Youxian stared at the children with a smile as he feasted on a dish of rice cooked with fresh fruits. Things have been okay—just okay.

So okay that he was worried, but he wasn’t going to show it on his face.

“You eat too much,” Xing Guang said as she watched her father go for his third bowl.

He chuckled, “Child, how else will I feed your sibling?”

She shrugged. “It’s going to be a pig.”

He laughed, but his laughter came to a halt as the Crown Prince arrived. He glanced at Youxian with a scrutinising gaze but didn’t say anything—his gaze spoke a lot, though.

Youxian suddenly felt uncomfortable as he took the seat beside him.

Changling smiled at his children, “Make sure you visit the Crown Princess. She’s been complaining that you two haven’t visited since your father returned.”

“What do you expect? We missed him,” Tian Cao pouted.

Changling smiled. Nodding his head, he asked, “Will you be travelling with me?”

They both shook their heads, making him laugh. He looked at his son, saying, “You have no choice. How else will you get to know the kingdom if you don’t see it?”

“Mother said there are bad people outside the palace walls.”

“Your mother worries too much. Now, children, I want to speak with your father.”

They reluctantly left, leaving the two adults alone.

After the children left, Changling turned to him, saying, “You’re coming with me.”

Youxian frowned, “Why?”

Changling scoffed, “You can choose, get rid of the child or leave the palace.”

Changling’s words shook him to his core. Staring at his husband, he asked, “Wh–what do you mean?”

“No matter how I think about it. I gave you a chance to fix your ways, but what did you do? You had sex with another and you are now pregnant with his child. Do you expect me to welcome this child with open arms? Your child is not royalty, not from me, not from my father or my siblings. The child is a bastard, fatherless. He will never be accepted here—not while I’m alive.”

Youxian stood up, glaring at him. “Then why don’t you just die?”

Changling scoffed. Looking ahead of him, he said, “You made your bed. Lie in it.”

*

Changling walked into his mother’s home. The Rong couple were ageing, but they still looked good.

Chushan welcomed her son with open arms, especially since she saw the look in his eyes. No one knew her son better than her. Cupping his face, she asked, “What is it, son? You don’t look good.”

Changling let a tear fall as his voice broke. “I’m tired of this.”

Chushan chuckled and hugged him again. She looked back at her husband, that was now sitting up ready to give their son his full attention.

They moved to the garden benches. Changling laid his head in his mother’s lap, allowing her to remove the crown from his head and run his fingers through his hair.

“So tell us. What’s bothering you now?”

He shook his head. “It’s been years since I’ve felt like this. I’m hopeless and at a loss for what to do.”

“Is it about the kingdom? Then you should speak to your father, the emperor.” Yifan said.

Changling shook his head as he sat up. “No, he can’t help me with this.”

He looked at his mother with tears in his eyes. “Mother, I know I am a bad person. I’m trying my best to be good, but why is this happening? Is this my karma for being the way I am? I didn’t ask to be like this, I didn’t ask to be born—I know my wrongs, so why did this have to happen?”

Chushan looked at her husband, then back at their son, asking, “What are you going on about?”

“Youxian is pregnant.”

“Yes, we know. Congratulations, although I suggest that this is your last child.”

He shook his head, feeling weak as nausea whirled around him. Letting out a sob, he said, “It’s not my child. Youxian killed the father.”

Chushan took in a shuddering breath. Hugging her son’s head as she looked at her husband, they listened to him cry.

Shaking her head, she wondered, ‘Is this the beginning of a storm or will it all end now?’

*

As Changling calmed down, Yifan said, “Changling, you’re a man now. The emperor of a kingdom. You are no longer a child and there is no need for this childish showcase. We all grow up and you—let’s say you are still holding on to your childish beliefs. The world no longer revolves around you. Yes, maybe this is your karma. You’ve done your husband wrong in many ways and although we never objected to your actions, we never approved. There have been many signs for you to stop. It was so bad that Hwan’s refused to serve the kingdom—you ruined a generational relationship because of your selfishness. Now I am not saying that what your husband did was right, but think, someone who was preparing to be the general of an army was turned into a chamber maiden all to tame your monstrous desires. You scarred him in ways not even I can imagine, but what did he do? He stuck by you. Watched you get married, and raised your child—although away from you and the palace, he still did it.”

“Whatever you have planned, I am sure you will find a better way to deal with it than to listen to the monster sitting on your shoulder. You’re crying in your mother’s arms, so why not take her as an example and follow her lead? Move on from this for the sake of your child and the kingdom. You’ll go down in history for making the right choice and if the child is still not to your liking after YOU raised him, marry him off to benefit the kingdom, but don’t hurt yourself. Think of your daughter—do you want her regretting her existence?”

“You speak as if this is easy to accept. I can’t even look at him.”

“Then don’t look at him.”

And with that The Lecherous Prince and His Playmate is finished!! What a joke! I wish it was done but no matter what I do or how much I type, these two are killing me.

I'll be back just not now. Maybe at the end of the month.