Not knowing what her son was thinking at the moment, Consort Rong would probably be infuriated if she knew. After a peaceful sleep, Consort Rong realized that the person she had been eagerly awaiting had not appeared at all. Today marked the third day since her childbirth, and it was also the day for the little prince's ceremonial bath, yet Emperor Jingwen had not shown up. Now, even Consort Rong couldn't deceive herself anymore. This inexplicable neglect left her puzzled. Clearly, she had smoothly given birth to a prince for him, so why would he still feel unhappy? Consort Rong couldn't understand, and neither could anyone in the Duke of Zhenguo's residence. They had dedicated themselves to the imperial family, defending the Great Zhou Dynasty and striving to maintain stability, so why would the emperor turn against them? Today, for the first time, the Duke of Zhenguo received a reprimand during the court session. Returning home, he couldn't fathom why things had turned out this way.

Most importantly, the Emperor actually let the Crown Prince replace the third prince's position in the military. The Crown Prince is only 17 years old now. While he can participate in managing the military camps, he is far from being able to lead troops into battle or becoming a commander-in-chief. The Duke of Zhenguo couldn't bear it and argued with the Emperor in the court. However, for some reason, Emperor Jingwen seemed even angrier and even ordered him to return home, forbidding him from attending court for seven days. The Duke of Zhenguo was furious and muttered curses as he walked along the road. Little did he know that every word and action of his was being recorded and reported to Emperor Jingwen. Because the person monitoring him was distant and specially trained, even an experienced veteran like the Duke of Zhenguo, who had spent half his life on the battlefield, didn't notice. When the Duke of Zhenguo returned home, he felt slightly relieved. Later, he remembered that a message had been sent from the palace, and today happened to be the third day since Consort Rong's childbirth, which was also the day for her grandson's ceremonial bath. "Have you all prepared the gifts for my sister and nephew?" "They have been prepared long ago, and people are ready to deliver them to the palace." According to folk customs, uncles must exert great efforts. So, all six of them didn't dare to slack off and had already picked out the gifts early. They couldn't visit the palace for the ceremony, but there was no harm in sending some gifts.

The Duke of Zhenguo couldn't help but forget about the troubles in the court when he thought of his daughter. "Hold on, don't leave yet. Take this with you." With that, the Duke of Zhenguo pulled out a longevity lock from his pocket. This item was carved by craftsmen a month before Consort Rong's childbirth, using the same piece of jade, of superior quality. Every legitimate grandson of the Duke of Zhenguo's family had one. Technically, it shouldn't be given to his daughter's child, as it was an external grandchild. However, the Duke of Zhenguo was unreasonable! After all, he had only one daughter in his life, and naturally regarded Consort Rong's child as his grandson. Even if he had royal blood, didn't they also carry half of the Wei family's blood? "And you." The Duke of Zhenguo's sharp eyes swept across the faces of the six men. "Even if your sister is married, she is still a member of the Duke of Zhenguo's household, understand? Don't let me hear anything unpleasant, or you'll be in trouble!" The six men looked at each other, feeling both amused and helpless. How could they dare? They cherished her too much. "That's about it." The Duke of Zhenguo finally felt satisfied. As for being reprimanded by the Emperor in the court, he naturally couldn't let Consort Rong know. He hadn't even had the chance to hide it from her yet.

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But Consort Rong eventually found out. After all, she wasn't stupid, was she? Such big news, even if she didn't know, others would find a way to tell her. Consort Rong was truly heartbroken this time, tears streaming down her face as if they were free. Suddenly, she felt a sense of panic surging in her heart, grabbing the hand of the maid beside her and not letting go. "Maid, do you think His Majesty has changed his heart? Is he starting to dislike me?" How could the maid know what the Emperor was thinking? Besides offering insincere comfort, there was nothing else she could do. Gu Shao, who was nearby, listened with one ear, but he wasn't as pessimistic. After all, in his opinion, when someone truly wanted to get rid of someone, they wouldn't make such a big fuss. If the Emperor still scolded people, it meant he hadn't completely abandoned the Duke of Zhenguo in his heart; there was still some affection for his grandfather. If one day his mother suddenly became the Empress Dowager, or if the Emperor began to praise the Duke of Zhenguo's family extravagantly, then it would be really over. To destroy someone, first let them go crazy. Even when hunting, it was necessary to paralyze the prey first. When the prey struggled, the disturbance would be minimal. Then, strike unexpectedly and end it with a single blow.

As for the reason why the Emperor suddenly turned his back, Gu Shao also vaguely guessed a few points. These days, Consort Rong couldn't get out of bed, and Gu Shao had heard her talk to him a lot, about the Virtuous Consort, the Virtuous and the Wise Consorts, and he also found out how many children they had and who was in line before him. Gu Shao never expected that before him, the Emperor already had eight sons. He ranked ninth, which took Gu Shao, an only child, quite some time to accept the reality.

The current Crown Prince wasn't the Emperor's eldest son. Before the Crown Prince, there were the First Prince and the Second Prince, followed by the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Princes. The First Prince was 17 years old, the Second Prince was 16, and the Crown Prince was 15. The rest were aged ten, seven, five, four, and three, respectively. From the arrangement of their ages, it was clear that there was less competition after the Crown Prince, especially between the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince, who had a five-year age gap.

If the First and Second Princes were born to enhance competitiveness, then the Crown Prince, as the legitimate son, was born for the inheritance of the throne. With such a long gap in between, Gu Shao didn't believe it was a coincidence or that the Emperor suddenly became incapable. It was obvious that the Emperor was afraid that the remaining princes would be too close in age to the Crown Prince, leading to disputes in the future.

It wasn't until the mother of the Crown Prince passed away that the children in the palace gradually became more clustered. In such a situation, how could Gu Shao compete? Even if he wasn't a lazy person, he couldn't compete.

Gu Shao couldn't help but feel that his own dear father's favoritism was blatantly obvious—clear as day. Who truly loved him and who was just topping up their phone credits? Unfortunately, his mother couldn't see through it now. She thought it was because the Emperor didn't love her anymore. The thing is, the Emperor never seemed to have loved her in the first place...

What Gu Shao couldn't understand was how he was born in such circumstances. It didn't make sense. As he pondered this mystery, suddenly, he remembered the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes for the first time—the crimson pill.

No way... Could it be that cruel???

His expression changed subtly, and Gu Shao couldn't help but shiver involuntarily.