With a creak

The door was finally opened from the inside by Yi Shangyun.

Yi Shangkun was still very worried about him, so he went upstairs to check on him.

Seeing that he indeed looked gloomy and lifeless, I glanced at the food on the table behind him, which had long since gone cold and showed no signs of being touched.

So he said, "Yun'er, how about you talk to your father?"

Yi Shangyun didn't say anything, but slowly released her hands from the door panel, then turned around and silently sat back down by the window.

Yi Shangkun sighed silently to himself, then walked in and asked with concern, "Are you feeling any better?"

Yi Shangyun sat silently by the window, offering no reply.

Yi Shangkun arranged the new food he had brought for him one by one and continued to persuade him.

"I saw you hadn't eaten much this morning, at least eat something, even if not for yourself, but for..."

At this point, Yi Shangkun suddenly thought of Yi Shangyun's illness and paused for a moment. He then suppressed his grief and had to continue, saying, "Think of the child in her womb."

No matter what he said, Yi Shangyun just stared blankly out the dark window, as if she hadn't heard him at all.

Helpless, Yi Shangkun had no choice but to lift the corner of his robe and sit down, showing even more patience.

He continued to comfort her, saying, "We didn't mean to hide the matter of the Empress Dowager's bestowal of a marriage from you. The Emperor is naturally suspicious, and His Highness Prince Qin was afraid of any further complications, so he took this drastic measure out of caution. He did this for your own good."

"For my own good?... Then what do you plan to do if the Emperor doesn't allow it?"

Although it was clear from her first, unexpected sentence that Yi Shangyun was still angry, at least after a whole day, she was finally willing to speak.

"If not..." Yi Shangkun repeated silently.

He never imagined that such a domineering, noble, and cold person could have such passionate, unwavering, and reckless feelings for Yi Shangyun.

After a moment of silence, Yi Shangkun said quietly, "To be honest, I have seen everything between you and the King of Qin along the way."

Yi Shangkun recalled, "From the moment you entered the palace, every time you were in danger, the Prince of Qin would risk his life to protect you. You've been through so much together; he's truly sincere towards you, isn't he?"

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun blinked and finally her mind stirred.

Yi Shangkun continued, "And in your heart, you also want to reciprocate his love for you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had his child, right?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun looked at Yi Shangkun's face, trying to argue, "You're talking nonsense, I was clearly doing that so he could leave Dong alive..."

Sincere words are always easy to come by, but they cannot withstand even the slightest test.

For Yi Shangkun, his words were simply an attempt to confirm in person who the child in Yi Shangyun's womb belonged to.

At this point, the answer is obvious.

“Indeed, this child is indeed the King of Qin’s,” Yi Shangkun said.

Now that things had come to this, Yi Shangyun simply stopped hiding anything from Yi Shangkun.

She slowly rose to her feet and said softly, "So what? The relationship between the three kingdoms is currently at a critical juncture, ready to explode at any moment. Do you know what the consequences would be if I, as the legitimate daughter of the Yi family, married him and became the Princess of Qin?"

How could Yi Shangkun not know that all these days, so many days have passed, and all of this has made him restless and unable to eat or sleep?

How he wished it was all a dream, and that when he woke up, everything would be back to normal.

Yi Shangyun was just a useless and ugly woman. No matter how much noise she made, it was all within the Yi family mansion.

After a pause, Yi Shangyun said with a furrowed brow, "If I do this, sooner or later, the lives of everyone in the entire Yi family, and the vast Qin Prince's mansion, will be in danger. How can I bear the crime of deceiving the emperor?"

Yi Shangyun felt a strong sense of unease and murmured, "No... or... the Emperor already knows."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shangkun smiled slightly, feeling incredibly gratified.

He said slowly, "My daughter has really grown up! She sees things so clearly and knows how to consider others in everything. Unlike Xue'er, who only knows how to fool around all day..."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun suddenly became inexplicably anxious: "What time is it already? Why would Father still say such things? And why can he still laugh like that?"

Yi Shangkun stood up and walked to Yi Shangyun's side, saying to him, "Have you ever thought that many things in life might have been predetermined from the beginning? No matter how much you want to escape, you can never escape the arrangement of fate."

Looking back, I am filled with emotion: "There was a time when I only hoped that you could marry an ordinary person and live a life free from worries about food and clothing."

“In the palace, I was always cautious and prudent, impartial and neutral, and always tried to protect myself.”

"But in the end, we all find ourselves getting further and further away from our original intentions, don't we?"

Upon realizing this, Yi Shangkun actually uttered those words, as if even he himself couldn't believe where the courage came from.

After much deliberation, he silently made a decision in his heart and said to Yi Shangyun, "If sacrificing the entire Yi family can make my daughter happy, I am willing."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun looked at Yi Shangkun's face in surprise, and without thinking, blurted out, "But I'm not willing."

Yi Shangkun reached out and put his arm around Yi Shangyun's shoulder, patted him gently, and together they gazed out the window at the tranquil night scene of the Yi family mansion.

Recalling the past, he said softly, "That year, that day, if I had not met you and your mother, and if I had not saved you, there would be no father today, no Yi family today."

After hearing Yi Shangkun's heartfelt words, and thinking of her birth mother whom she had never met, Yi Shangyun suddenly burst into tears.

Looking at her downcast eyes and dejected appearance, Yi Shangkun suddenly said, "Yun'er, perhaps you should try to be a little braver. Just like your mother, even if it takes all her strength, she bravely brought you into this world."

In an instant, tears streamed down her face, as if the last bit of defense she had left had finally crumbled completely.

I don't know how much time passed.

Yi Shangyun shook her head and said, "I can't do it... I definitely can't do it. If I become the Queen Consort of the King of Western Qin, how will I face Dongning in the future?"

Yi Shangkun exhaled a breath of stale air and said, "You are indeed an incomparably noble princess of Dongning Kingdom, but you were also raised by Xiqin Kingdom. This may seem contradictory, but it is the truth. You can't just do nothing because you're caught in the middle, can you?"

As Yi Shangkun spoke, he turned her body around to face him, looked into her eyes and said, "Besides, have you forgotten that when you returned to the manor, His Highness Prince Qin told you that he had everything planned out."

These words made Yi Shangyun seem to vaguely realize something: "Father is referring to His Highness..."

Yi Shangkun nodded and solemnly instructed him again: "Now that things have come to this, promise your father that you will be braver, listen to your heart, cherish the present, believe in the King of Qin, and believe that there are always more solutions than problems, okay?"

The father and daughter stared intently into each other's eyes.

Seeing that Yi Shangyun had finally come to terms with it and picked up her chopsticks, Yi Shangkun thought to himself, "Such a kind and gentle child with such a tragic fate, why can't Heaven favor her?"

After Yi Shangkun left, Yan'er carefully entered the room carrying a tea tray with a bowl of medicine inside.

As soon as he entered, he put down the tea tray in his hand and immediately knelt down next to Yi Shangyun.

Then, she cried and apologized to her, saying, "Miss... I'm sorry. Please don't ignore Yan'er. Yan'er knows she was wrong. Yan'er shouldn't have kept it from you, Miss."

With Yi Shangkun's comfort and encouragement, although she was still a little uneasy, she gradually relaxed her brows and her depressed mood seemed to have improved a lot.

She helped Yan'er up, wiping away her tears as she softly said, "I'm so sorry, I was too impulsive. Actually, it's not your fault, it's all my own problem."

Upon hearing Yi Shangyun's words, Yan'er hugged her tightly and called out affectionately, "Miss..."

After a while, Yan'er suddenly came to her senses, quickly wiped away her tears, and helped Yi Shangyun to the table to sit down.

Immediately afterwards, she carefully took out the medicine from the tea tray and handed it to Yi Shangyun, saying, "Miss, it's time to drink your medicine to prevent miscarriage!"

Yi Shangyun took the bowl of medicine to prevent miscarriage, feeling a vague sense of unease. She asked, "Yan'er, were these medicines prepared by Physician Yue these past two days?"

Yan'er blurted out, "Reporting to Miss, these were all specially prepared for you by Physician Yue, specially requested by His Highness Prince Qin, when you returned to the manor. His Highness Prince Qin's care for you is truly meticulous and beyond words."

Yi Shangyun looked at the color of the medicine soup, then brought it close to her nose and smelled it carefully.

Still puzzled, she said, "But I always feel that this medicine is somewhat different from the previous one."

Yan'er had a flash of inspiration and explained, "Perhaps because the fetus in Miss's womb is growing day by day, the prescription may be changed or added at different times."

Yi Shangyun thought about it and realized that Yan'er's words made sense, so she praised her, "It's been a long time since I've seen you, Yan'er's medical skills have improved again!"

Yan'er smiled, and Yi Shangyun drank the medicine in her hand in one gulp.

After serving Yi Shangyun a bath and changing clothes, having been busy all day, Yi Shangyun was truly exhausted, both physically and mentally, and prepared to go to bed.

At this moment, she suddenly remembered something and instructed Yan'er, "Yan'er, go and do something for me tomorrow."

"What does Miss want Yan'er to do?"

...

The wedding is just around the corner.

Xuanyuan Han's confinement has finally come to an end.

After the morning court session, he had a tea gathering with several officials in the city, and everyone congratulated him. He did not return to his residence until evening.