In the Crown Prince’s Mansion of Qing Luo Kingdom

The Crown Princess, Nangong Mingzhu, sat before the dressing table, looking at the man in the copper mirror, and teased, "Chao, just yesterday the Imperial Historian impeached you. Even though Imperial Father and Imperial Mother did not blame you, you should still restrain yourself. In the future, just let the servants do the hairdressing for me."

At this moment, the Crown Prince, Wanyan Chao, held an ox bone comb in his hand, lovingly combing his beloved wife’s waterfall-like long hair. This was one of the things he often did since marrying, and it was also one of his greatest hobbies.

Hearing his beloved wife’s words, the Crown Prince carelessly replied, "Who cares about them? Those old fellows who speak of morality and ethics, appear like saints on the surface, but which of them doesn’t have three or four concubines, with a heart full of sleaze? I, as a husband, merely comb my wife’s hair, and they keep on nagging, advising, and impeaching me, as if they are all so clean. If I were truly angry, I’d reveal all their sleazy affairs and let everyone see their true identity. Then they would recognize who the real Prince is!"

As he spoke, his hands did not stop. He smoothed out Mingzhu’s shiny hair, picked a purple jade hairpin from her make-up kit, and tied a strand of shiny hair into a loose bun, leaving most of it hanging softly over her shoulders like a slinky black satin, looking splendid.

He liked Mingzhu’s simple attire. In his opinion, Mingzhu was the most beautiful in this world. Any trinket worn on her head would not add to her beauty but instead be overshadowed by her bright and brilliant appearance. So, he simply did not allow her to have her head full of jewels and prohibited her from using make-up. Every morning, after she wakes up, he would help her with her grooming and dressing, staring in fascination for a while before going to court.

After helping Mingzhu finish dressing her hair, he ordered the maid to bring out a soft yellow dress for her to change into. Watching her dress like an untouched fairy, he marveled for a while before going to court confidently.

At this time, Mingzhu had already been pregnant for over a month. Empress Dowager Na Muhan and Queen Martial were overjoyed at the news and had decreed to exempt her from attending the morning and evening greetings. They had even sent several female doctors to take care of her. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair often accompanied each other to visit Mingzhu, attending to her daily needs.

Queen Martial had given birth to five sons in succession but never had a daughter, which became her life’s greatest regret. When Mingzhu married in, she treated Mingzhu as her daughter, to compensate for the regret of not having a daughter. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Before Mingzhu got married, her Imperial Mother had talked about her mother-in-law. She heard that her mother-in-law was a woman of Great Jin, and the legitimate daughter of the Mansion of Marquis Jian’an. By chance, she married the Crown Prince of Qing Luo Kingdom and then became the country’s Empress.

It was said that her father-in-law treated her mother-in-law extremely well, almost as well as Imperial Father treated Imperial Mother. They had lived together for half a lifetime, and although her father-in-law was a monarch of a country, he did not have a single concubine, let alone even touched the clothes of any other woman. This showed that his love for her mother-in-law was exceptionally deep.

She envied the kind of love her father-in-law and mother-in-law had, a love that stood the test of time. She was also curious about why her mother-in-law, who neither had the nation-falling beauty nor the talents like her Imperial Mother, could solely gain her father-in-law’s favor.

After she married into Qing Luo, she gradually understood that there was a kind of love that had nothing to do with appearance, wealth, ability, or even age, just like how her father-in-law loved her mother-in-law.

In her father-in-law’s eyes, everything about her mother-in-law was the best, fitting perfectly with his standards and requirements. Even her mother-in-law’s laziness and clumsiness were endearing and real in his eyes, surpassing her by a hundredfold and a thousandfold, a Noble Girl of the Royal Family trained by the royal family.

Perhaps, this is the legendary true love!

Mingzhu greatly admired the relationship between her father-in-law and mother-in-law, but she never mentioned it to Wanyan Chao. She didn’t need a love that was tied down. If Wanyan Chao loved her, then even without her saying it, he would willingly love her for a lifetime just like her father-in-law loved her mother-in-law. Even if she said it, with time being so long, who could guarantee that he wouldn’t change his heart over a lifetime?

Therefore, she had never demanded him to be like her Imperial Father or father-in-law, to be loyal to her for life. However, she had been influenced by her mother’s independent thoughts since she was young. If her man couldn’t be loyal to her, no matter when, even when she was already old and frail, she would never stay by his side, enduring silently!