Before Pei Jiuyan came to the commander-in-chief's tent to ask to see Ling Shumo, he applied plum blossom essential oil on his body.

Ling Shumo only felt a refreshing fragrance of plum blossoms, which diffused into the air from the skin of the person in her arms, and also flowed into her nostrils with her breathing.

Pei Jiu said coquettishly, "Your Highness promised my brother that she would take good care of me. Now, please love me well and fulfill your promise to my brother."

Ling Shumo wanted to pull her sleeves out of Pei Jiuyan's hands. "I did promise Jiusheng that I would take good care of you and your father, but not in this way. If Pei Jiusheng is still alive, seeing how entangled you and I are, do you think he would really be happy..."

Ling Shumo was halfway through her words when she met Pei Jiuyan's heartbroken expression and stopped talking. Pei Jiuyan's clear eyes were filled with a pool of water, as if he was silently saying that if Ling Shumo decisively rejected him, she would be pushing him to death.

Ling Shumo sat down at the desk. She took out a piece of rice paper from the drawer and began writing to Fu Yijing. "As for how I should arrange things for you, I'll make a decision after Taoist Chen arrives in Blackwater City. Even if you and I really have an affair now, you won't be able to get pregnant."

Ling Shumo wanted to use delaying tactics to buy time, but Pei Jiuyan knew that delay would lead to changes, so he wanted to finalize his relationship with Ling Shumo immediately. Her Highness was the only lifeline in his dark life, and he would never let go of her even if he died.

In the house now.

Ling Shumo sat at the desk, brush in hand. Pei Jiuyan sat at the desk in front of her, her beautiful, affectionate eyes fixed on Ling Shumo. "Like my brother, I have the blood of the Pei family flowing through my body. Our bloodlines are so similar. So, Your Highness, please treat the child I'm carrying as my brother's own flesh and blood. Isn't that all that matters?"

As he spoke, he brought his lips closer to Ling Shumo's cheek, "Don't you want to have a child with your brother?"

Perhaps it was because Pei Jiuyan was too handsome, or the smell on his body was too similar to that of her late husband Pei Jiusheng, Ling Shumo only felt waves of confusion and infatuation.

She reached out and grabbed Pei Jiuyan's Adam's apple, pulling it towards her. "Pei Jiuyan, congratulations, your twisted logic has convinced me. I will satisfy you with everything you want."

Pei Jiuyan felt his heart, which had been in his chest for a long time, drop to the ground with a thud, and then his whole body sank limply into Ling Shumo's arms. Women are like this, they say they are gentlemen, but when a beautiful woman takes the initiative to come before them, even a woman as noble as the Princess Royal cannot refuse.

…

August is the height of summer.

The young emperor of the Beilin Empire was completely deposed, and Regent Zhao Honglin usurped the throne, establishing the Zhao Kingdom. The vassalage treaty between the previous dynasty and the Chisha Empire was invalidated. Ling Shumo instructed Shi Qi to prepare a generous gift for Zhao Honglin, who was about to ascend the throne. At the same time, she also prepared to return to the imperial capital from Blackwater City.

The six-horse carriage, symbolizing the Princess of the Eastern Palace, gradually disappeared from view. Pei Jiuyan, disguised as a commoner and mingling with the crowd to see the army off, stared blankly in the direction the carriage had vanished. Only after the onlookers had dispersed did Pei Jiuyan finally regain consciousness and head towards his village.

His hand gently caressed his lower abdomen. His heart, which had always felt empty before, was now filled with earth. Even if Her Highness had forgotten him, she would still take him and his daughter back to the Eastern Palace for the sake of this child. However, the opportunity to bring him back would still require a long wait.

…