Chapter 36
Right now, the look in Xu Lipeng’s eyes was not as affectionate as before when he looked at Yu Qingmeng. What had happened today came to his mind. He felt himself being cheated in public.
“Young Master, please help me, for the sake of our child.” Seeing Xu Lipeng keeping silent with a gloomy face, Yu Qingmeng held his legs while touching her belly gently, crying.
“What did you say?” That was too much to take in. Xu Lipeng, stunned with his eyes goggled, said sharply.
“A child. We have a child. I wanted to tell you yesterday, but you told me to go back. After that, I went to the doctor. Luckily, I was fine. Otherwise… the kid would be gone.” Yu Qingmeng sobbed with her hand on her flat belly. Now she even made herself believe that she was pregnant.
“How… how could you get pregnant?” Xu Lipeng who had come back to his sense flew into a rage with his face turning green.
“Young Master, that’s our child. It’s true. It’s our child.” Yu Qingmeng stood up leaning on his legs and said tenderly. Then she put his hand on her belly and said, “Touch it, this is our child. Young Master, our kid will be filial to you and respect you.”
Yu Qingmeng said tenderly.
Xu Lipeng’s hand shivered and then went frozen. How could she get pregnant at this moment? Why is there suddenly a child?
“Young Master, don’t worry. I won’t fight Qu Moying for you. It’s all for this kid. I only want this child to grow up in a decent family, that’s the only thing I care about. You can still marry Qu Moying.” Yu Qingmeng’s voice turned gentler and her face just became more pathetic.
When she had talked about Xu Lipeng’s engagement, she had always sounded reluctant and suggested Xu Lipeng break off the engagement and marry her.
However, now she kept making compromises for her kid and didn’t ask Xu Lipeng to break off the engagement at all. The only thing she wanted was the birthright for her child.
Those words didn’t sound like her at all. Seeing her being like this, Xu Lipeng couldn’t help getting soft-hearted.
“Why did you go there today?” Xu Lipeng asked. That was a thorn in his side.
“It was Qu Moying. She told me to go and said that she wanted to talk about… talk about the things between you and her. So I went there. I didn’t know she would do that, I didn’t know!”
Yu Qingmeng covered her face and cried with her head lowered. Her tears were running down from her hands, making her look poorer.
“She’s so vicious!” Xu Lipeng said resentfully with his teeth gritted.
‘I never thought that blind girl will be so evil-minded!’ He thought.
“You… Young Master, don’t blame her. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have fallen in love with you. It’s my fault. I ignored that you have already been engaged. I made a mistake. If this is her punishment to me, I accept it. I’ll follow her orders from now on…” Yu Qingmeng cried aggrievedly.
With her tears falling down ceaselessly, she nearly choked to death by crying, looking extremely sorrowful.
With a look of pity and anger on Xu Lipeng’s face, he held Yu Qingmeng in his arms and said with a voice as gentle as usual, “All right, don’t cry. I won’t let you suffer. You’ll marry into my family as a high-grade concubine.”
A high-grade concubine? Yu Qingmeng’s face distorted when she was in Xu Lipeng’s arms. Even though Xu Lipeng was above her status, she might still have a chance to become Young Madam Yongning. However, now she couldn’t even be a noble concubine but just a high-grade concubine. Just a high-grade concubine?
She couldn’t help having resentment deep down!
However, now she had to accept it. She touched her belly. If she didn’t say she was pregnant, Xu Lipeng might not even let her be his high-grade concubine.
She would never believe this in the past, but now she had to.
“You already sent him there?” In the royal palace, Pei Yuanjun walked ahead slowly while asking lazily.
Today he was wearing a light purple royal robe embroidered with a few purple irises joined by golden threads. When he walked, the irises seemed to be blooming, looking extremely glamorous and also a bit wicked. His outfit didn’t suit his graceful manner but people still found the whole scene gorgeous and harmonious for no reason!
While he was on the road, every imperial maid and eunuch who saw him all knelt down.
“Yes. She said thanks.” Ji Hai, Lord Yun’s private eunuch reported to him with a grinning face. Yu Dong was his handpicked maid who was very clever.
“That’s all she said?” Pei Yuanjun raised his eyebrows and asked elegantly.
He felt the idea of sending her an eunuch marvelous and interesting. That girl didn’t seem like an obedient person. But that was the only thing she said?
“My lord, you must be kidding me. What else could she say anyway? Also, Haizi is a good one and he’s more capable than those maids.” Ji Hai smiled, trying to play up to Lord Yun’s evil humor.
As they were speaking, a few people showed up at the corner. The one who was surrounded by the eunuchs and bodyguards was Pei Luo’an, the Crown Prince. After Pei Yuanjun had come back to the capital, this was the first time he had met the Crown Prince who had been said to be assassinated before.
He stopped to look at Pei Luo’an who was walking over slowly.
“Uncle!” The Crown Prince also saw him. With a smile on Pei Luo’an’s pale face, he took a few steps forward and bowed to Pei Yuanjun deeply and respectfully!
The people behind him also gave obeisance to Pei Yuanjun.
Everyone knew that the emperor trusted Lord Yun the most. Now only Lord Yun was favored by the emperor, he also held great power, including the military power. More than half of the soldiers in this country listened to him. Because of that, the Crown Prince didn’t dare to look down upon his uncle.
“I heard you were injured on your wedding night and the Crown Princess was severely wounded for you. How’s she doing now? Did you catch the assassin?” Pei Yuanjun asked in a flat tone and raised his hand to let the Crown Prince get up.
The Crown Prince told everyone that the Crown Princess was sick. However, the truth was, the Crown Princess’s ‘illness’ resulted from the assassination.
“Uncle, I still haven’t caught the assassin, and I don’t know why. The Crown Princess…” Pei Luo’an couldn’t continue when speaking of that. With a sad look on his face and his eyes turning red, he suddenly seemed spiritless. He turned his head to wipe the tears on the corner of his eyes. Then he turned around and said, “I failed to protect her, it’s my fault that she…”
The Crown Prince had already got the word out since long ago that the Crown Princess was about to die. Also, the imperial doctors had already confirmed that she only had a few days to live.
“How’s Earl Ling’an doing?” Pei Yuanjun wasn’t touched by the Crown Prince’s emotion and only asked that indifferently with a slight smile.
“My father-in-law is not in a good condition. Her two daughters both ran into accidents. No matter how… He just couldn’t take it.” Pei Luo’an said sadly, “On that day when I went to Earl Ling’an’s Mansion, he was already preparing for his funeral. He has also reported to my father that he would pass his title to Second Master Ji.”
“To Ji Yong’an, that useless loser?” Pei Yuanjun chuckled in a sarcastic tone, having no intention to show any respect to the father of the Crown Prince’s imperial concubine. “The title is about to over. Old Earl Ling’an was such a hero, but his son is so unpromising.”
Ji Yongming was Earl Ling’an eldest son and Ji Yong’an was the second son. Therefore, Ji Yongming had inherited the title first. Because he didn’t have a son, so the title could only be passed on to Ji Yong’an. However, in Pei Yuanjun’s view, Ji Yong’an was nothing but a loser who had no morals.
The Crown Prince blushed and went speechless for the moment. As he lowered his head, there was an angry look flashing in his eyes. He was the Crown Prince and the future emperor. But Pei Yuanjun didn’t respect him at all. However, he had to report to Pei Yuanjun about this in order to let Ji Yong’an inherit the title.
‘Why? I am the prince, the real ruler of this country.’ The Crown Prince thought.
He clenched his fists secretly under his sleeves and at last put them down slowly, still looking weak.
“Oh, by the way, I heard that Ji Yong’an was your father-in-law now. So he’s your guy.” Pei Yuanjun joked. He didn’t care that Pei Luo’an had been assassinated but seemed pretty interested in the fact that the latter had married Ji Yong’an’s daughter. “The sisters are both beauties. You are a lucky man.”
“Uncle, please watch your word. Crown Princess is not in a good condition now… I really feel miserable.” The Crown Prince frowned and said with a sad voice.
Anyone who saw him would regard him as an affectionate man and assume that the other Ji’s lady had been sent to the Crown Prince only to look after the Crown Princess. Thus people couldn’t find any fault with Pei Luo’an.
The Crown Prince hid his hands on which the veins stood out under his sleeves so that no one would see them.
Pei Yuanjun fell his cold and vicious eyes on the Crown Prince as if he was observing the latter. The similar feeling of being licked by a viper made the Crown Prince very uncomfortable and angry. However, he didn’t have the guts to go off on Pei Yuanjun. Those malicious eyes scared him a lot.
It seemed that the Crown Prince had been guarding against this uncle who was at his age since childhood.
After a long while, when the Crown Prince even had cold sweats on his back, he finally heard Pei Yuanjun’s voice, “Your health matters the most. Don’t care about anything else. As for the beauties, if you want, I could send two pretty sisters that I brought from the border area to you. How about that?”
The Crown Princess was about to die and the Crown Prince was in grief. How could he send beautiful girls to the Crown Prince?
The Crown Prince was enraged, but still had to express gratitude to him, “Thanks for your consideration, uncle. But I have no interest in that kind of thing and I only want to stay with the Crown Princess.”
“You are such a caring man. I need to see the emperor now. Please excuse me.” Pei Yuanjun said nonchalantly.
The Crown Prince moved aside to make way for Pei Yuanjun. Then the latter swaggered off, leaving the Crown Prince and his people standing there.
‘Make way? Did I just make way for him?’
The Crown Prince had just made way for a lord. He felt both ashamed and angry. He looked at Pei Yuanjun’s back with a resentful expression.
However, the next second, he put on a gentle smile again.
Because Pei Yuanjun looked back.
“The emperor is not in a good condition too. If you are free, you should come to the royal palace more often to stay with him.” After saying that, Pei Yuanjun turned around and left.
Pei Luo’an’s face twitched and it took him a while to control the expression on his face. He had just expressed how much he loved the Crown Princess, but now because of what Pei Yuanjun had said, he now sounded like an unfilial son who only cared about his wife.
‘How dare you, Pei Yuanjun!’ The Crown Prince thought that with his teeth gnashed.