The crown prince had always been sickly, and he almost never set foot into any of the consorts’ residences. Even if he went in, he would just sit for a while and leave. That was why the three consorts never had any news about getting pregnant.
But the palace doctor had also said that there was nothing wrong with the crown prince’s body.
In other words, even though his body was sickly, it shouldn’t affect his ability to reproduce.
As a result, there was a quiet rumor going around the palace speculating that the crown prince might be interested in men.
This was a grave matter which could affect the next generation of the royal family. If the emperor and empress ever caught wind of this ugly rumor, those who spread it would be in big trouble.
So everyone just secretly commented on it.
But this morning, many of the servants and maids who had had to wake up early had seen how the crown prince had come back in from somewhere outside with his clothes in a mess and his hair all disheveled.
All those rumors about him being interested in men immediately fell apart.
Liu Dequan was already on the verge of despair and was awaiting his beheading when he couldn’t find the crown prince that night. When he finally saw his master return in this state, he was beside himself with joy.
He didn’t dare to ask him any questions directly and tried to go about it in a roundabout way to find out exactly which consort the crown prince had slept with the night before.
Zhao Yuanjing had only thrown him an icy glance. “Ask me any more questions, and I’ll execute you!”
Liu Dequan had shuddered and stopped asking.
He quickly lowered his gaze and went to get clothes for the crown prince to change into. He thought to himself, “If His Highness had spent the night in one of the consorts’ rooms, he wouldn’t have come back looking so frazzled, right?”
When he helped Zhao Yuanjing get changed, he quickly checked to see if there were any suspicious signs.
He saw a few thin scratches on Zhao Yuanjing’s back.
It was obvious that those scratches had been left behind by fingernails.
Liu Dequan immediately got it.
Someone had definitely gotten laid the night before.
But it was hard to say who it had been.
It wasn’t possible that it had been one of the three consorts. They wouldn’t have had the guts to scratch the crown prince’s precious body like this.
The maids were definitely even more afraid of him.
Could it be someone from outside the palace?
The ladies in those places of entertainment had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves, so it was hard to say.
But if the crown prince had gone out of the palace the night before, why hadn’t he taken anyone along with him?
Wasn’t that a very dangerous thing to do?
After Liu Dequan was finished helping the crown prince to change and comb his hair, he found some time to search for an astute junior eunuch to have him check with the palace guards to see if they knew whether the crown prince had gone out the night before.
The junior eunuch soon came back with the answer. The crown prince hadn’t gone out.
In other words, the crown prince had spent the entire night inside the East Palace. He did not leave at all.
Liu Dequan became even more puzzled.
So it had been someone within the East Palace after all.
Who could it have been?
While he was still thinking about it, the maids arrived with breakfast.
Liu Dequan had to check the food and make sure there was nothing wrong with it before sending it to the crown prince.
He took a look and was pleasantly surprised. Today’s breakfast looked much more interesting than usual. There were two little plates with creative and exquisitely made snacks.
One plate held a dumpling with translucent skin, so the prawn inside was clearly visible.
The other plate had a little pastry that was in the shape of a peach blossom. It looked a lot like the real thing, and he could practically smell the peach blossom.
Liu Dequan thought about how the crown prince seemed very moody right now, so he happily placed the two plates of snacks in front of Zhao Yuanjing before anything else.
He smiled brightly as he said, “Your Highness, look at these. The kitchen has come up with some new snacks, and they’re such a pleasant surprise. The new kitchen helper from the Duke’s residence is really quite capable.”
Zhao Yuanjing glanced at the snacks. and, for some reason, he remembered the woman in the kitchen the night before.
That woman with very ordinary looks.
Zhao Yuanjing pursed his lips and his gaze got deeper.
He lifted his hand and looked at a very obvious wound on his right wrist. He slowly opened his mouth to speak, “Liu Dequan. Go to the kitchen, and get that new kitchen helper and bring her here.”
Liu Dequan smiled and replied, “The kitchen workers are all uncouth and lowly. Why does Your Highness want to see her?”
Zhao Yuanjing cast him an icy stare.
Liu Dequan felt his heart skip a beat. He immediately bowed and lowered his head. “I will fetch her right away.”