After Shangguan Qing returned to the Yan Country, Shangguan Yun conferred him as the crown prince.
The common people had never seen the former crown grandson, nor did they know of the change in appearance, so they had no doubts about this royal edict.
As for those who had seen him, his enemies like Gongsun Yu were already dead, and those who were on his side, like Wei Renchong and others, were loyal to the Xuanyuan Family. They would not spread news detrimental to Shangguan Qing.
Regarding Qingfeng Taoist priest and Wang Xu, the former was face-blind and couldn’t remember appearances, while to the latter, Shangguan Qing chose to tell the truth.
"... This is the general course of things. My mother was also worried that my identity as not of royal blood would be exposed, and the National Master Hall wouldn’t treat me, hence she let me take on my brother’s face," Shangguan Qing said, lying on the canopy boat at Taiye Pool in the Imperial Palace, looking up at the starry sky.
Wang Xu sat beside him, his mind unable to calm down for a long time after hearing the whole truth: "So... the crown grandson I saw at the National Master Hall earlier, was not you?"
Shangguan Qing, with a blade of dog-tail grass in his mouth, said unconcernedly: "It was my brother."
Wang Xu suddenly stood up, his movement causing the entire boat to jolt, and Shangguan Qing looked at him completely taken aback.
He said hurtfully: "How could you do this!"
"Hmm?" Shangguan Qing was stunned, acknowledging that hiding the truth from him was indeed his fault...
Wang Xu said distressedly: "You betrayed me! You told our secret code to your brother!"
Shangguan Qing: Uh... so that’s your main concern?
"I..." he wanted to say that he hadn’t told, that all the codes were guessed by his brother anyway, and besides, these were not just his and Wang Xu’s secrets, he had learned them from the National Master and couldn’t guarantee that the National Master hadn’t told others either.
He looked sheepishly at Wang Xu: "Old Wang..."
"You’ve changed." Wang Xu tightly clenched his fists, turning his face away hurtfully, "You used to call me Old Wang from next door!"
Shangguan Qing: "..."
...
Old Wang was too hard to appease. After landing from Taiye Pool, Shangguan Qing felt seriously exhausted, he didn’t even want to walk, ordered the palace maids to bring a palanquin, and he was carried to Fenglin Palace.
In Yan Country, an adult prince must leave the palace and establish a residence elsewhere. This was the old ancestor’s rule and also to avoid suspicion with the concubines of the Imperial Harem.
However, now that all the beauties in the Imperial Harem were men, what was Shangguan Qing avoiding for?
He stayed in the palace.
He planned to first pay respect to his mother and incidentally grab a late-night snack.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered Shangguan Yun’s Sleeping Palace, he smelled a burst of milky fragrance and then heard a series of soft baby murmurs.
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