ITVCFITB CHAPTER 89

 Chapter 89 — Stupidity Beyond Belief

It hadn’t been easy for the Third Prince and his consort to finally conceive, and only a handful of days later a scare nearly turned into a miscarriage. For now, only the imperial family knew the truth; everyone else in the capital merely guessed at it from how nervously the Third Prince’s household was behaving.

Shen Mingyun, taking the Fourth Prince’s hint, showed up at the Third Prince’s residence feigning ignorance.

As a royal consort visiting another, Grand Steward Sun received him with perfect courtesy without ever offering to let him see Luo Shuyu.

Shen Mingyun probed, “Steward Sun, why hasn’t my cousin come out? Is he really too indisposed to say a few words to me?”

Grand Steward Sun remained respectful. “Your Highness the Fourth Prince Consort, our master may be occupied. Allow me to invite him again.”

Shen Mingyun sprang to his feet. “Forget it. I’ll just have a walk around your estate. I’ve hardly been here.”

“Whatever you wish to do is fine,” the steward replied smoothly. “Please.”

Shen Mingyun wanted to verify what the Third Prince’s household was “hiding.” Had Luo Shuyu really lost the child but was keeping it quiet to preserve His Majesty’s favor? The more he thought about it, the more he felt like Detective Conan, sure he’d touched the “one true truth.” He was giddy with the need to confirm it.

If, during his innocent stroll, he “accidentally” wandered into Luo Shuyu’s main courtyard, well… accidents happened.

Even in the lingering heat, he strutted through the gardens, sweating and tempted to strip down to his underlayer; reconnaissance came first. He could use his System, but later-stage items were expensive and his points were tight. Better to save them.

The manor’s rear garden was vast and lush. After lingering among the flowers, Shen Mingyun deliberately found an excuse to draw away the guards posted on the path to the main courtyard. Then he slipped through, applying “stealth” techniques learned from shooter games: darting behind a rockery, pressing himself to a pillar, and, when a maid passed, crouching in a shrub whispering to himself, You can’t see me. You can’t see me.

Miraculously, no one stopped him, despite his… generous build.

The main courtyard was better guarded, so he tossed a pebble to create noise on one side and meowed like a cat on the other.

“We should check that,” one guard muttered. “Might be someone.”

“I heard a cat. It’ll disturb the master’s rest. I’ll chase it off,” said the other.

They left their posts. Shen Mingyun smirked. Just like in the dramas. Ancient people are so gullible.

He slipped inside and soon found the principal bedchamber. A few senior maids sat outside whispering, proof, to his mind, that this was Luo Shuyu’s room. He still begrudged these “old crones”, some had once made him kneel. One day, I’ll make you pay.

How to get them away?

He didn’t need to. They themselves “sneaked off” to share a flask of wine, confident their master was sleeping. Tsk tsk, Shen Mingyun thought. Just like in palace dramas.

He pushed open the door. One attendant, Qingwang, was dozing in a chair. Shen Mingyun tiptoed past, holding his breath so long sweat beaded down his temples and soaked his back.

The room reeked of strong decoctions. Well, well, tables do turn. Back in Gucheng, Luo Shuyu had poured him bowl after bowl of fetal-protection tonics. Now let’s see, is this a miscarriage tonic or a post-miscarriage tonic? The thought filled him with mean-spirited glee. In his mind, Luo Shuyu and Li Mingjin had to be the novel’s true villains; why else would they forever cross him and the Fourth Prince?

On the side table sat a half-finished bowl of medicine and a tear-damp handkerchief. Luo Shuyu lay pale and wan on the bed. Shen Mingyun discreetly had the System identify the prescription, a restorative given after miscarriage. He recognized it; he’d drunk the same bitter, astringent mess after his own loss.

Luo Shuyu frowned and shifted. Shen Mingyun dropped into a crouch, ostrich-like, head ducked. When the sleeper settled again, he retreated, slipping out just as Qingwang stirred.

The senior maids were still gone. Shen Mingyun pressed himself to the eaves and listened.

Inside came Luo Shuyu’s muffled sobs and Qingwang’s soft comfort.

“Master, don’t grieve too much,” Qingwang soothed. “There will be other little masters.”

“I’ve dosed my body for years,” Luo Shuyu choked. “At last I carried His Highness’s child, and I didn’t keep it. How can I face him? My poor child, why did you have to go?”

“Perhaps the time was not right. You’re young; His Highness is young. It will be fine.”

“But what if His Highness changes his heart? If he takes some younger beauty who can bear children as a concubine then I won’t stay as Third Prince Consort.”

“His Highness would never! You know how he treats you.”

“Since the moment the child was gone, he stopped speaking to me and scolded me for not taking care. What am I to do… sigh.”

Shen Mingyun almost laughed aloud. So the oh-so-glacial Luo Shuyu does fall apart… and the Third Prince is already cooling toward him? Excellent. He could have the Fourth Prince “kindly” send a few beauties to the Third Prince and fan the embers of discord. In Great Xia, male consorts rarely conceived, especially after a miscarriage. He, of course, was the exception because he was the protagonist.

He believed that now with unshakeable faith.

Satisfied, he strolled back to the garden and, after a polite circuit, announced there was something he’d forgotten at home and took his leave. The sooner he brought this “good news” to the Fourth Prince, the better.

Back at the Fourth Prince’s manor, however, he didn’t find the prince, only a pretty young woman, recently presented by a subordinate official, who burst into tears upon seeing him.

Moved by pear-blossom tears, Shen Mingyun asked, “Why are you crying?”

He’d never liked people gifting beauties to the Fourth Prince, but he trusted him not to touch them. He fed them well, chatted with them, even used them as testers for new products.

The girl wept harder, then sank to her knees. “Your Highness, I-I… I’m with child!”

Shen Mingyun stiffened. “Pregnant? Whose?”

Her gaze skittered. She sobbed, “I was sleeping out in the courtyard that night… someone covered my mouth… and— and—after that I realized… I’m pregnant!”

Shen Mingyun leapt up. “You mean you were forced? Which bastard did it? I’ll find him and geld him! Who dares this in the Fourth Prince’s manor!”

The girl sniffed delicately. “Your Highness, I… I want to keep the child. He’s innocent.”

“…,” said Shen Mingyun.

He was speechless and, oddly, indulgent. She wanted to keep an unknown man’s baby? Well, he prided himself on respecting women’s choices. He agreed to her wish and, before long, she was confidently discussing child-rearing with him, a triumphant smile flickering at the corner of her mouth.

But that was a drama for another day.

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After Shen Mingyun left, Luo Shuyu sat up and wiped away the thick layer of powder whitening his face, revealing a healthy flush. He’d been eating well; his complexion was better than ever.

Shen Mingyun never realized the entire performance had been staged for him.

Did he really think the Third Prince’s guards were that easy to distract? The whole “cat and pebble” show had been arranged by Luo Shuyu and Li Mingjin the moment they heard Shen Mingyun planned to visit. A spur-of-the-moment idea, but useful. If Shen Mingyun would not spread the “miscarriage,” they would let him “confirm” it with his own eyes.

Publicly, the Third Prince’s residence would say Luo Shuyu was resting and protecting the pregnancy. Privately, they needed Shen Mingyun to trumpet that Luo Shuyu had already lost the baby. With his temperament, he’d never imagine Luo Shuyu would act for his benefit.

Had he thought carefully, he might have noticed plenty of holes. But Shen Mingyun was not a thoughtful man. Worse, he was convinced of his own brilliance. The self-regarding are easiest to lead astray; watching him was like facing a mirror warning Luo Shuyu who not to become, selfish, arrogant, blind to danger.

Once Shen Mingyun was gone, everyone returned to their posts. Luo Shuyu ate and drank as prescribed.

Shen Mingyun and the Fourth Prince would, of course, try to weaponize rumor, force the Third Prince’s household out of the capital by claiming a miscarriage, hounding them with, “If you’ve lost the child, why stay?” It wouldn’t be enough to whisper in the palace; the city would need to buzz.

Without the “resting to protect the fetus” excuse, if Li Mingjin remained in the capital he could be accused of ulterior motives.

Within days, the talk outside reached Luo Shuyu and Li Mingjin, exactly as planned.

It also reached the Emperor.

The Emperor summoned Li Mingjin at once. Everyone knew how keenly he anticipated his third son’s first child.

“Why are they saying your consort lost the baby?” the Emperor demanded. “What’s going on? Is it true?”

“Father, whoever’s spreading that filth, your son will kill him,” Li Mingjin snapped.

The Emperor blinked, then almost laughed. Rare to see the Third bare his fangs. “Gucheng’s made you quite free with your tongue,” he said dryly then, more gently, “Your consort is truly all right?”

“He’s fine,” Li Mingjin said, frowning. “If not for the physician’s orders to limit movement, I’d bring him here to greet you and Mother.”

The Emperor knew the Third never lied to him. “Enough. Don’t drag him out to appease me. You’re so henpecked you’d never allow it anyway.” He exhaled in relief. “I’ll have people shut down the gossip. I can guess who started it.”

The Fourth is getting impatient, he thought. Time to wake him up.

That very afternoon, the Fourth Prince was hauled into the palace and roundly scolded. He went home with a black face, only to find Shen Mingyun chatting merrily with his not-so-secret “little friend.” The sight clogged his chest.

Shen Mingyun was stupidity incarnate.

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Author’s Note

Third Prince: Wife, look at “Pregnancy Position #36”—isn’t it great? All I need is a little stool now!

Luo Shuyu: …

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