The palace gates opened layer by layer before his eyes, gauzy curtains fluttering all around, warm fragrance of jade lingering in the air, making one feel as if they had suddenly entered a celestial realm.

Mingde had already fallen into a dazed sleep. The Qianwan Emperor gently placed him on the couch. The waiting imperial physician bowed, then tiptoed over to lift the brocade quilt. Mingde's lower leg bone was already broken. As soon as the physician touched it, Mingde suddenly convulsed and cried out in a sharp voice, "No! It hurts, it hurts so much!"

The imperial physician hurriedly knelt on the ground. Before the Qianwan Emperor could react, Mingde was already rolling and crawling to hide in the corner of the bed. But he couldn't hide quickly, as soon as he moved, he gasped in pain. Gasping and gasping, his eyes brimmed with tears, and he sobbed accusingly, "It's all your fault!"

The Qianwan Emperor knelt down and stretched out his hand to him in a humble manner, "It's my fault, it's my mistake. Mingde, be good, let the imperial physician take a look, okay?"

"No!"

"Good boy, don't throw a tantrum. If the imperial physician doesn't examine you, it will hurt more and more. Maybe the bone will rot in the future... Come here, come here..."

Mingde looked at his outstretched hand, hugged his head and let out a shrill cry, curling himself tighter into the corner of the bed. He was dragging his leg and couldn't fully curl up. The Qianwan Emperor called out a few more times and tried to grab his leg, but was interrupted by sharp cries and accusations.

"It's all your fault! Why did you leave! It hurts so much! He hit me too! They all hit me! It's all your fault!"

At first, the Qianwan Emperor didn't know what Mingde meant by "they all hit me". He was stunned for a moment, then coaxed in a gentle voice, "Who hit you?"

"They hit me!"

"Who hit you?"

The Qianwan Emperor's voice was so taut that even a muddled little fool like Mingde could hear the murderous intent in it. He couldn't understand why, but instinctively felt afraid and hurriedly shrank back. Unexpectedly, he shrank back too much and hit his head with a bang.

The Qianwan Emperor couldn't hold back anymore. He sat up on the edge of the bed and reached out to pull Mingde into his arms. The little one was crying earth-shatteringly, biting him desperately while crying, "It's all your fault! It's all your fault! You made me hurt so much!"

"Yes, it's my fault. It won't happen again next time. I won't leave you behind again..." The Qianwan Emperor softly kissed Mingde's hair, kissing the tears on the little one's face into a mess, as if painting cat whiskers.

The imperial physician took the opportunity to kneel and crawl a few steps forward to set Mingde's bones. With a click, he pushed the joint back in place. The sound made even the Qianwan Emperor flinch.

Mingde stiffened, then burst into earth-shattering wails and complaints. It was unclear what he was saying, only catching snippets of "bite you to death" and "I'm going to bite you to death". The Qianwan Emperor obediently extended his arm and let him bite, but Mingde was far from venting his anger. He kept kicking the imperial physician with his uninjured leg, even kicking his own bone that was being splinted, making him cry hoarsely, shrilly wailing something unintelligible.

The Qianwan Emperor held him tightly, one hand wrapped around his waist to prevent him from really limping down to chase and beat the imperial physician. Mingde felt uncomfortable being restrained and pounded the Qianwan Emperor's arms with all his might, "It's all your fault! I hate you to death! Hate you to death!"

Before he finished speaking, he was suddenly pulled back by a great force. The Qianwan Emperor gripped his chin with two fingers, forcing him to look at himself, "Who do you hate?"

Mingde cried and whimpered, "Hate you!"

The Qianwan Emperor looked at him silently for a while, then suddenly laughed. Regardless of whether he was willing or not, he forcefully buried his face in his own embrace, his chin pressing on his soft, glossy black hair, his laughter so muffled it seemed to be coming from his own chest.

"It doesn't matter. You hate me, I've known that for a long time..."

No one noticed when the Virtuous Consort's palace was cleared out. The woman who once enjoyed the emperor's favor above all others completely vanished overnight, as if she had never existed.

Only Zhang Kuo knew where she went. Hanzhu Palace, a perennially cold palace that rarely saw sunlight. Three meals a day were only delivered through a small door, everything else was ignored.

The Qianwan Emperor had originally wanted her life, but in the end didn't do it. He still couldn't bring himself to harm that face. That subconscious soft-heartedness would never change no matter what.

Before he could order her death, Ding Zhaorong pleaded for mercy, not really pleading, just mentioning it. The Qianwan Emperor then went with the flow and changed it to imprisonment in a cold palace.

With the Empress gone and the Virtuous Consort removed, Ding Zhaorong had now truly found a way to rise in this rear palace. Not only did she send people to deliver food and playthings to Qingzhen Palace three times a day, she also earnestly begged the Qianwan Emperor to release the Crown Prince, so that Princess Qinghe could bring the imperial grandson to visit Mingde.

The Qianwan Emperor had already had this idea, but the confinement order was originally given by himself and couldn't be easily retracted; Ding Zhaorong's plea happened to provide a step down, allowing him to play the good guy with ease.

Within three days, an imperial edict was issued. Ding Zhaorong was considerate of the emperor's heart, understanding and knowledgeable of etiquette. She was conferred the title of Noble Consort, of the first rank.

When Mingde saw the little baby, it was one morning when he woke up. Outside the window, birdsong and fragrant flowers were twittering noisily. As soon as he opened his eyes and looked to the side, he saw a fair, chubby little infant in a palace brocade swaddle, crawling out with all four limbs, drool flowing all over his face, shining brightly.

Mingde had never seen such a small child before and couldn't help but stare dumbfounded, biting his fingertips as he watched the little baby crawl to the edge of the bed, his little bottom wiggling, about to fall off the edge.

Just then, a kitten sprang out from a small nest under the bed, also seeming to be newborn. It let out a warning meow, its whole body puffing up as it glared at the little baby. Startled by this, the little infant actually shrank back and wriggled back into the swaddle.

Mingde couldn't help but turn back to look at the little baby. Suddenly, the bed curtain above his head was lifted, and a burst of bright light dazzled his eyes. Mingde rubbed his eyes and turned his head curiously.

Ah Zui stood by the bed, unable to hold back and knelt down on the ground, tightly pressing her chest, unable to say a word. After a long time, she finally squeezed out a sentence: "...How could this really happen..."

Mingde opened his eyes and looked at her curiously.

This was already very rare for him. When he first went crazy, no one could get close to him, especially the Qianwan Emperor, who was particularly resisted. It took a long time before he could slowly approach. Princess Qinghe wasn't shown any aversion at all when they first met, which was truly unique for Mingde, who was particularly prone to flaring up.

An old man with a white beard, wearing a eunuch's blue robe, bowed deeply behind Princess Qinghe and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, this matter should not be delayed. Time is tight, let's start quickly."

Princess Qinghe turned her head tremblingly, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at the old man, "Taoist priest, is there still hope in this situation? He looks completely different from before. The young master used to be very strong..."

The Taoist priest took Mingde's wrist and diagnosed his pulse for a while. Mingde wanted to move at first, but the little baby Mingxiu crawled onto his body, drooling. He stared intently at little Mingxiu, as if extremely interested, and actually stayed still obediently, allowing the Taoist priest to press his wrist.

"Before he went off to war, he especially looked forward to the birth of this child, praying every day that the child must be a boy, and must be clever, lively and active... If he still had his senses now, who knows how happy he would be? Unfortunately, he doesn't know anything anymore, he doesn't know anything..."

The Taoist priest sighed and put down his wrist, "Your Highness, don't be sad. This young master Mingde's pulse is weak but steady, slightly deficient, but not a big problem. This old Taoist can try using golden needles to pierce acupuncture points every day. If we're lucky, maybe he can still remember some things."

Ah Zui hurriedly knelt down, "If the Venerable One can truly communicate with the gods, the crown prince and I will definitely regard you as our savior!"