In the second year after Xuning was adopted into the Prince Su Mansion, Prince Jing passed away, and Emperor Wen Xiao appointed the Sixth Prince as the Crown Prince.

In the third year, Emperor Wen Xiao fell ill again, and this time his condition was much more severe than it had been four years ago. Emperor Wen Xiao was bedridden for a full half month, during which time the Crown Prince acted on his behalf to handle government affairs.

Officials in the capital speculated that the day the Crown Prince would ascend the throne was just around the corner.

During these three years, time did not bring much change to He Yan and Prince Su, but little Xuning had grown a lot, from a two-year-old toddler to a five-year-old child. His tender features had developed, and there was more of a resemblance to Prince Jing's Princess Consort in his brows and eyes.

On this day, after Prince Su had lunch with He Yan and Xuning, he coaxed He Yan to take a nap, then quietly got up and left for the palace.

The Sixth Prince was not the most talented among all the princes, but he had a steady character and a good heart. After much consideration and teaching, Emperor Wen Xiao still chose him as the Crown Prince.

The Sixth Prince's personality meant that he lacked sharpness in political affairs and did not have a strong grasp on the court.

In order to pave the way for the Crown Prince, although Emperor Wen Xiao had not been attending court much recently, he was still busy and exhausted every day. As his most trusted right-hand man, Prince Su naturally had to follow Emperor Wen Xiao to handle some affairs, so he had been going to the palace particularly frequently during this period.

He Yan was aware of this, so when he woke up and did not see Prince Su, he was not surprised.

He had the servant bring in water to wash his face, then left the bedroom to find Xuning to play in the next room.

Although Xuning was only five years old, he was much more diligent than him. He had woken up early and was lying at a specially made low table, practicing his writing.

Xuning had only started his schooling this year, so his writing was crooked. Seeing him come in, he carefully placed the brush on the rack beside him and ran over, raising his hands to be hugged.

Although this child had been timid and restrained when he first arrived, after getting familiar, he turned out to have a rather well-behaved and cheerful personality. When he smiled, there were little dimples on his cheeks, which made people dote on him.

The sun was unusually good today. He Yan carried him outside to eat some snacks and bask in the sun, while also checking the account books of the winter manor.

The bitter winter had just passed and the spring chill was biting. There was always a lingering cold in the air that could not be dispelled. He Yan's body seemed to have an incurable problem with being afraid of the cold. As soon as he crawled out of the covers, he felt cold. Now, holding a hand warmer and bathing in the sunlight, he finally felt a little bit of life returning to him.

If Prince Su were here, he could hold him in his arms and warm his hands and feet with his hot body until they sweated. But now the man had gone to the palace, and who knew when he would return.

Xuning also had a weak constitution. Holding a small, exquisite hand warmer that was smaller than the one in He Yan's hands, he sat side by side with him on the lounge chair to bask in the sun, slowly nibbling on snacks, and from time to time raising his hand to pass a piece or two to his father who was curled up beside him, looking at the account books at an extremely slow pace.

When Prince Su found them in the back courtyard, what he saw was his two family members, bundled up like balls, sprawled out under the sun to warm themselves.

He first walked over and patted Xuning's head, then moved the account book in front of He Yan aside and leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth.

He Yan pushed his face to the side and warned, "Don't mess around."

The child was still watching from the side.

Prince Su pulled him up from the lounge chair. "Someone from the Xinyuan Marquis Mansion is here."

He Yan's eyes instantly lit up. He reached out to let Prince Su tidy his clothes and urged, "Bring Xuning and let's go see them."

Prince Su had no choice but to pick up Xuning, whose mouth was still stuffed with snacks, and took He Yan to the guest hall.

He Yan also recognized the person who came from the Xinyuan Marquis Mansion. It was the head maid beside Madam Xie. As soon as she saw He Yan, she smiled.

He Yan felt even more at ease.

Because he was destined to have no offspring in this life, he inevitably felt some guilt towards the Xinyuan Marquis and Madam Xie, and had been pondering how to make it up to the Xinyuan Marquis Mansion.

After some consideration, he finally came up with two methods.

The first was to adopt a child from a collateral branch of the Xie family. Adoption itself was not a difficult matter. He Yan didn't even need to send someone to persuade them. There were already a bunch of collateral branches of the Xie family wanting to send their children into the Xinyuan Marquis Mansion to be the legitimate son.

It was just that the adoptee was preferred to be a young son under three years old, so that it would be easier for the child to develop feelings with the Xinyuan Marquis couple. The ages of the several children in the Xie family were not quite suitable.

The second was to find a way to let Madam Xie conceive another child. However, Madam Xie was after all thirty-five or thirty-six years old, which was not considered young. Under the medical conditions of ancient times, giving birth undoubtedly carried risks.

Therefore, He Yan initially mainly considered the first method. At worst, he could wait a few years. A suitable child would eventually be born in the collateral branches of the Xie family. Although offspring were important, in He Yan's view, it was not worth risking Madam Xie's health for it.

It was just that on the day when he falsely claimed to his parents at home that he was impotent, when Imperial Physician Zhou came to take his pulse, he suddenly remembered a detail.

After the Fourth Prince ascended the throne, according to the rules, his principal consort when he was a prince automatically became the empress.

However, this empress existed in name only, because in the previous life, in order to protect herself and her children, the Fourth Prince Consort chose to cut ties with the Fourth Prince. The Fourth Prince held a grudge against her. After his rebirth, he never favored her again and did not love the two princes she gave birth to either.

The Fourth Prince did not go to the harem often, but there were always little princes and princesses being born in the harem. Yet the Emperor was unwilling to even enter the Empress' palace. For the Fourth Prince Consort, this was undoubtedly a kind of humiliation that he was too lazy to even disguise.

The Fourth Prince Consort was after all a legitimate daughter from a big family and had a bit of a temper in her personality. After being a ridiculed empress for a full seven years, she finally realized that the Fourth Prince harbored hatred towards her. After despair, she decided to take revenge on the Fourth Prince.

The first step she took was to drug the Fourth Prince.

After the incident, although the Fourth Prince was angry, the Fourth Prince Consort's family had a string of meritorious officials. Not only had her father sacrificed his life on the battlefield, but her elder brother was also a general guarding the border.

The Fourth Prince's ability to inherit the throne was inseparable from the support of the Fourth Prince Consort's maternal clan. Therefore, in order to stabilize the Fourth Prince Consort's maternal clan, he of course could not do anything to the Fourth Prince Consort and could only swallow his anger.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that, although it was only once, the Fourth Prince Consort was found to be pregnant not long after.

Later, the Fourth Prince and his consort tortured each other for many years. Eventually, as the consort's brother was stripped of his official position, the consort was sent to the cold palace with an excuse.

Of course, none of this was what He Yan was concerned about. His focus was on a person behind the Fourth Prince's consort.

That pregnancy was certainly not a coincidence. In fact, in order for the consort to conceive this child, she used her family's connections to invite a medical sage who had been living in seclusion for many years to nourish her body. Later, when the consort had difficulty giving birth, it was also this sage who saved her life.

Actually, He Yan didn't pay much attention to the part in the information about the Fourth Prince's ascension to the throne, and his impression was very faint. It was only when he saw Imperial Physician Zhou that day that he suddenly remembered there was such a person.

At that time, the Fourth Prince's consort was also in her thirties when she gave birth, and due to long-term mental distress, her mental and physical condition was very poor. In this situation, if that medical sage could ensure her smooth delivery, then it should be even less of a problem for the healthy Madam Xie.

After all, there are some differences between a biological child and an adopted one. So after He Yan remembered the existence of this medical sage, he began to find ways to locate him.

According to the clues in the information, he let the spies of the Prince Su Mansion search for a full year, and finally found the medical sage in a remote town. After much persuasion, he finally invited the sage out of the mountains to nourish Madam Xie's body at the Xinyuan Marquis Mansion.

According to the medical sage, although Madam Xie was not young, her body was very well maintained in all aspects. With proper nourishment and preparation, there should be little danger in having another child.

The medical sage nourished Madam Xie's body for more than a year, and the Marquis Xinyuan's mansion finally sent good news more than nine months ago. Calculating the time, the day of delivery should be in the next few days.

"It started this morning. It's a young master." The maid's smile couldn't be hidden.

He Yan suddenly felt relieved, but then anxiously asked, "How is Mother's health?"

After all, Madam Xie was older, and this pregnancy was not very stable.

The maid explained, "Young Master, don't worry. The doctor you invited has extremely high medical skills. Madam is all well, just a little weak."

He Yan asked for more details before sending the person back to the Marquis Xinyuan's mansion, and also had her bring many precious medicinal materials from the mansion before leaving.

Although he knew that the Marquis Xinyuan's mansion did not lack these, it was still his heartfelt gesture.

After the maid left, He Yan sat in the chair, still smiling.

Prince Su, seeing the relief between his brows and eyes, also felt much better.

Although their Ah Ming had never said it to him, it could be seen that he had always felt a little guilty towards the Marquis Xinyuan's mansion.

Now that the Marquis Xinyuan had another legitimate son, it was the best thing that could happen. From now on, their Ah Ming could also let go of the guilt in his heart.

However, today was destined to be an unsettling day. Just as both of them were in a good mood because of the good news from the Marquis Xinyuan's mansion, someone rushed in again.

The person who came this time was also a familiar face, an eunuch by the Emperor's side. Nine out of ten times when Emperor Wen Xiao sent a message to Prince Su Mansion, it was him who came.

But this time... seeing the eunuch's barely concealed panic, Prince Su's heart couldn't help but sink.

The eunuch saluted him and relayed Emperor Wen Xiao's message in a trembling voice.

It turned out that Emperor Wen Xiao had suddenly fallen ill while discussing matters with the ministers, coughing up blood and fainting not long after.

The last order he gave before he passed out was to immediately summon Prince Su to the palace.