Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Although she was too embarrassed to see him again, but...

"Lingchuan, I'm so familiar with the buttons on the back of your bellyband that I can undo them with my eyes closed."

He intended to humiliate Lingchuan by tearing off her bellyband and waving it in front of her. She could only cover her body with a thin outer garment.

"Why are you still trying to hide this... Isn't this what I support you for? Besides, don't you also have your moments of fun and enjoy it?"

She closed her eyes tightly, bit her lower lip, and made no sound.

He provoked her maliciously and skillfully, forcing her to speak.

"Why are you holding it so tightly... why not open it a little more and make it easier for me?"

He smiled sarcastically, put his arm around her waist, and whispered in her ear:

"Oh, yes, you said it would be more fun if I squeezed my legs together, right..."

"Shut up!"

Lingchuan's face was originally pale, but it turned red under his constant stimulation.

"Stop...let me go..."

He completely ignored her resistance and suddenly pulled her knees apart with force.

Feeling humiliated, Lingchuan struggled hard twice, but to no avail.

Afterwards, Gu Shi whispered maliciously in her ear:

"At first, she resisted quite a bit, but after two or three, she was back to her old ways... Lingchuan, why did you even bother resisting those two times? Did you think you could become a chaste heroine by just pretending to twist and turn a few times?"

He specially ordered Jinzhan to make a bowl of contraceptive soup and handed it to Lingchuan personally.

"Just drink the contraceptive soup honestly, and don't even think about giving birth to my child."

Her lips were trembling as she took the bowl of medicine and swallowed it in one breath with trembling hands. She was not afraid of taking the medicine.

"It's just a bowl of medicine. I'll just drink it. There's nothing to be pretentious about."

She didn't know whether this contraceptive soup would affect the fetus in her belly...but now she just wanted to survive. There was no one left in her family, but she had also promised Qin Sizhao not to commit suicide.

Although she was too embarrassed to see him again, she hoped she could keep her promise to him.

Lingchuan didn't look at Gu Shi's eyes, hesitated for a few times, and finally opened his mouth to test:

"If I got pregnant unexpectedly, I would have just quietly aborted it... Why did you poison me?"

"How could there be any accident? You were the one who schemed against me, deliberately getting pregnant with my child to embarrass me... How could I possibly stay with a woman who schemed against me?"

He put one hand around her neck.

"Besides, if I want to kill you, I can kill you. What reason do I need? Killing you is as easy as crushing an ant. Is there anyone who would risk offending me to redress your grievances?"

Lingchuan showed a pleading expression.

"Please let me go, I understand..."

She unconsciously covered her belly, thinking it would be best to hide it from the prince and get rid of the fetus in her belly without anyone knowing, so that she would still have a chance of survival.

Gu Shi let go of his hand and sneered:

"Don't you usually seek death? Are you never afraid of death? Why are you afraid today?"

Lingchuan thought that since she had promised Qin Sizhao that she would not die, this promise was evidence of their meeting, so she had to keep it.

"Because I figured it out..."

She lowered her head, looking defeated.

Gu Shi reached out and touched her hair, but felt inexplicably sad.

He didn't mean to threaten Lingchuan with his life to make him bow down to him. He was just angry and embarrassed because Lingchuan didn't love him as much as he imagined.

He wanted to explain to Lingchuan that he was just speaking in anger, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"As long as you obey me in everything, I won't do anything to you."

She lowered her head and whispered:

"Your Highness still has official business to attend to, so don't waste your time here."

Hearing Lingchuan's implication that he wanted to drive him away, Gu Shi felt his anger rising again.

"I do have official business to attend to in the palace, but I don't want to let you live freely in the palace alone... You'd better stay by my side and serve me."

He spoke each word with gritted teeth.

Lingchuan's face turned pale. She couldn't delay her pregnancy any longer. She had to find a female doctor to find a way to have an abortion while Gu Shi was away.

"I'm afraid this is against the rules... I don't dare go..."

He grabbed her wrist with his backhand and said with a smile:

"We've done a lot of things that are against the rules. After I ascend the throne, I can do whatever I want that's against the rules. Who can control me?"

Lingchuan hesitated and said:

"Your Majesty, after you ascend the throne, I only ask that you give me a house and some money every month... I will live alone and will never bother you."

"What? You want to break up with me? Let's live our own lives?"

Gu Shi was so angry that he threw a cup.

"That's right. By then, I'll have three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines, and I'll soon forget you. You're smart enough not to join in the fun."

Gu Shi got angry, but Lingchuan had no intention of trying to comfort him. His mind was full of thoughts on how to deal with the fetus in her belly.

Seeing Lingchuan's daydreaming state, he was so angry that he carried her in disheveled clothes into the carriage and took her directly to the palace.

Lingchuan was not wearing any inner clothes, only an outer coat, which was thin and draped over her frail body. She had no choice but to put on Gu Shi's coat.

He touched her back and snorted coldly:

"It'll teach you a lesson."

Lingchuan had no choice but to borrow a set of palace maid's clothes to change into. Gu Shi was quite displeased when she saw it. Her slightly cold temperament did not match the grass green clothes of the palace maid, which reduced her beauty a bit.

He summoned an old palace maid he was familiar with:

"Bring me that pale blue Yueluo skirt."

The old palace maid showed a look of surprise and confirmed again:

"Do you really want to take that Yueluo skirt?"

He nodded.

After a while, the old palace maid found an old box made of golden nanmu wood. The Yue Luo skirt inside was half-worn, but its extraordinary texture could still be seen.

"Put this dress on her."

The old palace maid only nodded in agreement and tremblingly took out the Yue Luo skirt, fearing that she would accidentally damage it.

"Girl, this skirt is valuable and cannot be ruined. You must wear it carefully and don't damage it."

She was a little puzzled. No matter how valuable it was, it was just a skirt. No matter what kind of silk or satin it was, she had wasted many of them in the palace. Why couldn't this skirt be wasted?

And this skirt looks a bit old...

If another girl wore this light blue, half-worn skirt, it would probably make her look old-fashioned. But when Lingchuan wore it, it added a bit of alienation to her charming and cold eyes.

The skirt was already half worn and faded, but that made it look even more luxurious and extraordinary, with a cold and awe-inspiring luster.

The old maid looked at her and sighed:

"If the Concubine Dowager had a daughter, she would probably look like a fairy like this."

She wiped her tears with her handkerchief and said:

"It's a pity that the Concubine passed away too early... Her beautiful face often appears in my mind... Her eyes were always cold, but her heart was very warm."

Gu Shi sneered:

"If the old concubine had a daughter, I'm afraid she would be the same as the late emperor."

He directly took Lingchuan's hand:

"I'm just lending you this skirt, so please don't ruin it."

Lingchuan was suspicious. When did Gu Shi become so thrifty with his belongings? He couldn't help but ask:

"Why are you making me wear something so expensive?"

He looked a little impatient.

"Just wear it if it's given to you. Come and grind ink for me."

Lingchuan was grinding ink for him. He yawned repeatedly after standing for a while. He felt sore in his waist and his mind was wandering.

In a moment of carelessness, ink dripped onto his sleeves, and Lingchuan was unaware of it.

"Gu Shi, I need to go to the couch and rest for a while. I can't do this."

She rubbed her waist:

"My waist aches from standing for so long."

He reached out and touched her sleeve, seeing a drop of ink. He grabbed her wrist and sneered:

"Lingchuan, you are so brave that you dare to get your sleeves dirty."

She checked her sleeves belatedly, her face flushed and she said angrily:

"It's just a piece of clothing. I just put a drop of ink on it. You are so petty."

Lingchuan had tolerated him for a long time. It was just an old piece of clothing. Gu Shi was looking for trouble with her, so she was about to argue with Gu Shi angrily.

Seeing this, the old palace maid stepped forward and advised:

"Girl, that's the old concubine's relic..."

Lingchuan's face instantly turned red with shame. He was indeed wrong. He had accidentally soiled Gu Shi's mother's belongings.

But she was still angry, so she said to the old maid:

"Then take this dress off quickly... It's so precious, I can't bear it if it gets dirty or damaged."

The old palace maid was very embarrassed and looked at Gu Shi.

He just dealt with some official business with a calm expression.

"Lingchuan, I have to meet with several ministers these days and have a lot of work to hand over. Please stay here first. The palace is a very important place, and you cannot act recklessly without the rules."

She became anxious because she thought that there was still a fetus in her belly that had not been resolved.

"I... I don't want to stay here. I'll just return the clothes to you and go back..."

The old maid looked at Gu Shi's expression and said:

"Young lady, why don't you stay in Cong Cui Palace first...it's always kept very clean..."

Gu Shi nodded.

"Then take her to Cong Cui Palace."

Lingchuan was walking in the palace, and she inexplicably felt that the palace maids around her were looking at her sideways. She blushed and lowered her head, thinking that they were probably speculating about the relationship between her and Gu Shi and gossiping about them behind their backs.

It's really awkward to stay in this palace. She has no status and is not qualified to come here.

Those gazes cut into her body like blunt knives, and Lingchuan felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Miss, don't be nervous. Cong Cui Palace is where the prince lived when he was a child. It has always been kept very clean."

The old palace maid seemed to notice her awkwardness and tried to comfort her.

Lingchuan didn't have the mind to think about what it meant to let her live in Congcui Palace. She unconsciously covered her belly, hoping that she would become pregnant more slowly.

She thought desperately, she couldn't ask the imperial physician in the palace to help her have an abortion... The palace was full of Gu Shi's people, with dense spies, and she would definitely be exposed soon...

Gu Shi had already said it all, so was she really going to gamble that he would be soft on her? She wasn't that stupid.