In fact, dealing with Prince Huainan was Emperor Jingren’s top priority, but, for one thing, he had no real evidence, only conjecture. For another, Emperor Jingren simply couldn’t understand how his little brother could have changed so much. Before punishing Prince Huainan, Emperor Jingren wanted to see him.

But it wasn’t so easy to get a vassal prince to the capital. Fortunately, it would be the New Year in a couple of months, and all the vassal princes were sure to send gifts. Emperor Jingren would only need to find some pretext to have the vassal princes follow their gifts to the capital.

And what reason could be better than offering congratulations on the occasion of the empress’s pregnancy?

Most importantly, the empress being pregnant would mean that Emperor Jingren would have an heir. That would be the end of Prince Huainan’s ambitions. Prince Huainan was, apart from Emperor Jingren, the only son of the late emperor’s first wife. If Emperor Jingren had no heirs, he was most likely to inherit the throne. Therefore, the empress being pregnant would make it very easy to see what Prince Huainan was thinking.

Emperor Jingren was a ruler. Everything he did had its reason. Of course, his main reason was wanting to get close to the empress, but he also had political motivations.

But he hadn’t explained this to the empress. He knew very well it was going a little too far for an emperor to use his own child in a plot against his little brother for the sake of his throne. But he was also sincere; he wanted to have his own children with the empress.

When he was through handling affairs of state, he still had some time, so Emperor Jingren summoned an imperial physician who was knowledgeable in these areas to examine him. Imperial Physician Zhao was an expert in the field, and it was because Emperor Jingren was still childless that he had been brought to the palace. However, he had never had a chance to examine Emperor Jingren; since coming to the palace, he had been functionally in retirement. Now at last he had a chance to show off his skills. Imperial Physician Zhao was excited.

But he checked Emperor Jingren’s pulse, examined his face, and observed his body, then shook his head wonderingly. “Strange. This shouldn’t be…”

“Speak freely, Imperial Physician Zhao,” Emperor Jingren said expectantly.

Imperial Physician Zhao didn’t look like he had any difficult news to deliver. Frankly, he said, “I have observed that Your Majesty is quite healthy, without any hidden diseases. Generally speaking, a man in Your Majesty’s condition, four years after marriage, ought to have at least four or five princes and princesses running around, so…why is Your Majesty childless? Can all the women in the harem be barren? That doesn’t seem possible. How very peculiar!”

“You mean that we do not need treatment?” asked Emperor Jingren.

“That’s correct. Your Majesty is healthy. What good fortune for the realm.” Imperial Physician Zhao knelt and kowtowed.

Emperor Jingren nodded and told Imperial Physician Zhao to rise. He gave him a small reward and let him go. He, meanwhile, sat in the imperial study, deep in thought.

He thought of the incense, thought of his own physical condition—the answer to why he to this day had no children was very clear.

Emperor Jingren sneered and said in self-mockery, “There are all kinds of beauties in our harem, yet not one is willing to sleep with us. They all use incense to enter our dreams and fob us off. How tragic.”

So he summoned Eunuch Lian and said, “Convey our decree. The worthy, honest, pure, and virtuous consorts, having borne no children after many years in the palace, will each be demoted one rank to lady of bright deportment. As for Imperial Concubine Lin…”

When he thought of Lin Boyuan, still out there working hard implementing the new law, Emperor Jingren reconsidered and said, “Leave Imperial Concubine Lin where she is for now.”

Eunuch Lian trembled. He really had no idea what the empress could have done to make His Majesty distance himself from the consorts for his sake. From this it seemed that there was every chance the empress would be the one to win in the end. Thinking of the empress’s unfathomable martial talents, Eunuch Lian was wracked with tremors and secretly congratulated himself on having given up and pledged his allegiance correctly. Perhaps when the empress won, he would even give him a bit of the money!

At this, Eunuch Lian felt a little excited. He hurried off to get someone to draw up a decree.

Extraordinarily, the discovery that none of his wives were willing to service him in bed did not make Emperor Jingren angry. It was probably because he had never felt anything in particular for these people. On top of that, all those nights of sweet encounters hadn’t been real; they could inspire no tender feelings. And Emperor Jingren wasn’t a person to be ruled by emotion. He wouldn’t get very angry at people he didn’t care about.

If not for the fact that the four consorts had quite a lot of power behind them—the virtuous consort, for example, was Chancellor Li’s daughter—Emperor Jingren actually would have wanted to send them all to the cold palace. But at the moment, his word at court wasn’t absolute and unrivaled; he couldn’t just do whatever he wanted. But if he demoted all four consorts to Lady of Bright Deportment, people would believe it was done out of anger at them having borne him no children. It would lessen Chancellor Li’s suspicions.

Removing the four consorts from their positions was a test of the officials, to see what their next step would be.

Emperor Jingren was accustomed to having countless hidden intentions behind each of his actions; he didn’t think of himself as a schemer. Anyway, he was being true to his heart in all he did. He was just adding in some little plots as he did it.

However great the shock that would be felt in the four consorts’ palaces and in the homes of their families, Emperor Jingren didn’t want to pay attention to their feelings. Right now, he was looking forward to tonight. His memories from before he hit his head were very faint, and he didn’t have any memory at all of pleasant nights with the empress. It felt to him now that this would be like their first time together, and he was no less excited for tonight than he might have been for his wedding night.

Emperor Jingren was a little flustered. He bathed in Chengqian Palace’s Zichen Hall, put on brand new clothes, and had the maids do his hair, to make it very smooth. He remembered that the empress loved his hair.

He was as nervous as a student who had arranged a secret tryst with his beloved. It was only after all kinds of mental preparation that, when the lanterns were first hung, he finally went to Qifeng Hall. He didn’t take the imperial palanquin but walked on his own two feet.

Upon entering the hall, he didn’t allow notice of his arrival to be given. He wanted to enter the bedroom quietly, to see how the empress looked while waiting for him.

In love as he was, Emperor Jingren always wanted to know how his beloved looked when they were apart.

But when he reached the bedroom, a maid informed him that the empress was bathing. This made Emperor Jingren even more eager. When he thought of the empress bathing to receive him, his heart surged. He made all the servants keep quiet and crept toward the bathtub.

The door stood ajar. Emperor Jingren recalled that the empress never liked to be attended while bathing. So if he went in now, the two of them would be alone in the bathing area.

For the first time, Emperor Jingren didn’t act like a gentleman. He gently pushed open the door and entered. The first thing he saw was a screen, on which candlelight cast the tall shadow of a person in the process of scrubbing.

No strictures against indecency held weight with Emperor Jingren now. He crept around the screen and was at once met with the sight of a tall, handsome man with a muscular chest, well-endowed in a certain area, casually washing himself.

And this man was identical to the empress.

Emperor Jingren was stupefied.