ITVCFITB CHAPTER 52

 Chapter 52 — This Time It’s Really Gone

The moment Shen Mingyun’s near-miscarriage was mentioned, Li Mingchun’s expression turned… complicated.

And the fault wasn’t Shen Mingyun’s. It was his.

He had promised to clear out the women in his back courtyard after the New Year. But the year wasn’t even over, and the entire flock was still there.

He’d thought they’d stay well-behaved and keep to their quarters. Of course they didn’t.

And Shen Mingyun, on bed rest, had zero wariness toward those women and gers. Complaining that Li Mingchun had no time for him, he suddenly felt “sympathetic” and started inviting that crowd to his courtyard for tea and chatter to ease his boredom.

But everyone who entered the Fourth Prince’s household came with a goal. Shen’s goodwill was always going to be misused.

They were there for favor. Seeing him, they had nothing but jealousy. They twisted his kindness into malice, banded together, and “taught him a lesson.” They coaxed him out to admire the snow; he slipped, fell and nearly miscarried.

The system saved him by a hair, but the fall was bad. The imperial physician had to be called again.

Whether the child would survive… that was left to fate. Gers carried for ten months too, and it had barely been three.

When Li Mingchun uncovered the truth, he didn’t throw the nameless concubines out. He had them all locked away. They wouldn’t be competing with Shen again nor would they get the chance.

He knew the matter couldn’t be hushed up. A physician’s visit leaves a record. So when Luo Shuyu asked, he truly had no face left.

Shuyu hadn’t asked about the child. He’d asked about the sorry state of Li Mingchun’s back courtyard.

After that, the Fourth no longer had the standing to spar with the Third about north and south. He mumbled a few pleasantries and let the topic die.

---

After so many palace visits, Luo Shuyu had the routine down. He took it all in stride, faces, tempers, and all.

He also knew everyone’s “act.”

Take the Eldest Princess Consort, belly high and proud.

Shuyu entered to see palace maids easing her into a seat while she rubbed her stomach continuously, advertising her pregnancy to anyone with eyes.

Among the princes’ consorts, she alone was visibly expecting. Even the Eldest himself walked with his chest puffed out these days. As for the Fourth’s pregnant liangshi (concubine), no one cared. A concubine’s child wasn’t legitimate, and besides… it was “uncertain” whether it would be born at all.

The seating was similar to Mid-Autumn, but four months changed faces and fortunes. Where the Crown Princess had once shone, only a cold smile remained. The Eldest’s consort, once unfailingly cordial, now strutted about like she’d deliver the dynasty’s first royal grandson tomorrow.

The consorts were reflections of their husbands’ positions at court and of the Emperor’s favor.

Luo Shuyu and Li Mingjin were no longer newlyweds learning the ropes. Their tacit understanding was set: they knew exactly how to carry themselves in any hall.

This year’s New Year’s banquet was richer than any royal feast.

Waiting for the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and Empress to arrive, Shuyu and Mingjin idly guessed which dishes would appear.

The banquet hadn’t officially begun; the three had yet to take their seats.

Boredom breeds mischief. At Mid-Autumn, the Crown Princess had tried to embarrass Luo Shuyu and failed. Tonight she kept her mouth shut.

Only seven of them sat in the vast hall, with maids and eunuchs hovering.

With Li Mingjin named to lead the northern handover, the Crown Prince and Eldest couldn’t resist taking a few sour jabs.

It wasn’t their wives this time, it was the supremely self-satisfied Eldest himself.

“Third Brother,” he drawled, “ready for the journey north after the festival? You’ve lived in the capital all your life. Never left it, have you?”

Li Mingjin was eating an orange Shuyu had peeled, leaning lazily on one elbow. He spat a seed into Luo’s palm without looking.

“Never,” he said. “Would you like to go in my stead, Eldest Brother?”

Blunt, as always.

The Eldest choked, face darkening. “What talk is that? I’ll be home keeping your sister-in-law company. Why would I go north? The battlefield’s no joke, the north is full of fierce folk. Just thinking of it makes my blood run cold.”

The Crown Prince snorted. “Do you believe yourself? Big talk for someone who didn’t get the posting.”

The two had stopped bothering with politeness of late.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the Eldest snapped. “You failed to get your brother-in-law the command, so you came to sneer at me?”

Six of one, half a dozen of the other, each insult cost them both.

“Didn’t you recommend your useless brother-in-law?” the Crown Prince shot back.

The Eldest Princess Consort bristled. “Your Highness, what has my brother done to you?”

The Crown Princess slammed the table. “The Eldest insulted my brother first. Give us an explanation, or this isn’t over!”

Hornets’ nests: both kicked. The hall filled with stings.

Under the table, Li Mingjin squeezed Luo’s fingertips: Don’t mind them. Sit back and enjoy the show. Very much their style.

The Fourth looked left and right, wearing a properly anxious face, interjecting now and then in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s, very much not getting involved.

The spat was reaching a boil. If the Eldest Consort weren’t heavy with child, the Crown Princess would already have clawed her face.

“What do you mean, ‘not over’?” the Crown Prince scoffed. “We’re only telling the truth. Eldest Brother, you’re a bandit robbing another man’s prize!”

“Ridiculous!” the Eldest shot back. “And what are you? Just wait, I’ll catch you out one day!”

“What could you possibly catch?” the Crown Prince sneered. “Worry about yourself.”

“Worry about yourself,” the Eldest mimicked. “Don’t forget the rumors from ten years ago.”

The Crown Prince’s face went black. “Utter garbage.”

“Mind your tongue. It’s a family banquet,” the Eldest said with a smile like a knife. “With that gutter mouth you disgrace the Crown Prince’s title. Go home and nurse a child.”

On points, the Eldest had the round. The Crown Prince nearly toppled with rage.

Ten years ago? Shuyu tucked the phrase away. He’d clearly missed something big in his last life.

Before they could turn the banquet into a brawl, the Fourth called the guards to separate them.

Right then, the Emperor entered with his consorts.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The Crown Prince and Eldest sprang apart, straightened robes and crowns, and bowed.

Luo and Li rose to salute too. A New Year’s Eve show, how lively.

In other years the Emperor would host officials as well. This year his health wasn’t up to it; he’d canceled the larger feast for a family dinner.

He got a family squabble instead. Such a headache material.

But he’d perfected the art of selective deafness. He pretended to have seen nothing and spoke with gentle calm.

The Crown Prince and Eldest were married men and lifelong rivals; he had no patience for breaking up their constant spats.

Once the Emperor sat, the banquet began.

Back at their seats and just out of the Emperor’s line of sight, the two princes exchanged another glare.

After the salutations at the Buddha hall, the Empress Dowager arrived as well.

The night stayed spicy.

First the Crown Prince and Eldest clashed, then the Empress and Consort Lin traded needle-thin barbs.

The Emperor ate and drank, accepted toasts, exchanged a few words with the Empress Dowager, and watched the performances, pointedly ignoring the women’s duel. He’d seen too much of it; all he had left for that game was boredom.

Luo Shuyu and Li Mingjin, by contrast, ate quite happily, discussing spices in every dish.

When the timing felt right, they offered a quiet toast, no grandstanding. What the Emperor needed tonight was the softness of “family,” not hollow flattery.

His feeling toward these two was different.

Mingjin played the willful son. After the toast he even tried to wheedle a chef. “Father Emperor, how about you grant me the chef who makes that crispy Sichuan pork?”

“How about no,” the Emperor laughed. “I like it too and he’s head of the imperial kitchen. If I give him away, who’ll cook for me? I’ll have him send it to your residence regularly.”

“Father is stingy,” Mingjin said cheerfully. “Trade you three of mine for one of yours?”

“In your dreams. I’ll find you a good cook. Less meat and more work, boy.”

“Oh. Work is dull,” Mingjin sighed.

The Emperor chuckled. That’s how a son should tease his father.

With the Crown Prince and Eldest as bad examples, Li Mingjin looked positively endearing by comparison. The Emperor found himself wanting to close the distance, to fuss over this son a little more, the one who didn’t covet the throne.

The Empress Dowager didn’t meddle in politics, but her eyes were sharp. Knowing her son, she caught the shift instantly and waved the Crown Prince and Crown Princess forward to toast again, neatly edging Shuyu and Mingjin aside.

They didn’t mind.

Watching the others hustle for favor only made the royal struggle look more entertaining. No matter how fiercely those two fought, they were likely sewing finery for someone else.

Still… ten years ago. Shuyu couldn’t let it go.

Performances dazzled. All in all, the New Year’s banquet went smoothly, if you ignored the little eruptions.

Fireworks were a must. Only after watching them bloom did Shuyu and Mingjin leave the palace.

On New Year’s Eve the curfew was lifted. As their carriage rolled along the main avenue, the night outside throbbed with life.

“So the New Year isn’t just about dinner,” Shuyu leaned out to marvel, eyes bright.

“Some families eat in the afternoon,” Li said. “Then they come out to walk.”

“It’s so lively. Look, there’s a street performer.”

“Want to take a look? We can stroll.”

“Really?” Stars lit up in Luo’s pretty eyes.

Li had the driver pull over and helped him down.

They lacked nothing, so they simply wandered.

The main street thrummed; the riverside even more so, drums, songs, laughter.

“What’s ahead?” Shuyu asked.

“Every year the painted barges put on performances,” Mingjin explained. He’d often slipped out on festival nights, so he knew the routines. “We can watch too.”

“Let’s not squeeze into the crowds,” Shuyu said. “We can watch from the side.”

Crowds were risky. In these times, caution was survival, another of the book’s lessons.

In the novel, after a palace banquet Shen Mingyun had dragged the Fourth into the crush, high on excitement. Their enemies tailed them. Were it not for the Fourth’s guards and a hidden master, corpses would have cooled before dawn.

Not once. Several times. Every time Shen pushed into a crowd, blades soon followed.

Shuyu had no intention of replaying another’s mistakes.

They spent some coin on seats at an upstairs window. The view was distant but clear enough.

The show was good. The famed courtesan Liang Xian’er was even dancing on the water tonight.

Every year, this spot drew half the city. When the show ended, her barge would drift away.

Shuyu was nibbling a nut Mingjin handed him when sudden screams erupted along the river.

Mingjin sent men to check.

Soon the commotion ebbed, the constables had arrived in time.

Shadow Three returned, brimming with gossip.

“What happened?” Li asked.

“The Fourth Prince and his liangshi ran into trouble downstairs,” Shadow Three reported. “It looks like the liangshi miscarried.”

Shuyu stopped mid-chew. “…Repeat that. Who miscarried?”

Shadow Three gave more detail. “The Fourth and Shen liangshi forced their way into the crowd. Someone picked a fight with the Fourth. In the scuffle, Shen fell and was carried to the nearest clinic. I heard the physician say the child couldn’t be saved. I also saw the Fourth wiping his eyes in the corner.”

Well, that did it.

Shen Mingyun had managed to lose the Fourth’s first child, astonishingly fast.

Before the banquet he’d bragged to Shuyu that he’d be bed-bound for two months. A few days later he couldn’t resist a night out.

Li Mingjin sighed, surprisingly sympathetic. “Fourth Brother was a step from fatherhood. The higher the hope, the harder the fall.”

“Exactly. Shen really doesn’t know better,” Shuyu said. “Even Father Emperor believed there’d be a baby in the Fourth’s household any day now.” He was privately relieved the northern appointment had been decided beforehand.

“A pity,” Mingjin murmured.

Shuyu nodded. “If this child had made it here, it would only have suffered. Better to try again in a new life.”

Having heard enough scandal for one night, they found the music dull and headed home.

After washing off the cold, they settled on the warm couch to see the year out.

Cracking seeds, Shuyu asked, “Your Highness, tonight the Eldest mentioned a rumor from ten years ago about the Crown Prince. Do you know what it is?”

Li Mingjin paused over the chessboard. “A rumor from ten years ago?”

Shuyu’s eyes shone with curiosity. “Mm. His face changed.”

Mingjin said, perfectly solemn, “If you service me tonight, I’ll tell you.”

Shuyu’s ears went hot. “Your Highness!”

Mingjin kissed him, voice softening. “Fine, I’ll talk. It starts before the Empress entered the palace…”

---

Author’s Note:
Third Prince: Sweetheart, look, did I go deep enough?
Luo Shuyu: …

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