xuanzhao even better than the Emperor — that way, the baby and I will be able to strut wherever we please in Xuanzhao in the future.”

The man chuckled softly. “Crown Princess, you can strut wherever you please in Xuanzhao right now. Shall this Highness have the maidservants prepare a litter for you, carry you horizontally along the main thoroughfare, and make a full circuit of the long street? Would that satisfy this particular wish of yours?”

Behind them, Ye Chen pinched hard at Ye’an’s arm, straining to hold back his laughter. Ye’an exhaled, resisting the urge to give Ye Chen a solid kick.

“…” Yan Yunning’s smile faltered slightly. “Crown Prince, which of us would have to be out of their mind to agree to that?”

“Tsk.” The man shook his head, long-suffering. “You wanted to strut wherever you pleased, and this Highness came up with a solution, but now you’re not satisfied with it either. What would you have this Highness do?”

“…” Yan Yunning suddenly stood up, gave a quiet harrumph, and declared, “Then I want to strut wherever I please in Qilan. Crown Prince, think of a way to make that wish of your subject-wife come true~”

“Hmm?” Xuan Yanyu curved his lips into a languid smile. “This Highness will certainly see that you have your way.”

Yan Yunning pursed her lips.

“Since there’s nothing more to say, then you should tell this Highness why you secretly slipped away from the Crown Prince’s residence that day.” The man raised the topic again.

“Didn’t I just say it — I didn’t want to look at you? Didn’t you hear me?” Yan Yunning picked up a dried plum that Qiuci had handed her and took a bite.

“Rest assured, I won’t sneak away again.” Yan Yunning’s teeth chattered at the sourness of the plum. Then she promptly held it up to Xuan Yanyu’s lips, and added as an afterthought, “Because I’m terribly, terribly afraid — afraid of being locked in the ancestral hall by the Crown Prince. It frightened me to death~”

“Yan Yunning.” The man’s handsome features scrunched up, and in a piteously wounded tone he said, “Could you please stop treating this Highness as a rubbish bin?”

“I cannot. Who told you to want to be with me?” Yan Yunning picked out another dried plum — one that looked a little less punishingly sour — and savored it at her leisure.

“Crown Prince, you should be grateful. I’m giving this to you — which proves I love you immensely. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even deserve what I leave behind.”

The girl finished speaking and raised an eyebrow at him as if to challenge.

She had learned that from Ye Chen.

Hadn’t Ye Chen once said that what Xuan Yanyu left behind, Qi Qingchen wasn’t worthy of eating?

“…” Xuan Yanyu was at a momentary loss. “Nonsense. It’s only because you don’t like eating it that you toss it to this Highness.”

If it were something delicious, it would probably never reach his mouth at all.