Accompanied by heart-wrenching pleas for mercy, several chefs were dragged out.
But they were unwilling to face such an ending.
At this moment, even though they understood the unforgivable words they had spoken before sealed their fate, they still harbored a glimmer of hope, racking their brains to beg Emperor Yongning for mercy.
They cried and begged incessantly, their ghastly wails echoing throughout the Cold Palace, yet Emperor Yongning was completely unmoved.
From the moment they spoke those hateful words towards Jun Ning, their current fate was already sealed.
Meanwhile, Jun Ning originally thought that after dealing with those chefs, Emperor Yongning would say something to him. But in the end, he said nothing, nor did he dwell on the previous teasing, and he just left.
His reaction differed from what Jun Ning subconsciously expected.
In his view, shouldn’t a man be either overjoyed or deeply saddened upon discovering he suddenly has a son?
For the wealthy, valuing prosperity through many sons, an additional son brings more joy. But for the poor, a sudden extra son means considering his food, clothes, and future education, marriage, and children, leading to worry.
Clearly, Emperor Yongning belonged to the former; having another son wouldn’t pose a problem of support, and it should have been a joyous event for him.
Yet Jun Ning could not see any hint of joy on Emperor Yongning’s face.
On the contrary, unsure if it was his own illusion, Jun Ning sensed that Emperor Yongning seemed vaguely unhappy.
This was not Jun Ning’s illusion; Emperor Yongning was indeed somewhat unhappy. Because he recalled what Master Daoji at the Huguo Temple once told him: he was destined to have seventeen sons and one daughter.
At the time, discussing this with Dao Ji, he insisted that he had eighteen sons, not seventeen, including the eighteenth son, Jun Ning, whom everyone mistakenly thought had died at birth.
But now, he had learned everything from Qiong Hua; his eighteenth son Jun Ning was alive, having narrowly survived, proving indeed that he had eighteen sons.
He hadn’t longed for a daughter but suddenly had an extra son? His eighteenth son, no less?
Emperor Yongning couldn’t bother to express that he already had enough sons and didn’t want more; instead, he was pondering another matter.
Could it be that Dao Ji’s prophecy had gone wrong?
Was he truly destined to have eighteen sons, without a daughter?
Emperor Yongning still trusted Dao Ji’s prophetic abilities.
As for Dao Ji’s words about having seventeen sons and one daughter, there must be some other mystery to it.
Emperor Yongning pondered for a long time and still couldn’t connect the fact that the daughter was Jun Ning.
After thinking about the matter repeatedly, he finally reached a shocking conclusion.
—Maybe in the not-too-distant future, one of his eighteen sons would die young, and then his daughter would appear. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱
The arrival of the daughter must be accompanied by the sacrifice of a son.
Both the front and back of his hand are flesh; no matter how cruel, Emperor Yongning wouldn’t wish for a son to die just to have a daughter.
Therefore, he had no reason to be happy about suddenly having another son.
Returning to the Imperial Study Room and inquiring if Xiao Lizi had completed his tasks, he didn’t touch the evening meal that was brought to him and simply fell into contemplation. The pile of memorials on the desk was cast aside, without any inclination to read them.
At night, he found it even harder to sleep, tossing and turning with open eyes until dawn. Then, in a daze, he was aided by Xiao Lizi to get up, wash, and attend court.