Ren sent word for me to have dinner without him although he would be spending the night with me. He must be very busy with the preparations for war. As for me, I was quite relieved that he would arrive a little later than expected because that meant that I had some time to pack the things that I needed for my journey. Of course, I had to keep this all a secret from Ren. Tomorrow, we’ll set out to my hometown. I couldn’t even begin to count the times that I’ve prayed to return to my hometown. However, I never expected to be returning under these circumstances. A frown creased my eyebrows, and my head began to ache a little when I started questioning why my town had started an uprising against the empire. No matter what, I just couldn’t understand it. Did the elders honestly think that their efforts would be successful despite what they may believe? In the battle that I had witnessed before, there was no hope for my town to win at all. The best that we could do was to surrender and li
I felt the warmth of his large hand on the top of my head as he cradled my head against him. His body against mine felt so warm. “I know that you will. Let’s make the most of the time that we have left,” Ren said seductively before he placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I looked up into his beautiful brown eyes before I nodded my head slightly in agreement. He was right, there’s no point in arguing about anything right now. He’ll do what he must do, and I’ll do what I must do. Tonight, is the night that we should just enjoy our time together. Ren’s face came closer, and I closed my eyes as I offered my lips to him. I moaned softly when his lips met mine and he began kissing me. His lips felt warm and tender, so did his arms as he pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his body in return before I parted my lips invitingly. Ren immediately thrusted his wet tongue into my eagerly anticipating mouth. His lips sucked on mine before his tongue teased mine in an endless dance. I m
“I can’t wait anymore. I need to be inside you now…” Ren said as he pushed me back down onto the bed and got on top of me.His hands quickly spread my legs as he positioned his thick member at my entrance. It all happened so fast that the next thing I knew, Ren was already penetrating me with his massive cock. I whimpered as his cock thrusted deeper and deeper into my love tunnel. He just entered me, but it already felt amazingly pleasurable. I tried to spread my legs wider to take him in deeper as I lifted my hips off the bed towards his thick rod. Ren grinded his hips against my opening once his cock was fully buried into my wet hole. I could feel his cock stirring up my wet insides as he rocked his hips against mine. I closed my eyes and sighed with extreme satisfaction at the sensation of my pussy being stretched and filled by his love tool. “Your pussy is so warm and wet inside. It’s clenching around my cock…” Ren said before he moaned softly. “It feels…good…” I whispered a li
Finally, it was the promised time for me to meet up with Shin. I followed the instructions in his note to the letter. I stood at the waiting place just like he had instructed with the bag that I had carefully packed. Did I get here a little too early because I don’t see Shin in sight. Suddenly, I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. Quickly, I whirled around to see Shin standing right behind me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that one of the empire’s leading generals could sneak up on me like this. Shin held a finger to his lips as he signaled for me to remain silent. I nodded my head in acknowledgement. Shin gestured with his hand for me to follow after him. I never knew that such a narrow and secretive passage existed in the palace. Although, I haven’t been travelling around the palace much except for the route from my palace to the hospital and to Ren’s palace. Silently, I followed closely behind Shin as he led the way. The path clearly wasn’t a commonly used one because we didn’t r
As the wagon rocked from side to side on the bumpy road, my mind drifted off to Ren. I wondered where he is now. Ren was probably riding his horse somewhere in the front along with Shin and his other war generals. The journey would take a couple of days and during all that time I had to avoid running into Ren. Thankfully there were so many soldiers here that running into him would actually be a small miracle in and of itself. Although I dreaded the moment when Ren would find out that I had tagged along on this journey with him, I also wanted to meet him soon. I wanted to see that he was doing alright and most of all, I wanted to share our usual small talks and laughter again. “You should rest now while you can,” Doctor Kai spoke up as he turned to face me. “I will try…” I replied softly. The other members of the medical team had already started taking naps here and there. Perhaps the journey was making them feel tired. I wondered if any of them felt motion sick. “Go to sleep. Try
I nodded to Doctor Kai, signaling that it was fine for him to leave us alone now. The doctor seemed a little worried about me, but he decided to take his leave anyways. “Shin…” I called Shin’s name softly as I came to stand in front of him. “How was the ride?” Shin asked. “It was terrible…but I made it…” I replied honestly.Shin laughed quite loudly at my truthful response. I was sure that he was expecting that. Although I did complain, this much hardship was nothing compared to my old life. He probably didn’t know or had forgotten that I came from this small town, and I lived pretty much in a hut in the forest. I never rode on or owned a horse, so I travelled by foot. Life wasn’t easy for me then…and it definitely wasn’t easy for me now either…“Ready to surprise our prince?” Shin asked after he stopped laughing. Oh right…I need to meet Ren at some point…“Not really…” I replied honestly while feeling surprised that my voice didn’t shake. “I’m not looking forward to it either…bu
Now that I knew that Shin would be accompanying me in there, I felt slightly better. I was certain that Ren would still be mad about all of this even if Shin were to tell him that it was ordered by the emperor. Ren’s not stupid, he’ll see through this whole plan right away that it was Shin and my idea and not the emperor’s. I knew I had to face him soon or later so I might as well get this over and done with. “Let’s go…” I said softly to Shin. Taking in a deep breath, I steeled my nerve as Shin pulled the flap of the large tent open. Come what may…After all that stressful mental preparation, I was extremely disappointed by the fact that the tent was empty. There was no one inside. I turned to Shin in shock, and he shrugged helplessly at me. “I guess he went out…” Shin said before he started laughing at my shocked expression. “What?!” I cried out loudly in frustration.Ren isn’t even here. Where did he go?“Don’t blame me. I went to fetch you so how am I supposed to know that h
“Stay in this tent. If you leave without my permission, I’ll cut your head off,” Ren commanded before he headed for the exit. I could feel Ren’s menacing glare on me, and my body felt cold with fear. Things have taken a turn for the worst. As Ren left the tent followed by Shin, I was left alone in the large tent. Probably unbeknownst to Ren and Shin, I was far from admitting defeat. If I give up now, then everything will be for naught. Somehow, I’m going to convince Ren to let me work to earn my keep. My legs gave way from the tension, and I flopped down onto one of the chairs. I felt like I needed to cry from all the bottled-up emotions and frustration. However, my brain was too busy planning my next move that no tears came to my eyes. This is not the time for me to shed any useless tears. …Knowing that Ren wanted to have a private talk with him, Shin led the way to his own tent which was located nearby. Shin knew that Ren was extremely mad right now, but he had already decided o
“Really? I think you’re as young and as pretty as before…if not more pretty…” Ren said reassuringly before he bent down to kiss my cheek tenderly.Although I knew that he was probably just saying it to please me, I couldn’t help but feel my heart flutter at his words. The truth was that I have aged, and I definitely don’t look as fresh or young as I did all those years ago. Even I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that I haven’t aged. “Thank you, Ren…but that’s not really the point…” I replied with a small laugh. “Can’t we try for one more? Please…just one more…” Ren pleaded sweetly. “But we already have three children…” I pointed out. “But we don’t have a daughter yet…” Ren said with a sigh as he looked depressed and deflated. I wanted to roll my eyes at fate. Most women had problem pleasing their husband and his family because they couldn’t produce a son. In my case, I had no problem producing sons, but my husband was adamant in wanting a daughter so that he could spoil her like
My political influence changed again when I became pregnant with my second child and soon gave birth to another very healthy son. Having two sons for the emperor gave the entire empire confidence that the line of succession is secure. Despite Prince Kin’s women giving birth to a few sons as well at that point, it was clear that the line of succession will continue in Ren’s branch of the family, much to the dowager empress’s joy. Strangely, I have developed an amicable relationship with the dowager empress over the years as she had taken much interest in her great grandchildren. Naturally, I was favored without needing to do anything much. Unfortunately, the dowager empress passed away from old age before she got to see the face of our third child. To my utmost surprise and to many others’ jealousy, she had chosen to leave all her treasures to me so that I could distribute it to my children’s wives when they got married. I cried so much at her funeral that Ren had to step in and lead
Lately Ren has found his work as the emperor boring and repetitive. As a result, he has been spending more time with me and our children. That was a great thing for me and our family, but I wasn’t sure if it was best for the empire. “Shin can take care of most things. He’s unmarried, has no kids, and loves the empire. He’s perfect for the job,” Ren said before laughing loudly. That was his response when I asked him about skipping out on some of his royal duties. It’s been around 7 years now since Ren and I got married but Shin was still as single and free as a bird. Despite our efforts to get him to settle down, Shin had some how successfully evaded the topic of marriage all together. Even an arrangement by the previous emperor couldn’t tie him down. Shin now considers my children as his own and acts as their loving godfather. …When we arrived back at the main palace, I was greeted by my second son, Rem. Rem is more of a carefree spirit compared to Rou. He doesn’t seem super devot
“It sounds very complicated. In my town, weddings are something that you celebrate with your close friends and family in a simple way…” I mumbled. “I’m sure that doesn’t apply if you marry a prince or if you’re becoming the next empress,” Ren said with a laugh. “I guess you’re right…” I said with a nod of my head. “Don’t worry too much. We’ll both have it easy until the day itself. If you’re not too picky, you can leave the preparation to the officials and the staff. They’ll get everything done and if you have any special requests, just let them know and they’ll figure it out,” Ren said before he patted my head. I guess planning my own wedding was out of the question. I was sure that whatever the officials in charge had in mind would be very different to what I wanted. Recalling the minimal version of the wedding dress that Ren once made me wear to appear in court, I shuddered at the thought of the real wedding dress itself and the ceremony involved. “I’ll leave it to them then.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?” Ren asked the moment the door to my bedroom closed behind us. “I…I was just waiting for the right moment to tell you,” I said honestly. “When did you find out?” Ren asked. “About a month ago while we were still in the middle of war,” I confessed softly. “You should have told me,” Ren insisted. “But you were so busy, and you were out there fighting every day. I didn’t want to add to your burdens,” I explained. “Regardless, you still should have told me,” Ren repeated his same opinion. “I’m sorry, Ren. It wasn’t like I was trying to keep it from you,” I apologized sadly. “I would have taken care of you better…” Ren muttered. Is that why he was so mad? “You’re so sweet, Ren,” I said before giggling. It was probably the first time that I think I saw Ren blush. I couldn’t stop myself from giggling at the sight. “Thank you, Rin. I can’t wait to raise our baby together,” Ren said as he hugged me close to him. “Me too…” I replied before sm
“But if you go, they might kill you…” Shin said. “Isn’t there someone who can help me?” I asked as a thought struck me. “You can’t be seriously thinking about…” Shin muttered as he probably caught on to what I was thinking. “Please, Shin…please help Ren…please help me…” I begged. “Shit…this is crazy…” Shin said in pure disbelief. I watched as Shin sprinted off. After he was gone, my legs lost all its strength and I eased down onto a nearby chair and concentrated on keeping my breathing calm. I placed a hand on my tummy as I prayed that all three of us would be safe. …**Back to the present**Everyone looked towards the entrance of the hall, where a frail old woman walked in slowly with her most trusted eunuch supporting her arms on both sides. Despite her age and her weakened body, the Dowager Empress walked with a straight back full of pride. In unison as if they had practiced it beforehand, everyone stood up from their seat and bowed. Ren and I did the same. “Mother…” the em
After quite a long while had passed, all five doctors were done with inspecting my body. Ren returned back to my side before he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder as we all waited for the verdict from the doctors. “So, what is your opinion regarding the Lady White Lotus,” the emperor asked impatiently. Each doctor was asked to present his view one by one starting with the least senior and ending with Doctor Pai, who was the most senior of them all. “Your Majesty, I believe that the Lady White Lotus is with child,” the first doctor stated before bowing deeply to the emperor. The whole hall erupted in whispers and gasps of shock. Some members of court who had undoubtedly been eagerly waiting for the next royal heir cheered and clapped their hands. “Silence. Next…” the emperor said firmly as he invited the next doctor to give his opinion. “Your Majesty. The Lady White Lotus is indeed pregnant,” the second doctor said before bowing to show his respect. “Next…” the emperor said
I can do this. I can do this. I can do this! “There is no need to punish the crown prince because I am without a doubt loyal to this empire. I wish for a bright future for this empire because that would mean a bright future for our child…” I said, making sure that my voice rang loud and clear. “Rin…” I heard Ren whisper my name. “What are you saying?” the emperor asked as a frown formed in between his brows. “I am with child. I am pregnant with the crown prince’s child,” I stated firmly. I could feel and hear everyone’s shock. Loud gasp of surprise filled the room followed by whispers. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, and I placed my hands over my stomach as if to protect the baby that was inside. “What are you saying? Leave with Shin right now,” Ren hissed to me as he came to my side. “No…I am not leaving you…” I said stubbornly. “Is it true, Rin?” Ren asked softly, I could feel his gaze on my stomach. I smiled weakly at him as I nodded. His eyes widened in surprise befor
Ren stood up from his seat and all eyes were on him. He took in a breath to calm himself before facing the emperor and the members of court. “I believe that the punishment decided for the town of Amber Leaves is just and fair. The emperor who also approved it seem to share my beliefs. The people of the town had no knowledge of what was going on and did not benefit from the enemy. Because of this, I believe that they should not be punished. I spent more than three months fighting the war. Compared to someone who had never stepped foot on the battlefield or the town itself, I believe that it should be fair to say that I am more knowledgeable about the situation,” Ren said calmly.“What about the punishment for Lady White Lotus? It is indeed her town that rebelled against the empire,” a senior member of court inquired sternly. “The Lady White Lotus has failed to deliver a royal heir for this empire as well. It has been a very long time and she is not yet with child,” the empress spoke