Chapter 1: Chapter 174: The Woman at the Emperor's Heart

Chapter 174: The Emperor's Beloved Woman

"You must wait for me, otherwise I will be disappointed." Leaving these words behind, Yao Mowan walked to Yao Zhenting's side and helped him out of the main hall.

Even after Yao Mowan had left, Ye Junqing was still wondering—how did she realize he was about to leave? Was his behavior really that obvious!

"Please sit for a moment, Your Highness. This old servant will instruct the servants to brew some tea immediately," Yao Tu said respectfully, walking to Ye Junqing's side and bowing.

"No need..." As Ye Junqing instinctively rose to leave, Yao Mowan's words suddenly echoed in his ears, causing his body, which had just begun to lift, to settle back down.

"No need, this Prince is not thirsty," Ye Junqing said indifferently. In his heart, he questioned himself ten thousand times: *What does it matter to you if I'm disappointed!* Yet, his body remained seated as steady as Mount Tai.

Outside the main room, Yao Mowan ordered Ting Yue to guard the door while she herself supported Yao Zhenting into the inner chamber.

"That damned Li Qingqing! Even killing her wouldn't satisfy my rage! *Cough, cough*..." Yao Zhenting had been grumbling all the way, and now that they were back in the room, he continued to chatter incessantly.

"Father, do not let anger ruin your health." Yao Mowan helped Yao Zhenting onto the couch, then walked to the table to pour him a cup of clear tea, a fleeting cold sneer flashing across her lips.

"How can I not be angry! First it was Su Muzi, and now comes Li Qingqing! Those two harlots actually engaged in illicit affairs behind my back! What I hate most is that they gave me hope. Sons! But both turned out to be bastards! Unacceptable! I must find that little bastard and hack him to death with a blade!" Yao Zhenting did not take the teacup Yao Mowan offered, instead continuing to growl in a fit of rage.

"Calculating it this way, besides Mowan's mother who never betrayed you, even Dou Xianglan has dallied with actors." Yao Mowan sat leisurely in the chair beside the couch, her fingertip tracing the rim of the cup. It was fine snow porcelain, smooth and lusterous, with a comfortable texture.

"Mo Li... it's a pity Mo Li didn't give birth to a son, otherwise..." As Yao Zhenting was complaining, his dark eyes suddenly snapped toward Yao Mowan, his face filled with bewilderment.

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have allowed Dou Xianglan to humiliate Mother, or even poison Mother's food, right?" Yao Mowan's eyes were waveless, her expression as calm as a still lake. In particular, the slight upward curve of her lips made Yao Zhenting almost unable to believe his eyes, let alone what he was hearing.

"What? Is Mowan wrong? Actually, Mowan has never understood—even if Mother hadn't given birth to a son, she gave birth to the Mother of the Nation. Yao Su luan was merely a Noble Consort. Logically speaking, the person Father should have feared was not Dou Xianglan, but Mother. It seems Father's ways are truly not something an ordinary person could guess." Yao Mowan lifted the tea lid, took a light sip, and spoke leisurely.

"Mowan... you... you aren't foolish anymore? How is this possible!" Yao Zhenting looked at Yao Mowan in astonishment, his eyes full of shock.

"That is possible, but as for Father wanting a son, that is absolutely impossible." Yao Mowan's cold eyes, like two beams of light, stung Yao Zhenting's eyes.

"Why?" Yao Zhenting demanded indignantly.

"Does Father still remember that jar of Nu'er Hong that Mowan brought from the palace back then?" Yao Mowan spoke nonchalantly, the smile on her lips as beautiful as an immortal.

"I remember. So what?" Amidst his shock, Yao Zhenting looked at Yao Mowan with a cold face.

"I don't know if Father felt it at the time, but besides being fragrant and mellow, that wine had a slightly astringent taste. It was very faint, but if Father savored it carefully, he should have been able to sense it." Yao Mowan used the tea lid to scoop a few tender leaves from the cup, explaining in detail.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Yao Zhenting looked at Yao Mowan warily. Even though it had been confirmed, he still could not accept that his once-foolish daughter, who could only cry and laugh, had become so calculating and deep.

"Mowan wants to say that inside there was the 'Rootless Water' that Mowan specially prepared for Father." Yao Mowan raised her eyes and spoke solemnly.

"'Rootless Water'? What is it?" Yao Zhenting's brows furrowed into a tight line, a chill gradually rising from the depths of his heart.

"To think Father is a Prime Minister of the nation, yet such a superficial name should not be hard to understand. The emphasis of 'Rootless Water' lies in the two words 'rootless.' After Father drank it... let alone a son, even a daughter cannot be conceived." Yao Mowan looked at Yao Zhenting with a face full of regret.

"You... what did you say!" Yao Zhenting shuddered at the sound, then rose indignantly to glare at Yao Mowan.

"The words Mowan wants to say have already been said by Wu Zicheng. Father is destined to have the fate of a eunuch in this life, destined to have no son to see him to his grave!" Yao Mowan's voice was eerie and cold, her gaze turning freezing.

"Why? I am your father!" Yao Zhenting roared in questioning.

"That's right, you are indeed Mowan's father. This is a disgrace that Mowan can never escape in this lifetime." Yao Mowan rose leisurely, walked slowly to the table, placed the teacup down, and then sat down facing Yao Zhenting.

"Who are you really? Who are you!" Facing this daughter whom he once found too troublesome to even glance at, Yao Zhenting felt fear for the first time, even panic.

"The third precious daughter of the Prime Minister's manor, Father's youngest daughter. Does Father not remember?" Yao Mowan arched an eyebrow at Yao Zhenting. The various expressions shifting rapidly across his shocked face made Yao Mowan find it amusing; she never knew her father was such an expert at facial expressions.

"No... you are a beast! You beast! How could you give me that kind of drug! You severed my roots, I will take your life!" Amidst the shock, Yao Zhenting finally regained his senses and charged madly at Yao Mowan.

Just as Yao Zhenting's hand was about to grasp Yao Mowan's snowy neck, Yao Mowan suddenly stood up. Her cold eyes were like a wild wolf traversing the dark forest, bursting with a ghostly green chill. That sudden surge of pressure forced Yao Zhenting to not dare take another step forward.

"You dare! Mowan is currently the most favored in the Six Palaces, the woman at the Emperor's heart. If you dare touch a single hair on this Palace's body, I have the ability to make the entire Yao Manor vanish into ash overnight!" At this moment, Yao Mowan was like an existence from the underworld; the freezing aura surrounding her caused the air in the entire room to drop to the freezing point.

"How ruthless you are!" Yao Zhenting growled through gritted teeth, yet his body did not dare move an inch.

"No matter how ruthless Mowan is, I cannot be more ruthless than you, Father! You watched with your own eyes as Mother was poisoned to death by Dou Xianglan, and not only did you indulge her, but you even threw Mother's corpse into a mass grave! In that moment, did you ever think that Mother not only served you dutifully for decades, but also gave birth to a pair of daughters for you—one of whom is the current Empress!" Yao Mowan's voice rang in Yao Zhenting's ears like a funeral knell, the shock it brought nearly shattered his heart.

"So what if she is the Empress! The benefits Yao Moxin brought me were not even as much as Yao Su luan's! That bastard's heart only belongs to the Emperor! She never acts with my interests in mind!" Yao Zhenting met Yao Mowan's hateful gaze with ferocity, speaking with righteous indignation.

Her heart felt as if it had been thrown into a freezing pool at this moment. So this was the reason Father treated Mother so coldly. All her regrets erupted instantly; at that time, she truly deserved to be cut into a thousand pieces!

"So, in Father's eyes, my eldest sister's death was a joyous occasion?" Yao Mowan suppressed the bone-deep regret in her heart and looked coldly at Yao Zhenting.

"A joyous occasion of the highest order! Only with her death could Yao Su luan become Empress! Heaven has eyes; that bastard actually had an affair with a man and even gave birth to a bastard! She deserved to die!" Yao Zhenting cursed hysterically, as if the person he was cursing held a blood feud against him.