She left some words unsaid, but Qin Quexi understood her meaning.
He did not speak again, but simply took her hand, locked her in his embrace, and gently kissed her.
In April of the Twelfth Year of the Fengyuan Era, the Crown Prince suddenly felt nauseous while dining. After calling for the Imperial Physician, a joyful diagnosis was confirmed.
Both palaces were overjoyed, and numerous rewards continuously arrived at Qinghuang Palace.
Gu Shengyin felt only shock.
Once all the attendants had left, she finally looked at Qin Quexi, who had been carefully settled into bed, "You actually didn’t need to go to such lengths just for my sake."
But Qin Quexi smiled, "When I agreed to marry into the Heavenly Phoenix, I had already prepared myself for this."
She was unwilling to put herself through misery, nor could she bear to see her endure the pressures coming from all directions.
A Crown Prince without an heir, no matter how much the Phoenix Emperor adored her, wouldn’t it be unacceptable?
Gu Shengyin felt a warm surge in her heart.
She gently leaned her head against Qin Quexi’s chest and said, "How fortunate I, Huang Changge, am to have married you."
Qin Quexi reached out to hold her hand, his face glowing with a warm smile. Was he, Qin Quexi, not equally fortunate?
In October of the Twelfth Year of the Fengyuan Era, the Crown Prince gave birth to twins—a boy and a girl—within Qinghuang Palace.
Gu Shengyin looked at the two tiny children for just a moment, then sat beside Qin Quexi. She bowed her head close to her face and whispered softly, "Shall we raise these two children well and not have any more? Is that alright?"
Qin Quexi smiled and nodded gently.
Prosperity symbolized by the birth of the dragon and phoenix twins was seen as a good omen, quieting anyone who could criticize Qinghuang Palace. The voices that strictly advocated for the Crown Prince to take a spouse and admit consorts gradually faded away.
Everyone knew that the Crown Prince was deeply in love with the Crown Prince Consort. Observing the situation, there was a tendency for him not to take any additional wives into the harem.
Many disapproved of this, as they saw it as a phase of a newly married couple enjoying their honeymoon period. Besides, with the Crown Prince Consort being as beautiful as a Celestial Being, it was logical for the Crown Prince to be devoted at the moment.
But women often grow tired of the familiar, and even the most beautiful faces will age with time. Could the Crown Prince, who would eventually rule it all, truly remain faithful?
However, Gu Shengyin proved to them what it meant to love one person all their life through her actions.
During the prime of the Phoenix Emperor’s reign, as the Crown Prince, Gu Shengyin did not face much pressure.
She even often found time to take Qin Quexi and their two children out of the palace in disguise for amusement.
Each time, the elite of Heavenly Phoenix saw the Crown Prince, they could see the love between her and the Legal Spouse, and their affection envied others.
Another decade passed, and the Phoenix Emperor officially passed on the throne to Gu Shengyin, who then retired to a secluded life of peace.
Gu Shengyin officially assumed the position of the Phoenix Emperor, changing the dynasty’s name to Fengyong.
By choosing a name based on Qin Quexi’s former title, she demonstrated her high regard for her legal spouse.
The first day upon her ascension to the throne, the new Phoenix Emperor declared in front of her ministers:
"In my lifetime, I love only the Phoenix Monarch. Henceforth, do not speak to me of taking anyone else into the harem."
The statement caused a sensation in the Imperial Court, and many elderly ministers knelt and pleaded with the emperor to retract her command.
The thing Gu Shengyin hated most was these old ministers who leveraged their seniority, believing the new ruler wouldn’t easily deal with them.
However, Gu Shengyin was not swayed by their tactics.
After forcing several old ministers into retirement with a forceful hand, opposition to her rule ceased.
The Phoenix Emperor and the Phoenix Monarch had only a son and a daughter, and just as she stated on the day of her ascension, throughout her life, only the Phoenix Monarch occupied her harem.
Future unofficial histories would speculate that the two only ever had one pair of children because the Phoenix Emperor cherished the Phoenix Monarch too much to impose the burdens of childbirth upon him.
But the true situation could only be conjectured from the few records that remain.