Chapter 401

As soon as Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi returned to the Royal Prince Yi Mansion, the imperial edict and Dragon Scale Army arrived. Seeing Dragon Scale Army rush into the Royal Prince Yi Mansion unscrupulously, Hong Ling and the troops of the Royal Prince Yi Mansion thought that they had encountered bandits and almost picked up their weapons to resist.

Fortunately, Baili Junyi stopped them in time. Otherwise, tomorrow, there would be imperial censors to accuse him of starting a coup.

The two of them were extremely calm. They asked people to carry the two children to Huajun Pavilion and told Hong Ling and Ye Yi to wait in the yard, ordering them to let Dragon Scale Army’s people search the mansion as they liked.

Although Dragon Scale Army acted according to the imperial decree, they were extremely polite to Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua. The army was the Emperor’s personal guards and directly received orders from the Emperor. However, they were not men of sacrifice and were not hundred percent loyal to the Emperor, so they had their own concerns. It might seem awesome to raid a prince’s mansion, but fortune knocked once at every man’s door, and the table might turn in the future. If the Fifth Prince regained power in the future, he might settle accounts with them. Meanwhile, the Emperor was getting older and older…

Baili Junyi was no longer a Royal Prince, so the soldiers of the residence had to evacuate. Therefore, after Dragon Scale Army left, the team behind them became more and more majestic. In addition, many people were carrying things in their hands, which confirmed the rumors that the Fifth Prince had his mansion confiscated.

The people did not know the truth, but the other princes knew what was going on.

The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince had originally gathered together to discuss how to ask the Emperor to take back Noble Consort Li’s confinement order. When they heard this news, they laughed happily.

The Third Prince slammed the table. His gloomy face finally had a smile. “Haha, back then, Baili Junyi questioned us with an account book in the court. We wouldn’t have been so well had it not been for Father Emperor’s consideration and Mother’s plea. Haha! The table has turned now! It’s finally his turn to be unlucky.”

The Fourth Prince was also in a very good mood. He picked up the wine cup on the table and drank it all in one gulp. “Third Brother, you’re right. Hah, I thought that Baili Junyi would be arrogant for very long, but he ended up so miserably! He had the highest title among us, the dignified Royal Prince Yi. When he stood in the court, all the officials were silent and scared of him. Now, we are still Prefectural Princes, but he has become a pathetic prince without a title. I want someone to send the news to Mother and cheer her up.” Baili Junyi was ranked fifth, but his title was higher than the other elder brothers. This annoyed them very much.

The Third Prince nodded. Previously, he and Noble Consort Li had suffered a lot at the hands of Shen Ninghua. This time, all the spies that Mother had planted for a long time were killed, and the Lin Family also suffered a heavy loss. This anger almost suffocated him to death. Now, he finally felt a little better.

Compared with the joy here, the atmosphere of the Second Prince Mansion was completely different. Baili Jinchuan sat in the hall, and there were two beautiful women kneeling on the floor.

The head butler on the side was sweating profusely, and his tone was particularly cautious as he muttered, “Master, these are the two bedroom concubines bestowed by His Majesty. How about…”

Baili Jinchuan’s cold eyes fell on the beautiful women. He seemed to be sending ice shards through his gaze, making the two scantily dressed women tremble all over. The Emperor bestowed the most women to the Second Prince Mansion because Baili Jinchuan’s backyard was too empty, and he didn’t have an official wife and side concubine. He had to go through an official marriage procedure to marry his Princess Consort and side concubines, but the bedroom concubines could be sent to the mansion immediately. There was no requirement of status and background to be a bedroom concubine as long as they were pretty.

“Raise your head.”

Hearing Baili Jinchuan’s voice, the two women hurriedly raised their heads. The smiles on their faces were tender and shy. They had sharp chins, big almond eyes, skin as fair as snow, and curvy and slender figures. They were the typical beautiful women in the country. Their every move was full of charm and joy.

“Greetings, Your Highness…” The scars on Baili Jinchuan’s face had disappeared. Seeing his handsome face, the two of them blushed even more. They fought to greet him softly, trying to win his favor before the Princess Consort and side concubines entered the mansion.

However, before they could finish their words, a teacup suddenly flew over and fell in front of them with a bang. The tea splashed, and the porcelain pieces broke apart. The two cried out in alarm and hurriedly dodged backward. Their lives would be doomed if their faces were ruined.

Impatience flashed through Baili Jinchuan’s eyes. “You’re so noisy and unruly! Take them down and order the nurses to teach them some rules!”

The two women were dumbfounded. They originally wanted to take the initiative to impress the Second Prince, but before they could finish speaking, they were reprimanded and had to learn the rules again. They had stayed in the palace for a few months and had already memorized the rules. Even when they slept, they would not dare to move at will. However, they had to learn the rules again.

“Your Highness, we are sorry. Please forgive us…”

“Your Highness…”

The impatience in Baili Jinchuan’s eyes became more obvious. “Get out!”

Seeing that Master was angry, the head butler at the side quickly waved his hand to get someone to pull the two women down. He sighed in his heart. They were so beautiful, and the Emperor had put in a lot of effort for his Master, which was why he assigned him such charming women. Unfortunately, Master did not like them. Sigh…

When he was the only one left in the hall, Baili Jinchuan angrily swept everything on the table to the ground. Wrath shot out from his black eyes as if he could burn everything in front of him. “Baili Junyi, how dare you! How dare you!”

Hearing the news from the palace, he was stunned. He suddenly remembered what Yang Yingxue had said on her deathbed. They were both nothing but pathetic people. He hated Shen Ninghua for her cold demeanor and for being too cruel to him. But as the hatred went on, it slowly transformed into an obsession. He wanted to conquer and control her. He wanted his image to be the only reflection on her cold eyes.

He had always thought that he could do it, but when he heard that Baili Junyi brazenly defied the imperial edict for her, he suddenly realized that he had lost. For Shen Ninghua, he could abstain from other women, but he would not publicly disobey the imperial power for her, and he would not dare to take the risk of having her as his only woman.

After a while, he slowly calmed down and called people in to clean up the hall. Then, he prepared to enter the palace to meet Noble Consort Qi as if nothing had happened. However, the black layers in his eyes spread out, and they seemed to cover all the lights.

Baili Junyi no longer had a title. Before Dragon Scale Army left, they took off Royal Prince Yi Mansion’s plaque above the gate of the mansion. Now, his mansion needed a new plaque.

When Baili Junyi heard Ye Yi’s report, he did not care. He walked directly to the desk and wrote down “Fifth Prince Mansion”. Then, he asked Ye Yi to make it into a plaque and hang it over the gate.

Although Baby Girl and Big Boy did not quite understand what had happened, they could feel the atmosphere in the mansion. The two snuggled up to Shen Ninghua and looked up at their father and mother.

With a smile, Shen Ninghua stroked Big Boy’s face and looked at Baili Junyi, teasing, “When you were demoted to Prefectural Prince, I joked that, you would have a lower title than Big Boy if you were demoted again one day. Well, my joke came true!”

Baili Junyi went forward and picked Baby Girl up. “Well, I am now a pathetic prince without a title. In the future, I will rely on you three to support me. Baby Girl, tell me, do you want to support me?”

Baby Girl was lifted up high, kicking her calves happily. Hearing this, she nodded repeatedly. “Okay, okay, yes! I will support mother, support you, support brother, and support baby brother. Baby Girl is rich.”

Baili Junyi threw her up and then caught her steadily. “I will be even happier if you say baby sister in the end.” Regarding the gender of the child in Shen Ninghua’s belly, he was still standing on the opposing side with Big Boy and Baby Girl. From time to time, he would talk about it, trying to convince them to change their minds.

Baby Girl beamed excitedly. She hugged Baili Junyi and kissed him. Children were forgetful, and soon, she forgot the uneasiness. They began to catch after each other and play.

When the children were tired of playing, Shen Ninghua helped them sleep in their beds and then walked out with Baili Junyi hand in hand.

Baili Junyi held Shen Ninghua in his arms and hugged her like a doll. “Honey, you have to support me from now on.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “Alright, don’t worry. I’m very rich. I can support you for as long as you want.”

“Thank you, my dear wife.”

Shen Ninghua leaned against him and closed her eyes, suppressing the bitterness in her eyes. In the beginning, when she thought that Baili Qingcang would bestow a marriage, she was mentally prepared. At worst, Baili Junyi would bring the women back, but he wouldn’t touch them. This might seem cruel to those women, but she was selfish, so she couldn’t be bothered.

However, Baili Junyi did not even allow her to be sad. He directly refused the Emperor’s bestowal marriage, disobeyed the imperial decree, and even refused to let other women enter their mansion. She was so moved that she couldn’t describe her feelings with words. It was the luckiest thing for her to meet Baili Junyi in this life.

Baili Junyi gently placed his chin on her shoulder, hugged her, and shook her slightly. “Ninghua, you are pregnant with my precious daughter now. Don’t think too much about anything, okay? So what if Father Emperor deprived me of my title? Without the title, will anyone dare to bully me? Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

Shen Ninghua nodded, but she still felt a little upset. He sounded so leisurely and casual, but the pressure he was facing must be very intense. “A-Actually, Father Emperor had already compromised when we were in Southern Imperial Study. He wouldn’t care even if you didn’t touch those women, as long as you brought them back…”

Baili Junyi deliberately rubbed his chin against her cheek. When he found that it was red, he kissed her in the cheek, feeling a little sorry. “Well, this is not all for you. I’m very ambitious, and there are many secrets in the mansion. Those women may appear to be loyal and affectionate to me, but who knows if they are spies from another palace? It will be terrible if my secrets are exposed! I have to use you as an excuse this time. Tell me, Ninghua, what do you want? I’ll satisfy your every need.”

Shen Ninghua knew that he was comforting her, but she smiled and leaned in to kiss his lips gently.

Baili Junyi hugged her, his heart incomparably steady. Passions between men and women were very strong but also very fragile. He and Ninghua deeply loved each other, but the deeper their affection was for each other, the more cautious they had to handle their relationship. He could guarantee that he wouldn’t touch those women after they entered the mansion, but he couldn’t guarantee that those women would not cause any trouble to him and Ninghua. He could handle one or two tiny issues, but what would happen if it went on and on for days, weeks, months, or years? When the small problems piled up, over time, it would lead to a total collapse. He loved Ninghua, so he was not willing to take any risks. This was a guarantee he could give her!