I am Shen Tinghan, the young emperor who rules the Great Qing Dynasty with absolute authority.
To draw out the big fish in the court, I faked my death and went into hiding, posing as a poor scholar at Qinglong Temple who could barely afford to eat.
One day, a stunning beauty with tears streaming down her face pushed open my meditation room and said:
“Scholar, I’ll give you silver if you help me have a child.”
I looked into it in secret and couldn't help but laugh.
Wen Yao, the new bride of the Ningguo Marquis's household, had been married for three months without consummating her marriage. The heir, Xie Huaiyu, wanted to remain “chaste” for his cousin.
What's more, she was the only descendant of my long-lost paternal aunt.
Watching Wen Yao act like a “helpless, innocent white lotus” in front of me while clenching her little fists and threatening to smash up the marquis's manor,
I decided to play along with my “little aunt-cousin.”
Whenever she was wronged at the marquis's manor, I would act like a meek, timid poor scholar by day, then send a memorial to the Censorate at night and make a complete mess of the Ningguo household.
Until one day, she slipped a royal child beneath her heart, left behind a stack of banknotes, and tried to “sever all ties” with me.
Without a hint of panic, I put on my robe embroidered with five-clawed golden dragons and blocked her escape:
“My lady, carrying my legitimate eldest son, where exactly do you think you’re going?”
