In the 12th year of Emperor Wen Xiao's reign, the new Emperor ascended the throne.

Emperor Wen Xiao's illness was so severe this time that, although his condition stabilized after a series of treatments and his life was no longer in danger, according to the imperial physicians, his illness required rest and recuperation, and he must not exert himself in the future.

Therefore, although the court had not been fully reformed, Emperor Wen Xiao could only hastily hand over the throne to the Sixth Prince.

Half a month after the succession ceremony, on a quiet morning, the Fourth Prince, who had been under house arrest by Emperor Wen Xiao for three full years, was carried out of the Cold Palace in an inconspicuous small sedan chair.

This sedan chair quietly left the palace through a side door in the rear palace and finally stopped in front of the Fourth Prince's mansion.

No, this place could no longer be called the Fourth Prince's mansion. After the new Emperor's succession, he granted the title of Prince to his brothers, and the Fourth Prince was granted the title of Prince Jin. The plaque on the door had also been replaced with the brand new words "Mansion of Prince Jin" not long ago.

Jin means cautious and careful.

This was a warning from the retired Emperor Wen Xiao to him.

The Fourth Prince got off the carriage and stood in front of the door, staring at the new plaque for a long time.

After three years of not being able to leave the house, his entire appearance had changed. Not only had he lost a lot of weight, but his originally tall and thin figure also appeared even more emaciated, and his face no longer had the gentleness it once had, replaced by an inescapable gloomy aura.

The carriage and driver who sent him out of the palace were palace people. After dropping him off, they turned around and returned to the palace. The Fourth Prince stood alone in front of the door for a long time before stepping forward and knocking.

After knocking three times, a servant finally opened the door from inside, muttering, "Who is it, so early in the morning..."

Since the Fourth Prince was mysteriously taken to the palace by Emperor Wen Xiao, his mansion had been deserted for a long time. The Fourth Prince did not leave much savings, and in order to save unnecessary expenses, many of the servants in the mansion had been dismissed over the past few years. The entire prince's mansion was sustained by the Princess' dowry.

Since their mansion had fallen out of favor, apart from the Princess' maternal family, hardly anyone came to visit. Now, it was rare for someone to come knocking on the door so early in the morning.

He had just woken up and was washing his face when he was drawn over by the sound of someone knocking on the door. He hurriedly wiped his face and came to open the door, with a hint of impatience on his face.

After seeing clearly who was outside, the servant's eyes instantly widened and he exclaimed, "Your, Your Highness!"

There had been no news from the palace about when the Fourth Prince would be allowed to leave. Not long ago, the Fourth Prince was granted the title of Prince Jin, and their mansion had a new plaque, so it seemed like there was a glimmer of hope for his release.

The Princess even specially asked her family to inquire about their master's situation with the new Emperor, but the result was the same as before - they were blocked and told that the matter was still to be decided by the Emperor and to wait patiently.

So they had no expectations for the Fourth Prince's release from the palace.

Who would have thought that, without a word, the Fourth Prince had actually returned like this...

The Fourth Prince gave a faint "hmm", his expression gloomy.

He surveyed the servant with an indifferent gaze, his expression unreadable, and asked, "Where is the Princess?"

The servant finally came back to his senses and hurriedly bowed deeply to him, his voice trembling, "Your Highness, please come in. The Princess, the Princess should not be up yet. This servant will, will go inform the Princess now..."

The Fourth Prince glanced at the servant prostrating on the ground and stepped into the mansion.

After a flurry of activity, the servants in the mansion quickly learned the news that the Fourth Prince had been released from the palace and returned home.

In the bedchamber, the former Fourth Prince's wife, now the Princess of Jin, was silently shedding tears in front of the Fourth Prince.

She was originally born with a dignified and magnificent appearance, her features beautiful, but now the spark in her eyes had dimmed a lot, adding a few traces of haggardness, and even her figure had become much thinner, with a hint of sickly beauty.

Although the Fourth Prince had been estranged from her long before his troubles, as a woman, she had single-handedly supported the entire prince's mansion for three years, and in the end, she couldn't help but miss her husband.

Seeing his Princess crying like a pear blossom in the rain, a hint of disgust flashed in the Fourth Prince's eyes, but he quickly concealed it. The corners of his mouth curved up slightly, showing a look of tenderness and affection. He stepped forward and embraced the Princess, gently comforting, "Don't cry, I have returned."

After being under house arrest in the palace for three years and then coming out, his original subordinates had already scattered. If he wanted to make a comeback now, the only one he could rely on was his Princess' maternal clan.

*

Although the new Emperor was not the smartest among all the princes, his wisdom lay in his self-awareness and his ability to humbly seek advice. He was like this when he was the Crown Prince, and he remained clear-headed after becoming the Emperor.

He knew early on that with his courage and ability, it would be difficult for him to control the old ministers in the court. His ascension to the throne was entirely due to taking advantage of the Fourth Prince's fall from favor, so after ascending the throne, he relied heavily on Prince Su.

He was very reassured by this imperial uncle. Not to mention anything else, just the fact that he had married a male wife and even his legitimate son was adopted meant that he couldn't possibly have any designs on his throne.

So after Emperor Wen Xiao abdicated, Prince Su still couldn't rest. In order to assist the new Emperor and not let the recuperating Emperor Wen Xiao worry, he was even busier than before. As a result, he had much less time to spend with his beloved Ah Ming.

But there were also benefits. Because he wanted to use him to stabilize the court, the new Emperor almost always listened to him, so naturally, there were no obstacles in dealing with the Fourth Prince.

The new Emperor was actually a little puzzled.

Back then, the Fourth Prince's framing of the Second Prince was kept tightly under wraps by Emperor Wen Xiao. Apart from Prince Su and himself, no third person knew about it. He only learned of this secret from Emperor Wen Xiao after his succession.

But in the end, that was a grudge between his fourth brother and second brother and had nothing to do with Prince Su. Moreover, before his fourth brother was placed under house arrest, he seemed to have a good relationship with this imperial uncle. The two of them had even gone out drinking together and didn't seem to have any grudges. So why did it seem like his imperial uncle had a deep hatred for his fourth brother?

But compared to the Fourth Prince, with whom he had a very ordinary relationship, Prince Su, who could help him subdue the group of old ministers, obviously carried more weight in his heart. So as long as his imperial uncle didn't torture the man to death and cause a scene with Emperor Wen Xiao, he would just pretend not to see anything else.

Moreover, Prince Su hadn't actually done anything to the Fourth Prince.

He merely found someone to inadvertently reveal to the Second Prince the truth about why the Fourth Prince was despised by Emperor Wen Xiao three years ago, and then focused on suppressing the maternal clan of the Fourth Prince's consort.

Ever since Prince Su returned to the capital three years ago, the elder brother of the Fourth Prince's consort had become the highest-ranking general at the border, holding great military power in his hands.

During wartime, to ensure the smooth mobilization of troops, it was necessary to give the generals sufficient authority. This was a requirement of the situation. But now that the border battles had ceased, the general still holding military power in his hands inevitably seemed a bit too conspicuous.

What subjects fear most is overshadowing their master - of course, an anomaly like Prince Su who had to be forced to attend court was an exception. Subjects who understood the way to preserve themselves, upon realizing that the emperor had become wary of them, would mostly voluntarily relinquish power to save their lives.

Voluntarily relinquishing power could still result in the emperor bestowing wealth, land, and a good reputation. If they really waited until the emperor became impatient and took action against them, being imprisoned would be the least of their worries.

But the elder brother of the Fourth Prince's consort, who knew what he was thinking, had been hinted at by Emperor Wen Xiao several times, yet he only played dumb and refused to voluntarily relinquish power and retire. He really did not know his place.

Even if Prince Su did not take action, before long, he would definitely start to deal with the maternal clan of the Fourth Prince's consort.

As for the Second Prince's side.

What was his temperament?

Apart from being lecherous and heartless, this master was most famous for his narrow-mindedness.

After learning that he had almost been framed by the Fourth Prince twice back then, the Second Prince was so frightened that he did not touch a beauty for three days. He hid in his residence alone and made countless straw dolls of the Fourth Prince, gritting his teeth and deciding to repay this good younger brother of his well!

That was a case of human trafficking. If Emperor Wen Xiao had not been able to uncover the truth back then, he might have been locked up in prison by now. This fourth younger brother of his wanted to directly ruin his life!

Although he did not know why the Fourth Prince harbored such great hatred towards him, since the Fourth Prince had already done it, he had no reason not to reciprocate!

In the past, he was the least favored son of Emperor Wen Xiao, while the Fourth Prince was the one who was given the greatest expectations. He could never hold his head up high in front of the Fourth Prince, and he was often ridiculed and mocked by the Fourth Prince on a daily basis.

But now, their positions had been reversed. Although he was not close to the new emperor and did not have much power in his hands, and could not compare to a prince like Prince Su, the Fourth Prince was in an even more miserable situation, being, after all, a prince who had been despised by Emperor Wen Xiao. The Fourth Prince's current situation was much more miserable than the Second Prince's. He had plenty of means to properly entertain the Fourth Prince!

So, just a few days after the Fourth Prince was released from the palace, he discovered that his second elder brother, who had always been dull-witted, began to constantly cause trouble for him.

At first, the Second Prince only sent people to make trouble and cause disturbances at the shops under the Fourth Prince's name, resulting in severe losses on the books of those shops. Later, it even developed to the point of starting to take action against him personally.

Once, when he was riding a horse carriage to a manor in the outskirts of the capital on business, the horse suddenly lost control and pulled the carriage. Although the Fourth Prince did not suffer any life-threatening injuries in the end, he still broke his leg and had to recuperate in bed for half a month before he could walk.

Something was amiss.

His brainless second elder brother must have learned something... and Emperor Wen Xiao had sealed the matter back then. He did not tell the Second Prince the truth three years ago, and three years later, it was even more impossible. So, this matter was most likely deliberately revealed to the Second Prince by someone else.

Thinking of this, the Fourth Prince suddenly recalled a question that had been lingering in his mind since three years ago.

Back then, at the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering, he had clearly arranged everything perfectly, but in the end, a mysterious force abruptly appeared and disrupted his arrangements. Including the later human trafficking case, he thought that although his arrangements were a bit hasty, he had always kept his tail hidden very tightly.

The worst expected outcome was merely failing to frame someone, but he never expected that within just a few days, he would be caught by Emperor Wen Xiao!

The Fourth Prince's intuition told him that there must be a force behind this, monitoring his every move and secretly watching him at all times!

This feeling was simply bone-chilling!

It was just that his wings had already been completely clipped. Even if he harbored suspicions in his heart, he did not have the ability to investigate everything behind this.

Moreover, the Second Prince was putting in all his effort to cause trouble for him, making him almost frantic every day, and he had no time to consider these matters.

He had also gone to the new emperor to tactfully complain about the Second Prince constantly causing trouble for him, but he suffered from a lack of evidence. Each time, the new emperor would only summon the Second Prince and reprimand him with a few words about the importance of brotherly harmony, but he never actually took action to punish him.

The new emperor's attitude further fueled the Second Prince's desire to take revenge on him. Every time the Fourth Prince finished complaining, the Second Prince would retaliate even more severely. After a few times, the Fourth Prince gradually learned to remain silent and no longer hoped to seek shelter from the new emperor.

Moreover, the elder brother of the Fourth Prince's consort had his power seized by the new emperor with thunderous means. The Fourth Prince had completely fallen into a state of isolation and helplessness, and could only allow the Second Prince to torment him, paying the price for framing the Second Prince three years ago.

*

On this day, Prince Su returned to the residence only near dusk as usual.

After having dinner with his wife and son, Prince Su took He Yan's hand and took a stroll in the back garden as a way to aid digestion. He then personally attended to He Yan's washing up before tucking his beloved, who was only wearing a thin layer of inner clothing, into the quilt, and then tucking himself in as well.

After three years of unremitting efforts, Prince Su had at least managed to put some flesh back on He Yan's body. Although it still did not feel as good as during the period when they were newly married, it could be considered passable.

Prince Su embraced He Yan's waist with one hand and concisely described how the Second Prince had dealt with the Fourth Prince today with trivial details.

He Yan naturally could also learn about these matters through the spies in the residence, but he could see that Prince Su intended to use this to please him, so he cooperated and listened to these matters as jokes.

The sins committed by the Fourth Prince would be repaid by the Second Prince and Prince Su.

After Prince Su finished speaking about these matters with a serious expression, his hands began to become restless, and he stared at He Yan unblinkingly, his eyes filled with undisguised desire, like a large dog wagging its tail and begging its master for a bone after finishing its flattery.

He Yan smiled with narrowed eyes and patted his large dog's head, generously rewarding himself as a bone to him.

Author's Note: This world has come to a happy end~

Here's a preview of the next world. The male lead is very, very domineering ︿(￣︶￣)︿

It's probably a story of forced love (just kidding)

It has a supernatural setting, hehehe